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Show ' t In Time of No Choice By DUFORD JENNE ! V ! (Coprrlht.) rOU poor, miserable little thing I" I 1 Beth said with smiling eyes, "I have a gorgeous plau for you. Nun you shut up your little Puritan self In a handy closet and listen to me!" Alice smiled faintly lit her roommate, room-mate, but It surely was a faint smile. A long month at a great city hospital that leaves one weary of life, without a position, and with savings gone does not make happy smiles; and Alice had reached that point, in spite of her cheery room-mate, who never let life get the best of her, where she was letting let-ting go. "Ted's folks Invited me to their place after he died. He was a black sheep, you know, and when he uiur-ritd uiur-ritd me, an ornery city girl with wild habits, that finished the both of us for them. So 1 never visited them. They never saw me and they never will, and I'm going to send you to them undei my name. In other words, you are to be for two precious weeks Mrs. Edward Ed-ward B. Hale !" "Oh ! 1 never it would be " Alice objected. "Listen ! They never did a thing for Ted and me. .They seemed to be sorry afterwards, hut I don't forgive them. Then, you can't get me out among tin cows and the crossroads. It's Just right for you. You should never have come to (lie city, anyway," Beth rattled rat-tled on. "I'll never go to see them. And you're just plain going to die, llt- tie one. You've got no choice!" Too weak to argue, too weary to care much about the deception, dominated domi-nated by the gay girl who took every challenge that life offered, at the end of the week Alice found herself speeding speed-ing on the southern train to the home of the people to whom she was to be Mrs. Hale the girl they had refused to accept, to whom now they would uia-ke redress. More thau once, Alice was In a panic of shame and doubt as she thought of the deception. The keenest keen-est moment of anguish came when, as she stepped from the train at. the village station, a tall, smiling man of about her own age stepped up. "Mrs. Hale? I am Alfred Ted's brother. I'm to drive you home and tell you that we are mighty glad to have you come," he said. His smiling, friendly face stilled her fears, and before she knew It she was in his car. sweeping away Into the country. She was silent, but he chatted chat-ted along In his cheerful way, explaining explain-ing gently how sorry his father had been for his sternness toward her and Ted, and added : "Mother lias been strong for you all the time, but dad rules the roost, and he's one of the old-fashioned, stiff-backed stiff-backed kind up on his uppers one moment, then the next, sorry clean through. He'll try to make It up to you and so will the rest of us!" They did, without question, and Alice had reason to grieve over the deception many nights thereafter as she lay in the cozy upstairs best room with the wide peace of the country ulght about her. One day Alfred looked at her oddly: "Beth, you were a little white ghost when you came, but you begin to look well, you look mighty good to me," he suggested, his eyes merry. Then he began to take her to happy times lu the village and at different farms dances, suppers, picnics and after each came tiie long drives home through the fragrant, singing southern night; and a little slow ache began to form in her heart she did not wunt to go back to the great city. Then one night, as he went to the house with her after a joyous evening, he paused in the kitchen and pointed to a calendar. "Beth, you see those little checks? I have been marking off the days you have left and I I wish l could get you to stay here always. I shull miss you," he said simply. She trembled at the deep undertone of emotion in his voice, and her lips parted to form the words, "Oh, I wish I could" then she remembered, and tied to her room. The next morning, as she went downstairs, down-stairs, Alfred caught her arm, and his eyes were so tender and genile, the tears almost came, but she said (Irmly; "Alfred, I want to tell you something and your mother and father I wasn't Ted's wife!" He slipped an arm around her and somehow, the touch of the firm arm was comforting, j "Little one, we have known It al! along, for the real Beth wrote just after aft-er you came, the whole story. We didn't want to tell you we knew, and Beth didn't want to tell you she had written and then mother and dad fell In love with you; then seeing that 1 i did at the start; It seemed as If I words eluded him, and he paused fot a moment. "All I know or care Is 1 love you. and If you think you could be happy with me, I don't want yoo to go back ever!" a sweet sense of happiness closei1 about her, and out of it she spoke in a whisper: "And 1 don't want ic go back, ever for I love you !" |