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Show "Look me over, will yout Do any' ody set an eigne of M oa wr CHAPTER XII Tbe new Methodist chorcb of Red Thrush. Iowa, wait ao established fart Mr. Tolllver, til eyes carefully shielded shield-ed behind I he padded glasses, had preached the tender sermon wblcb served botb to dedicate tbe aew church, and to bid farewell to bis parishioners, for the general confer enca was to convene I he week follow-Ing. follow-Ing. He had accepted the mandate of the church, and planned to live In retirement re-tirement until some work of different nature could be found for blm, or, aa he said, until the Lord chose to bless the means used for his restoration. , He coutlnued In close correspondence with new surgeons, the best and the most expensive the Middle West af- fnrftaft ! GINGER ELLA 1 by Ethel Hueston I I Illustrations by I Irwin Mycn j startled her to ber feet with a area gasp, but aha quickly recompooH herself, her-self, and went in answer. Tbe postman post-man stood there, and with him not ber man, behind them another, both strangers stran-gers Inspectors, possibly. Ginger thought, coma to check op for statistical statis-tical purposes. She smiled at tbe postman. "Malir she asked. The postman showed embarrass ment "Well, yes," be said awkwardly. "Ton are E. Tolllvor, aren't yoor "Why, of course I am. Too know I am. Ellen. Have yen no letters for me?" Suddenly she waa aware that tba man In the rear carried a large mall pouch. He atepped ahead of tho others and entered the room. Tba postman and his companion followed silently. Ginger followed, also. Eddy Jackson stood op. Tbe man la tbe dark suit opened tbe pooch, snd lifted It high, pouring out a little stream of letters npon the table. Then, for the first time, tbe third man spoke. "Do yon claim this mallf" "Why, of course. I'm the only B. Tolllver there Is. E. standa for Ellen "Walt a minute, wait a minute, now. Too claim this mall, do you? Ton acknowledge that It la meant for yon? Ton adroit this before witnesses?" wit-nesses?" "Be careful. Ginger," Interposed Eddy Jackson quickly, scenting trouble. "Don't say anything. Don't commit yourself." "Tnn Iraon Ant nt rhla vmin mull. On this day, the twins had gone to college. Eddy Jackson came In bis csr and took them and their new bags to the train, after which with Ginger he drove alowly bark to the parson sge which would be her home for a brief fortnight longer. Ginger did not know Just what was to become of her and her father, but Ginger didn't care. They were always taken care of. would always bo. And there waa the rich munificence of the home for the blind at their command, although of thla ber father atlll knew nothing. They would remain with Miss Jenkins In tbe par-aonage par-aonage until after the conference, and then go for what they called a visit Coprrisht, br Bobb Merrill Co. WNU Srrtc CHAPTER XI is- A fresh wsve of wrath painted Gin ger's f ce with rose. She flashed from the secretion of ber corner by the stairway Jurt in time to see the can grocer press a fervent and unmistakable unmistak-able klsa upon the delicate Hps ot Miriam, the sensible twin. Minora seemed rot In the least surprised, but rather plessed. Marjory, too, seemed to take the outrage with Indecent calmness, while Eddy Jackson wore s smile no less than diabolic. "Just for that. Eddy Jackson, you to Helen and Horace for a while, until un-til they could decide upon tba beat plan for the future. The one Interest of Ginger herself was to remain In tied Thrush as long as possible. Her address as treasurer Well, miss, then you" "Why. or course I claim It," said Ginger quickly. "It's all right Eddy, It's for me. Why, f'vt had a lot Just like It" She smiled dlsarmlngly at the postman. "Ton know." she added sal rrtilAfMintlii owe me ninety dimes." she announced sternly. "Nine whole dollars I spent on this comedy of yours." And she marched straight to the kitchen. Only Eddy Jackson heard her. For Miriam, the lust shred of ber sensibility sensi-bility thrown to the winds, was clinging cling-ing to Alexander's bunds, and trying to draw Marjory by sheer force Into the wsrmlb of bis nearness. Eddy followed fol-lowed Ginger to the kitchen. "Aw, have a bean," be pleaded. "He told me to do It." Ginger smred at a pan on tbe atove, where thick heavy bubbles rose snd felt. "Tou see the gravy Is burning," she said, and offered not a hand to aave It "Let It burn. 1 bpe It doea burn. I hope the gravy burns him, and the alligator pear chokes him, and the fried chicken gives him pernicious snemla." Eddy taughed. Listen, wild one, and I'll tell tbe deep and bloody mystery mys-tery of that young mans' life Nobody No-body knows It Marjory doesn't know significantly. "Well, you all bear that" said tbe third man, In a snarling low voice. "She claims It She's the one we're after." Ginger turned surprised, wide. Innocent Inno-cent eyes upon bis face. She did not speak. "Welt, come across now, miss. Give os the goods. Where Is this here borne parsonage borne for tbe blind, yon call It? I dont see any signs of It" His voice was low and agly. Ginger smiled nervously. "Well, bnt yon see, tbls really la It father's blind, you know, and thla Is oar home. And tbe parsonage, well, thla Is tbe parsonage. Everybody In town known that" "Teh, I know all about N, and a pretty slick game, 1 call it Bat 1 guess we've got tbe dope on yost, right enough. Getting money under false pretenses that's what tbe law calls yonr home for tne blind. Using the malls to defraud, that'a what the law says. Penitentiary business, salsa, that's what you're np agalnat" "No, oh, no. It la true It really ia true. It la a home for tbe blind, for She Flashed From the Secretion of Her Corner by the Stairway Just In Tims to See the Can Grocer Press a Fervent and Unmistakable Kiss Upon the Delicate