The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1922-01-07
When 4 Girl
 Marries
By ANN LESLIE.
CHATTER 454.

CHAPTER 454.
 Dad Lee will be down in five min utes, l assured myself, knowingly.
 I've plenty of time. nevertheless.
 I marched out to the desk and ask ed if l might glance at the register for this month. Szimming through hastily, .aay l searched for the name or the day on which I'd first seen the bat-eared man sneaking out of the Writing room, I scrutinized every line carefully The name wasn't there. That might mean one of two things either Skim Darrow had an alias or two, or he wasn't stopping at the ho- tel and merely dropped in now and then to meet some ''perSon unknown my father, perhaps.
 From the register, got no satis- faction. But the precise thing I'd counted on came to pass. I dawdIed ter I found the book was going to yield nothing. While I was bending over it with every evidence. of com plete absorption, I heard a startled
 Well. daughter, are you looking for an old friend of the fam
 T don't know whether he is or not" said, looking down into the eyes a little lower than my own. They blinked and turned away:
 I continued suavely- Later we can drive if you like. Lyons will be calling for me-"
 T like to drive all right replied friend, MT. Norreys, will be totting into the home paddock soon and wanting all the trimmin's that goes with it-including his automobile and the man on the box. How's it come you didn't keep the carp "I didn't say I came in it," I par ried
 NO. m'dear, but considerin' you | hEta yf11y @s.,&,, of you runnin round in the damp and slush when this fine automobile right at your beck and call. So what puzzles me is why you didn't cial to say to your old dad and are you afraid tbis Lyons will listen right through the glass
 'tMaybeI" I laughed, amazed at his shrewdnesS Come, let's make our selves comfortable in this nice cosy alcove."
 As I spoke I was leading the way to the seat from which I'd twice seen the bat-eared man sneaking- I ex- tpected demure from Dad Lee, think ing he might be Self-conscious about that nook, if it were indeed his ren- dezvous with his unacknowledged ac- quaintance. But he aStoniShed me by skipping ahead with great agility and blocking off one corner over which I noticed the window draper ies were untidily pulled forward. As i he dropped his overcoat against these curtains. I fancied he arranged it to | conceal sonle thing he expected to find there.
 I determined that when we got up I'd never turn my eyes from him un- | til he picked up his overcoat and put | it on. For if there was something
 hidden under it. probably he'd make | a motion of scooping it up very care | fully when he lifted his coat. 1 Jovlally Dad Lee leaned forward planting his feet firmly and laying his twisted hands upon his knees with
 an air of solidity which was marred by the peculiar smallness of these ! hands. I found myself noticing the
 bent and claw-li5e little fingers and | the blunt, stubby thumbs. Some 1 thing about them held my attention to the exclusion of everything else Then I jerked myself back to sudden | consciousness that he was speaking Il and t,lat I'd missed the beginning of l what he was saying
 Sorry that I couldn't do | for you. But now you're romping
 along like a two-year-old. so we can | get down. to business. Ready for the starters whistler All right-go. l He turned his right hand palm up