Show he fa ove PEG cy cfall RELEASE THE STORY THUS PARI FARI jim mae mac anjou announced n c d that alicia was wa lelling her ber place and he be was going to mar ry her they would live with megan again they quarreled and meg went out into the night to 14 be alone on the ridge tom fallon startled tarred her a as be walked into the moonlight near the rock she told old him ot of her father and alicia and the demands to sell the farm arm lie talked again of his wife and how she went to go pieces piece when a son ion was wa born dead she wi was sorry norry for him the house houie was wai dark and silent when she ehe returned she was wai ball balf asleep when she heard a sound lound and tiptoed to her fathers at heri room ile he had just juit returned from another walk anti and rudely commanded meg to go to bed CHAPTER X it was after one so she knew that her father must be asleep by now she undressed in the dark and slipped lipped into bed she felt a little ashamed now of the violence of emotion that had bad sent her flying from froin the house to the ridge in the tac face of the grief and heartache that tom carried with him twenty four hours of the day seven days a week her own seemed trivial she was half asleep when the she heard the downstairs door open and her father start up the stairs there was something in the stealth the furtiveness of his tread on the stairs and the way he opened his door inching it shut that roused her more than noise would have done ile he so seldom bothered to be careful about noise he walked into the house and up the stairs and closed his door forcefully no matter what time he came in but tonight he had crept so cautiously that she was puzzled and she slid out of bed caught up her cotton crepe kimono and stepped into her bedroom uppers slippers she listened at her fathers door and when she heard only a soft rustling sound she tapped and asked Is that you father who the blazes did you think it was he snapped at her 1 I was afraid it might be a burglar oh for the love of what the devil would a burglar want here I 1 fell ell asleep over my paper downstairs and tried to get upstairs without waking you hereafter ill see to it that you are awakened there was something odd about his voice that she quite distinguish he seemed to be breathing hard as though he had bad been running or were laboring under some terrific ex excitement it e ent go mt to 0 bedl bed I 1 he called to her sharply har ply and she turned and went back to her room it was near noon the following day and megan was busy in her perennial border along the walk resetting some clumps of phlox and thinning out some som ef 0 of the other perennials that were taking too much room for themselves when a sudden sharp scream of terror rent the peaceful mild air megan jerked to her feet as the scream cream came again from the direction of alician All Ali clas cias house and now she 1 saw aw a girl whom she recognized as betty hendrix whose father owned a dairy come stumbling down the path froin alician All Ali clas cias house wringing her hands and screaming what in the world somebody asked one of the men ran up the walk to the house stepping over the milk pall whose contents had splashed over the porch and looked through the half open door of all ali clas cias house he gave a yell and stepped back then others crowded close and looked in and instantly stepped back as though they had received a blow the first man who had reached the place Bill logan logani lt it was pulled ulla thi the door shut and said ste ate raly anybody go in there till the police get here might mess up a clue or something somebody go call the law but what Is it happened bill for petes sake cried mrs stuart as usual one of the first at the scene of any catastrophe or unusual event in pleasant grove alz Steven sono sons been murdered said sad bill swallowing hard and looking a little g green reen there was wag a stunned moment moment of silence and then a little buzz ran around the crowd and the word murder was the only word that could be distinguished in that buzz murdered fiddlesticks bill lo 10 ganyou read too many 0 them mystery stories ories gt snapped mrs stuart thrusting her way forward maybe Steven sons got hurt an accident get away from that door and lemme see we ought ough tto to toe see how bad hurt uhe she Is ashes deady bill said grimly and mrs mn stuart saw the greenish tinge to his sallow face aint no mistake about that and the police e always lantto want to be the first ones to get into a place where theres been a murder so im standing right here till the cops get here and there aint nobody going in till then megan stood at the end of the walk still holding the sobbing betty close bett betty y was waa stammering her voice choked with sobs 1 I brought her milk like liked tl always do and I 1 stopped at the door and I 1 said yoo hoo its me mrs Stevenson can I 1 come la in and when she say say anything I 1 opened the door and she was lying there all bloody megan urged her across the road and to the porch where annie stood watching and listening megan was too shocked too appalled at what had happened and too busy trying to soothe the hysterical girl to realize that annies dark face was ashen or that her eyes were wide and the whites showing to an unusual degree annies alf g thick lipped mouth was tightly folded and she said no word as me gan and betty reached the porch but annies hands were kind and gentle and between them she and megan were able to get the girl into the house away from that rapidly increasing crowd across the road out of reach of voices that were sharpened with excitement and curiosity rio sity the day crept on somehow megan and annie turned betty over to her family fantilly fani illy and the house grew quiet neither annie nor megan was disposed to talk megan because she was locked fast in her sick shaken thoughts annie for reasons 01 then others crowded close and looked in and instantly stepped back as though they had bad received a blow of her own that she had at the moment no intention of revealing megan was too self absorbed to be aware of annies curious furtive glances as they went like au automatons torna through their regular daily chores probably not a household in pleasant grove sat down to a midday meal what food was consumed was taken more or less on therun the run so it did not occur either to megan or to annie to wonder when when f jim mactavish did not appear for the meal tom stopping on his way from school to pick up his daily