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Show Am. br B bq Ben Ames IDilliams wnii.HU. IIow do you mean, you didnt core?" the sheriff asked, ln a dull of Llb- ,k.rln In th vlllair to th ' in Saladin llalana ;p her our of my house thi minute, dead he Ik, If It wa'n't for you, though 'MIL As It U, she can atay; but yon lietter get some sense Into your head! 1 Hostile To. i rfk,6vteriou, enticing Interested, Will vtrrln. day' J2 ?' Huldy tl' glamorous She wu a lying, trouble-makinwoiimii, and that' the truth of I, nnd I'm glad she's dead, If you nk me!" Sho finished nnd stood panting with her own pent rage, and looked at ill as Ihiiugli in challenge ; a though she dared Id in to deny her words. And to crossed "'111' Jenny side, not touching him, lint ready there, and loyaL Tln-Will spoke slowly, Ma'am," he told old Mario l'lerce. I gness if It come to that, I knowed Huldy better than most But I dont want folks tu talk about her sol" There was pleading fu Ills roues. 'Then don't you play the dumb fool to me," said old Marm Pierce angrily. ''Denying what's as plain a day! She always would make trouble when ahe could. She set Zeke on Bart two years ago ; and she'd set Jenny agalnt you now, if she could . . She looked at Bnrt as though he would confli m her word ; but Bart was watching Will. The sheriff leaned forward, bla elbows oa Ids knee "But Just the same, be urged, "she wouldn't think thnt up, about Will hitting her and knocking her off the ledge, unless someone, Will or someone else, did hit He looked at Marin llerce. her! Mis' Pierce, lie asked In a low tone, wa'n't there a place on her face like she'd been hit? IJke shed hit tree, or a stone, when she felt, yes," said the old womBut no nmii alive an, grudgingly. could hit that hard!" He nodded. Seemed to me I remembered your saying that," he agreed. "Saying ner face was hanged up!" He looked troubled; and then he stood up and turned. to Will. "WIIL" he said gravely. My Job Is just to do the best I know." He hesitated, nnd silence waited on him. "Tlie law Is that If a person Is dying, and says something, you've got to take It for true, less'n there's proof to tlie contrary. That's one thing! Then If Huldy did have a banged place on her face, it's likely someone did hit her! And you was down to the ledge, look Ing for tier, by your own tell. He added. In an apologetic tone: S'pose you did find her down there, "Hul-- Ilut before Jenny replied. Alarm Pierce siaike, In a sort nr defiance. J "I'll tell you that, SticrilT, slin said. and her 5 i.re. Tlie Is, Will and Jenny bad got ' Jenny to likething granddaughter each oilier mighty well, before chlldhnod since ''.Valley- loved young Will Huldy cunm buck nrter that time she rs-- 1 'r VSerdeeply went avtny. Will, be' line; nnd so's than ahe. and who child. Learning Jenny. No barm In It. I still hoped In KwML who Ima been working not come Imek ever. It looked lfom.nghome. to me that: Will'd lie better off If lie s,hhorh,,.;d. eel hi imy ixultlng, , nss dinner ready was rid of her fur good nnd all Hut comes bringing hi wife, when she did nunc, Jenny she didn't Bn- sir1' . world collapse. alhs see him after that, till today." re toll 6 home unlocked for. Will She concluded : Hut Jenny and Will fedW Semlnlfly damning evidence of a man ha would have married before this, ir as anfallhfulneas ' Selfrt Ip from Humphbreak. hadn't been married to will. L, ta seth Will II tilt K. overtakes him and Huldy him and he lores her, nnd lores Hum-1- 0. Jenny eyifc ; kim to death, although fJ with a bullet. I'm glad of It, If It comes to that. . .better. hi.houIe the I iin Pierce declare ahleg ha no Jenny's fine, and Will's a man!" And then Jenny answered for herM bol Istor half man" nd fifi1 hl,n' self. That's right," she said hrarely. lf. M I lecilly exonerated, and with a on." "I mean I didnt cure what he'd done, lining. ; ll.midi artificial leg "carrle Month Zeka Dace. because I lured him anyway." T.e 1 helper, VII to 0091 eomc back. Will And nnlioily'd Illume him for hitew Yort iw HuUr Two her a year right. 