The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1920-10-07

l
 sticks. Would you like to play check CTS now?"
 l 'Td love a game of checkers" re
 turned Jim "Quarter a corner eh ?" -
 "Give us the checker-board. will you, Anne?' said, Evvy with an air or cameraderie. "Oh, Jim, Annes
 shocked because I'm going to play TOT
 money!''
 1 Nonsense, Evvy. Anne knows how
 games bore fellow unless there's a little stake"
 Jim was merely an expression Of old
 and loyal friendship; "but l haven't an idea where there is a checker l board"
 cried "You don't mean to say Tom ! never showed you the secret compart- 1 ment of that chest ?" | Whereupon Eyvy ran across to the | chest and lifted the lid.
 "Why, you never got your blue robe | back from Tom! Aren't you friends with my big cousin anymore? How i mean. He was SO fond of you, Anne! I felt a barb in each word and sud- l denly it seemed strange to me - al- most insu1ting-that Jim wasn't show
 ing shadow of jealousy Yet so so ab7 didn't see what secret spring her fin gers manipulated-bue suddenly the i seeming bottom of the chest lifted up l ana a. narrow compartment was re- vea1ed. There-lying in a mass of pa perS and sealed packages was the l game of checkers. felt a feeling that l some day I will be sorry that didn't notice the spring that opened that se- | cret compartment And even now I | wish I had made a point of asking l Evvy to show it to me. With an air of being completely at l home, Evvy established herself and l the checker game across from Jim, and then they settled down to moving those little black and red disks about | the board with complete forgetfulness | of my existance. Jim lost from the very beginning and the little pile of 1 coins in front of Evvy was soon ab- | surd1y large.
 1 "Now, I'll play you double or quits" she cried eagerly.
 Jim agreed. It didn't seem to occur | to them that for almost two hours l I had been fussing about on the edge | of things, trying to busy myself with sewing and preparations for tea. Then l just as they were settling down to
 their championship game, in came l Sheldon to take Evvy home. l She looked up with bout which 1 changed to an amused twinkle as
 she made a suggestion that Sheldon
 take me out for breath or air. | "That will give Anne a bit of an
 outng-and I'll wager it will be the very first she's had since our Jimmie took up home-1ife."
 1 ''Fine-1ike nothing better than to I
 the groom for an hour or so," said Sheldon amiably.
 All too readily for my happiness.
 Jim seconded the idea. And so
 had to go off and leave my hus-
 band and Evvy costly established in | our little home-together. And per- l fectly contented about it | I began to wish that Jim might sometime be jealous-as I so often was. wondered if it was exactly in i my power to make him jealous. CHAPTER Lxv111. 'fWeIl, where do we go from here, | Mrs. Jimmie?' asked Sheldon, as he l followed me into his low-hung gray
 racer. Shall we make it a, spin up 1 the River road.'
 Anywhere you like. Just to skim l along in this adorable cars enough l for me" I replied, truthfully-forget- ting my chagrin at the way Evvy had
 forced Sheldon to play host to me, | whether Or no he liked it. You might have said just to skim l along-with me-was enough for you," suggested Sheldon. with such a nice boyish grin that grinned right | "I might fave-but what's a com 1 p1iment from a staid old married 1 woman like mel"
 r Sheldon turned and examined me l critically.
 1 Not so staid, Mrs. Jimmie. You're
 sparkling like a two-year-old before we even start"
 Well, I feel like a prancing colt I turned out to pasture" I confessed. I've been shut in for days, you | know"
 1 Sheldon patted my arm in what I | took to be nice big-brotherly fashion,
 and then silence fell between us. He
 devoted himself to the exacting task l of driving through the heavy traffic | of the avenue. I became absorbed in 1 the luxury of rolling up that avenue
 as part of the stream of pleasure | cars, instead of racing madly from i curb to curb in a wild effort to avoid | the vast tangle of onrushing wheels. l tAt last we reached the park,
 Sheldon turned into it, and a clean, | woodsy smell blew across our faces. I ! drew a great breath of it into my 1 lungs
 Its better than the dust and per
 fume and patchouli of the avenue l murmured Sheldon, as if agreeing | with something I had said. l "Oh, how comfy of you to under | stand my sniffing like a little dog" 1 I said.
 'sTo show how well I understand I'll
 drive down the paths where all the
 balsam and pine trees grow So
 away, little colt-and sniff away, little dog!'
 | Of course. we laughed at our non ] sense - and that laugh made us !
 with each other as we'd been pre- | tending to be.
 l Like it?" asked Sheldon as we 1 drove through a narrow path under
 a great cliff hung with birch and pine. | Like it? love it!" I cried. '1This 1 is the first friendly little drive without l quantities of folks along I've had since l-my honeymoon. It rests me and
 makes me fell all clean-and sweet I wasn't coquetting when said it, l but all in a moment I knew Sheldon thought I was He slowed the car, and leaning across the wheel, he look ed into my eyes and said, in a very quiet, intent voice:
 You are sweet! You dear little, quaint little Lilac Lady-you are
 sweeter than I ever guessed. You
 aren't afraid to say you're enjoying g yourself and you aren't too blase to enjoy the sim plest things. How under
 the sun have I managed to miss you
 all these monthS?