supply of milk and eggs paused for a moment to say distressed and unhappy its a terrible thing I 1 cant help feeling terribly sorry tor for her alone there she must have been ter terrified rIfled megan said in a small strangled voice one hand at her throat oh doltl im arry sorry 11 tom said compassionately siona tely it must have been very unpleasant for you all day with that mob 1 I hated her and now defies dead and im so ashamed megan confessed humbly 1 I even try to help her maybe if I 1 had oh come now tor for goodness sake tom protested you must riot not give way to 6 such thought sl youre on the verge of becoming morbid they say it happened before midnight megan told him thickly perhaps she she might have screamed perhaps if id been at home her voice broke handshe and she was silent her teeth sunk hard in her lower up lip her eyes sick and frightened dark with horror tom come came into the kitchen and put his hand on her arm and gave her a little shake stop tharl he ha ordered sternly even it if you had been at home even if been down here in the living room you could not have heard her and in your roona room upstairs at the back of the hue house ct cant you see how foolish youre being darling the little endearment slipped out yet the moment the second after it had been spoken it seemed to crash in both their ears eara with the sound of doom ills his face went white and set and his eyes were tragic megan caught her breath and looked up at him her eyes wide and dazed incredulous there wis was a pause between them that could have be been en a matter of seconds yet to each of them it seemed to stretch endlessly tom said his voice harsh and very low yes I 1 sald said darling dar lini 1 I 1 have thought it often often e enough h e Oh nol megan said in a am small U choked whisper tom straightened ills his face looked as though it had been carved out of granite of course not it never hap peneda I 1 say it iti i never even think it forget it will you sold said tom in that harsh strained voice he took up the nin milk and the basket of eggs and went swiftly out of the house the sound of his footsteps on the old broken brick walk were the most final anal sounds megan had ever heard in all her life she stood listening until the last one had died to silence and then she leaned weak and shaking against the cabinet behind tier her and put her cold trembling hands over her face she become became conscious of annlea annies presence when annie said very quietly her old voice gentle and warm with tenderness yo paw done come honey she was too dazed to wonder how long annie had been there to wonder how much of that taut little scene annie had witnessed somi somehow that matter at the moment she only knew that she must accept annies words an a warning and pull herself together before she faced her father he had gone directly to his room she heard him moving around up there as she and annie finished getting supper on the table when he came down he was freshly shaven and his shirt was immaculate ile he had bathed and shaved and changed before supper as he be had done ever since she could remember it had been one of the things that as a child she had been proud of when she had gone home to supper and to spend the night with some school friend and the school friends father had come to the supper table collarless coll ariess a stubble of beard on his tired face still wearing the sweet sweat stained grimy clothes he had worn in the field she had thought always of her father with pride if U not with affection he came into the dining room moving wearily and when he had seated himself he looked straight at her across the table and said sternly yes I 1 know about it we wont discuss it it if you dont mind of course not she answered accepting the dish annie offered her and serving herself without in the tha least knowing what the food was she managed to eat without the faintest awareness of what she was eating her father was equally silent he was pale and there were haggard circles beneath his eyes and his hands were not quite steady stead yi and she did not know when the evil staggering thought began to creep slyly into her mind when she began to remember the unusual stealth and caution with which he had lathim let him eilf aalf into the house last night the tha way he had climbed the stairs stair sion on tiptoe the way his door had closed behind him suddenly the thought stood clear and hot in her mind I 1 where had he been she set her teeth hard to keep them from chattering and locked her hands tightly in her lap she no longer could go through the mechanical motions of putting food into her mouth of forcing herself to swallow while the evil thought crept through her mind he had said when she called to him through his closed door that he had fallen asleep over his paper in the living room but she had known that he was not tell ing the truth for there had been no glimmer of light anywhere in the house when she had come in when she had come ini it had been after one when she had come in that mysterious grapevine by which a secret whispered in the kitchen of a house at one end of town will reach the far ther most house on the other side of town in any small place tike like pleasant grove reported that the doctor belt felt mrs stevenson had b been een killed sometime between ten and midnights and she megan mega n mactavish had been on the with another womans comans husband from eleven until almost onel her father had come into the house a bit later the silent meal ended and she helped annie clear the table when annie refused her help ath with the dishes she went reluctantly into the living room where her father had already established himself with the weekly newspaper which he be had read last night when she came into the room he was sitting staring straight before him his tace face white and still his eyes bleak and frightened she came then and sat down in the chair opposite him in front of the small cheerful ore fire and took up her basket of mending and then she saw that at her father was watching her covertly out of the corners of his eyes and that when sha sh looked straight at him his big eyes dropped almost guiltily to the paper she put down the sewing basket her mouth was dry her throat felt constricted with horror and a creeping fear bred of that slow evil thought was spreading through her mind suddenly almost as an though someone else spoke the words shii she asked in ia a fearful whisper father wd did you do it TO ITO BE CONTINUED ED |