7mm rtinait: .a. Baladine romea to th Valley. ting Huldy," Hart Insisted, quick to b't In Will's defense. She needed It, bud! he ft. heavy rain, he take refug But he nerer meant to knock her off him via ifirai Pierce's. Hart Carey, a he carrying Huldy. whom nl iw. lL, had fallen from a ledge, and tha ledger Jenny cried, swift, Indignant: Will dead. Whlla Huldy and Ie grind i; ftigfly. woman, with her never touched tier. Hurt!" t found- y ire alone, th her. I know lie didn't," Bnrt loyally Il'T tUK u( bieilh, asierti Will killed Sr.led, Jenny decide to tell no on Hut I'm Just saying, if he agreed. shared' t&e eecueatlon. 8hq goee to nottry hare a jg. With him Jenny returne to Marm did!" Zeke Dace cannot bo found, He didnt!" Jenny re;iented crisply. When kt Sheriff Sohlor, by Tlie sheriff looked up at her. m the r itfellie Inform How The sheriff death. of Huldy'n kra come you to lie so sure, Jenny! he n, he ft . ex Pierce' farm. Bart Harm le gri Outside of fires hfci how ha found Huldy, after her asked In solier tones. I red. ai he supposed. Jenny raabout him the way you do, how would fc feeling id, the fact that Huldy had accuaed come yon to be so sure? iwr a U if eauslng bar death. If I ws'n't sure, Jenny challenged, dyou think I'd ever have told you, or Continued anybody, what she said?" in ucr. CHAPTER IX You wouldn't want to marry a man 17 protilea thatd kill his wife, would you?" flieo Jenny faced the sheriff stead-- 7 is of 11 iid she said : Mis' Ferrln looked Snhier urged; and Jenny's eyes met IlN'holl his fairly, and hers were misty with hum par ie, snd her mouth twisted Into 1 deep tenderness. of laugh, nod she sold some- the for "He didn't, she Insisted steadfastly. every Blit I'd wunt to marry Will any way for IK did the girl went on : "First off, I ilnt hear her. Is, Nall She was awful It come, and no matter what he done!" "Well, that ain't telling me how ft. and 1 leaned down and I said to , or agr: you know lie didn't do it?" the sheriff the e ij It's all right. Mis Ferrln I' And What made you 1 Hive bn r laughed at me. mean her repeated doggedly. ih twisted as If she was trying sure, all of a sudden, now?" Just coining to my senses," Jenny If And this time 1 heard what she i! iiillrt' decided. I was kind of numb for a after Id been with tit; the Ifcrai Pierre exploded In a fierce while; but then I was sure!" Will for a 8111, and lienee: on with It, Jenny! (let The sheriff, surprisingly, chnrkled. Ionian 1 bpi did ahe suyT" "I'd admire to hear you testify like iiniseur tad Jenny unswered: "She said I I'd like that In court," he declared. the lid hare him now! iv, to see what the Judge would say. He ivil nr guess I kind of moved back, at became grave again, and looked at last of the way from lnr! It was like she'd at Will How about It. Will?" he inch ir, lied me! Her cheek was pale, suggested solierly. "Anything you've the Is; the SNke almost humbly. "I got to say!" ulngk'il i't know wlmt to do," she con-- i Will, with all their eyes upon him. illun 1!. So I just tried to tell her wiped his band across his month. The . etc.; as ill right, snd I told her Will He stood man was slinken sore. part me' coming." If It was anyfumbling for words. Depart: tones shook, then steadied. one bnt Jenny told me. I wouldnt be EbXiteiuE' nd then she said It," she eon Here Huldy said It, he declared. lie br "She said, kind 'of slow and "Taint true. I guess you'll say." Will (ft: knocked me off' And "No. No. ir ain't true. Chad to wait s minute, and then The sheriff frowned, "now come sum; pld: 'lie hit me P" Mis' Ferrln to say s thing like that the p Qe girl was silent for an Instant then!" he Don't seem a line protested. the could go on, If a woman would tell a straight-ou- t tint C: er mouth was still kind of laugh- - lie, the minute before she died!" fedeni k finlslied. "And she sort of "She was out of her bead, I reckon, spent