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Show EEr ' BBBMWBBBBBBIMBBBBBHBBB w , I j BY MARGARET MAYO S& iBfetk M l CPYRICUT. 1933. BV.DODD. MEAD AND COMPANY y2 Ji drtSaWJ i (Continued from last week.) H I nve on ana tins parsonage, rune xrec, f to live In. Any guests tlmt I may have K Itorn nrii OV ril"ft nml not nxiu ett ( the cnurcn. Ucmcmber tlmt, please." B There was an embarrassing silence. B ". The doncons recalled tlmt tho pastor's B salary was slightly In arrears. Elvor-II Elvor-II son coughed meekly. Stroug started. t "You keep out of this, Elversonl" ho cried. "I'm runnln this affair, and 1 ain't forgettln my duty nor the parson's." par-son's." "I shnll endeavor to do my duty as I sec It," answered Douglas, turning away and dismissing tho matter. i "Your duty is to your church," thuu- dered Strong. ' "You're right nbout that, Deacon Stroug," answered Douglas, wheeling nbout sharply, "and my duty to tho church Is reason enough for my acting exactly as I am doing In this case." 1 "Is your duty to the church tho only T reason you keep that girl hero?" "No; there nro other reasons." "I thought so." a "You've heard he story you must M have heard. She was left with me by X nn old clown who lolnnged In the clr- 1 cus whoro sho worliod. Before ho died gj he asked me to lcc'.: after her. Sho X has no one else. I shall certainly do 1 80" "That was when sho was hurt She's U well now and nble to go back where I nhe came from. Do you expect us to I havo our young folks nssoclatln' with I a circus rldln' girl?" I "So, that's It!" cried tho pastor, with I a pitying look. "You think this child I is unfit for your homes because she n was onco In a circus. For some ren- 1 son circus to you spells crime. You 1 call yourself a Christian, Dcncon I Strong, and yet you Insist that I send 1 n good, Innocent girl bnck to a life I which you say is sinful. I'm ashamed U of you, Strong I'm ashamed of you!" H "That talk don't do no good with B mo!" roared Strong. Ho wns desperate ffi"Fw"H nt being accused of an un-Chrlstlnn nt- tltudc. h AL ain't asklu' you to send her back W to tho circus. I don't care where you I send her. Get her away from here; I that's all." S "Not so long as she wishes to stay." 1 "You won't?" Strong saw that he ft must try a new attack, no came close to Douglas nud spoke with a marked 1 insinuation. "If you was a friend to 1 the girl, you wouldn't want the wliolo I congregation n-pointln' Angers nt her." w "What do you mean?" "I mean that you're llrlti' here uloiio n with her nnd It looks bad bad for tho I ' girl unci bad for you and folks Is 1 tnlkln'." 1 "Are you trying to tell me that my i pcoplo are evil minded enough to think 1 that I" Douglas stopped. He could ! not frame the question. "I don't bo ll Hove It," he concluded shortly. I "You'll be mado to believe it if you I don't get rid of that girl." I "Do you believe it?" Ho turned I upon the llttlo mnn at his side. "Do w J you believe It, Elvcrson?" I Elvcrson hnd been so accustomed to Stroug monopolizing the conversation that he had become hopelessly lost ns the discussion went on, nnd the sudden appeal to him all but paralyzed his power of speech. Ho was still gur- IL "Your affair," shouted Strong, "when (V, ', that Qirl statin" the clturcJi's bread I hrl 8lIu& and Bputtering when Strong Id- f '; . terrupted impatiently. 'ft- "II mn,ces no difference whether we believe it or not. We're goln' to do our duty by thu, church, nnd that cirl N Haifetiv - must leave or' "Or 1 must" Douglas pieced out Strong's phrase for himself. "That threat doesn't frighten mo at nil, deacon. dea-con. After whnt you havo said I should refuse to remain In this church" the deacon stepped forward eagerly "were It not thnt 1 roallre more than ever before how much you need mo, how much you ignorant, narrow nar-row minded creatures need to be taught the mcnnlng of true Christianity." Christian-ity." The dcncon wns plolnly disappointed. disap-pointed. "Is it possible?" gasped Elvcrson weakly. "Well, what are you goln' to do about It?" naked Strong -when he could trust himself to speak ngnln. "I shall do what is best for Miss Polly," Pol-ly," said the pastor quietly, but (Irmly. Ho tu in oil away to show that the Interview wns nt an end. Strong followed fol-lowed him. Douglas pointed to tho gnto with n meaning not to bo mistaken. mis-taken. "Good afternoon, dcncon." Strong hesitated. He looked at the pastor, then nt tho gate, then nt tho pastor ngnln. "I'll go," he shouted, "but it nin't tho cudl" Ho slammed the gate behind him. "Quite so, quite so," chirped Elvcrson, Elvcr-son, not having tho slightest tden of what he was saying. He snw tho frigid expression on tho pastor's face: he coughed behind his hut and followed fol-lowed Strong. CHAPTER X. D 10UGLAS dropped wearily on to the rustic bouch. no snt with drooped head nnd unseeing v... J eyes. Ho did not hear Polly as she scurried down tho path, her arms filled with autumn leaves. She glanced glanc-ed nt him, dropped the bright colored foliage nnd slipped quickly to the nearest tree. "One, two, three for Mr. John!" sho cried ns she patted tho huge brown trunk. "Is that you, Polly?" he asked absently. ab-sently. "Now it's your turn to cntch me," she snld, lingering near tho tree. The pastor was again lost in thought. "Aren't you going to piny any more?" There wns a shade of disappointment In her voice. Sho came slowly to his side. "Sit here. Polly," he answered gravely, grave-ly, pointing to n place on the bench "I want to talk to you." "Now I've done something wrong," she pouted. Sho gathered up her garlands gar-lands ami brought them to a place near hla feet. Ignoring the sent at hie