| Show S H I 1 F T 0 dw i alb sa tic A A NO OIL W S by sara ware bassett copyright Copy richt by tho the penn pann pub CA service CHAPTER XII continued 16 1 I shall be I 1 never appreciated cortle until now I 1 was too silly vain feather headed beaded I 1 have realized it once k knotting g marcia arcla SI we all want to be different after we wa have seen marcia stanley heath said aid gently we dont just want to be we set about it was the girls grave reply sit down sylvia and let us talk of 0 marcia ventured heath after a pause 1 I am deeply sorry it if I 1 have wounded her indeed I 1 am the girl searched his face 1 I cannot understand you yon mr death she ehe said what has marla via done that you should have left her ca as you did she believed in you through thick and thin stood up for you against everybody going it tak blind at that few women would 7 bale bae had such falth faith in a stranger 1 I realize that you do not need to tell ell me he be answered it Is precisely because she has gone so far I 1 believed her capable of going farther yet the whole way what do you mean by the aholt way to the end well she ile he shook ills his head no she has fallen short disappointed me cruelly when it came to the final test her affection collapsed oh she has been wonderful he be added quickly odo do not think I 1 fall fail to appreciate pre preci clate ate that she has far out dis danced every other woman I 1 ever have known I 1 simply expected too mile much vf of her doubtless the impossible hunan human nature Is trail a womans comans heart the frailest thing of all I 1 have bar always said so you wrong marcia il arcla cried sylvia hotly her heart Is not frail neither Is she the weak sort of person you have pictured in all the world you could not match her loyalty or the depth of her affection it if after HIP experience we three have lived through together you have not discovered aar whar the Is it Is futile for me to attempt to show you you came into our lives like a meteor entirely detached deta clied from everything we knew nothing about you end and in the face of imaging lama ing evidence T yan an offered neither marcia nor me one word of 0 explanation marcia asked votie none without rhyme or reason she believed in you I 1 had not her faith I 1 freely confess I 1 thought you guilty oh I 1 liked you sufficiently well to be ready to help you save your skin hut but marcia cared enough for you to want you to save your soul when you were taken ill we both nursed jou I 1 willingly she devotedly here lay another difference had you been able to detect it wh what at happened as a result of this enforced intimacy you know know far better than L I 1 1 I fell in love with marcia barcla replied the man without an instants hesitation you tell fell in lovel love sylvia repeated her lip curling you call it love the poor thing you offered her herl I 1 why marcia would have gone to the worlds end with you stanley heath had she the right she would have faced any humiliation for your sake if prison doors closed upon you she would have remained faithful until they swung open and afterward followed you to any corner of the earth in which you chose to begin a new we life where youre wrong sylvia contradicted heath marcia was not ready to do that I 1 tried her out and she refused when I 1 told her I 1 should return to her and asked her in so many words whether she was willing to face shame and public scorn for my sake she turned her back on me she could not go to that fen length th are you sure she understood ailed sylila la stepping nearer and looking re fearlessly ar lessly into his eyes there Is a shame marcia never in this world would fare for any man but it is not the shame you have just described it Is the shame of wronging another woman destroying a home in the villages where we have been brought up we in marriage as a sacred enduring sacrament not a 4 bond to be if fitly broken when you offered marcia less than that 1 I never offered marcia any such shameful position sylvia cried stanley heath 1 I would not so far insult lier her but you are married that Is a 3 lie ile who told you yoa so the the wire to mrs stanley heath the telephone message I 1 heard beard you call her joan but sylvia mrs stanley heath Is not dot my wife she Is my young step bother my fathers widow I 1 always have called her joan oh I 1 I 1 be beg your pardon 1 11 I see it all now 0 the man explained you have entirely misunderstood the situation im a junior since my fathers death however people have got out of tbt way of using the term sometimes I 1 myself am careless about it IL so barcla thought I 1 of course she did we both did how were we to knowl know sylvia