Show I. I TELEGRAM FUGITIVE FICTION TIVE HEIRESS HEIRE I Priscilla Trl By Wayne Wayne- ayne CAST OF CHARACTERS Pauline Polly McDale the fugitive heiress sole Bole Inheritor of McDale mU- mU lions Peter Harrington handsome college graduate Helen Lane Pete Pete's childhood sweet- sweet heart bean Aunt Hester his only relative In preceding chapters Polly In love with Pete whom she first saw law working near her parents' parents estate has hILI fled fied from her luxurious home to be near him In Los Angeles they meet she as waitress In a restaurant he as a customer He confides that the next day he Is leaving via trailer for the Iowa farm of his youth where he hopes to marry Helen During the night Polly stows away In Inthe Inthe Inthe the trailer Miles allies out of Los Angeles Pete finds her He lle consents to her going along believing the girl poor and friendless Together they drive toward North Platte Neb where Aunt Hester Is waiting The maiden aunt whose friendship Polly Folly instantly wins adds gaiety to the expedition as they drive on toward Iowa Pollys Polly's only are Petes Pete's Incessant talk about Helen and the fact that newspapers which she buys hurriedly when atone alone are reporting reporting re- re porting her abduction To allay her mothers mother's and grandfathers grandfather's fears she telephones the latter by long distance Thus set mentally at east she rejoins Pete and Aunt Hester In time the three approach their future home borne a prosperous Iowa farm Now read chapter chapter chapter chap chap- ter No 12 CHAPTER TWELVE Aunt Hester wept with joy then when near noon Peter stopped his hiscar hiscar hiscar car and trailer in front of ot the old home It looks exactly as it looked when we went away Except that it has an in appearance Peter suggested The house did have an in appearance To be sure the window curtains were open t to let letin letin in the sun smoke curled from front the tall tail chimney and a middle aged woman hurried to open the door Big House 9 If Seems Uninhabitable Polly decided ia in the bare minute that it took to go from the car to the front door that the reason the big hospitable house seemed uninhabited uninhabited uninhabited habited was because there were Ino no chickens about no cows or horses in the lot back of the tho car carto carto carto to look at them curiously But all of this would be changed with the coming of the folks who ho owned the place Helen would have her plans too Even in this minute of homecoming homecoming homecoming home home- coming with the owners of the big bighouse bighouse bighouse house that unpleasant thought in intruded intruded intruded in- in itself upon Polly Helen w. w uld have her ideas of how the place would look 1001 The middle aged woman who opened the door for them proved to be Helens Helen's mother She was a pleasant affable woman who l kept ept up a running fire of conversation My goodness and here you are already Helen said you'd be just justas as like as not to come the very minute she got away She took Aunt Hester by the hand and fairly carried her into the big living room Arc Are you tired My you dont don't look a minute minute min mm- ute uto older than you did when you went away from here You haven't changed a mite You haven't changed either Cora Miss Harrington said Cora was very pleased at that And my goodness this is Peter all grown up Peter you certainly dont don't look like e you did when you went away You were just a little I sad-eyed sad boy My I can just remember remember remember re re- re- re member how you looked all broken broken bro bro- ken hearted and everything Conver Conversation Turns To Happier Things Peters grown up Aunt Hester said trying to get the conversation conversation conversation conversa conversa- tion into happier channels Mrs Lane this is Polly Murphy Polly is acting as a well a-well well as a kind of companion nurse for me Polly this is Mrs Lane Helens Helen's mother You have heard us mention Helen I Polly Folly extended her hand So this was Helens Helen's mother Of a sudden Polly realized d how wild the theS S Jo adventure really was that she had come ome upon She was in love with Peter Harrington Even the few short days she had known him proved unalterably that she lov loved d him And coming here to the place of his early life meeting meeting meeting meet meet- ing his sweethearts sweetheart's mother brought the girl who stood between them vividly to mind Helen will be glad to see you Mrs Lane chattered As I was telling you she just drove into town to get an order of groceries We didn't think you'd be pulling in here until late this afternoon and I told her shed she'd just as well drive into town and lay in a stock of groceries for you I told her shed she'd better be getting a little tice From what Ive I've been hearing about the letters that have been flying back and forth from Iowa to California and then from California California Cali Call fornia back to Iowa Helen had just as well be getting her hand handin in at ordering the supplies over here What do you say Aunt Hester and Helens Helen's mother nudged Miss Harrington suggestively They took off their wraps now and Mrs Lane showed them the closet off the hall I suppose youve you've lived in so many grand California places that an Iowa farmhouse wont won't seem very fine to you now Aunt Hester Ive lived in a good man many California California California Cal Cal- places places and and I loved them too but this Iowa farmhouse is goIng going going go go- ing to seem exactly like home to me When Helen told me you rou were coming I told her