Evening star., 1921-09-25

ed before the words were hardly out
of his mouth. "You-you mustn't
come-and you mustn't follow me-
| or l shall never speak to you again
tested sd' Meii ifh in s1iasI isis turn. s
She considered. giving him that
glance which is mentioned above. Il
generally go to the baker's-at the
same time every evening" she said:
And the next moment she was gone.
The more Nell thought it over
now the more the sense of adventure
/ filled and thrilled him.
! "A queen-oh, queen! he tofd
, himself but + wonder why she
| The servants gossip at the board.
F., ing house recurred to him. "A lot
| of rot" he scofred "As if a girl like
| that could be mixed up in ANYTHING ns
thought with a slight frown. Il wish
there wasn't any mystery about it
| because Aunt Agnes will want to
know all about her"
/, That noon he lunched again at the
, upstairs restaurant, and there he
! saw Nicky Manning, one Of their
! Park avenue neighbOrs. Nicky was
F.! evidently in a state of considerable
excitement.
our house was robbed last night
he said, breathlessly. Yes! Somebody
ip-and nearly every locked door in
the house was wide open this morn
ing. Opened mothers jewel-safe, too,
but she has everything with her up Al
Far Harbor except an old ginger
bready diamond ring. and they took
that. Didn't take anything else. Wait,
I'll show it to you.
But how can you show Il to me"'
asked Nell. "if they took it."
That's the funny part OF It," ex-
claimed Nicky-"the ring came back
by mail this morning with label
fastened to it: Here! What do you
think of this?'
He drew from his pocket a small
cardboard box. The ring was evi.
dentIy an old engagement token, ana
fastened to it was tag bearing the
following remarkable caution: You
/, ought to have better locks" Mells
eyes CHANGED to fall upon the address
written on the cardboard box in
! which the ring had been returned,
and instantly his indifference fed.
1t was unmistakable. GOOD Loro!
he thought, with sinking heart
cts Molly's writing"
Nell met her again that night-snd
the next-and the next-and although
number of times he was seriously
close to asking her about Nickys
.And anyhow" he tried Ito tell him
self, "it may not be her writing after
ali. and she'd never forgive me If she
knew that 1 had ever associated her
in my mind with bunch OF crookS;
- It's a crazy notion, ANYHOW:
ful-eyed girl by his side. 1T must be
sonebody who writes lot like her;
that's ALL"
BESIDES, there was so much else to
talk about, and the more they taikea
the deeper Nell found himseh In thAt
x1,bi oh catches
man at some stage of his life's jour,
ney. World-old dreams surrounded
him like feecy clouds around moon.
World-old wonders hiled MIN WIN
fears and doubts.
4 y y y
uow was it that no one had ever
IL snapped her up before? That
seemed incredible to Mell-a puzzle
for the ages. II wonder If she could
ever get to love dub Hike me" This
! bothered him more than you might
| imagine.
He was on his way to his aunt's
house" to air the second noor-
this being the afternoon Of her arrival
in town on the o'clock train.
"of course, it's too soon to ask
self as he hurried along Park ave
| nue., but I hope it won't be t0ng.
And If there's anything about Moliys
family that Aunt Agnes doesn't like
well, I shall marry her, anyhow
! If she'll have me. There must oe
some way in this big town that l
can earn living"
AS he approached the house. boarded
and closed for the summer ne met
Molly strolHng with the Pom, but Tor
| some reason Molly seemed embar-
rassed when she saw Nell.
"Don't-stop and talk to nae now"
she pleaded. please go on.
'Of course, If you don't want me
said Nell, and with a mere glance at