side. "You might Just ns well tell mr nnd get It over." "You couldn't do anything wrong," ho nnswercd, looking down nt her. "Oh, yes, 1 could, nnd I've done It I can see It In your face. What Is It?" "What have you there?" he asked, trying to gain time and not knowing "Now I've done something wrong," sht pouted, how to broach tho subject that in Jus-tlco Jus-tlco to her must be discussed. ''Some leaves to make garlands for the social," Polly answered more cheerfully. cheer-fully. "Would you mind holding this?" She gave him one end of a string of leaves. "Where are the children?" "Gone home." "You like tho children very much, don't you, Polly?" Douglas was striving striv-ing for n path that might lend them to the subject that was troubling him. "Oh. no. X don't llko them: I love them." She looked at him with tender eyes. "You're the greatest baby of all." A nuzzled Hue camo between his eves as A 9 uc, biuuieu rtcr more ciosoiy. "Ann i yet you're not such a child, are you. Polly? You're quite grown up-nlinost I n young lady." He looked at her from n strange, unwelcome point of view j She wns nil of thnt ns she sat at his feet, yearning nnd slender nml fair, nt ' tho turning of her seventeenth yenr. "I wonder how you would like to go nwny"-her eyes met his In terror-"nwny terror-"nwny to a great school," he added ' quickly, flinching from the very first I hurt that he had Inflicted, "where there ( nro n lot of other young ladles." "Is It a place where you would be?" ' She looked up nt him anxiously. She wondered If his "show" wns about to "movo on." "I'm afraid not," Douglas answered, smiling iu spite of his heavy heart. "1 wouldn't like any place without you." she said decidedly and seemed to consider tho subject dismissed. "But if It wns for your good," Doug-Ins Doug-Ins persisted. "It could never bo for my good to lenvo you." "But Just for n llttlo while," he pleaded. How wns she ever to under stnnd? How could he take from her the sense of security thnt he hnd purposely pur-posely taught her to feel In his house? "Not oven for a moment," Polly nn Bwered. with a decided shake of her head. v "But you must get ahead In your studies," he nrgued. She looked at him anxiously. She was beginning to bo alarmed nt his persistence. "Maybe I've been playing too mnny porltcuous games." "Not perlscuous. Polly, promiscuous." "Pro-mls-cnous," sho repented haltingly. halt-ingly. "What does that mean?" "Indiscriminate." He rubbed his forehead ns he saw the puzzled look on her fneo. ".Mixed up," ho explained, ex-plained, more simply. "Our game wasn't mixed up." She wns thinking of the ono to which the widow had objected. "Is it promiscuous promiscu-ous to catch somebody?" "It depends upon whom you cntch' ho answered, with a dry, whimsical smile. "Well, I don't cntch anybody hut tho children." She looked up nt him with serious, Inquiring eyes. "Never mind, Polly. Your games aren't promiscuous." She did not henr him. Sho wns searching for her book. "Is this whnt you aro looking for?" he asked, drawing the missing nrtlcls from his pocket. . "Oh I" cried Polly, with a flush of embarrassment. em-barrassment. "Mnndy told you." "You've been working a long tlmo on that." "I thought I might help you If I learned everything you told mo," she answered timidly. "But I don't suppose sup-pose I could." "I can never tell you how much you help me, Polly." "Do I?" sho cried eagerly. "I can help more If you will only let mo. I can tench a bigger class In Sunday school now. I got to tho book of Ruth today." "You did?" no protended to bo ns tonlshed. IIo wns anxious to encour-nge encour-nge her enthusiasm. "Urn-hum!" sho nnswercd solemnly. . dreamy look camo into her eyes, "Do you remember tho part that you rend lo me tho first dny I came?" lie nodded. ITe was thinking how care free they were that day. How Impossible Impos-sible such problem ns tho present one would havo seemed then! "I know every bit of whnt you rend by heart It's our next Sunday school lesson." "So it is." "Do you think now that it would be best for me to go nwny?" Sho looked up Into his troubled face. "We'll see, we'll see," ho murmured, then tried to turn her mind toward other things. "Come, now; let's find out whether you do know your Sundny Bchool lesson. IIow docs It begin?" There wns no answer. Sho had turned away with trembling lips. "And Ituth said'' IIo took her two small hands nnd drew her face toward him, meaning mean-ing to prompt her. " 'Entreat mo not to lenvo thee,' " sho plaaded. Her eyes met his. Ills face was close to hers. Tho small featurea before him were quivering with emotion. emo-tion. She was so frail, so helpless, so easily 'within his grasp. Ills muscles grow tenso, nnd his lips closed firmly. IIo was battling with an Impulse to draw her toward hlra nnd comfort her in tho shelter of his strong, bravo arms. "They shan't!" ho cried, starting start-ing toward her. Polly drew back, overawed. Her soul had heard and seen tho things re-rcalcil re-rcalcil to each of us only once. Sljo would never again bo a child. Douglas braced blmsolf against the back of the bench. "What was tho rest of tho lesson?" ho asked In a firm, hard voice. "I can't say it now," Polly murmured. mur-mured. Her face wns averted; hor white lids fluttered nnd closed. "Nonsense! Of course you can. Come, como; I'll help you." 'Douglas spoke sharply, no was olmost vexed with her nud with himself for tho weakness that was so near overcoming overcom-ing them. "And Ituth said, 'Entreat mo not to lenvo thee' " '"Or to return from following after thco'" she wns struggling to keep back the tears "'for whlthor thou goost I will go, nnd where thou lodgest (Continued en next pago.) |
