The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1917-09-07

EuBlng 10 the SIDE OF the bed,
he leaned over and fished out o.
soft leather pouch from between
the feather ticks. and laid 1t In
Peggy's hands.
i "Thar's five hundred an thirty
five dollars an seventy.five cents
in that bag" said he. Now, you
go head No. you wait bit. I'll,
take tn thirty-five dollars an sew
enty-five- cents t. bet on you with.
II ought t git 'nough out O. Ed
that way t stake US fer another
mill"
] The battle" began the follow
ing afternoon.
i Dan Crowder,s we'll schooled
face could not quite hide his sur
prise as Mrs. Trowbridge sprangI
from her automobile and rrippedI
into his store. She was, the one
person in the township who never
traded with him-and whom he
disliked accordingly.
What en- l do for you today,
Mrs. Trowbridge?" he asked, with
even more than his usual suavity.
The half-dozen chronic lOafers
winked at one another over the
today" and waited on the tiptoe
OF expectancy to hear Mrs. Trow-
BRIDGES answer.
Flowers" was her reply, with
light laugh. I've constituted
myself a Redville Improvement
Society, and l want you to plant
the clear space out there between
the hitching-posts with flowers
The clear space out there" lay
between the new State Pike, about
SO feet from Crowder's door, and
a remaining piece of the old pike,
directly before 1t.
He laughed now, jocularly, and
sent a wink over her head toward
the grinning group that had edged
up behind her.
Just how much land did " say?
An how many flowers?" he ask
ed. batting her for his own and
the loafers' amusement.
Bout eighty dollars d. pay for
1t, at a guess.
Eighty dollarsi But-but it's
for the Redvills improvement So
ciety!"
with Mrs. Trowbridge as presi-
dent an secretary an committee
an membership an'-treasurer--I
| guess it'll have to be-" he re-
turned, smiling broadly at her dis
comfiture.
Your really mean," cried Peg |
gy, that you want me to buy that
land-pay you eighty dollars for
it?"
The gleeful onlookers edged a
little nearer.
He turned to view the land un-
der discussion, and saw Trow-
bridge coming toward his wife's
automobile, brows drawn in ques-
tioning at the sight of it before
Dan Crowder's door. Peggy saw
him, too. Quickly she thrust q
five-dollar bill into Crowder's
hand. ITO bind the bargain,
she cried crisply, and ran out,
almost into her husbands arms.
AS the machine moved off, the
loungers made stampede upon
the telephones of the village, and
inside Of three minutes everyone
in Redville knew about this latest
extravaganza of Mrs. Eds.
1t was not till after supper, and
the babies had been pat to bed,
and Mrs. Ed was sitting in her
handsome living-room, reading,
that the consuming question was
preached.
Where did you get the
money!" were his first words.
Peggy told him this, and all
that Sam Ichy had said, with the
exception of few. diplomaticl
reservations. For a full minute
her husband sat still. Then he
drew. a check-boo and fountain
pen from his pocket, wrote a
check, and placed It in her hand.
IF my wife's determined to
sQuander somebody's money, II
reckon 1t had better be mine,"l
said he grimly.
Peggy looked at him steadily.
ED, you want me to love you
with my whole heart, don't your"
1t was not the flank attack of
pretty wife on the weakness of
the physical man. There was
something sharp and menacing in
Peggy's voice that had in it no
appeal to the senses.
well? You do-don't your"
he asked. After moment: you
do. don't you, Peggy"
with all the heart that you'll
let me have" vouchsafed Peggy.
What do you mean by that?"
Peggy's eyes dropped again,
and her voice came in little flut-
tiers:
1T don't Just know how to tell
hearts bigger
than other times. When
l got Mrs. Emmett the dress, and
planned for her to wear your
mothers Irish point collar and
cameo pin. why, my heart felt so
big that I loved everybody more
you and the babies"
Trowbridge settled back in his e
chair. He had started to talk b
about Dan Crowder, and the talk
had narrowed down to a personal !
issue between him and Peppv-i I