demanded how indeed if an innocent citizen cannot visit a town without being arrested as a criminal within a week of his alrh archal at why by he be be mar tied without his knowledge circumstantial cum eil dence can apparently oric s 1 I gllnn lit it suddenly lie threw back his 0 ail anil laughed bledl ulti Ul Bl ekL ti 1 u little sylvia bless bles jou for setting me right I 1 told you you were a brick and youve proved it thanks to you everything la Is now straightened out here give me your hand how hair am I 1 to thank you for or what you have done I 1 only hope that young horatio puller fuller of yours realizes what a treasure he be Is getting ile he does sir ileath heath he does observed that gentleman strolling rolline st at the same instant through the door and encircling ills tiny bride to be with his arm I 1 traveled halt half way across this big country of ours our to marry her oil oh were riot not going to be married yet hortio hartle demurred the sirl girl trying to wrench hersele herselt free of the big fellows hold I 1 certainly we are my dear I 1 tell you this morning I 1 came to get married I 1 was perfectly serious dal dad gave me two months vacation with that understanding I 1 must either produce a wife when I 1 get home or lose toy my job looks to me as if 1 you had mr air fullers future prosperity in your hands sylila heath said she has she can make or break me BIC A 1 big responsibility eh eb little sylvia 1 I know it Il hurtle ortle retorted the girl seriously she is equal to it fuller never fear stanley heath asserted im not doing any worrying smiled horatio Hor atlo 1 I the sentence was wag cut short by the radios louds loudspeaker peaLer the much sought long island gem thief was captured this morning at his lodgings in jersey city harris chalmers alias jimmie ohara a paroled prisoner was taken by the pollee police at ills room on K street A quantity of loot together with firearms and the missing jessels jen els were found concealed in the apartment the man readily admitted the theft he has a long prison record for a second nobody spoke then as if prompted by common impulse the three on the piazza rushed indoors ellsha was sitting limply before the radio did you hear bear that he be gasped well ra rather therl 1 horatio fuller shouted with a triumphant wave ware of his hand band aint IZ 1 the beateice beat bea teree erce exploded the astonished sheriff that sends the whole case up in the air all needed now dow to make me out the darn dest fool on gods earth Is tor for El eleanors eazers young nephew lawyer in new york chos checkl checking ng 0 up heaths deaths story to wire everything there Is 0 K it if he does ill go bury my head there goes the telephone honel hilj eleazer ill bet a hat hello 1 yes I 1 heard it you aint surprised wal I 1 am im took oft my feet oh your nephew wired did he an every things 0 K X that beaul the case I 1 reckon theres no more to be sald said I 1 feel like a shrimp how do you re fearl ellsha hung up the receiver wal mr heath the story you told eleazer an me Is straight as a string in every particular he announced youre freel there aint bothin I 1 can say to tell you im sorry aint in no way adequate just have to set me down as one of them pud din headed idiots that was over am bilious bialous to do his duty S 5 a 7 b 6 4 J it was outrageous of you insulting to leave a thing of this sort for marcia 1 I shall not let it go at that sir mr winslow stanley heath acclaimed stepping to the old mans side and seizing his palm in a strong grip we all make errors forget it im going to besides you have treated me like a prince since ive been your guest you are the prince sir livin with you has shown me that wal anyhow all aint been lost at least ive met a thoroughbred an that aint none too frequent an occurrence in these days what I 1 cant understand mr air winslow Is why you recognize he was a thoroughbred from the beginning 11 horatio fuller remarked youve a right to berate me young mart man a perfect right I 1 aint golato put up no defense anas the circumstances that blinded me besides I 1 had only a single glimpse of sir mr heath remember member lie that after he be was took sick I 1 never saw him again had wp we gt cot acquainted as we have now every thin thing would a been different findore them mem jewels great hat man annl I 1 I 1 had a diamond ring in my lay pocket when I 1 came to wilton but that prove id stolen it it 1 I knowl I 1 knowl acquiesced tha sheriff eleazer an me lost our bear ins entirely we got completely turned round A thief with a phi beta kappa keyl key I 1 jeered horatio godfrey I 1 then turning to sylvia he added in an undertone well so go far as