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Show &st and ho vS5 p v muJLovQ yM ISs P"CCV toV F W.N.U. RELEASE Zdfa Wk raised such a row about my having a soda with him, and behaving as though she'd seen me coming out of some foul dive with him I'd never nev-er have noticed what a grand guy he 1st Oh. well" They walked on In silence and at the gate to the MacTavish place, they stopped and Susie said suddenly, sud-denly, "Moggie, Is there any truth in what Stevenson says about Mary Rogers?" TIIK STOKV THUS FAR: Alicia starts rumor that trtc-re "Is lomethlng mighty peculiar" about Mrs. Fallon's sickness. It If discussed In the neighborhood and Mi-r.hi heari it. She learn that a "MIji Martha," a (liter of Mn. Fallon, Uvea with the principal and hit wife Megan felt sorry for Tom Fallon, and ha thought a irreat deal aliout tht foislp about him and his wife when the ttarted to her favorite resting place on the top of a low hill beyond the meadow. Tom Fallon was fitting on the rock sin- used a a bench when ahe arrived. When be Inquired about hli wife's health, be replied: "She If mentally III." When Met went to a qulltlnf party at Mrt. Stuart's, Alicia prlcki her aliout Tom. "Mary Rogers?" Megan repeated repeat-ed puzzled. "You know she got expelled lait month and she's gone to stay with her sister and learn to be a war workera riveter or something" Susie explained, and after a moment mo-ment blurted out. "The Stevenson er witch-says Mary Is going to have a baby, and has dropped a hint that Hill may huve tome part in the matter " Megan said explosively, disgust in her voice, "Goodness, Susie what a foul story!" Susie nodded wretchedly. dark gray of weathered drabness. But since Alicia had come, she had painted the window trim and the corners of the house a rich deep green; there were green window boxes at the windows, and the place had taken on a rather surprised perklness. "Oh, well" said Susie at last, and heaving a sigh. "If I don't get on home, mothpr will have conniption connip-tion fits and upset dad so that his dyspepsia will be worse than ever and I would like to go to the school dance the Saturday after Thanksgiving." She said good night and ent on along the road. A quarter of a n.JIe farther on, she would come to the substantial, old-fashioned red brick house that was Pleasant Grove's finest home. Susie was the only child of Lawyer Bartlett and his wife, Maysle. The Bartletts were, next to the Burns, Pleasant Grove's most substantial citizens, and Mrs. Bartlett was not one to let the town forget that for a moment. There were times when Megan felt extremely sorry for Susie and tonight to-night was one of those times. She sighed a little and went into the house, where Annie had supper almost al-most ready to serve. Her father was waiting for her, very comfortable in his smoking Jacket and slippers, provided with a new book (which had cost three dollar and a half, and which Megan Me-gan could have borrowed for him from the amall, but good local library) li-brary) to he was Inclined to oe genial. For which small favor, Megan told herself wearily, she was glad I For the next two or three days, although she told herself she wai being a fool, Megan deliberately avoided seeing Tom Fallon at all. He had been In the habit of stopping on hli way home from school late In the afternoon to get milk, butter, and eggs which he bought from her. She had always been the one to give them to him. but for the next two or three days, she saw to It tint she was somewhere else when he stopped by, and Annie, puzzled and watchful, waited on him. But on Saturday, she was In the chicken yard checking up on a setting set-ting hen who was due to hatch her brood in a few days, when Tom came to the back fence and spoke to her. "Good morning," he said, almost warily. CHAPTER III "I dunno as any of us think the 'fessor'a exactly hldin'," she said curtly. "An' I dunno's any of us think Pleasant Grove Is such a hick place, come to think of it. Some folks seem to like It. If they didn't I reck in they could go somewhere' else." Alicia colored darkly and shrugged. "I'm sorry I even mentioned men-tioned the fact that I saw you." she aid ungraciously. "But after all, the Ridge Is public property. It's not posted or anything. I had as much right to be there as you and Mr. Fallon! I was merely gathering a few Autumn leaves and some bittersweet bit-tersweet berries to put in the blue pottery bowl In my front window." Megan was trembling a little, though she knew she was being silly. The little scene with Tom Fallon had been so absurdly Innocent; yet there was something In the sly, furtive fur-tive manner of Alicia's mentioning it that had made It seem evil and scheming. Megan, still furious with Alicia and her nasty tongue, got away from the quilting party as early as he decently could. At least Mrs. Stuart understood, when, at the door he drew Megan aside and said forthrlghtly, "Now look here, Megan, Me-gan, don't pay no attention to that woman. Someone ought to take a gun to her and blow her to Kingdom Come, and that's a fact!" Halfway down the road, she heard a cheerful voice and turned a pretty girl of seventeen, her arms laden with schoolbooks, came running towards her. "HI, Meggie," said the girl, flushed and smiling, and very pretty pret-ty In a childish, round-faced, bright-eyed way. "Hello, Susie you're late getting home from school!" said Megan lightly. Megan turned, startled, and felt her face grow hot, even as she greeted him casually and matter- : of-factly. He waited for her to come to the fence before he said anxiously, "I've been a little worried and deeply puzzled. I've tried my darnedest to think what I could have done to upset you" Megan laughed and hated herself because the laugh sounded artificial. "What nonsense. Professor!" "But you have avoided me, and I thought possibly something I said or did" he began anxiously. Megan looked up at him and said quietly and frankly, "I see you haven't heard the news, Mr. Fallon!" Fal-lon!" Puzzled, noting her use of the formal for-mal prefix rather than the careless friendly "Professor" that was almost al-most a nickname, he said quickly, "News? No, I am afraid I haven't " "I feel very silly to be relaying it to you but I know Pleasant Grove : so well the attitude toward teachers, teach-ers, especially towards the principal of the school " She floundered miserably and was silent Tom said quietly, "I think you had better tell