Show A X by Zy EMILIE LORING 0 service S rolce SYNOPSIS TIIE THE STORY SO FAR janice trent runs away fro from wedding ned paxton rich but a gay blade unbeknown to barcourt nar court a family friend the she becomes secretary lecreta ry 0 of an alaska camp of which he li Is chief engineer cent ilal hale w wife Is ot th the I 1 man whom he u uc ceedee Is also ISO stir attracted io to him bruce at first wants want to tend send janite back on a trip to the city she lie encounters encounter paxton and tells telli him she he Is 1 married to nar liar court the latter heart hear it and insists on addling that day at the camp to 0 A which W they return by bv evening the samp iier lateri li teri aided 1 ly tubby grant liar flar court burve assi assistant tant arranged a wedding party cent asks harcourt to see ee her home boine ller her husband joe itale hale bad been laid u up p by a stroke later when harcourt Harr Ilar ourt court and his bride are at home knocks at the door and bles blei in frightened now continue with the batory CHAPTER XI steady millicent what has happened asked bruce her throat contracted her voice was a 0 hoarse whisper joes cheadl shot I 1 she covered her eyes with one hand youre white a as death bruce dont be sorry for me im freel free freel if only waited with a stifled exclamation he withdrew his hand she crumpled to the floor 0 harcourt picked his way through the maze of the eskimo camp and ordered kadoyama to appear at the office at two for questioning by the commissioner now on his way on his way back to the office harcourt recaptured the picture of last night in the H house what had jan thought of millicent hales frenzied cry im freel free freel free if only waited wailed I 1 ile he had been furiously angry at the implication had opened his lips to refute it when millicent had crumpled for an instant he and janice had stored stared into one an others eyes then she had pointed to the wo woman man on the floor better put her on the couch looks ns as though she had been wading her skirt is wet he had only vaguely noticed that as he lifted her shortly afterward grant and he had entered the hale cabin joe lay where he had fallen they had searched for a revolver had found nothing but hales own which hung in its holster unloaded clean ile he had sent tubby for jimmy chester and two engineers while he was waiting he had up the dog to shut him out of the room A blue glass bead had rolled from between his paws incredible ile he put his hand over the breast pocket of his khaki shirt the bead was safe in case it was needed in evidence lie he had not told the other men of his find could it have been jimmy 1 ire he would have a hard row to hoe hoc it if his threat to joe hale came out at the the inquest millicent had heard it had she confided in anyone but himself no matter what jimmy had threatened he shoot hale what had lie he been saying to janice when he hid had interrupted their talk at the dance holl hell never send s nd for you again aga iril 1 good lord boyt boyl in the excitement I 1 forgot about that track laying gang you told me to take out at reveille chief chester reported ive been at the 11 house with millicent this morning trying to find out what she wants done about things heard you were all excited day before yost yesterday erday because hale had bad sent for someone for whom did he send jimmy chester stared out of the w window r for or miss trent janibel Ja nicel how did you know met tier her coming out of his cabin had just been talking with milli cent at the waffle shop so I 1 knew she responsible she tell why she had been there I 1 went at tier her wrong I 1 guess so I 1 just walked in and read the riot act to joe hale tile the commissioner and ills his deputies were coming by plane harcourt said go up to the field chester and see if you can help in the landing harcourt looked niter alter chester as he hurried away ile he liked neither jimmys color nor his unsteady voice martha samp hailed him from the steps on the 11 II house any danger to mrs hale in amov ing tier her not a mite I 1 was goin to speak to you about that your cabins no place for her you send pasca along to help and ill see that ashes moved and that janice comes back to the H house little lines crinkled from the corners of her eyes like rays rags drawn to indicate the setting sun ill do my best but you do to hurt her last night mr bruce 1 1 I hurt tier her she he looked white an still when I 1 went into the 11 house when I 1 told her wed better leave Ms hale where she was she kinder sniffed an said of 0 course I 1 a doubt out shed like to stay here forever on en off she marched I 1 was that troubled about her that I 1 kept over to the wame waffle shop to stand outside her door there was a light goin gin but it was still as death sakes alive dont go so white mr bruce ELI J 11 1 I walked in and read the x ilot ot act to hale 11 or ill be sorry I 1 told you youve got so much on your mind never be sorry that you have told me anything about janice miss martha tell her to come back if she refuses tell tier her that it if she come I 1 will come after her I 1 may have much on my mind but not too much for that 0 janice stepped back to get the effect of the red geranium trees in in nail kegs on either side of the waffle shop door gorgeous against the background of we weather ather ble bleached ached log walls she looked thoughtfully at the hale cabin not yet twenty four hours since joe hale had gone an hour or more ago the commissioner and two deputies had landed on the flying field she had not seen bruce since since he had lifted millicent hale from the floor and laid her on the couch with a hurried call the samp girls lie he had dashed out As she had worked over the unconscious s woman she had tried to crush back the memory of her frenzied wall wail im freel freel if only wait edl the samp sisters had spent the night at the H house had sent janice back to her cabin at the waffle shop she had dropped to the edge of the stripped cot rigid and still had sat there listening for braces footsteps waiting for him to come and tell her that millicent hales insinuation was