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Show t "The dress tbe drew I Be Is fron New York, and Eddy Jackson U bringing him to to look at you. Around tbe world, my dear, two yean of It and tbat takes money I He'i used to people dressing up for dlnnei every single night, I dare say he'll wear an evening gown himself 1 mean dress suit. I'll put on Helen'i Alice-blue organdie, It just Ota me." Marjory considered. The mere Joj of dressing was a point In favor. "Well. I don't know. I dare say It would be all right Lots of folks do dreas f ir dinner." -by Ethel Hueston, Illustrations by Irwin Myers Copyrlfht, br Bobba Merrill Co. WNU Service body else go man-mad while I am away." "Too must mean Miss Jenkins. She la tbe only one left" Light words they were, and gay voices, for their father beard. But Miss Jenkins, unaccountably, without a word, detached herself from the cluster of girls and ran up to him. She threw botb arms about bis shoal- TORY FROM THE START In the usually quiet bom of Rev. Mr. Tolllver ot Kcd Thrush, Iowa, bis motherless daughters. Helen, Miriam and Ellen "Gin-g-er Ella." arc busy grooming" their aiatar Marjory for participation partici-pation la the "beauty pageant" that evening. With Eddy Jack-eon, Jack-eon, proaperou young farmer, ber rscort, Marjory leaves (or the anticipated triumph. Over work baa affected Mr. Tolliver'a yea to tbe point of threatened blindness. Ginger boa tried Id many ways to add to tbe family's lender Income, but she la not discouraged. Marjory wins the beauty prise, Iao.u0. She give tbe money to ber father as part of the expense necessary for tbe treatment of bla ayea by Chicago apeclallata.. derm, and kissed him on both cheeks "Be careful, on, be careful,11 she said, and ber face worked with emotion. emo-tion. In the dramatic alienee which followed fol-lowed this unexpected outburst, ill flam's light band led ber father away. "Why my dear" gasped Helen. "Why, why" "Oh, the poor, brave, dear, afflicted soul." wept Miss Jenkins "Going away like that with Just tbat helpless help-less young girl to look after bint 1 ahouldn't have permitted It 1 abould have gone myself. "Oh, Miriam Is very capable. She baa always gone before. She will take care of him." But Miss Jenkins, still weeping, without a word, pulled away from ber "On, darling, bow good of yon. HI do all the work. We'll be having efter-dlnnv coffee by tbe floor lamp." "Bat we haven't the right cups" "We're going to borrow tbe gold set out of Helen's hope cbest The set tbe Gleaners gave ber for Christmas." "If we break one of those gold cops" "We won't And If that dumb-bell of an Eddy Jackson gives us away rtl ril Hurry, darling, and put on the dress. TU lis things downstairs." Ginger sped away to don ber sis ter"s organdie before she carefully removed re-moved tbe frail golden dishes from smong tbe wedding treasures In her sister's chest, and carried them gingerly gin-gerly down tbe stairs. When, some sixty minutes later, Kddy Jackson appeared In the open doorway wltb his customary blithe. "Hello, everybody," 1 ravishing vision presented Itself. Marjory, lovely, laughing, sat among the cushions In tbe wide conch by tbe floor lamp, wltb a delicate cup poised between ber white dngert. At ber side, with the shining array of tbe golden coffee set on a small table close at ber hand, was Ginger In blue organdie. "Come In," she called brightly. "We are having our coffes slowly, so you can Join us." "Coffee f Oh, Indeed. I see." Eddy's voice was enigmatical, but, rallying with a visible effort, be proceeded to Introduce bla friend, Alexander Mur-dock. Mur-dock. a genuinely romantic figure, although al-though neither garbed In conventional conven-tional dress suit nor shining coat of malt. He waa very tall, wltb a great ease ot manner and complete self-possession, wtrb sleek dark hair, and dark bright eyes, and a thin brown face. Ginger could have danced with Joy. She poured the coffee with lingers tbat trembled Just a little, casting discreet dis-creet proprietary glances at Uurjory