Show hy ethel hussion J alltus by bt irwin myers I 1 pi copf alt ce Vy MU asri vica my aimy father eddy was nonplus ed you ton must bo be mistaken I 1 have no father my father Is dead oh I 1 beg pardon I 1 see I 1 am mistaken I 1 inferred that it was your taller father they merely spoke of him as eddy jackson mr Tol livers particular friend and crony eddy looked unutterable things oh you mean me I 1 am eddy jackson the only one you but gracious they said well I 1 understand my aly mistake I 1 see excuse me 1 I know eddy jackson laughed you tou mean ginger ella sure she puts me and her father and moses in the same class were all archangels together CHAPTER VI life Is no bower of roses tor for the schemer of schemes ellen tolliver Toll lver was not the first to make that discovery in actual experience there could be no poss possible able question but that she had figured the family future along the most pleasant as well as profitable 1 lines and yet it grew increasing ly difficult to hold her recalcitrant I 1 subjects to the designated stars take miriam the sensible twin tor for instance frivoling frivol ing away the precious hours of her life out at pay dirt in the company of a mere can grocer and it was not merely that thai she did those things she enjoyed the doing that was the painful side of the situation and there was marjory hiram duckworth buckworth remained a pleasant and comradely member of the household cheerfully paying ten of his fifteen dollars into the general coffer every week and obviously counting this not so much a hardship as a privilege miss jenkins liked him mr tolliver Toll lver liked III ed him the members of 0 f the church liked mm him all the young daughters of all the influential members developed a strange assiduity along lines of religious activity on the surface things seemed to progress with a sweet serenity which should have bare been highly satisfactory to everybody concerned but ginger ella casting about her with keen eyes that saw everything and a keen mind that suspected even more knew intuitively that all was not well not in the church where were heard vague murmurings murmur ings indefinite suggestions and were seen strange and significant looks nor in the parsonage itself itsek where deram duckworth buckworth looked too often and too long upon the slender white hands ot of marjory tolliver Toll lver this was a bad sign one of the very worst illiam duckworth buckworth was good looking marjory had always been man mad the situation held all sorts of horrible balles ginger renewed her vigilance hiram buckworth good looking brilliant young student had bad deliberately chosen the ministry as his life work she tossed him a scant respect for that choice which although it accorded him a high mark for character in IL no way entitled him to a permanent place in her plans tor for the fam ilys future being a seminary man with special study at oxford tie lie would begin perhaps at a thousand dollars or twelve hundred if be was lucky and would progress upward slowly perhaps as far as two thousand twenty five hundred possibly he was so very good looking it if lio married he would instantly according to time honored methodist parson parsio nea nige statistics as figured by ginger become possessed of a minimum of three children small good would be one of his bis estate to 10 the impoverished and needy ToUl Tol livers vera encouraging him was a a deliberate throwing away of their one resource it was the willful choking ol of their oil well it was the burning ol of their liberty bonds ginger 1 I carefully she did more than ree rec on she hounded she was nil alla present all pervasive all if marjory and the young minister inclined tor for a stroll in the moonlight ginger inclined also it if they sat in the shade oi the ramblers on the veranda ginger sat with them bored but unyielding had she washed dishes all these years merely to save the fair hands of marjory for the dishes of 0 hiram duckworth and a minimum of three the tha attic saw little of 0 ellen tolliver Toll lver during these days she met the postman thanked him warmly for or the letters he gave her and flew to the attic the dimes into the dolls trunk and ginger returned to her veranda vigil in a way considerable disappointment attended the accumulation of for the blind rarely did she sha receive more than five contributions in a day a stingy fifty cents lowly lovely daughters cannot be sent cent to finishing schools shabby parsonages personages nages cannot be done over suffering eyes cannot be operated on by expensive burgeons upon a paltry five dimes a d day ay not that ginger frowned upon her receipts far front from it it was only that she had hoped so greatly in the three weeks of mr Tol livers idleness in the country he had bad required acquired a thick coat of unaccustomed tan ano and five full pounds in weight with will such an increase of strength en arid ami ambition that he was inclined to feel ashamed of hla his continued idleness word from from town that a special committee from the off official lelal board to meet him at ai the parsonage on thursday evening tor for a discussion of important church matters gave him real pleasure eddy jackson drove him in with miriam and feeling with lis his usual tact that the family would like to be alone for a few hours of intimate reunion he pleaded important business and left them promising to return for then them at eleven ocl ana after their modest supper they sat the three girls arid and thell their father in the pleasant pleas int old living room and waited or coming of the committee they want that lust liast two thousand raised said their father smiling sn illing and so do 1 I rut but I 1 uni am sure the people will contribute it of the own free will in gratl iud on the lie day of the dedication presently came joplin westbury alone ill III at ease but obviously a man with his mind made up well brother tolliver he said its good to see you again you are looking better eyes any stronger 1 I think so yes I 1 am sure of it IL I 1 feel much better what hour was appointed tor for the meeting the rest of the committee late laptef well as a matter of tact fact the rest of the committee Is not coming brother dawes was called out of town on business late this afternoon and brother Brot lier macklen Is la in bed with an attack of acute indigestion not that I 1 believe a word of it myself they just backed out all Is the meeting postponed then well no you see I 1 was the chairman anyhow end and I 1 can do as well without the lie committee well just jug have hare it out by ourselves the girls rose quickly well run ran upstairs if you will excuse us sald said Mir miriam lain no dont go said joplin westbury quickly evidently not at all desiring to be left alone with hla his gentle unseeing pastor you stay right here its a family matter as you might say and well just have it all right out in the open sir mr tolliver sat very still a rigid figure against the faded blue velvet of the big chair his head bent forward wa rd you see we had it meeting of the official hoard board monday night 11 you did I 1 why I 1 could have come in for it well we just had it by ourselves in fact weve lad aad several well theres no use beating about th the e bush continued the embarrassed official you see brother tolliver that while all our people like you and like your work like ilke your whole family in fact act still well you can see that a blind man cant run a church not rightly not a line new church like this one of ours now that weve put so much money into this new church weve got to get in the crowds crowd 3 to in ff fill 11 it up and help pay the expenses and a blind man mr tolliver did not move yes brother westbury go on lie he so said gently well you see how it Is and since the congregationalists have started to hold meetings of their own in the odd fellows fiill taken about a dozen of our good payers and to be continued |