false lie he had not come toward ing she had dozed fitfully head down hands thrust hard in his pockets tubby grant approached pro ached along the board walk tong paced with magisterial di dignity 9 behind him muscles rippling under his tawny coat grant overturned an empty nail keg seated on it he took one knee into his embrace who do you think did it kady ama 1 I put it past him hes talked long and loud and red against hale but that prove anything the pekinese pekingese Pe kinese must have been among those present when it happened he would have scented the indian would have warned hale with his bark whom are they questioning aning begun yet been busy in in the hale cabin they want you in the office after lunch to take testimony will they question me why not you were in the 11 house u se when millicent hale burst in with the news you something flashed in janice danices Ja nices I 1 S mind tubby 1 I 1 never have thanked you for that gorgeous mandarin coat I 1 wore it to the 11 house had just taken it oil off when millicent hale burst in on us and I 1 thought of it since youre a dearl says you sorry to hand back the bouquet but I 1 buy it you who did your boy friend bruce how did he know about it t 1 I told him that almost cried your eyes out wanting it tubby I 1 you should not have let him spend all that money on me when you knew you knew what a lake fake that marriage was that bruce sacrificed himself to help me debbe so debbe so his face lost its usual expression of cherubic serenity the pupils of ills his green eyes contracted as he inquired lightly lady has it ever occurred to you that you might be a million light years behind the times the zoom of a plane drowned his words the motor thrummed thrum med deafeningly as it climbed it circled like a great bee to get its bearings before it shot for the east its wings became shadowy and spectral its hum a mere inere cibir vibration aaion janice clutched grants arm watched the great bird from hand shaded eyes till it seemed as small as a fly on an enormous blue windowpane who w who was it tubby ile he patted her hand dont get au all excited I 1 got gol a jolt at first as the commissioner has forbidden anyone to leave headquarters then I 1 remembered that he told parks one of the deputies to fly by back to the city for an expert he wanted 11 my aly stars aint them blooms pretty martha samp sat on the grant had abandoned pulled of one heavy shoe grimaced with pain ns as she flexed twisted toes in their white cotton stocking feet ache like the toothache I 1 deverd know I 1 had a body it if it aint for them janice gently massaged the cramped toes you do too much miss martha I 1 would have hare been glad to take care of mrs hale last night it the place for you that feels fine youve got what my mother used to call healin j hands mary an I 1 can take cared care of her easy pascas goin to bring her to the cabin you had so shell be near you pack up the rest of your things an hell carry them to the 11 house mr bruce wants you there t he wants met I 1 J sakes alive anything surp about that those officials ake are after him every minute hes tawn the tragedy awful hard Anyon Anyone etl tf think his fault it happened t why not let mrs hale stay where she is is dont talk like a child jaice janice an you a married woman I 1 een il it hard for mary an n te t 0 be trotting there from here a tans cabin is no place for a widow she cautiously twisted heri her too free of the comforting hands hand rim aced as she pulled on her shoe want Ms hale settle e fore lunch time those officio als ing here make more inore work bu but it d dont e t they they make life thrilling her e eyes 1 eh S snapped her cheeks checks flaunted ted ed flags of excitement A who do you think did it mss martha 1 I 1 they asked me yet et P araps raps they think because my joints j 1 I 1 ts are still the arteries of my br brain in are arc hardening but not I 1 im M not sayin anything till I 1 can before the right parties did Y yau u hear that plane go out sent for a fingerprint finger print expert ought to have questioned fae ane first when I 1 heard the airplane zo I 1 thought the criminal was esc p ing I 1 that would be contessi conf c essi it the party who sn uffa out joe hale is too scared or ie wo t 0 clever to confess I 1 haven t made up my mind yet which I 1 haveit ha read the newspapers for years without learning something her v votice 11 ae prickled with excitement i i in her own cabin gazing duj out lat tile the stars and stripes floating high and strong in the clear air janice faced two alternatives she could allow millicent halos hales im treat I 1 freel if only wait waited edl to frie fester in in her memory until s she he be became carrie a hateful unhappy person who would be sent out on the next boat amidst a silent chorus of thank god ashes she s gonell gone it was human nature to dodge a person with a grievance or she could take up her life from the time bruce had said 11 ll IT get your sandals go on drori there as though the rest of that evening never had happened happen pd it would take a big inside resistance to with withstand the bitter pressure of milli cents implication could she do it she must t it was not surprising that tae tie commissioner had given miss martha an impression of inefficiency janice concluded as after the midday meal she entered the office he was the antithesis of an all the prosecuting officials she had seen on tha th screen he was bland and fairs fair ills his eyes e es met hers steel drills tha deputy beside him was small and wiry janice glanced surreptitiously at harcourt two I 1 little it tle lines cut deep between his eyes as he bent a supple ivory letter opener back and forth with his strong fingers tubby grant opened the door to D the woodshed kadoyama shuffled into the room i in obedience to a curt word frore the commissioner he perched on the edge of a chair youve threatened to get hale you i evidently the official believed in the attack direct ump I 1 say that one two araps tree time why 1 the indians eyes beady as a trapped rats shifted to the commissioners ners face he steal tati ma TO BE CONTINUED |