to make sure that she remained vividly viv-idly alert and Interested, and frowning terribly at Eddy Jackson on the side. Eddy studied tbe delicate lines of bis small cup wltb a significant fascination, fascina-tion, balanced the small saucer precariously pre-cariously on bis large hand, and emptied emp-tied the cup in two large draughts, requesting more, and again more. Alexander Murlock, on the other hand, as became a genuinely romantic figure, bandied bis with an ease, a finish, bo i of long and steady custom. Ginger flashed trfnmpb at ber sister. "Ton seel" her expression proclaimed. "Just as I told you I Am 1 so dumb?" "Marjory and I have not been abroad yet, Mr. Murdock," she said. In a tone which Implied that their departure depar-ture was a mere matter of days. "It must be very fascinating." "Father went on a tour of tbe Holy land," volunteered Marjory, "before we were born." "For myself," continueu Ginger, pausing for a light touch of her lips to the rim of tbe golden cup, for sue abhorred black coffee, "1 abould not care ao much to do tbe Holy land. 1 want to go to Paris and see Mont-martre, Mont-martre, and tbe boulevards, and the Follies, they don't bave things like that In the Holy land. Bow long are yon to be In Red Thrush, Mr. Mar-dock?" Mar-dock?" "Oh, some weeks, I fancy." He said "fancy." (n tbe Middle West, "1 think" aai "I dare say" are quite common, com-mon, while "1 guess" and "1 reckon" are not altogether unknown. "I fancy" la an effectaUot, tn any but a romantic figure. "Do let me fill your cup," she cooed. "Too see," continued the low, slow voice, "1 took on a Job today, and shall go to work tomorrow." Ginger leaned forward. She did not breathe. Oh, If be could but be president presi-dent of the bank where the Tubby Individual In-dividual aspired to licking stamps, j "What what profession" "The D and R. tou know, the Utile Orange and Black chain grocery atore on tbe corner of Main and Broadway." fTO BE CONTINUED) , j CHAPTER III Continued 8 This one small section of tba bouse from the very beginning of tbelr residence, resi-dence, was Ginger's own. It was dim cult of approach, for there were oo stairs leading to It, and sole admission admis-sion was by means of s wabbly old ladder of all rounds, which, carefully balanced against tbe wall at tbe end of tbe upper ball, led to the trapdoor which opened upward Into the attic. Ginger loved the attic moat of all for Its Inaccessibility. The trapdoor, which swung on a hinged lock and bad to be pushed upward wltb one band, was no obstacle, but an added charm Id ber eyes. On the attic aide of tbe door, aba bad, wltb ber own bands, driven a big staple, added another hook, and when aha went thltber on matters of any special moment, abe locked it furtively behind ber. Tbe studio waa her sacred retreat, and on tbla particular Sunday afternoon after-noon she had a definite motive In retirement, re-tirement, for abe aought the guidance of the Muses. Ginger hsd made a find. Eddy Jackson bad brought to the parsonage, as a 8atnrday gift from his mother, a jar of preserved peacbea wrapped Id an old page of the New Tork World. Helen had crumpled crum-pled It lightly Into the waste basket, where tbe sharp eye of Ginger Ella had espied It, whence ber greedy fingers fin-gers bad resetted IL And from It she learned, to her delight, tbat tbe New York World would pay live dollars eacb for the Bright Sayings of Children. Chil-dren. One of Ginger's great grievances In Ufa waa tbe tendency of her sisters to recall, and repeat, smart snylngs of ber own none-too-remote childhood Sucb repetition reduced ber to abject and helpless fury. But she noted that tbe auditors alwaya laughed, ample am-ple proof ot the presence ot bumor. She cast about In her memory for the most amusing of these pseudo laugh-producers, laugh-producers, and unable to discover merit by ber own Judgment, aha hit upon the one that bad produced the greatest gales of merriment Merely changing namea and relationships from ber own and Helen'a to tbat of a mother and daughter, she wrote: "Mrs. Ingraham spent an entire afternoon assisting a neighbor to cut out and fit a gown, and when tbe garment gar-ment was entirely finished, she wished to make payment for the time consumed. con-sumed. Oh, no,' said Mrs. ingraham pleasantly, 1 shall not take a cent for It I did tt entirely out of friend ahlp.' Tbe neighbor was Insistent, but Mrs. Ingraham remained firm, and would not take tbe money. At last ahe turned to Alice, Mrs. kigrabam'a email daughter standing near, and said. 