Lips of Miriam. of the parsonage home was too broadly broad-ly disseminated now to be lightly changed, and all of her arguments were based on that great fnee All the enthusiasm, and the nonchalance, non-chalance, and the farewells, were over. Ginger and Eddy sat alone In the II v Ing room of the old parsonage, rather atlll, a little depressed wltb their aloneness. In the small den on the left, beyond the curve of the staircase, they could bear Hiram's low voice, talking to ber father, while tbey sorted and packed old manuscripts, ready for removal from the bout that had been their home for four years. Miss Jenkins Jen-kins had gone to ber room, to weep over the departure of the twins. Ginger Gin-ger had seen ber go, with relief." Miss Jenkins' weeping depressed ber to tbe deepest extreme. "Well. It's all over now," she said dully. "Helen's married, the twins are gone, and father and I are Bred." "Oh, nonsense. Helen Is well off and very hnppy. Tho twins will be home for Christmas, snd your father will get a better church than Red Thrnsh." "Eddy" Her voice sank to s whisper. "Do you think he will ever see again? Do you think even the most expensive doctor In the world can cure hirar "Why, of course he will see again. Didn't all the doctors say tbe same thing, that it was Just nervous and mental reaction, and In time" "It's a long time, though. Very long." "You're so Impatient, Ginger. But that's because you're young." A julck loud knock at tbe door vue viiiiu laiiii;.. "Begging, eb? Well, you've got te have a license In this country, even for that Oh, we know your game, kid. We're on to yon all right. We expected an alibi Shut upl" be shouted to the shocked old postman, who had endeavored to Interpose a word on ber behalf. "Ton stint. op, and keep out of this." He turned te Ginger, and caught ber arm In a rough grasp. "Come along, now, and no more monkey business." Eddy was a slow young man, alow to wrath, but the sight of the great red hand on Ginger's slender ana goaded him to action. , "Ton take your bandu off that gtrll" he shouted, springing across the room with a blind violence that sent two chairs spinning away from Jix. "Hush, oh, hush," begged Ginger. "Eddy, don't I I'm not hurt Ob, don't let father hear yon I Ob, please hush 1" "Bring out your old man bring out the whole nest," bellowed the officer furiously. "We'll elian bouse be re while we're at It." Ginger turned despuirlngly fo Eddy Jackson. "Eddy, make blm bush I Father's eyes A shock will Oh, Eddy!" The officer, pulling himself away from Eddy's restraining band, caught her shoulder wltb a grasp that flung ber half to tbe floor, and Eddy, driven entirely reckless at the sight, leaped npon blm. But Mr. Tolllver In the small ad-Joining ad-Joining room had heard the unusual uproar 'n his quiet borne, heard It first wltb surprise, then with rising Indlgnntlon. Wltb one bound be entered en-tered the living room, and Instinctively, Instinctive-ly, as In a crisis one wbo has been accustomed to clear vision for many years la bound to do, be tore the protecting pro-tecting bandagea from bis eyes and dashed them npon thi floor. (TO BS CONTINUED) It Miriam herself doesn't know It Bnt I know It and I'll tell yon. He really ts a romantic Cgnre most romantic" ro-mantic" Tanned beans, canned cone, canned tomato soup, canned peaches It makes me sickcanned sweet potatoes" she recounted drearily. Eddy Jackson briskly stirred the gravy as he talked. Eddy was fond of cream gravy. "He's do grocer. His family owns that chain gang set whatever yon cull It the Orange and Black, all ever the country. Alex will be some high-mucky-mnck-tnanager one of these days They sent him on tbls trip west to familiarize himself wltb tbe business, busi-ness, and the localities this new Idee of know your stuff from tbe ground up." Ginger took the sitoon away from him. After all. It was ber gravy. "Eddy, why didn't you tell me?" "He told me not to. Nobody knew It Not even the chain buncb here In town." "But yon should have told me P "If anybody asks me not to tell something that la none of my business and nAbody else's I won't tell It" said Eddy firmly. "Just like father," mourned Ginger. Suddenly a fresh amaze swept over her. "But Eddy. Just see what a mess you've made of It Why. bet never so much as looked at Marjory." "I should say not He's outs over Miriam." "But Miriam Miriam hasn't got a thing but brains." "She's got Alexander Murdock." "Does Miriam think be Is a real grocer?" "Yea She told me she wonld marry him If he was a shoe shluer." "Marry blm. Did he ask ber?" "Sure. That's what he enme back for. Brought her the engagement ring." Ologer's eyes glittered. "I'ut an other chair at the table, will you? And get me a knife ano fork from that drawer. There won't be any waiting on at this party. You can carry tbe plates back and forth yourself." So Ginger accepted Alexander Murdock Mur-dock as a prospective brother-in-law. and one to be received with a certain amount of gratitude After all, he could give them a rrdui-tion on the canned groceries. She shook hands with him. exclaimed joyously over the brilliant solitaire whltb adorned Miriam's Mi-riam's slender finger, and admitted that the denouement was well worth the ninety dimes expended. "Why dimes?" demanded Eddy curiously. curi-ously. "Oh. that's the way 1 get It I mean, sava It," Ginger amended quickly. She regurded her twin sisters reflectively, reflec-tively, one after the other. Miriam was well enough of course, the still, deep kind, nothing surprising, nothing stun ling about her. Miriam was the type that one gets used to. But Mar jury's brilllHn.y was a fresh revelo timi, an entirely new amazement, every day. "lvuuiys queer, isn't It?" she pus (it'll. Then she studied her nwu ..iuhmi fentiires In the mirror. Hint fur Hie ?lr' time, uot without some hope. |
