Show honeymoon mout mountain ain 0 I 1 I 1 by FRANCES SHELLEY WEES copyright by frances shelley shalley wees service CHAPTER yin VIII continued 17 what youre hinting at tubby said boldly Is that weve oe got to capture him then and dispose of 0 him finally once and tor for all Slur murder der I 1 suppose of course it matter any of use would gladly oblige but it would he be nice to know your plans first we might draw lots to see who ho would stab him the fadiest way really what weve got to do bryn said disregarding tubby Is to let him coule couie here all unsuspecting but weve neve got to io know ahead of time weve got to let him blin come coine here to make sure of getting our hands on luin blin inside our own gates we e can be sure sine of being un 1 I 1 know deborah sald suddenly jue loe joe she turned tinned to iliyn yes joe is ii out oui dearest boy before you ou latue she explained when joes fa ther brought us any mall mail from town or anything ani thing we ve expect he used to sound a n cull call on a horn he has there A kind of hunting bugle he made him self out of a deerhorn deer horn lies terribly proud of it and lie loves to do it lies iles taught joe too and you can hear it for miles why not why not have joe watch the road load nothing could get past him especially if you told him enough to make him see how serious it was and the minute he sees the car he can sound the horn and well have almost fifteen minutes to prepare well there you are bryn said smiling down at deborah were all right arent we were all right deborah said and her ashes lashes dropped to her cheek at the look in his eyes bryn very boldly had proposed a starlit walk to deborah and to his surprise she tind had made no excuse she had find been pale and weary after the excitement cit elt ement of the letter and now that some solution had been reached she put it behind tier her with relief she walked along beside him in silence holding to her face e from time to time the sheaf of clove pinks be had gathered tor for her beside the HIP walk their perfume heady and sweet drifted up to him its a beautiful night he said steadily yes it like up here in the winter time deborah oh site she replied its bea beautiful pitiful I 1 love it we get ever so much snow just here in the valley but it last long when it comes it makes me think of lorna doone doane do you remember when the snow was so heavy and thick and they were all winter bound what do you do with yourself when you are snow bound there was always plenty to do mending blending you know and sewing and keeping the house in order but in the evenings she glanced up at him sometimes it Is a little dull she said but joes father brought us a load of logs each fall and we would put one on the fire gary and 1 I and sit beside it reading or playing chess it sounds very pleasant bryn said well get a radio this winter shall we and how about a kitten or two A hearth really complete without a kitten she murmured something under tier her breath bryn bent toward her I 1 beg your pardon 1 I said she replied lifting her voice 1 I said you would probably be bored the road will be impassable as soon as the rains set in you will find it very dull shut away from the world for so long no he said id be looking at you she caught her breath get tired of that id never get tired of looking at you dont you know how beautiful you are deborah 1 youre the prettiest thing in the world oh no no im not she bent her head bead and lifted the pinks to her lips she held them there silent deborah yes do you like me at till all she did not answer bryn could hear bear his own heart pounding he waited she st stirred frred you have been more than kind to me she said and to grandmother too I 1 am very grateful she put her hands beside her on the wall and jumped lightly down 1 I think we ought to go in site she said quickly she did not speak on the way back to the house except to murmur thank you ais as he be heldtke held the door once inside she went direct directly lyu up p thi the stairs quickly as it she wanted to get away from him for a long time Brya stood atthe at the foot of the stairs th thinking wondering remembering then slowly be went on up an and d downto down to room bryn brin libut thedoor the door behind him and sat down unini uninvited cited ile ie looked at tubby you do a lot of di drinking inking these days he said ald must be hard ci on yow yon huh tul tubby y retorted meeting his gaze you d dont 0 t look any too peaceful yourself and yet here am 1 doing at least half your thinking tor for you and 0 d R na near near aalthe all the worrying lord youre slow bryn I 1 niver never saw anything like it I 1 suppose you told her yet how you feel eel about her have you using the correct technique what do you mean well one of the first rules Is for or a gentleman to confess his tender passion first I 1 suppose you had sense enough to do that cryn bryn drew a deep breath 1 I 1 don dont t know I 1 cant remember I 1 dont think so what I 1 wanted was to find out how hov she felt I 1 know how I 1 feel there you go old dunderhead slie she know how you feel does she that Is you expect her to be any more sensible than you ou under the circumstances and youre as blind as aa an owl so you just asked the girl where site stood and omitted to mention your own state of farst bright boy women love that kind of 0 thing it gives them so much ground to stand on bryn gazed at him dazedly tubby groaned lie he reached over to the table e beside him film and lifted milars vilars letter open its words leaping out from the page rend read that lie he commanded if anything can sober you up this will 1 I dont want to read it it anything to do with me just what like to think let me tell you ray my son its got everything to do with you it may be addressed to me but it if I 1 been here with you id never have seen it she knows darn well ill pass the word on to you what word take it rend read it bryn bry n took it and sighed but bot settled town down to it my dear tubby I 1 do hope you are having a pleasant visit away up there in the mountains I 1 must say bay I 1 was completely taken b by y surprise to hear that you had gone and without telling anyone your ad address dressl but bryn naturally would not care to have the world know the location of his idyllic retreat it romantic I 1 think it la s too thrilling and together with every one else I 1 can scarcely wait to meet his bride I 1 hear sh she e Is very beautiful and completely cha charming rm and I 1 am so glad for or bryn do give him my kindest regards and give deborah my love affectionately PILAR bryn looked up how elow does she know deborahh Debo name ilow how does she know youre here with us its ill bet a nickel she searched the records of the license bureau for the answer to your first question and for the other sally and simon left a forwarding address pilar would get what she wanted or die in the attempt well why she bryn demanded she should have been told as far as that goes I 1 thought you would tell tier lier something to satisfy her ashes one of the gang she anti and after all we did go around together pretty steadily tubby if upset I 1 dont blame her much it would have been only common courtesy on my part to write and tell her the whole story but it was too damned awkward I 1 tried and the reason it was awkward tubby said evenly was because she just one of the gang and you knew perfectly well that she expected to marry you in the end you 1 I ask her to dont quibble 1 I never told her I 1 was to la love with tier her I 1 in love with tier her ive never kissed pilar in my life he looked down at the note its a very kind note under the circumstances he said she might perfectly well have written it to me I 1 dont see why she that note tubby said deliberately Is 19 about as innocent and kind as a stick of dynamite with a fuse burning 1 oh dont be a tool fool tubby got into you anyway you used to like her you said site she was a good sport and a lot of other things you son and she were great pals ahm im tubby agreed so we were so we were but why what I 1 found out when you pulled your little stunt she care caie two pins about me the only reason she ever eer spread herself about me was because S she be thought it might make it easier fr for her to get you see and that night when I 1 went to tell hec bet that you were married I 1 caught tier off tier her guard never again I 1 go near tier her with a suit of boller boilerplate plate on bryn folded the note and put it backon the table and now cow tubby said watching him she knows where you are and what of it nothing nothing at all go on woo mooning nIng old bop hop head bryn took out his bis case and lit a 1 c cigarette say bryn tubby said at last did you hear what madeline sald said to me tonight what did she say well nothing much tubby answered embarrassed it was the way ay she said it you know Madell nes a darn nice girl I 1 never really thought much about it before sort of took her tor for granted you know but ashes it a peach bryn got up leisurely and went to the door he opened it bryn moved across the hall ball and tapped at madell ll 11 nes door tubby sat up stid with horror madeline bryn called through the keyhole alam ahm madeline Illadell ne tubby sais says he likes you oh bladel madeline lne said and obviously sat up la in bed how much she inquired after a moment TO BE CONTINUED |