Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-09-29

k.nnjer when sne hcqui'' a. hn
i&Ias & Besides, it was nice 10 DC
l,tsS tsS on and to be next to the room
M.o the convalescent was.
, nc revelation as to Peter $ idcn-
N Pu. n.nid I'D not be long delayed. Briefly
NV tS tSroueht the tale back from the
-" v camp. and the village was all
xnoe. u;tS excitement. But Beth had
s w MHT one but Mr.. Mcclure and Aunt
M. IN Nv and Peter had requested that no
huei esisonld I toll her but himself. And
w dsv or so when Beth went into
~, % room she found him with a
w. Gior IN his cheeks, and wearing a
kui,,Ical smile. .,
k.th," he said. .,, =.
T came as soon MS they q iet me-
liter. Do you feel stronger
Iu"Eyery hour. Better wheh you re
hAre. And you"
SSnOb, I'm all right
VIE looked at her with his head on
r. "no NV Won think you could stand hear
L, something very terrible about me,
t she glanced at him anxiously and
Han % a smile of perfect faith responded
Il ns She knew that he was getting
Iii now because this was n touch Of
s old humor. ,,
TnH.m. guess SO. don't believe
N nm be 10 very terrible, Peter
IIt is-very terrible, Beth
! But the pressure of his fingers was
aSuring.
V'Tm listenin'," she said.
"Well you know, you told me once
hat you'd marry me no matter what
td been--"
I"Yes. meant that, Peter. I mean
now. It's what you Are
Il Peter Nichols chuckled. 1t was his
kt chuckle as Peter Nichols.
"Well, I'm not what you thought l
hs. I've been acting under false
Olors-undcr false pretenscs. Ny
ane isn't Peter Nichols, It's Peter
Eicholaeyitch-"
"Then you are all Russian!' she
bald.
Peter shook his head.
"No. Only half Of me. But used
live in Russia-at a place called
Eukoyo. The thing / wanted to tell
bou was that they fired me out because
hey didn't want me there "
"You. How dared they! I'd like
10 give them Il piece of my mind,
Inid Beth Indignantly.
ut wouldn't have done any good.
vtied to do that"
| "And wouldn't they listen?"
mo. They burned my-my house
llnd tried to shoot me-"
ooh! How could they"' And then
gently "Oh, Peter. You have had
troubles, haven't you?"
Il don't mind. If I hadn't had them,
wouldn't have come here and ]
wouldn't have found you."
80 after all, ought to be glad they
fd fire You out" she said gently.
But aren't you curious to know why
hey did,"
u am, il you want to tell me, but
Prem i 1t was bad, I don't care what
bou did, Peter"
He took her fingers to his lips.
Il 1T wasn't so very bad, after all
'eth. 1t wasn't so much what I did
what my-cr-my family had done
hat made them angry
well, you weren't responsible for
nat your kinfolks did"
Peter laughed softly.
They seemed to think so. My-er
my kinfolks were mixed up in politics
Russia and one Of my cousins had n
petty big job-too big a job for him
nd that's the truth. A cloud passed
va moment over Pete's face ana he
BOXED away.
But what did his job have to do with
Sou!n she asked.
well, you see, we were all mixed
with him, just by being relatcd-at
ast that's what the people thought
End so when my cousin did n lot OF
AGgs the people thought he oughtn't
10 and didn't do lot of other things
pat they thought he ought to have
One, they believed that I was just the
'me sort Of man that he was"
How unjust, Peter"
ne smiled at the ceiling.
II thought 30. ! told them what
hCught did what I could to straighter
fnihgs out and to help them, but they
nouldn't listen. Instead they burned
E-my house down and / had to ruI
Rway."
How terrible for you!' And then
uer pause, WAS it pretty house
Yes" he replied slowly, "lr was
very pretty house-in the midst o
Forest, with great pines all about it
WlSh they hadn't burned that house
oua, because l loved it."
Poor dear. I'm so sorry"
thoug ht you would be, because I
%,a big house, with pictures, books
An burned! Lands sakes alive.
and wonderful grand piano"
.oh, Peter" and then with flas
Joy but you're goin' to have an
aef grand piano just like it soon.
Am /? Who's going to give 1t t
i am" said Beth quietly. "And an
%er ~e mousse and pictures and books an
he read her expression eagerly.
ssSSr' Mcclure has told you?" h
She nodded. "You knew"
t,,da les he replied. "He told me yes
isn't 1t wonderfully" she whispered
ssa su then went on rapidly, 80 70
reter, maybe can be some goo
TEou after all"
ham,, me pressed her fingers, enjoying he
sssna. can hardly believe it's true" sh
EEEeu, but It must be, because Nj
Ilkiuu''r Ilkiu'rc had his lawyer here yesterda
les 1t 8 true. think he's prett
Soppy TO get all that of his conscienc,
eith &c rich girl, Beth" And theI
hs slow smile, THAT was one ,
Sau reasons why I wanted to talk wit
tSou,s ABOUT who l was. You see,
asnt that now that you're going
IA sha an this money, you might wal
rs.nge your mind about marrying