Show we E 0 1 VA L E by FRANK FILSON 5 impose it la human n nature to be fortunes of 0 our u r tu rested sted in 1 a and that at excuses the loff beings everybody in Afe Merl valo frest rest that walsh it was not ant jenny Y k in spirit 0 of f unkInd unkindness nesB iltis ed by an any e all 11 wanted to to see how jenny ald ld take it tank stockleigh Stock elgh leigh and hla ble bride were back to merivale Merl vale ing 00 had been pre pretty tty once that enny before S she I 1 a years yeara 3 ten look at now though some ch h to aws ight aught that she had charm dut but last muc much h beyond rm ve re n at t least ml qualify that by what our mayor doc will bating ale said after thirty five he said bald big 9 must have davo matronly charm ao oman nian cause akset the he girlish cha charm rin has grown rate hi ae e that boro out his reputation seak the ie village wiseacre and jenny as 13 still slim and girlish but she was owing into f a middle aged woman ivel yet it seem so long since tank ank had bad been madly in love with er r she was a lighthearted light hearted girl in ose lose days she had known prank frank nce ace they wore children but she re isted him nobody exactly know sho she in love za by ay somo boni 0 thought was th ith neer do well jim furber any ay frank elgh went west and PO ow he be was returning the owner of montana copper mine and a mil all ie e dalre several times over ile he had sought squire grays graya house and an ounces that he and hla his wife were wring ming back to make merivale Merl vale their tone he and his wifel lie he had married i montana fontana girl and that was one of pe a things we wanted to know how enny would take it does need bourage for a maiden indy of thirty I 1 stood up and tried to speak five in not very flourishing circumstances to look her rejected lover in the face when lie he comes home with a wife and several millions of dollars as well especially when people thought she had been in love with jim furber who was serving a ten years sentence in the penitentiary for stealing fifty thousand dollars from the bank that had bad employed him nobody know knew for certain that jenny had cared for jim but anyway there he was shut up behind prison walls for a goodish part it if his working life would jenny go to the train we were frankly curious wo we wanted to be there when jenny met frank there was to be a town welcome and a spread for tile the and his bis wife in doc williams house yes ves jenny was going to the station the whole of Merl Mor vales ivales inhabitants had gone trooping down and all the offices were closed you see it often a millionaire comes to merivale Mer ivalo to settle down and wo we had bad never had a millionaire before who went out of f the village b a penniless youth jenny and prank frank that was the absorbing problem when wo we heard she was going nothing could have restrained us it seemed endless that waiting but at last the train steamed in frank and ills hla wife were in the front carriage ho if jumped down like a boy and swung a pretty buxom lady to her feet fet and stood staring at the crowd then he gave a whoop and stretched out his hand band to tile the mayor my ily but im glad to see you he be yelled dont tell me youre not pete redheaded red headed beaded peto pete who used to go fishing with me address 0 of elconin elco niB what mayor petel patel mayor an and doctor williams catch me somebody then ho he presented doc to his wife and soon wo we were all thronging round the couple and giving them the best 1 welcome in Meil vale and jenny enny was blushing like a schoolgirl and before anybody knew what was happening jenny had kissed frank and frank had kissed her and jenny had kissed mrs frank and mrs prank had kissed her too we were all so excited about this that nobody noticed the thin tired looking man with the closely cropped hair who had got out of the samo same coach and now stood behind prank frank elgh ills hla eyes roaming restlessly about until they lit on jennys but suddenly jenny sprang forward and in a moment the thin man mail had liar hor to 1 I ills his arms anns and she bho was crying up upon ills his shoulder and then they begar bega kissing each other right lu in front of the crowd there was it a sort of universal gasp of stupefaction frank stockleigh Stock elgh leigh cleared his hia throat and then he looking at the crowd any more but only at jenny walsh and the tha thin man who was still hugging bugging tier her tho the gasp was succeeded by a breathless silence then mayor williams peered hard into the thin mans face and suddenly lie he cried jim furber as I 1 am al aabol 0 1 ile iio spun round and jenny too and she eho was looking at us with a kind of gentle defiance in her eyes and they were holding each others hands why I 1 thought you were I 1 thought you were stammered doc williams and that was as tar far us as lie he could get ile ho exactly tell him ho bei thought lie he was in prison and yet the surprise surp riso of jims reappearance and his appearance in franks franka company made the mayor forget himself yes I 1 was answered jim looking nt at him with tho the blinking gaze of a man who been it IL tho the free air as much as lie he should hav hava hata a been f was in ili the penitentiary eight years but and ho he broke off in a sort eort of choking sob arid and jonny jenny linked her arm through his and then for once mayor williams did the right thing jim you and mr and mrs stock leagh are going to be my guests at dinner he said so come coma along all of you straight up tip to the house and you of course miss jenny ho he continued but it was not until the dinner was over that the mystery was explained and it was frank elgh who cleared it up friends he be bean and there was something in ills his tone which checked the air of jollity 1 I am bringing back to you not only my wife here fiero he bowed toward her but also your fellow citizen mr air furber you probably know the sad circumstances connected with his disappearance let me say that after eight years imprisonment his innocence has been proved by the confession of a dying man by his own desire mr furber has preferred to remain under a stigma rather than drag the name of the dead mans relatives into publicity you cannot give him back those eight years hut but you can take him into your hearts in a moment every man there and every woman too was crowding around jim shaking his hand and I 1 think in that moment the memory of those eight years fell from his mind and he became a normal man again lie ile stood up and tried to speak after several attempts be found his voice thanks to frank elgh he said it was he be gentlemen who discovered what had happened to me and traveled east and spent thousands of dollars proving my innocence and I 1 ask you to drink to drink to frank and his bride and and my wife whom you know as miss walsh you see 11 he added choking more and more we were married when 1 I 1 I was in prison eight years ago copyright IM by W 0 chapman |