lied. I guess that was wtovi she Will offered. ee bru A deep tremor shook But Jenny said: No, Will, she was thm her, but roU was firm. She knowed me, "She laid there, same as always. branch; ing it me. and her word she said." knowed K'lentlfc every moutbgrlnnlng s; but I guess she was dead by Tlie man Insisted, slmost pleadingly : rtment,; Anyway, she didn't say any Jenny, she wouldn't tell a thing like Indepee v of that only If she was craxy, or out of it e finished and was still, waiting. her head, or something." tnxatlo suddenly she wee very tired, Harm Pierre had been silent long; Farms but now she spoke, In shnrp and angry fj'ling what was to come. ut tbet M for a while no one spoke at alL tones. i coven Will Ferrln' yoTe a fool!" she exness if "I guess most men are. where claimed. CHAPTER X ie BMih a woman's concerned ; hnt yo're a face if bigger fool than most You know as fnfirt disclosure for a moment well ns anyone that Huldy was no fill- Harm Iierca waa f. mt k !" good ft to siioak. Ills head lifted as though he would lart 'hewr she exclaimed. I de-ldon't for ad' speak, but her voice rose. "Now hot as love In must it hay time. try lo shut me up. Will Ferrln!" she "For I'm going to linve mv Ply. cried. opened the door Into the shed. 'reiyvtr Land knows why Huldy married sny! ftyn'mlf some air. The shed was a for p but everylmdy knows she was a cavern ; the darkness In It waa you; nfleidi to you. She was hail from wife bad 1 ih screen behind which anything her toes up. rend ns she Is. I'll say raft Bht hide. She'd n the & so, If It's the last word I do sny. f ncefffP crossed hla feet and sat hare drove any man that wa'n't a nln Hla shoes nr a Tool to kill her long ago; but you Jep euhnrrassment. on (he You always would cfdS floor; and Mann Pierce didn't kill her. jj!jnu nnd tnnd anyto tugh h sort llutily, speak imell 1 lamp down hard 1 fosr linking.' thing from her. and come ; ft J1 lumps here were all In order; on anyone thnt tried to tell you the ' "liened the door Into III the truth nlwiut ner!" where Huldy lay, a reek let She turned an though on a sudden snd smoke rrlunh emerged. The old thought to the sheriff. "Will didn't ln fliere, complaining, rtP14, hit her." she Insisted, "lie wouldn't the shmiit Joe lie always did llntthewa linva the spunk 10 ri ftd Tllnt min to muke.a mesa of treat Huldy like a lady, no matter ns she protested. latter She hrough how she behaved. Maybe If hc'dtook ,l,,nl. Its chimney black, "lie a hoop de to her long ago . . ." iprlK Jj liirned Hut ahe cheeked the word, swung to up ton high." slie de-- . and replaced It with annlhi'r iflbcM Will again. ni1 ""'J' heard her raise the rlll' "Will, you llslen to me." aha coin j" liitle frnm the bottnin. "Huldy knowed what I tbfp' inn niled him. r out ind fr1 mu,.," she was saying, all right; and she ,e explained, 1,1 "sM'lf In the nther naiin. knowed she wnn dying, too. Hut ir she fcl'" fdikf I. slim Ilia illulrg could make Jenny believe you killed !?. ,u'f ::aln. bnsf her, there couldn't erer bo any luippl A ell am! , It hi I declare. ms between the two of you; 'jaculnted. li.i. ,,i 1"M wanted. That' wu what 'ii'inc.irnr Huldy nn Hint's foul' the goings '!: to make "n.y. why iiolu't you loll si said what she did. So' Nr' hnrd fm III' IPV" toll ,1' It hard for you, and bitter cllaft W!d. mid uhe said: 1,1 v Jenny I" And ahe said with a Midden iiism..i, M.i rt'rnld It was iy wl I'd pm M i;iv. "Only I in her fonea: "Jut for that. 1 d " Ilul-dy'd- (j I'5 I; f? am-Hul- ! neigh-ftirrive- e, ' Ji, and she started talking about Jenny! I guess If she got you mad enough, you might hit her. Will. Same as any man.' Will answered him. "I didn't, Sheriff," he said. I don't Solder was uncomfortable. know's you did, Will," be agreed. I'll But I've got to go on her aay-stake It as a favor if yon was to come along back to Bast Harbor with me. Jenny felt her spine cold with fenr; hut Will's eyes were firm. He said at I can see how yo're placed. last: where Sheriff. Only not knowing Zeke Is, or whether he'll come home or not. I'd have to get someone to do my chores for me!" Bart cried : "Don't worry about that. If the Will! I'll 'tend to things. sheriffs so blamed dumb!" But Jenny, coming close to Will said : "If you go, Will, I'm going too ! I'm not ever going to leave you now I Then Harm Pierce spoke. In her shrill .tones, still angrily. "I declare,' she exclaimed, and stamped her foot 'For fools, give me men every time I If you ask me, Huldy'e better dead, and everybody else Is better off with her dean. too. No sense In making such a fuss about It But Will didn't kill her I' 'Then who did, ma'am!" the sheriff asked, reasonably. Why, I'll tell you," said the old If yo're too blind to see I winnuu. a CHAPTER XI fi Y sh-rif- 2n "png-ron- X" 1 I -- i Jim Saladlnc was a man of wit nmi siiim'. ami he was quirkcr than most men at reading tlie riddle life may Hilt all ltd day, (l:ij by day present. lie had been deeply at a loss. He was a si ranger to these folk, and they to him; amt for any appraisal of their characters ami llielr cnpneltle for good or evil, lie hud to depend upon wliut Ills eye could see. or upon what this one wild of thnt one, Huldy lie hud seen, alive, beautiful, seilmTivc; Will lie had seen and liked; Hart lie had had time (0 weigh and to appraise, and hail found that yuan man bold anil headlong, yet welt enough ; Zeko lie linil glimpsed briefly and held In pity, though he hud nut lieen blind to tlie dangerous passion In the man. Old Wlu Haven Ini knew was only by repute; yet that repute III, A cowardly old man. willing to a woman spite a woman, or to affright to kill If lie chose ; willing perhaps one, too! lie while oven Snladlne, Hut recognised Ids own limitations, recognised also that here were forces In pluy which could not easily lie calculated. Such a woman as Huldy Herrin had emanations which must affect the lives, the very souls, or all hose about her. Krcn Jim himself an l he was not a susceptible man-- ,;l after leaving her known a vague 1 nervous ense of being on, or being trailed through the j.j.i.icn wood. And he recognised that fact that If la those few nionieiit che could disturb him so, then she must In other men have set up conflicting current callable If ome released of any violence. She was. he thought, a sort of pagan. She was vicious, beyond doubt; yet there were lint the marks of vice upon her, but ratlier of abounding life sn-deep undisciplined vitality. Salndine could even pity this woman, ruled and driven by forces whose nature and depth she herself did not In the least She must have love-comprehend. her own body, thnt warm beauty It contained; must have served It like an acolyte, fetching to It whatever sacrificial offerings were at hnmL Hut Saladiue, though he might be a mystic, was a realist, too; and here had been murder done. The woman who, by the powerful spell her presence cast, had wrecked and distorted other lives had worked her own destruction In the end. Yet through what human means! Through Will, the liuslumd she so bitterly had wronged! Or through Zeke, reduced from strong laughing manhood to a weary and tormented ember! Or through old Win Haven whom she had flouted! Or through Bart Curey here, who had bated her for her betrayal of his friend! Or through some casual passer-by- ! Snladlne did not know; had no sure conjecture ln his mind at alL It seemed to him not Impossible that some stranger was Involved. Hla own exirience with Huldy helped hla acceptance of this hypothesis aa a posShe had sought to detain sibility. him. on that hidden ledge above tlw Valley; he hnd escaited by a sort of flight, as though he broke away from an actual physical restraint. Such women as lluldy must provoke In some men a sort of violent repulsion; and Saladine recognised this feeling In himself. If ahe hud, fur Instance, tried by physical means to prevent his departure, had clutched his arm with her small hands, he could