OCR Text |
Show THE PAYSON CHRONICLE, PAYSON. UTAH on Aces part, a dosire to conqutr her; arid to conquer her was, at once, to begin to tire of her. Rumors of his conquests, both at home and abroad, choked our tea talk. For the last few years, other rumors had spread reports of financial embarrassment. It was said that Ace had run through all his patrimony and his various inheritances; that each year increasingly, he spent more than he earned. And then occurred the strange complication to which I have already twice referred. Molly Eames came back from a year in Europe the most beautiful girl that Satuit had ever produced. In three months she was engaged to Walter Treadway, Acc's secretary. It seemed to everybodj that they were passionately in love and yet after six months Molly broke her engagement to Walter. Six months later, she became engaged to Ace No one of us who had known once, SYNOPSIS lives in h , a tle Man, with twoan I Wil- rtrssie the ,t rt'iu'tr, which oc-S- tt to Mary live ear w who every One of e party. n is murdered. (,arv and their d her husband . !ir o Marden and a er, Caro Prentiss, e'an who was born in Pa il and Lora Eamei M '!y. Molly was man, Ace Blaikie. been engaged to Walter aecre-,- t' ho hr 1 teen Blaikiea the er pavement was suddenly Other neigh-Fanw- e nd he had hit town. ther sisters, Flora, a m i a In! ar Margaret. All but the tffii 'ater, i ac dryaT ens. ' ' The wooded part the Spinney. In it ed the Little House. (g co u, c das of the masquerade excitement 5 Mary de.i'ed to take Sylvia, iho ohseriant child. Caro Pren-- j , nnlly M i'l v Eatnes drop in during the Soon si Mil'y s'ems irrnes and Bhikie, Doctor Marden n, a friend of Aces, alight, ice impatient to leave and they all At the party Sylvia iden-ic- h of the mashed guests as they d as Julius Caesar, Ace cones jmes a; per s as a Snow Queen, acid by a man in armor whom Sylvia s as tta'ter Treadway. They dance Caro Prentiss and in Revolutionary dressed fcontm-oi-ldictor wearing jeweled shoe tie giests unmask, Ace, ft JEand M i'y base disippeared. Sarah ft fjtmfiles ti Mrry that someone he Little had snfnt the night 'n vjl tf Sdua finds a shoe buckle in the a md Mary into it jewel box aifttts it. Sarah walks down to the .S use and returns screaming. She rl Ace P'nk e stabbed to death in b nrev Marv summons Patrick ch ef of ; lire, who had been a of hers and Ace'. i t S ITw nid Continued Y TURD C$ one. 5 which I might de-a- s late babyhood provides ii no picture of Ace, although sible that I did see him then lay school, or on the beach, y the boys had shortened his w England name of Asa to little knew how appropriate uckname was to become. exactly eight when I lecame conscious of his ce. I remember perfect-h- e looked the first time 1 iservant eyes on him. The s had spent that summer in Ace was their only child period turally It sl ng lifcii J mtMl J their pride and joy. might be that! There was od in his Life when, whatever casion, he wasnt the most me male creature present, ist striking and debonair, ss typical of Ace that not d he appear the first day of : wearing STOW Scottish costume a his mother had bought in Ed-it was typical of him that jrr'ed it off with distinction h I mplete unconsciousness. S,Pse that every other girl class fell dead in love with flat day. 1 did not, however. cv 3y-ye- s, even then, Mark nllfand I were meeting at the pWoads to go to school togeth broke hearts left and right cocksure pilgrimage through Mm glad he did not break He Z7 ofnever caused me even a heartache. re and more of Ace, e became great friends, Pertained and inter He was fascinating- OBrien and I were -- -b spirits in our class. Ntj. as I have said, beat me in and was Nta !jfUr 3chu:arshlP tle llea& However, n he wes salutatorian, I 1 FJ'cdictorian. Ace never stud-nev- lit Ef?'. er in danger of ocad of the class, but Mr. j e fa!1 be,ow the mid- Bow vi . so far above a rmracle. He had a good n instant and retentive Anything he could read ecn minutes before class he could remember. The 'WlV; Wlm:ng audacity and a He was be 'Jf discmi.r iet toe teachers I , , lift . O jP4oredhii have E0ne ar- but he ExceP his VentUre aU he out of hv to pffl anlaikpeS tj. been P1ymouth ls "dthout hhUSe CardeS ilUWul firP 4 . Their ,ad ,aIway Vh Pride s.de toe fec book and , 01 Satuit f the inherit-cture- s, turnture, nearly two 'll3. had always cen- - had AtryPS?n Ace began to ParuesLS U waa chil and the like; later it was dances and plenty of them. Ace went to Harvard; Harvard was a tradition in the Blaikie family. He went to Harvard Medical. Instead of finishing off in Germany, as most doctors did in those days, he chose to study in Pans. He was there when the World war broke. In the autumn he joined the Foreign Legion. He was wounded that winter; when he recovered, he volunteered for aviation. He flew with the French army, until we entered the war. Then he joined our army. He became an ace-str- ange how life fulfilled the prophecy of his nickname! He had five enemy planes on his record. He believed, himself, that