Show GEN G E IR ELLA IL IL ILA by ethel hueston i illustrations by s irwin myers copyright by s merrill co anu sacr to them p perly nut but I 1 did keep keel hoping you must kepp kepl on hoping doping pleaded miriam they like irain ll continued their faglier fai an fn lier they evidently want III bilm 10 oh h no gasped marjory not hiram father not in your church I 1 1 I 1 like him myself mv self sald said tier father gently better liim him than some others nut but marjory shook tier her head passionately siona tely no no slip not in your church ginger hurried back with the pis DIS tind 11 ind it youre up on indexes dees In marlain deftly turned to the lie index referred to section hurried down to paragraph 2 and nd tead lend aloud the annuity dalm of it a minister Mini stet shall be no less than one icv seventieth engleth 1 70 of the hie average sat sal ary y house rent excluded of lite hie effective members of liis his who ore are pastors Iii or district cuts multiplied by the number of ills his years of sen ice in the eff effective eLtive re rela I 1 tion including two years on trial as it member of an annual conference of the methodist episcopal church Il mercy lercy interrupted ginger its ICs geometry well haie to wait till borace comes home WILY why Ws lis ery simple explained her father fat lier one seventieth of the salary of our conference we are not a ery rich one you know is 19 twenty ons one dollars multiply that by X darling you forgot s interrupted ginger again X is the number ol of years one has been preaching my x Is twenty three multiply twenty one dollars by twenty three years and it cornea comes to four hundred and eighty three dollars but we have not quite enough money in our treasury to meet the claims in full to so the pro rata raca reduction lon would allow me about three hundred and twenty dollars a year approximately twenty five dollars a month that will hardly support a family oh dearest de irest you have supported us long enough 11 said cald miriam dirlam it Is our turn now why father alth your twenty five a month and my er prospects why darling well be simply jake at eleven eddy jackson came with allram buckworth Back worth and the two men listened in silence as they told them as indifferently as they could of the purport of the special meeting so what it was eddy said soberly 1 I was afraid of it they offer me your church said airam buckworth stoutly 1 I accept it for any consideration elther either financial or spiritual marjory glowed at him unless he added reflectively unless they would make some arrangement to let us both work along together and use me as your assistant until your eyes are restored you work as my assistant hiram you are too good a roan man for that and I 1 even assist yau blind as I 1 am 1 I dont believe the church as a whole will stand for it eddy jackson broke out finally old jop has just talked them into this and ill bet I 1 can talk them out ot of it I 1 say we just walk walh out on them and start stan a church ot of our own they might keep most of the money but wed take most ot of the religion an affectionate thought smiled mr tolliver Toll lver but not a very christian one no eddy this Is the thing a mini minister accepts and does not fight put up your sword peter quoted ginger softly well if worst comes to worst declared the young man ill move the whole gang of 0 you out to pay dirt hows howa the private business coming along eddy asked in a low voice and n d I 1 install all you lu in the th lab and well t at start ta t a tanners spiritual union laughing at that they walked slow ly out the flagstone p V tu to the curb hows the private business coming along eddy asked asbed in a low voice rather slowly to lu the face 0 of S such 1 rna nn an emergency us as this ginger ella sighed 1 I may have to lorge forge another oth erlink anh or so CHAPTER VII A stricken silence prevailed in the sturdy little touring car that eddy jackson guided carefully along the country roads from lied thrush to pay din dim not one vard was spoken cut but in the rear seat miriam the sensible twin sat with one of her fathers hands bands crushed crus lied tightly bet between both ot of hers and now and then she pressed it against her cheeks in a wordless passion of sympathy longing to comfort it was not until the car stood before the side porch of the big white house and miriam wit with orni orm light hand haa ha led her father farher up the steps that eddy spoke mr tolliver he said awkwardly dont worry its a raw deal all the way round but honestly they mean all right well do something about it all theres nothing to do eddy and they not only mean all right they are all right fand and it if it t goes through the way they have planned well start something on our own owl account were right in the he midst of the farming district here hera and a lot of these people don dont t bother to go so far to church pay dirt Is big well build a little chapel of our own and run it to suit ourselves I 1 dont want you to leave red hed thrush youre a good friend and a good m man an eddy said the other gratefully but dont have me too much on your mind its all right I 1 will never do anything that does not completely accord with the policy of our church you understand good night my dear boy and to repeat your ci own n words dont worry silently up the stairs to the right wing miriam guided his steps she turned back the covers of his bed carefully spread out the things he would need tor for the nig night abt placed a fresh towel on his rack father shant I 1 read to you a while she offered until you feel tired enough to sleep no thanks dear not tonight youre a nice girl miriam but I 1 dont want to be read to I 1 have many than things s to think of but darling they arent nice things well some of them are you tor for instance father her voice was low almost apologetic father yiu know we are so used to each other you and we girls living together all the time and arguing and quarreling and making up we never say the real things that are in our minds but father in our hearts we all of us think you are just wonderful father ris nis arm tightened about her ders and I 1 tease you girls and laugh at your little tricks and your vanities and what ellen calls your man madness but all the time I 1 know you are the very best girls in the world oil r p well helen s shots he r s a awfully w F affy good and gan ginger h ge r la is good too in her funny way but marjory and I 1 are not much there was silence between them as each smiled tenderly into the darkness thinking of the thousand sweet ridiculous whimsical pathetic happenings of the shabby old methodist parsonage but after allt a attle tle while he be sent seat her back bach to bed and to sleep but wesley tolliver himself lay awake all night thinking of many things when miriam entered his room the next morning she found him standing by the window fully dressed oh anther youre getting too smart for me she said regretfully but when he turned to look at her the expression on ills his face sent a swift glad brightening over her own oh father ohp cried again youve thought of something I 1 everything Is all right again it ue he laughed quite merrily at h her e r young eagerness perfectly all right again he assured lier her oh tell me all about it it the she begged but he be denied her you must wait to share it with the rest of the family how ImPett impetuous lus you are get in id 11 why you are quite another ginger g e rp 1 to be continued |