luiuglne himself flinging her with a violent and KlRsnces Grinstead UKLLA, said her mother with bad attended services at the church on warning look, "taka you hand out of those raisins and brow of the hllL It la Just a "little brown church," but finish paring the applet for my pies "But, I've done moat a bus 11 alif recent yea re It has been modernised with a furnace, a basement for church ready." giggled tha guilty youngster. dinners, and work tablet and sand "S'pose yon have I How many plefl piles In the Sunday school rooms The do you figure yon children eat! Bo. like It better since there are sides, Christmas time wo havo to boro grown-up- a more and bigger oil lami. extras for folks coming In." "What else are yon doing at your Merry me," she continued, It's tlmo church this week! asked Uncle Joe for Joel to be homo from the church as be spread bis napkin and looked baxaarl Look at that snow ; I shouldn't toward tha turkey. Uncle Joe la wonder If we had a blizzard before morning." Mrs Dodge opened the cold doaet and ee red with secret delight at tho fast filling shelves Coffee cans filled with steamed plan puddings a flno baked bam, frosted rhocolate cakes 0 whole row of pies pumpkin and mince; and a big howl of cranberry sauce, skins and all. "Sally, you better help Luella with the apples we're almost finished with the baking; and now If your fatheo OUR family shuddering distaste backward and Thus cast aside, she might away. easily enough have tripped, or MumHe bled, nnd tottered off the ledge. thought grimly that be himself, aa well as any other man, might thus have hurled her to death today. So Saladlno could conceive the machinery of this tragedy; but It remained to discover the man. He hnd for a while almost forgotten this necessity in watching Jenny, during her disclosure of Huldy's dying he had seen the tine trust and tenderness ln the girL Her clean devotion shone against the durk background of Huldy's ugly passions; and he hnd forgotten thnt there was still a murderer to be found, till Marm Fierce Your by her word to the sheriff brought his "What Elsa Are You Doing at Church! Asked Uncle Jos attention back again. The old woman said she would tell New England minister, with bis eye them who hnd killed Huldy; and Snla usually set on heaven ; but he does like had been whose absorbed dine, thoughts In dim abstractions, returned to a keen turkey. mother an"Why, nothing else, alertness. swered. "What would we have at tha On Marm Pierces promise, silence church besides Sunday services and for a moment held them; and the old the Christmas sermon, since we've left woman said briskly: "It's cooled off off Wednesday night prayer meetings! In here by this time. WIIL chunk up Tell you what I'd do If It were my the Ore. Bart, shut tlmt shed door I church. replied nncle, watching father (TO BE CONTINUED ) carve. "I'd keep that place warm from morning till late night all this week, All Talc Not in Powder; with somebody serving tea to any who Other Minerals Are Used might drop In, and something going on Talc Is a mineral which finds many throughout the holidays I heard Dave uses on account of Its extreme soft- aay last night there's nowhere to go ness and nnrtuousness. It la so soft bnt the movies Brother Jumped. "You wouldn't ex thnt It Is readily scratched bjr tlie Anger me to go to church every day. peer as as If bad It nail and frets slippery Ir!" been grensed. "I'd fix It ao you couldn't stay away. Its ranilllnr use as talcum toilet Would yon turn down a chance at an on these properties IHiwilor ileunds taffy pull In overalls and as well ns the absence of grit and the fact that It does not cake or become aprons! Would Frances refuse to learn ! or And lien wet. plastic Tulcuiii powder la the pure mineral don't tell me Billy and Sue wouldn't ier fumed. come In to warm tlielr toes and noses to powder and ground as and have chocolate and cookies alter borax Is added a little Soniel lines a mild dislnfretant. other