he had brought down two or three more; but that, he could not prove. When he came back from France, the town gave him a party no one in Satuit missed 1L We asked him to come in uniform wearing all his decorations the French and Belgian Croix de Guerre, the Militaire, the Legion dHon-neu- r and the D.S.C. I thought him, that night, the handsomest male creature I ever laid eyes on. Then Ace settled down to a practice in Satuit. Of course he could not make money in so small a place, but instantly he became a great success. Personality helped here, his own tremendous strength, his robust vitality. For with Aces entrance to a sick-roocame a air. But pergust of health-givinhaps his greatest asset was that sympathy with the sick, the old, the weary and the discouraged. It s even helped that he liked so much. However fathers felt, mothers always knew an infinite pride when they pleased Doctor Blaikie by bringing forth a girL But for other reasons, the countryside adored Ace. One was his reckless generosity. Anybody who wanted to sell tickets, or to get up a fund for charitable purposes made a bee-lin- e for Ace. He understood human nature on the side of frailty perfectly. Mothers of girls in trouble, fathers of boys in trouble went at once to Ace, to get him to treat with seducers and police. Nothing illustrates Ace more perfectly than the story of his treatment of Tom Boylan. Tom was .he village drunk. Ace was always having to take care of him, free of course Tom had no money for alcoholism. Once he brought Tom Yet through delirium tremens. when Tom got well, Ace always gave him his first drink after Tom had begged long enough for it. And yet . . . And yet . . . Something had happened to Ace I dont mean to his body. Something had happened to his soul. In the meantime, I had married Mark Avery. I used to talk Ace over with him. My husband, who was a nerve specialist like Doctor Geary, with an office in Boston, had served as a physician in the World war. He had great wisdom. He said to me once, Mary, the strange thing about war is that it frequently ruins good men and rehabilitates bad ones. Men are returning to this country on every transport, who, if they had not been caught at the right moment by the discipline of an army, would have spent most of their lives in jaiL On the other hand, war frequently ruins able men its rigid discipline, its inherent immorality. War must have been bad medicine for Ace. It must have unloosed something in him that he had always held in abeyance before. At any rate, from the time he came back, he seemed to me to disintegrate. Not physically I To the very end, he kept his magnificent body in condition. He was always inheriting money. Yet no matter how much company filled the huge Blaikie house, Ace was always leaving on sudden calls. How often when I have been there, he has returned with a wearied but triumphant, A big eleven-poun- d boy I or A nice little girll Once and this was the apex of Girl twins! his medical pride The countryside always surged with gossip about Ace. He was, had always been, would always be a terrific I use the word of my generation-flirt I will not say that he desired all women, but 1 will say that any pretty woman seemed to serve as a challenge to him. Why, when Mark first began regularly to specialize on me, Ace looked upon that as a challenge! I laughed his tentative wooing out of existence. Along with this tremendous susceptibility, let me call it although it wasnt exactly that came an equally tremendous fickleness. As I have hinted, to sea a pretty woman meant, at Me-dail- le g girl-babie- Ace, no one of us who loved Molly felt happy over this turn of events But one th.ng Ace brought to us from the war which meant more to Satuit as a whole than all his decorations and that was his fnend, Bruce Hexson. Bruce Hexson was a lawyer. He was in Paris when the war broke and volunteered immediately to drive an ambulance for the French army. He met Ace in the hospital When we entered the war he volunteered for aviation. The two men served In the same squadron. Long before the Armistice, they had become inseparable pals Bruce, too, was a man of private fortune. He lived in Pennsylvania. He came regularly every summer to Satuit and visited Ace for two months at a time. And then suddenly an unexpected thing happened to him. To use the old pat phrase Bruce got religion, but not somehow in the usual sense. Ace always avoided talking about his friends spiritual seizure, but he told me once that he attributed Bruces frenzy to the long strain of the war. If he had been wounded once, he said to me, it would have been better for him. Aviators often went haywire. The officers watched us like doctors. The instant any one of us showed the first sign of psychological strain, they gave him a long leave in Pans. If a man were slightly wounded, the change to the hospital helped. Bruce never got a pip; he never showed any Thats signs of nerve breakage. my explanation. Whatever the reason, the result was definite and permanent