wed we'd just come over and air everything out nice Of course weve we've looked after everything everything ev ev- ev but you cant can't get a house ready in a short time after it hasn't been lived in for years And too I didn't know exactly how you wanted it We Ve Ve didn't know either Aunt Helen said I suppose it will just depend on the plans of the young oung people Just so we have rooms and beds to sleep in We can start housel housekeeping gradually Everything Is Just About Ready Everything V is 15 just as ready V asI as asI I could get it garrulous Mrs Irs Lane told them Then Ill I'll unpack the tle trailer Peter declared And Ill I'll hurry up and get on ona ona a a. mite of lunch for you But tell me have you had your our lunch Not yet et Aunt Hester laughed When we got so near home we just l kept ept coming we were vere so anxious anxious ious bus to get here While the two older people chatted and put the lunch on the table Polly hurried out to help Peter They unpacked the tho bags and carried them into the house and then Peter drove the trailer around into the back yard Polly opened all the cunning drawers of the kitchen cabinet and the wee dressing table that the trailer boasted to make sure that none of Aunt Hesters Hester's belongings or Peters Peter's or her own remained in them She stepped out of the trailer as Peter went to lean over the gate that separated the neat back yard from the barn lot A white picket fence firm and in good repair a al although though needing paint separated the two yards Ill be plenty busy all spring Peter mused aloud Mr Lane has written me about how he has farmed the land but of course cours since the house has been vacant he lie hasn't done anything very much about it here The house needs paint and so sodo sodo sodo do the fences But well we'll get it all done dono Father had a model farm I mean to have one too Getting the spring planting done comes first I imagine Therell There'll be time enough in the fall to look after after after af af- af- af ter the house repairs Polly asked You Talk as asIf asIf asIf If Experienced Peter grinned You talk like an experienced farm woman To hear you one would think you'd raised little chickens and fed runt pigs on the bottle and taught young calves to drink instead of taking meal orders in a coffee shop and finding out which customer wants ice tea and which chooses coffee Pollys Polly's face was wistful I feel as though Id I'd lived here all my life And yet I dont don't remember ever being on a big farm like this before Your Aunt Hester said there was so much in heredity She said your father before you was determined to be a farmer and now nov here you are also determined to be a farmer And you'd like to be a farmer too Polly nodded My grandparents were you know she told him soft soft- t ly In Iowa Of course I cant can't remember but Ive I've heard them speak of it many times Grandfather Grandfather Grandfather Grand Grand- father owned hundreds and hundreds hundreds hundreds hun hun- of acres He went into the near near-by county seat town to to-to to to work But grandmother grandmother grandmother grand grand- mother never left the farm She made him come back and forth and she managed the big home farm And then after the war farm values val vai- ues dropped We Ve went to Cali Cali- fornia I 1 see Pete thought he under under- stood Her grandparents had probably probably probably ably lost everything they possessed and like so many other hopeful people gone west est to recoup their fortunes But they had never succeeded This lovely sprite of a g girl irl rl working working working work work- ing in a coffee shop carrying great trays was mute evidence that they had not succeeded Suddenly he put his big hand handover handover over oer her tiny hand as it rested lightly light light- ly on the top railing of the gate And so your farm heritage crops out Youre You're coming back to the soil too Are you ou going to like it little redhead Peter Thinks Thinks' Helen Is Beautiful Polly nodded Her eyes misted over suddenly with tears He had spoken so gently It was almost as though no Helen stood between them almost as though hand in hand they might go on into this new life together Im going to love it Peter she said softly Aunt Hester and I talked it all over Were We're going to raise a lot of little chickens ens like lik your mother did Aunt Hester Hesler knows exactly how She says ays its it's late but that we can get the setting hens or maybe day old chicks s and she says even even if it is rather lato we can probably probably probably ably have good plump fries by the I late summer and were we're going to have a garden you garden you know what she calls a house garden with lettuce and radishes and green onions and 1 beets and things I And she says well we'll put in a lot of flowers I love flowers and I think I can make them grow Ive I've Ive I've-I've Ive I've watched how other people made them grow and I think think- She stopped the quick breathless rush of confidence There had come a shrill tooting of the horn and a small car came turning in at the drive It stopped with a quick I jolt and a grinding of the bral brakes es as though the driver could scarcely wait to stop normally Now a tall girl got out of the car hastily slammed the door behind her and came hurrying up the walk toward them Even as sho she came Polly could see that she sho was a tall s iy I V V V walked like a beautiful girl She queen absolutely sure of her beautY and of her poise W WHelen Helen Peter said and took on 00 one j step toward the girl Continued Monday 1 for The 11 |