The Jasper news., 1922-04-27

.Vt Nc1I I.AtitNuIu hAAnicuf"tEfNf W 49,
mad eyes only for Ward. as size caught
his shoulder, and took sway the r.
phon.
,NoW Ward--.look here. she said,
stenly. what sort OF honor do You
call ti,isl Half an hour ago thought
all this nonsense was stopped Shame
on you'll 1ThosS girls promised me-"
She nav; RlchSrd. and laughed. the
color noOding her face,
Aren't they simply shamelessr" she
said. II had them all settled down,
once Nins. where's Francescai You
see" Harriet said, IN rapid expIana-
ton TO Richard, Il gave the girls my
room tonight, so that they could all
be together, and this IL ms rewardr,,
The girls entirely unalarmed by
her severity. had deserted Richard
now, and were cIinging to her with
weak laughter and feeble explana-
tlonE
sFrancesra unlocked that door, and
rushed into Mr.. Carriers roomi" Amy
explained, wiping her eyes. ~And
then the boys locked her IN therei"
The composed temperance Of Fran.
cesca at this point however added to
the general hilarity.
1You did not lock me In. Smarties !"
Francesca drawled, childishly. "They
climbed to the balcony, and we were
well. we were undressing she said
! to Richard, "and here they we're ham
mering and yelling like-like 81
wnshesl We grabbed our wrappers!
We wanted to-
"we wanted TO lock them out
tferei" Amy explained, laughing un-
controllabiy. aBut--" !
"And snapped on the light
Nina interposed. with deep satisfac-
tioIL
"And. mind you"
"And, Father
"And the wonder was that we didn't
die OF fright
"Now, look here" Harriet said, In
the babel. an give you all exactly two
minutes TO quiet down. Never 10 the
course Of my life" I
Richard thought her maternal induls
gence delightful; he thought the
young people who clung about her
charming in their apologetic and
laughing promises. Ward and Bruce
| tIopper mounted TO their own region
Richard went with the girls and Ear
riet 10 the rooms that had been at.
tackled Pilgrim, the tireless. was al
ready there. replacing pillows, straight@
ening beds, untwisting curtains. Tho
girls. with reminiscent bubbles Of
laughter, began to help her.
After the last good-nights. Richard
and Harriet had no choice but to crosf
the hall again, and they stood there
for a moment, laughing at the recene
excitement.
"After twelve" Harriet said, with
a smiling shake Of her head. AREN'T
they young demons However" she
added In an undertone, "it's the best
| thing in the world for Nlnai This
sort OF nonsense will blow ccbwebs
awayw
Richard was only conscious Of a
desire to proiong this Intimate little
moment Of parental consultation.
"She doesn't speak Of Blondlnr he
asked.
"Not at all. The birthday came aud
went placidly enough" Harriet an.
swered, suddenly intent after her,
laughing. And d he did not speak for
a second, she looked up at him, inno.I
Gently. "You don't think she's hiding
anythingf" she asked. anxiously.
"I--no. / hardly think So" Richard
answered, confusedly. Their eyes met
and he smiled vaguely. Then Harriet
slowly crossed the hall to the door Of
the guest room. where she was spend,
ing the night. and gavs him an only
half-audible goodnight. Richard stood
watching the door for moment or two
after It had closed upon the slender.
dimiy seen figure. Then he went to
his own room. and began brisklyl
enough to move about between the MIR,
rors and dressing room. windows and
bed. But two or three times he
stopped short. and found himself
staring vacantly into space. all move
ment arrested. even thought arrested
for whole long minutes at time.
| Harriet. entering her room, closed
the door noiselessly. and remained for
long time standing with her hands
resting against It behind her. her eyes
alert, her breath coming as II she had
been running. There was only a night
| Hight in the bedroom the covers were
stllI tumbled back from ber sudden
flight toward the rioting youngsters In
| the hail. She got back into her bec
and opened her book. But for a long
time she neither slept nor read; her
eyes widened at the faipteat sound Of