Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-10-01
A SWEETHEART AT THIRTY
fAe Stnry cfs Woman's Transfer nation.
~ MARION RUBlNCAM.
LOYALTY.
Chapter NCN.

Chapter NCN.
I talked with Toots for awhile before
joining Francis.
II didn't want To come in, she tolo
me. IL WAS too nervous to hear his testi
mony. Besides, they wouldn't let me
Mcrr married"
A proof. she took her left hand from
her mufI. and showed me the heavy gold
hand ON her finger Beside At WAS her en-
unvcmcnt r,ng-a diamond solitaire much
seo large for her finger and much too large
Tor good taste.
1oots followed my look.
pete bought il when he had run
of mck. j" shc explained. "Hc said | could
hook II II he got IN trouble. 1 guess the
times come for that.
ooh. I hope not, ! put in hastily. :.
Il don't care" she answered. Hell
GET another when he's flush again.
She told me her brother was waiting
for her downstairs, and after little
NOR, tain. went over To Francis and
MIR. Mills.
serh,s thing is dragging slowly, Fran
,is said. 'and YOU look tired, 40 | m gong
10 send YOU home. My driver VIII take
you up ~ your place, and you IL be quite
safe. Its midnight now
But Bud
"Ill 90 back and see what | can do
.ho,,, I'm, | don't like the way his affair
l,ols Ills evidence WAS very bad. The
bo,. ,s,,t had but I'm afraid he is weak at
times That mistake about seeing Pete
v,s An idiotic one I'd forgive Grin much
sooncr than stupidity.
solt terribly deprcssed--but there
WAS nothing to do but go down TO the
car. and allow myself to he tucked IN.
Trancis gave the address TO the driver
and then turned back, pretending to ad-
inst nv rug again. He switched OH the
hqht for a moment we were alone
IN the closed car, Francis standing on the
step. Tie leaned over and kissed my ups
lightly
And the depression left me at once
After all everything would ne All right
-Frncis had charge OF a. az
Don't worry, hc whispered Io 9
back and havc good night sleep l |.
telephone you tomorrow afternoon.
d, canght ms hand and held IT then
,h, door WAS closed and ] was being
driven slowly up the deserted, snow
covered streets
And in spite of my worry about Bud,
and the effect IL all this on Violet, |
could not he unhappy. ! leaned back
among the soft cushions, watching the
patehos of light come out of the dark
r,ss a. We passed the street lamps !
b.lonecd to Francis Meade and he was
,n,ite tho most wonderful man IN the
world
1 shppcd off my glove and watched
,he ele,r sparkle Of my ring IN the hall
hght remembering the enormous dlas
mcnd that little Toots WIS wearing and
ia shiny gold | held mine up-bright
symbol of my present happiness and
my future ioy. | had never been happy
,rt,l latolv when l first loved Francis
l,s /, WAS worth going through life
n thousand times worse-to feel AS
wonderfully contented, as supremely
clad s- | was CA this snowy Christmas
night =,
or,-d revgie as the car stopped at the
door of the little house we lived In.
elirnh~d through the dark halls and
s,,op,,d for the door of our tiny apart
m..nt. Insr}c was my family. ! felt guilty
than. For Esthor, undreSscd and rolled
In her ~d flannel ''wrappor, was asleep
on the onuch-which she used for a bed
while she was visiting us-and curied up
IN the chair in her kImono Was Violet,
reading 20 keep awake.
''I'm sorry 10 be late. ! apologlsed
And my voice woke, Esther, who sat up
rubbing the sleep from her little eyes.
WAS il nice party And was his
mother nice 20 YOU
of COURSE | had almost forgotten the
,nr,dent of the dinner, and my first
raj visit with Francis Neade's mother
/ described the dinner As well as ] could.
Then what did YOU dor Its so late.
Esther WAS all curiosity.
"Oh, talked"
vas afraid was not doing this very
veil After all, WAS not USED TO hbbing
either. 70, ~,
what did nc SAY about Bud?" VI
asked when we had gone to our room,
shutting the door so Esther would not
he disturbed hy our volces-
esHe sAid-wcn, Va, dear, the Truth IS,
samo,hing special happened about that
.se. and they took some evidence on
il tonight. was there
Tonight Christmas night! IL must
lav~ been important. What happened
Ind YOU see BudF
s'Yes. and Francis said SInons might be
called, after | left But 1t was 80 late
Odd they question Bud
eYcs. and / m afraid, vi dear, I'm awful
IL afraid he hasn't been quite truthful with
,s. He confessed to owing 5000
slopped AT a little exclamation from Vi
then went on-"and he didn't tell the
tn,,h on the stand, and was caught at 1t.
lf doexn 4 look well-even Francis believes
row that Bud had some hand IL this rob
berry"
Il don't care" vi said, finging her
head back proudly and the red spots
running to her cheeks again. he hasn I
done wrong-but even # ne had, Id love
hlm just the same. I'd love hIIn more
l,..rs,,se he'd need me rnorer'