The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1922-02-23
When 4 Girl
 M0rries
WIsTI NNv Ia
492

OuS1il tO take a more DraCI1Cal att1-= tude toward the Dick West menace than a romantic one of wishing to | avenge yourself without calling in the protection of the law flows he plotting against Jfm?' d demonded Neal.
 I'm not sure''- hesitated. com
 mitted to silencs not only by my promise to Jim, but also by shame at my own suspicious of Dad Lee 'Y ou're not Sure!'' repeated Neal | Do you mean you refuse to tell me? Are you still stubbornIy insisting on secrecy?"
 Neal, dear''- began Cut out the soft stuff" interrupted Neal, coldly. ''Yau trust me-or you don't. That means-you tell me or you don't! We've come to a show ! | d own, Babbs!''
 LISLE-One -torab Copyright, 1920, King Feature syndi- : cate, Inc. After Neal had made his demand that. tell him all I knew of Dick Vests part in our affairs. we sat in | silence for a minute two. I could hear NeaIs wrist watch ticking be- hind me where his arm was flung ]: along the couch I knew I was fac , ing the moment when he'd withdraw ] his arn1-withdraw his interest as all | the rest of the family had done. But i there was no possible mpronise. | For Jlms sake l must risk estrang- ,. ing Neal.
 Neal" said at last pleadingIy ! I'm more tired than you can guess | of fighting this thing out alone. But Jim asked me to-keep 1t all to my | self. have to keep faith with him | even if 1t costs me the love of every one in the family. I can't think what 1 | It would be to lose your love. lad | but maybe I'm going to find out-' IT
 bowed my head, afraid to look at my i | brothers darkening face. ] Suddenly NeaIs arms flung about {
 me and he pillowed my head on his l shoulder. pattdng it medically
 with one of his hands. I chung to
 him wordless-relieved, waiting for {, ! what he would say. At last his voice :: broke oa1t ardently:
 You're a brave girl, Babns. A lit tie bit of all right. And I'd trust you l to fight West and the hordes of sa- tan, too, if you had to for the man you love. So go it on your own as long as you feel that's the right thing
 to do-and when you get ready to holler for Neal. he'll be within calling distance even if he's about four states l away on the map of our country" l stirred uneasi1y in his arms, cry ing out almost before I'd formed the ! words in my mind:
 l Neal. you're breaking some news.
 to me. Come, out with it, lad! Are
 you planning any-radical steps ?''
 "You wttch!'' Neal flung back. 1 I'm planning something, but it isn't very radical. I'm going home for a l fortnight so at the end of the week."
 l gro Father Andrew? That's great.
 And of course Dick West won't trou-
 ble you while you're out there" Maybe so- Myabe not'-inter-
 posed Neal dry1y.
 1 What do you mean?" I asked. | You sound as if you knew some I thing. Has any report or Dick West l come from our part of the coun-
 try"
 'T got an anonymous 1etteT~'-re- piled Neal. CT don't know what it l means. I'm not sure it means any,
 thing. It may not refer to West at | a11.'
 Let me see it.' said idly. | 'I couldn't do that" | There was g breathless quality ta,
 Meals voice. Hns eyes avoided mine.
 His face crinsoned.
 1 Let me see it, repeated firmly. l Tt isn't fair to play with my feel-
 ings at a time like this It's down
 right cruel"
 l Neal sat in thought for a moment. s As he hunched down and screwed up | his forehead in concentration, de- | ctded that he was still too much the ! invalid to be troubled over anything 1 I could aid him in escaping. Just as I was opening my lips to tell him not l to bother about the anonynlIous let | ter. he forestalIed me: l Its in a pigeonhole of my desks | third from the left. Maybe you might
 as we'll read it-and then tear it up. 1 Guess if l weren't still so done ups l I wouldn't be raising such hulla-
 bulHoo over g. few lines of script | Following directions. I rummaged in the third piSdonhole from the left until I found a letter in a large, thick l envelope which looked if it mighE
 once have held a wedding invitation. Upon NeaPs informing that this | was the letter he'd directed me to. find, I pulled open the envelope andl extracted it's contents. There was a1
 single sheet of cheap, ruled note pas~ 1 per, written in pencil in a hand which. 1 was obviously disguised. It looked aH l if it might have been written eitheri | by a child, or by some one employing
 his left hand. The postmark was a, | blur-4t gave no clue to the sender
 or his whereabouts.
 | This is what I deciphered after9 | carrying the faint scraw1 to tha | light: 1 'If you and a lady related to you
 are Joking for information about a
 mon who seems to like lodging you | why don't you look for the woman in f | the case? Either M. s. or R. c. may tell you a few things about well that ] l is dried up. Tell M s. to- let go. Her J | ex-sweetheart is ready to quit. I'll
 say so."
 That was the way I decipf1ered it. I turned to Neal, reading it aloud ai- ] l most breat hlessly. Il .AThis refers to Dick West-r1l
 wager" I cried; ''and it's something z|
 about Jim's oil wells l That isn't how I read it" he pre- tested. '-Give it to me a second, will q you, Babbs. Here's how I made that | second sentence
 And Neal read: 1 ".Either M S. or R. c. may ten youi! a few things about man who is sup- | posed to be drug-mad. 3
 s.That's how it goes. But who is