'Alice, tell me, how can I make your mother take tbla Ave dollars which she baa fully earned? Alice considered a moment, and then an-nonnced an-nonnced gravely, 'You might give It to me, and ahe will borrow It' " Ginger wrote, corrected, and copied. Tben ahe read It, dls.asteful'y "It's a dumb thing, ahe thought frownlngly. But the memory of unfailing laughter encouraged her, and ahe folded It neatly, tucked it into an envelope, and addressed It In a Drm large band. At alz o'clock, the girls cume together to-gether In the kitchen where they hurriedly hur-riedly set out a light supper, tn order to be at church again at seven for tbe meeting of the Epwortb league. Mr. Tolllver did not attend this, aa it was a service especially calculated to encourage en-courage and train the younger members mem-bers of the congregation tn active par tlclpation, and be Inclined to the belief that they took part wttb more freedom free-dom In bis absence. On Monday afternoon, at one o'clock, tbe anxious little family gathered gath-ered in the living room to say good-by Ginger Wrote, Corrected, and Copied. Than 8he Read It, Distastefully. "It's a Dumb Thing." and hurried down the flagstone path toward her own home. Ginger's eyes were stormlly reflective. reflec-tive. "H'm," .she muttered. "U'ml Man-mad. Tbe darn thing'a catching." Later that afternoon, Edd.v Jackson, calling by telephone, got Ginger on tbe wire. "Have you anyone there who would like a little beauing?" be Inquired teasingly. "Marjory would like It 1 suppose, but I'm here to see that she doesn't get It" "Miriam there r , "No, she baa gone to Chicago with father. Helen haa gone driving, and for dinner, with the mathematical squire, and won't be borne until late. Margie's here, I'm here, and if you want to bold hands we can get Miss Jenkins." "I dont But 1 have a chap here man 1 met In Chicago a long time ago pretty nice fellow lives In New York Just back from a two years' tour of the world and all points east I thought perhaps Marjory might take htm on. for the evening, but aince Miriam la away, you would bave to girl-friend me."' Even over tbe telepluae Eddy could feel the sudden avarice tn Ginger's voice, the covetous glitter of ber bright eyes, the guile In her flying thoughts. New York Chicago around the world "Why, Eddy of course I Td love to. Marjory will adore it me, too. You know I always enjoy yoa, Eddy, you've got ao much sense." "We'll breeze In sbout eight, then." Ginger flew up the stairs. "Margie, Margie," she called. "Quick put on the dress." Marjory's calm was maddening. She waa manicuring ber pink nails. She looked up evenly, looked down, continued con-tinued to polish. to Mr. Tolllver and Miriam, starting for Chicago. Sucb tremendous Issues were involved in this small Journey. Perhaps he would return without the hated glasses, perhaps tbe dear tired eyea would see once more tbe love tbat shone In theirs. Perhaps tbe dreaded operation would be declared Inevitable. Perhaps tLlngs would Just drag on and on, month after month, as they bad dragged tn tbe past They went . out to tbe veranda, Miriam leading tbe way with tbe light bag. ' Her father reached for It struggled strug-gled wltb ber playfully for possession ot It She tucked her band Into his arm, looking back. Tbe girls smiled at ber, she smiled In return. Their smiles were sad, their father could not see the smiles. Their young eyes yearned with pain. Tbelr father could not see the yearning. He waved band at them in blltiie farewell. "Be good girls. Ellen don't let uoy- |