Show 4 0 all p de love S WU RELEASE 3 CHAPTER I 1 miss heggle lel I 1 it was annies voice mice lifted above the roar of a truck in the backyard hits de feed man all ali right annie megan looked up fr from am the desk where she was writing labels tor for the latest batch ot of canned goods the moneys in the old brown teapot aln ain no money in de brown teapot p ot miss heggle shouted annie a alter after fter a moment capt les jes a dune dime an two pennies megan sat very still for a moment and felt her heart go down into her worn shoes dad had found her secret cachel cache 1 that was why he had been so BO eager to take advantage of mr mccurties McCurt les offer to drive him inlo into the county seat that morn mornings annie vast and black loomed in the doorway her eyes were gentle a and nd warm with affection miss heggle yo yo paw she ahe began impulsively but megan silenced her with a glance glanc e end and reached tor for her checkbook annie accepted the unspoken rebuff good humo and said helpfully consulting a slip of paper in her hand band hits foteen coteen dollars an six ty to fol cents miss heggle megan nodded wrote the check ripped it out and signed the slip annie extended annie padded out and the door closed behind her for F 0 r a moment megan sat still her elbows on the desk her chin propped in her hands she could have wept and yet she tried hard to laugh at herself for the wave of discouragement that swept over her she had been carefully hoarding the egg money in that old brown teapot to pay tor for feed she had been so lure that her father knew nothing about its being there he must have prowled bowled or else he had spied on her er neither thought was pleasant megan finished the last of the labels and straightened wearily As she went out of the small sitting room that was her off office icell she glanced across the road and saw the glimmer of lights in the shabby little cottage well back from the road that was her nearest neighbor so bo alicia stevenson had returned rom her visit to atlanta she knew t moment of sharp envy lor for Ali alician cias ease ase and freedom from the grueling gruell ng farm arm labor that was the lot of practically 11 ally all the residents of pleasant grove grove busy with milking a task which she had bad done so many times that it was purely automatic she found herself thinking about alicia ancla the shabby little old cottage across the road from the mactavish place had stood vacant tor for years ever since old man brigham had died six months after the death of hla his wife then late one june evening the new york lin limited dated which ordinarily raced through pleasant grove with merely a derisive toot of its whistle had stopped and a woman had alight eil a woman of perhaps forty smartly dressed according to pleasant grove standards and surrounded by a sea of luggage she had announced herself in sums burns mercantile pleasant groves ge general eral store as alicia stevenson only child of the brighams Brig hams bams and stated that she had come to live in the old brigham place at least for the duration from the first megan had been established as alician All Ali clas cias best friend although megan was ashamed to admit to herself that she neither liked nor trusted alicia there was something about her that was to megan almost sly perhaps the relish with which she pounced on the smallest imal lest morsel ot of gossip and rolled it about on her tongue and round found exec factly aly the moment to mention it when it would do the most harm 0 occasionally e casio nally alicia departed on a trip sho she was wag quite closemouthed about where she was going and why megan suspected that alicia liked being a woman ot of mystery and that it fed her sense of importance to know that people wondered where she went and why annie megan finished the milking and she he and amos took the brimming milk palls to the spring house bouse cool and dark where the milk would be left over night and where to in the morning annie would churn chum coming back across the backyard almost completely dark now that the sun fun had gone and twilight was waa deepening she saw a man inan standing waiting for her at the tha steps and ana was startled he was wai a stranger and strangers especially masculine strangers were sufficiently rare in pleasant grove to arouse a bit ot of surprise miss mactavish be came towards her smiling and she saw that he be was tall and rugged looking and that lie he must have been close to forty im tom fallon fallen your neighbor down the road there weve just moved to in and they told rai me that you might be willing to supply us with milk and butter and eggs M why yes I 1 think so BO said laid megan and then remembered oh youre professor fallon fallen the now new high school pall welcome to lo pleasant grovel thank thanh you said tom and hla his handshake handshake was warm and friendly rl endly very kind of 0 you its going to be nice to have someone r in the westbrook place said megan pleasantly id like to call on mrs fallon as soon as you are settled she saw the shadow fall over his bis face ace even in the dusk she could sense the tightening the stiffening that made him look older and somehow aloof youre very kind he told her formally but mrs fallon fallen isan Is an invalid her health does not per mit alt her to have callers her sister lives with us and takes care of her oh im sorry said cald megan q quickly and meant it you will let us know though if there Is anything we can do to help we pride ourselves on being neighborly in pleasant grove tom smiled and the darkening of his face was gone now he said laid pleasantly id almost forgot that such a thing existed neighborliness I 1 mean you dont find any evidences of it in a city any more the fallons callons bad moved into the westbrook place early in september but by the time school was in its second week people were wera speaking approvingly ol of torn tom fati fali she saw aw a man standing waiting for her at the steps and was startled ion professor tom they were ceiling calling him and gradually it came to the term 11 ife bessor tes sor 11 i 1 