me straight. Miss MacTavlsh " Megan asked curiously, "la that aU there Is to that story, SusleT" "I know the dickens of it is that most folks agree that the Steven-on' Steven-on' not a liar but that she Ju3t has an unholy capacity for scattering scatter-ing damaging truth about where it can do the most harm!" she admitted. admit-ted. "It's Just that well, I'd hate to think he'd be mixed up In anything any-thing like that " Megan said forcefully. "Well, from my own personal experience, I'd say Alicia Stevenson has a fatal ability to pick one tiny shred off and embroider It to an incredible degree! de-gree! I went for a walk on the Ridge, with my usual three-ring circus, and quite by accident. Mr. Fallon was also there and we exchanged ex-changed a few words. But this afternoon, Alicia let drop the information infor-mation that since he and I'd spent hours together on the Ridge I must know him pretty well!" Susie nodded meaningfully. "Sure that's why I said you were now a member In good standing of my club!" she answered. Megan laughed a little. "What club Is thaf" she wanted to know. "The Club of 'Why the devil doesn't somebody do something to shut Alicia Stevenson up?' " an- "Had to stay after school and write a composition. Like a fool, I thought I could get away with not doing one according to the law of averages, I shouldn't have been called on today, but the darned law let me down. Miss Pound's a holy terror seems to look at you and know without asking a question whether you've done your homework," home-work," answered Susie bitterly. They walked together in companionable compan-ionable silence down the wide, un-paved un-paved road, until suddenly Susie aid bitterly, "I hear the Alicia dame dug her little stiletto into you and Professor Fallon today! That makes you a member, in good Standing, of my own club." Megan caught her breath and topped still. "How on earth did you hear " she began in amazement, Susie's little chuckle was dry and quite without mirth. "Oh It's all over the place," she said. "By supper time, there won't be a man, woman or child within a mile of the place that won't know you've been meeting the professor secretly in the woods " "Susie." Megan walled. 'That's not true " "Of course not but d'you think for a minute that's going to stop the story? Don't be a twerp, Meg-gie Meg-gie you know it won't!" said Susie. "It wasn't true that I was sneaking off to meet Bill Esmond either but you'd have a hard time convincing con-vincing anybody in this town that it Isn't! Just because one afternoon I happened to run into him at the county aeat and had a aoda with him. My mother hit the roof, on account of because Pill's folks are not well, not quite a high hat a mother thinks we ought to be" Her young voice trembled a little and he blinked hard to clear her yes of threatened tears. Megan asked curiously. "I that 11 there is to that story. Susie?" Susie flushed and her eyes were stormy. swered Susie. "It's composed of practically every man, woman and child within a radius of ten miles of Pleasant Grove. Personally, I'd like to see her with her throat cut from ear to ear!" "Susie!" gasped Megan, between shock and pity for the girl whose bloodthirsty words were at such comical variance with her Dresden china prettlness, her young, smooth flesh and shining blue eyes and golden hair. "Oh, It won't happen, of course,'' said Susie ruefully. "People like that live to a ripe old age and then turn Into hen's teeth! They never dle or have accidents!" "There seems to be a rumor about that you and I have been meeting secretly on the Ridge" She let him b va It almost in a single breath. Tom stared at her as though he thought she had lost her mind. And then his face hardened and his eyes ; blazed and he said through his teeth, "Where In blazes who'd try to start a He like that?" Megan made a weary little gesture. ges-ture. "It's too silly and too cheap to notice," she pointed out to him. j "Except that since you are new I here and this Is your first year oh, I feel an utter fool about the whole thing. But I thought It would oe i better If we well, we've done nothing noth-ing to start gossip, so It seems little difficult to know how to stop it-" Megan put an arm about the slim shoulders and gave Susie a little hug. "Well, don't let her get you down, Susie. After all. everybody knows what she's like." "Sure and when she sticks that barbed tongue of hers into their own affairs, they say. 'But of course, that's not true." But when she's stabbing somebody else they say, "Now, I wonder' " Susie pointed out with such truth that Megan could only agree with her soberly. For a little while they stood In silence, both of them looking uneasily uneas-ily across the road and to the shabby shab-by little old cottage where lighted windows proved that Alicia was at home. The cottage set well back from the road and there were a few trees surrounding it. It was a square, boxlike house, never painted, paint-ed, o that its walls were a rough, "Absolutely! Up to then," she sdded. "Oh, sure, I liked Bill we til did! He was an honor tudent, and the kids were crazy about him nd he played football like nobody's business but I'd never had a date with him in my life. How could I, when dad and mother practically lock me up nights? But that afternoon, after-noon, mother was sick with a headache, head-ache, and she wanted some stuff from the county seat that Burns didn't have, and I took the car and drove over. And I ran Into Bill. He'd just had his physical and was 11 but ready to be taken Into the adet Air Corps, and we celebrated celebrat-ed by having a soda." Susie drew a deep breath and laid quietly, "Bill's quite a fellow!" fel-low!" She laughed and said, "May-Oe "May-Oe I ought to be grateful to the Stevenson wencb if ah hadn't Tom said sternly, "Who started this talk?" "Mrs. Stevenson," answered Megan Me-gan frankly. "She happened to bo on the Ridge the afternoon we met by accident, and chose to believe that we were meeting there regularlyand regu-larlyand as secretly as possible "But that's nonsense she could not possibly believe anything o so darned silly!" Tom exploded. "I don't think she really believes It, but she seems to get quite a lot of pleasure out of dropping little significant remarks." Puzzled, Tom said, "Who Is this Mrs. Stevenson? I suppose she has a child In school, but I don't seem 0 recall the name, though It's not unusual, of course." (TO BE CONTINUED) |