Bruce Hexsons whole life changed. He Bruce Rented the Ace. Camp From came to Satuit every year, but now for the whole summer. He did not, as formerly, live with Ace. Ace owned a little camp on the Indian river. Like everything Ace touched, it was charming and convenient Bruce rented the camp from Ace-li-ved there with his two colored servants, Adah Silverston and Berry Vale. Bruce Hexson had become a social fixture in summer Satuit Nowadays he never came to our tenparties, but always, broodingly der, we felt him there. SUNDAY I remembered hearing the clock strike four before I fell asleep that like night But once asleep I layAftera log for perhaps an hour. ward I remembered that early in the morning, just after dawn, I awoke with a searing thirst Gradually, I pulled myself up out of bed and staggered to the bathroom. On my way back to bed I paused to look out the window. A grayish fog covered the landscape. Trees blurred shadowy through it like foliage in a faded photographic film. Yet motion caught my dead eyes. Down below, emergI sa- w- But ing from the Spinney. not anticipate here; for I must what I saw made but a fleeting impression on my sleep clogged consciousness. Still bemused, I fell into bed and into another deep slumber. I forIt was got entirely what I saw. which next voice little Sylvias awakened me. "Come, get in bed with me, my down petl I invited. She snuggled close beside me. putting Dorinda Belle between us on the pillow Did you hae a nice time with Aunt Mattie? I asked Oh yes, Aunt Mary. Am t Mat-liput a little pitcher of crcdin in front of my plate just for n.e " What time did Aunt Matt e a id Uncle Peter get home Iasi u t " I don't know. Cadd.e tut me and Dorinda Belle to bed Lelme e Like u gav audition to luur all "a t 'round ' waidrobe? Ot coui so they came." Jfi'i would! Then take a tip and And so you did not see Aunt kr,.t this blouse. You'll Mattie and Uncle Peter until tins kwe the fetching laeiness of a pointed morning? juke, so prettily set olT by plain "No. They came into my ro m stockinette stitch, and are sure to and they hugged me and kn-e- i adore the snug fit of ribbing 'cross me. Oh I almost forgot. Am t Mattie told me to tell you that she wanted to come oer to ste uu after breakfast as soon as p ism-bl- e rcacheu o it and touched the Sylvia, I said, putting ruv arm about her and drawn. g her closer, do you remember he. w you danced with Doctor Ace at the masquerade? Sparkles gathered in Syhias Oh yes, I remembei lie eyes. couldn't guess who I was. He tra d and he tried and he tried, but he I Couldn't. Doctor Ace has gone awn, I said to her. Hes gone away f r a long, long time. But I want you to remember, as lung as ja u lie, how he looked and how kind he has always been to you. Fuemse me you won't forget him. Oh, I'll never forget Doctor Ace," Sylvia vowed easily enough. She did not ask me where Ace had Tattem 5G33 the mark of great minds tu bay many things in a few words, so it is that of little minds to use many words to say nothing. As it is the blouse and of all stitches used; material requirements. To obtain this pattern send 15 cents in stamps or coins (coins preferred) to The Sewing Circle Household Arts Dept., 259 W. Foutteenth St., New York. N. Y. Write plainly pattern number, your name and address. La Rochefoucauld. AM THE FAMOUS O'CEDAR MOP. THE WORLD'S MOST POPULAR HOUSEKEEPING HELPER. I All Is Not Go!d- For 50 years one of the most popular exhibits in Blackburn museum has been a nugget of pure Australian gold weighing 7'i ounces. Tempted by the high price of gold, the museum committee recently obtained the permission of the council to sell it. The gold was bent to a London firm of assayers, who replied that the nugget consists merely of braziers metal and lead, and does not contain a particle of gold. bell. Minds, Few Words Big Smart Knit Blouse and Skirt WORK DUST-NEVE- THE FAST-HOL- SCATTER IT. R I'M EASY TO WASH. the hips. Ribbing also bands the simple sleeves. Knit it of string or yarn, in one of the new shades In pattern 5G55 you will find instructions for making the blouse and skirt in sizes an illustration of and soft-color- I 16-1- gone. Sarah came in with my tray. Now run downstairs to the piazI bade Sylvia. And don't za, leave it without asking me. Sarah did not seem herself. The deep umber of her flesh still showed a tallowy quality. I hope you feel better this morn-ninMrs. Avery," she said. I feel rested, Sarah, but you dont seem so very spry. I feel that were all under suspicion! Sarah commented somberly. "Everybody on this Head we women as well as the men. I made myself smile. We dont have to worry, Sarah, I reassured her. Nobody in this household has to worry. Doctor Geary nays Doctor Blaikie was murdered somewhere about midnight probably before. We all have alibis. And then, Sarah, it seems to me very unlikely that a woman could have committed this crime. How could a woman have stabbed a man so tall and big as Ace Blaikie? A woman whos big enough and mad enough, Mrs. Avery can do anything. "Will you call up Mrs. Stow at once, Sarah," I asked, and tell her that Im dressing now and to come over here as soon as she wants. "Yes, Mrs. Avery. 