somewhat coasting down that hill a dozen times! . . . A little of the dnrk meat, please, mineral Imriler nnd less unctuous Roger. are nnd such ns aeruttne gypsum "Then, since your mother doesn't somelinies sulwtltuted for the talc, and have to get you off to school this week, rhenilrnl preduets are sometimes In why shouldn't she go herself! Mary, for apeclnl purpose. Colnnlnl times our grandmothers used you've been telling me about that woman on the next farm whos lonely for fuller's earth as Imby powder. Talcum powders account for but a someone to talk to about books Why not call a meeting at the church and small part of the tale used, accordlet her tell the rest of you about them! an organ Museum News, Field ing lo or the Field Museum of Natural His- And aak the lady who used to teach For every pound or music to lead you In group singing and tory, Chicago. talcum powder forty explain the origins of the Christmas for talc ground carols pounds are used In other way. Are you leaving me out, JoeF asked father, laying down the carving Benefactor Great Groundhog tools or woodchuck, The groundhog, Not by any means I This would be r throughout the yenr. la a great a mighty good time to get your county l. ground-mpilrreof the skunks, rabbits, notes a agent to tell you what to raise next Held nits. ete New. year instead of corn and hogs Or to writer In the Indlnnnpolla hand In at chess By tlie earth everywhere, get your lie tunnels the all those big low tables I'd have way. much better digger than and Is covered with games I'll bet there are make abandoned dins Ills they. eta of anagrams and crlbbnge Just gohollies for nther creature. less able to waste In your attic ing or ton tossy to dig them. There was a "There are I" cried Dave, "and mad wlldenta nnd waive when lime It be fun, moui, to get out our Tie wouldn't life hazardous for the groundling. old phonograph to show the fellows! fox. dog, mill ntnn are about Ills mill We got some good records einiiiles now. lie will run to his dor Yes but hurry. 0 you can waah Im : or dig In, when danger thremem dishes while I use the phons toe he will fight viciously If iiiraer 'd an 'I here's going to be so much going on lii sharp fret it lev'll are good wco, itHint church, we'U be falling over I i nther to get Into It." nccu-gallo- 1 n; honk-liindlii- g candy-ninklng- d bene-moto- - !i..-i- Wasters Mswavapar Uatea, "Motherl Mother! Shouted Bounding Into tho Houss Jot would bring the turkey, I could staff l tonight." She glanced toward the kitchen wlm dove Hera comes old EmQ My stars I I'll Just give him a Jug ol Cooper that new cider and a mince pie, whea he's going home." Mrs Dodge had a bountiful nature She anticipated Emil Cooper and tha who always many other hangers-on- . showed up around Christmas; whtls the supply of pies and puddings grew less and less as the visitors departed, 1 Father's coming!" cried the children and they ran to the door em clteilly to meet him, followed by Mrs Dodge. But a look of perplexity, ab most distress spread over her face. "Where's the turkey 1" she gasped. "Fact Is " hesitated Sir. Dodge, 1 I gave It to Ned Blake on the way home for hla poor family. Mother I couldn't, couldn't help It" "Well," sighed Mrs. Dodge, with a crest-falleface, "1 guess they need l all right and wo still have the ham. A light quick atep Bounded on the n snowy porch. "Motherl Mother! shouted Jcel, bounded Into the house with a bundle See! See wha larger than himself. I have! I won the big turkey at the baxaarl" Why sour exclaimed Mr. Dodge, "that turkey le twice the slxe of tha one we gave away I" Wtatara NniftMr Untea. Blooms at Christmas Tim According to tradition the famoui thorn at Glastonbury Cathedral wa brought and planted there by Joseph of Arimatliea and waa part of the crown of thorns which was pressed upon the trow of Christ According to tradition It blooms at Chrlstmu time and the possession of n piece to aid to Insure good fortune through tbe year. t |