Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1914-02-26
CHAPTER tx.-continued.

" ~
You pup" gritted North from his
chair. All ~undisturbed, March con-
tinued maliciously:
Yes, he is greatly taken. Says you
remind him OF the girl he is engaged
to and wants to tell you about her"
Ah." breathed the girl in evident
relief. Il shall be more than pleased
to listen. Also, l want to hear about
the case from him. You must bring
him up"
Il will do so with all the resigna-
ton and misgivings Of which l am
capable. He is going back to the field
right now and l have decided to &C.
company him and show him your
house. He says he will stop in for
a few moments on his way-with your
permission"
Liar" Kissed the listener. But
will. Just to spite you. You can't bluff
me that way"
Doris seemed genuinely pleased at
the announcement. by all means
come-both of you. And IL you hurry
you will be Just in time for lunch
light and cold. you know-juss a few
mouthfuls and a cup of tea. / am
going to ring of now before you have
a chance to decline. Goodby." The
receiver clicked in the hook and she
was gone. March turned to his friend
with q grin.
We are elected to 60 at once and
have a few bites Of lunch before you
pass on to your machine. She hung
up the receiver on me before I got a
chance to consult you about It So !
suppose we might as we'll be on our
way" He banged down his desk, put
on his hat and left the office.
Doris met them at the door frankly
pleased to e them. wonderfully
tempting in her soft morning gown
that fioated about her light al a sum.
mer cloud. Exceedingly dainty and
pretty she was, but Alan vas quick
to notice the faint, dark half circles
that underscored her eyes and which
bespoke another night of Ill rest She
led them directly to the light dining
room with its plain. solid oak furni.
ture. and seated them at the table at
once. Il was afraid that Mr.. North
might be impatient to get back to his
machine, SO | thought we would have
our luncheon first and chat after.
wards that he might not feel that !
was delaying matters. | realize that
he feels that he should be prepared
20 leave upon a minutes notice at all
times. Anyway we a talk more or
less as We nibble. Do you know
she turned the tea with a wrist SO
rounded and altogether fascinating
that they watched 1t as II ~spellbound
that | imagine | feel somewhat as
the southern women did during our
Civil war when their men folks were
marching away to defend their homes?
All houses were open to the soldiers
then. and while you gentlemen OF the
air are here risking your lives for our
protection, we women should be hap
py TO do everything in our power to
make your stay as pleasant as pos
sible. I want you to come straight
W. WhNhC'ci yVu icci IbSiiutu dhu
bring any friends you may wish to
with you. Now tell me about the
chase" North laughed b%elittlingly.
There isn't anything In particular to
tell except that the creature we were
after and myself sat It out together
all night" He attacked his sandwich
reminiscently.
And what happened" breathed the
girl.
Il suppose / might al well tell the
story at once and be through with 1t.
You saw the first part of the chase
when he led Us around that big loop
10 see what kind of stuff was In us,
so ! need not go into that. II was
Just the same thing all the way
around, anyway. OF course when that
mortar sent him pinwheeling through
the air we felt considerably encour.
aged, but he wasn't hurt a bit and
Kept on az fast al before, keeping his
distance ahead OF US almost to a rod
and leaving US as much in doubt as
e as to whether he was doing his
best or just flirting with us. Just as
We got over the mountains some OF
tie boys got discouraged and opened