1 suppose everybodys been on the telephone. Everybody. Every Boston papers tried to get you, but I said you were still sleeping." Thats right, Sarah. Dont let anybody get to me today except long distance of course. Theres a stack of telegrams, Mrs. Avery. Ill look at them later. I bathed and dressed swiftly, vent downstairs. Almost Instantly Mattie Stow from the came into the living-roohaU. We kissed, then stood off and stared appraisingly at each other. as I do, You look as washed-ou- t Mattie commented. Mary! If I look as I feel, I said. You look all of that, Mary. Its the most horrible experience of my Sometimes I feel as lifetime. though Id never get over it! I could only helpHorrible! lessly echo. What time did you go home, Mary? I can remember so little, clearly. I described our movements Sylvies and mine in detail Peter and I dressed at the Bray We left our house, Mattie said. eight and place at about half-pas- t ten. about at back Naturally, got we never left the house again. NoShe body left the house but stopped suddenly. It was her own thought, dogging her words, that had caught her up. Of course Ace left before the unmasking because we never saw him again, Mattie glided swiftly. It puts an end to our masquerades, Mattie ended lifelessly. 1 could never give another one. The telephone buzzed. Instinctively I arose. But before I could get the extension on the piazza. I heard Sarah at the hall telephone I took up the receiver. Patrick O'Briens This is the chief of voice said, police speaking. Can I vulk with Mrs. Avery? This is Mary, Patrick, I broke 8 33-4- 0; 4-PIE- Xltxrle SILVER SET CE for only 25c complete with It's a Good Start He who puts his best foot forward stands the best chance of getting there with both feet. There is always a right way to settle our problems, but most of our troubles are caused by trying to avoid that way. It is far better to fail in a good cause than to succeed in a bad one. If it were not for folly, it would be hard to define wisdom. Improvement From Work The more one works the better one works and the more one wants to work. The more one produces the more capable one grows. They say people who make promises lightly will eventually pay heavily. Hardly. They generally break their promises, light ly, too. your purchase of one can of B. T. Babbitts Nationally Known Brand of Lye Set-lniThis lovely pure silver-plate- d fe, fork, eoup spoon and teaspoon in aristo-crati- c Empire design is offered solely to get you to try the pure brands of lye with lUO uses, shown at right. Use lye for cleaning clogged and froion drain pipes, for making finer soap, for sweetening swill, etc. Youll use no other Lye once to B. T. Babbitt, Inc., Dept. WN, 386 Fourth Ave., New York City, N. Y. Your Set will reach you promptly, postage paid. Youll thank us lor the Set and for introducing these brands of Lye to you. OFFER GOOD How to Cet Your Silver Set To get your 4 piece Silver Set, merely send the band from any can of Lye shown at right, with 2"c (to cover handling, mailing, etc.) with your name and address WITH Saw-Se- t BABBITTS 'won IrYtf EITHER BRAND Babbitt AkUtlU what's that? You want to get MARRIED? WELL I SHOULD SANOT GRACE GO TO Vou ROOM I AND YOU, Ydung man -- - get out And stay in. Oh, how are you this morning, Patrick asked. after a while," Mary? Well, I slept 1 answered. It was a tough break, Mary I called happening on your place! see you up to ask if I could come to for a few minutes. Im at Joe Gearys." I know youll have to be here all the time, Patrick. Don't even bother to telephone. Come whenever you must If I'm not at home, Sarah will take care of you Mat tie is here. (TO BE - w -- DOESN'T HELP YOU I COTIlll YVapping, Part of Lon Ion of me o.t Wapping is the name the Ti a section of London hch-lo-where many of the doclt are ; as fdionus histor.rallv cated It is the place where p, idles were for- merly hanged. MONEY BACK 'YOUR IF SWITCHING TO POSTdM yy i If you are one of those who ennnotsafely test. drink coffee. ..try Posttims y can of Postum and drink it instead of coffee for j 30-da- Buy a one full month. If., after 90 r!aye...yoa do not ft cl better, return the top of the Postum ccntainer to General Foods, Battle Creek, Michigan, nnd we w,ll cheerfully refund G. F. Cerp. I.'cen-e- o Cep- - IT Kirg Fe'i,sFyrd;cate, the full purchase price, plus postage! (If you live in Canada, address General Foods, Ltd.. Cobourg, Ont.) Give Postum a fair trial... drink it for fhe full 30 days! Postum contains no caffein.lt is simply whole wheat and bran, roasted and slightly sweetened. Postum comes in two forms... Postum Cereal, the kind you boil ot percolate., and Instant Postum. made instantly in the cup. It is economical, easy to make and delicious. You may miss coffee at first, but after 30 days, flavor. youll love Postum for its own nth, A General roods product tJ?uj o.Tc, exfircs June 30, 1937 ) V |