I 1 can see the only person who has kept her head through this affair la Is our aunt marcia BI arcla ellaba overheard the final clause right I 1 lie he agreed with cordiality dia lity the widders headpiece head piece alece can always be relied upon to stay steady whose bead alece inquired stanley heath puzzled by the term marceas Mar clas here in town we call her the well not have the opportunity to call her that much longer heath laughed you dont tell met mel ellsha regarded mm min openmouthed open mouthed humph I 1 so how the wind blows Is it wal I 1 can see this mix up would V a ended my chances anyway ilar clad never dever have had me after this disappointed ns as I 1 am though theres a sight of comfort in knowin she wont have eleazer ISI eazer neither ile he dont come out of the a whit battern bet tern roe me in fact its a heap 1 CHAPTER XIII intense int erse as was the joy ot of the three persons who a little later set out toward the homestead in the old yellow dory they were a silent trio too much of seriousness had bad happened during the morning for them to dispel its aftermath lightly horatio pulling at the oars was unusually earnest sylvia turned the ring on her finger reflectively and stanley heath looked far out over the water too deep in thought to be conscious of either of them when however the boat swung into the channel sylvia spoke i bortle and I 1 are not coming with you mr heath she said we will stay behind only do please promise me one thing do not tell barcli the whole story before we have a chance to hear it there are ever so many connecting links I 1 am curious beyond words to have you supply such stich as the jewels in the first place I 1 can hardly wait waft to have hare that mystery solved stanley laughed the jewels are no mystery at all ican I 1 can satisfy your mind about thos here and now cow they were joans mrs Heat heatha heaths hs iier her maid corinne Corl took them and disappeared soon afterward purely by accident I 1 met paul LatI a friend who lives on long island and during 7 the course of our conversation he asked if I 1 knew a good man servant saying that jullen julien their butler had bad just given notice that lie he was to be married to corinne the new parlor maid and return with her to france the womans comans name instantly caught my attention why I 1 do a bit of sleuthing on my own account thus far the detectives joan and I 1 had hired had made no headway at locating the jewels why I 1 have bare a try at it myself I 1 got a boat and cruised along to the latimers at whose house hous I 1 had frequently stayed and with the h habits of whose household I 1 was familiar sly lly plan was to arrive early in the morning before the family was astir and catch the alone at her work should she prove to be our corinne Corl ifould I 1 would boldly confront her with the tha theft and demand the jewels it if on the other hand she turned out to be another person altogether it would be perfectly easy to explain my presence pre senca by falling failing back on my acquaintance with vaul it seemed on thinking the matter over that this would be a tar far more considerate course anyway than to drag in tile the detectives not only because I 1 had bad no real evidence to present to them but also because of my friendship for the latimers and for jullen julien who had been in their employ many years I 1 knew they esteemed him very highly and would be dreadfully cut up should they find him involved in an affair as unpleasant as this one besides I 1 felt practically certain he had bad had nothing to do with the crime he was too fine one of the old fashioned devoted type of servant to shame such a man and throw suspicion on him it he were blameless would be a pity especially just on the eve of his resigning from froin service it might mean that instead of leaving gratitude and goodwill good will of his employers he might be sent away un der a cloud I 1 did not wish that to happen well my scheme worked to a dot 1 I reached the latimers unobserved found corinne alone straightening up the library faced her and demanded the jewels the instant she ehe saw me she knew the game was up and without more ado produced the gems from her pocket shouldering all the blame Julien Jullen she protested knew nothing of tile theft ile he was a self respecting honest man should he be be told of what she had done it would end every thing between them she loved him indeed it vas nas because of him she had bad committed the crime it proved they had been engager engage some time and long before had agree to save their money and som sometime etim pool it so they might h married an buy a little horne home in franc ITO BE |
