Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-07-24
ru,s STARTS THE STORY

that Peter loves hSr ana IdHs N topo
soan s,any ",m ,ntte e S,m sic consents. AFTER
vi a,ranoep,ents have been made and
,shtIs tho lovers are ,pdHtn0, ANg
omssf,ons her sister about her married
and TnssserM ',sss Marts@ or sS' isS her Tsa SsSu
th om the pny Cherry 20 suddenly con.
fyortod By Martin. She telis htm, thdt
she cansot & retsrr ,oam ,no, m'm; NJ that ar u
y,oEino iove to CHERRY, and producing
letter no says, "This ts fron, my
y,other. NV aunt, Mrs. North"
ave sdp hcre here toeek or TOO
aoop Aiir said as he paused.
AND HERE 1T CONTINUES
HIHJELL. she was in Portland, and saw
a few seconds Of searching. he read
from the letter: "'Bessie North saw
Cherry and Mrs. Joyce In Mill valley,
and II was yoy would s5 nSs set ,ians Snerry y
with her husband. especially when she Is
Az pretty as Cherry. and II Bessie Is
risht somebody else thinks she Is pretty,
too and you know u doesn't take much
had a couple of children to keep her
busy. why don't you bring her up here
and leave her with papa and me while
you look over the Mexican proposition
That's all Of that" said Martin. fold
aE wE. the what st's do yas A se tss"S sseS
triumphantly.
l.. II think that's a mean. wicked thing
10 say!" she said, Indignantly NO,
Martin" she said, silencing him, as he
would have interrupted her. i know, Know
because she's told me--that you and
she feel that your marriage Is a mis-
take. but II you think
"oh, she said that, did she?"
Don't use that tone one = disnf HIT blame Som
listen to my father. who thought she was
too young to marry any one But II you
want to lose her, Martin" AliX said with
heat! .'Just let her suspect all thus petty
suspicion and scandal! cherry's
Now. look here" he said. with his air
Of assurance I'm proud, too. And II !
don't choose to stand before the world
as a divorced man"
"Nobody's talking of divorce" Alix
hushed him. But no woman would
stand having other women spy and sus-
Il pect----"
How about this Sewall !" he NUT
tered. by George. she had something
on her mind when she met me today. She
was fused. all right, and 1t wasn't an
the surprise of seeing me. either. First
she wanted to telephone you--.-then she
fused over your message
ii Cherry gets huttered very easily !!
ID Alix reminded him.
well, she was fused all right this
morning She said not to mention 1t to
should go on time. I thought maybe she
meant that you wanted her to go her
self; no. she said. note would do
II don't know what you're talking
about" Alix said: puzzled.
Your motel" Martin explained.
What note! I didn't write any note
Cherry telephoned--"
NO" he said, patiently and perfume
torily, you wanted-Cherry-to-
sood-by-to--those- e-people-who- were
sailing! That was all. She wrote 1t: II
got there In time. I guess. Anyway
I heard the girl say to rush 1t to the
"oh," Alix said. "oh-" she added
Her tone betrayed nothing; but she wa.
say good-by to any one?" she asked
he long day. Instinct warned her thai
nothins would be gained by sharing hel
Il give you my word that she hasnt
been five minutes alone with any one bu
Peter and me-" she said. frankly. look
nF .,s.ts% int y Martins eyes Now are yor
Sure, I'm satisfied" he answered
'she didn't go into town to lunch with
any oneP" he asked.
No" Alix said, scornfully. she al
serve her, to. talk so about her. Mar
tin !" she said.
We'll, I'm not anybody's fool. 70,
knowm he assured her; "Ail right: II r
enough to dol" he finished, sapientiy.
Tn poor person with whom to dis
cuss cherry!" Alix limited with an un,
llNS Y.AA g.. 1T
And she "SH ioted t At Soeas cherrys oorn-eoloret
head. ten minutes larer, with thrill Of
maternal protectiveness. Cherry wa:
evidently asleep, buried deep under the
S,Ie ~ army my, blankets: tsni But Alx did moi
She did not even undress For II was
while sitting on the side of her bed
ready TO begin the process, that through
her excited and indignant and whirlins
thoughts the first suspicion shot like q
How dares Martin-how dares her
her thoughts had run. And then sud
denly she had said: why she has seer
no no. one but Peter--she has seen no one
.Ill tsl! Peter. all this when Martin
has sone,"- Alix decided. He'll be furi.
ous-he adores Cherry--he'll be furious
oSs 1oDas thinks that there Is no one like
J.. The words she had said came back
% her, and she said them again, half.
aloud. with a look Of pain and almost OF
rear suddenly coming in,o her eyes
Peter adores Cherry"
=, And then she knew. Even while the
slok suspicion formed itself, vague and
menacing and horrible, in her heart, she
tnew the truth of 1t. And though 70,
~ to remember and question and com.
pare al the days and hours that she
anS Peter and Cherry had been to,
setner; from the moment the thought
wss porn she knew that It was TO be
TO come.
For a few seconds Alix felt Ill. dazed
ana shocked almost beyond enduring
she sat irnmovable. her eyes fixed, hei
me second before IL fell after bullet
mad cleanly pierced the heart.
Ihen she put her hand to her throat
nnS snsntt looked with a sort Of terror at the
nfSss OF Was GhersX I.s NGsSSy Ssty ess, %Ss
Stnought She was breathing hard. her
he blood In her temples began to pound
"eT w,tS mouth vas dry;
y%snt quickly and silently from the sleep
ns porch. and into the warm sitting
hr, hUvmt J., The lamps were all extinguished
pink' % 'ne Sha nrs was stu burning. low and
fallen apart to show the flame. ' '
ons Few minutes Alix stood, with
ois toot on the chain that linked the
oTass firedogs, her elbow on the
hsr s and her cheek resting against
No." she whispered. almost audibly
nS-lt can't be that II can't be Cherry
4, Peter-oh.. my God oh. my God
III. "ss II oeen that, all the time, that, al
dreamsSS SS-Namd q 2. / never knew it-I never
sudds, dhs END met Of a log blazed up with 3
csst a bright flame. and in the light Il