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Show Beth's Garden By CLARISSA MACK1E by McClure Newspaper Syndicate.) (WNU Service) rF COURSE the old Mordaunt place had a garden. Beth remembered coming there years ago with her mother, moth-er, before Uncle Jaffrey died. The flowers were so marvelous and the gardens gar-dens so weedless that they appeared almost unnatural to the young girl and her mother, who lived in a small cottage cot-tage -nearby. When Uncle Jaffrey died, Beth and her mother found that his beautiful property had been left to them, but there was not money enough to keep it going. Every year Mrs. Mordaunt divided the tiny income so that there was just enough to live on carefully, and nothing was ever left for the garden. People whispered that there must have been more money, for Uncle Jaffrey was very rich, and grew quite miserly in the last year of his life, and they declared that somewhere about the old place he had hidden either one large sum or many smaller ones. One day a good looking man came to the door. Mrs. Mordaunt met him and greeted him pleasantly. "Mr. Smith, who said he was your lawyer, suggested that I come and see you about clearing up your garden and lawns In return for my board," he told her frankly. "I had pneumonia pneu-monia in the late winter and I really need light ontdoor work to keep me outside regular farm work is too vigorous vig-orous just now I am studying medicine medi-cine at Blank university, and I cannot can-not afford to spend money for a vacation." vaca-tion." Then his pleasant voice grew wistful as he scanned the delightful old neglected garden. "It would be a wonderful opportunity for me," he added, add-ed, "but 5'ou may have other plans." Mrs. Mordaunt did not hesitate. "If Mr. Smith sent you here, you are certainly cer-tainly welcome my daughter and I were just discussing the needs of the garden." Then she introduced Bruce Wayne to Beth and went to the house to select a room for him. "Mother," said Beth, one August morning, "everything Is so beautiful do come out and witness the cleaning out of the large fountain. Bruce is going to do that next" Bruce whipped off his old hat and grinned affectionately at the woman who had been so kind to him for several sev-eral months. He had brought a deep wicker chair from the front veranda, and soon Mrs. Mordaunt was comfortably comfort-ably settled and watching these two young people who worked together so harmoniously. She was wondering whether her daughter, Beth, cared at all for the embryo doctor, whose heart was in his fine eyes, whenever he glanced at the lovely girl. There was no doubt that Bruce Wayne had lost his heart to her gentle Beth, and sighed a little as they worked so happily hap-pily together, because she was thinking think-ing about the lack of money and the years they would have to wait. Bruce had a large hammer and was prying off the fitted boards of the "tent-like" protection. "Hurrah," he shouted when the last section had been removed and the rusty, stained proportions propor-tions of the fountain were revealed. "Are you going to paint the fountain, foun-tain, Bruce?" asked Beth's mother. "It should be painted, don't you think, Mrs. Mordaunt?" And then, bending over the deep basin he lifted out a dry and rusty steel box.. "Why, what the dickens do you suppose this can be?" he queried. "Burled treasure?" treas-ure?" He set it at Mrs. Mordaunt's feet "Oh, Bruce, smash It open," begged Beth. "Perhaps that Is where poor Uncle Mordaunt hid his money 1" A few blows of the stout hammer opened the rusty box. Inside of that was a huge rubber pocket which held the missing wealth of Uncle Mordaunt They sent Bruce for Mr. Smith, and during his absence, Beth confessed to her mother that she and Bruce loved each other and that he had asked her to marry him. "And I want to, mother darling," sobbed the girl, "even if we are quite poor at first I You understand, un-derstand, don't you?" Mrs. Mordaunt nodded happily, and then the two men appeared and Mr. Smith checked up the contents of the old box. "The missing securities," he said. "You see, there was about a hundred thousand missing and here it Is I" Bruce Wayne looked very glum. After Aft-er the lawyer had left, Beth's mother said to him : "Well, Bruce, aren't you happy over our good luck?" "Oh, yes, Mrs. Mordaunt of course. Only you see well, I'm so poor and Beth's a rich girl now." "But, Bruce," said Mrs. Mordaunt, smiling understandlngly, "the money's really part yours you found It" And she went off to the house. Bruce turned stammerlngly to Beth. "Don't you see, dear," she said, "If you hadn't come into my garden we might never have found that money? So It Is part yours it's ours." And so when Bruce left her garden Beth had promised to wait for him to finish his training, and he had promised prom-ised to start out his professional and married career In the old Mordaunt home. |