I was right worried at first admitted old mrs stuart helping megan make sauer sauerkraut krauL seemed uke like he have enough spunk to nake make the older boys behave seemed like he be ought to a took a stick iteck to em moren he did but now seems like the youn guns has settled down own right nice with him and they say ay the other teachers teacher Is crazy about him megan said quietly he seems very nice I 1 think we are fortunate to get a man like him in a small town school mrs stuart shot her a glance rhyd you he come to a little bitty place like this the she wondered innocently folks says that with good teachers scar cern h heni e no teeth just about everywhere in the coun country try think a man with all them fancy diplomas and papers and things could get him a better job than this lun un here megan frowned a moment in ln deep thought hesitating well he said his bis wife aue was dell deli cate maybe he wanted a mild CU climate for her she sug suggested gestel at last mrs stuart paused in chopping the crisp hard bard cabbage heads beads end and shot megan a look you hear bear anything bout wrong with his all wife she wanted to know an odd tone in her voice that made megan look at her sharply why no she answered well I 1 thought maybe you selling him milk and eggs and things maybe you might a heard something or seen something mrs stuart was almost on the defensive folks say eay theres something mighty peculiar about her kind of sickness oddly enough megan found herself suddenly furious 1 I dont suppose it would be all ancla cia stevenson who said that would itt she asked dryly mrs stuart chuckled and her color deepened a little well now that you ask me I 1 do believe it was something alz stevenson said day when we was all sewing tor for the red bed cross over ather at her house she admitted she made a right smart story out 0 it said she went over to call taken some chrysanthemums mums ams from her garden and some new magazines and a book thInk ln a woman woman that was an invalid might like to read well she says this big husky looking woman a miss martha come to the door and fairly glared at her and let her in said fer er a minute she think she was goin to let her leave the flowers and she let her leave the books and said alz fallon fallen want to be read to and she was in bed so she read to herself herjeu MW stevenson said the house bouse what she could see of it leastways was neat and clean but dep de like professor olessor Pr fallon said that his bla cifes sister lived with them and took care dofher of her said megan dryly of course it would be me like alicia stevenson to make up a story about mystery over there I 1 imagine mrs fallon may be crippled there could be any one of at a lot of reasons anyway she Is an invalid and not permitted to have company so why cant we just leave it at that well I 1 there aint much else we can do admitted mrs stuart but it was plain that her lively curiosity was far from satisfied with any such decision there Therel was something about to tom m fallon that made megan feel sorry for or him something too that put her on the defensive when he and his family affairs were being discussed pleasant grove was a small town where everybody knew everybody alses business you might think you had secrets from your neighbors perhaps they let you think so but occasionally there would be little spatters scatters spat 0 of f rumor whispers revelations that your secret was no secret at all but that your friends and neighbors were perfectly willing that you should think they were megans favorite relaxation when she he could find time time tor for it was a walk to ito the top of the low lying hill beyond the meadow that rejoiced in the ambitious title of the ridge here she 0 crawled under a barbed fh wire fence nee walked a hundred yards more and was on top of the ridge here there were lordly pines whose green feathery tops seemed almost to brush the sky here the aisles aisle between the pines were kept clean and tree free of underbrush and thickly carpeted with resinous slippery brown pine needles here her there ther oie were several big flat rocks that offered a pleasant place to sit and rest after the walk and from here one had a beautiful view over rolling meadowland and pasture and green woods on an afternoon late in october megan emerged from the barbed wire fence and straightened to look back down the low meadow valley the dogs were scampering wildly dixie the small black water spaniel who was a superb hunter self taught had treed game and was barking his head bead off bessie the pointer was racing through the underbrush der brush at the edge of the pines her tall quivering with delight at the scent the she had bad disturbed while the cats cata were climbing trees with joyous abandon but as stepped out oui of 01 the ine pines to the small clearing where the rock lay she paused and said startled oh im sorry I 1 know there thera was anyone here tom stood up smiling eager well miss how are you am I 1 trespassing tres passing on your property he be said quickly oh no as a matter of fact this property belongs to your place megan assured him the circus and I 1 lust just use it as a finish to our walk shall I 1 go suggested tom lightly of course not how sill silly 1 protested megan swiftly after all a there are two rocks and plenty of room for both of thanks said tom and smiled as he watched her settle herself od on the rock while he selected another one the four cats shy of strangers ct rangers stepped daintily into the clearing saw him and drew back startled velvety ears erect fluffy plumy tails quivering a little tiny growls starting deep in their soft throats behave yourselves boyst M megan e ordered sternly and tom laughed as the arched talle tails relaxed a little and the cats went 0 on cabout about their business of investigating fascinating cina ting scents yet keeping wary golden eyes on him as they did two so they are beauties arent they said tom in quite honest admiration well naturally I 1 think so megan laughed tom nod nodded dod rm im a attla that way myself he admitted TO RE BB CONT CONTINUED nD |