Evening star., 1922-10-28
The Wife Who Wouldn't
Settle Down!
By Lucille Var, Slyke
A Sequel to ssBrides Will Be Brides

her bare feet tucked Though the
rungs for Ragsy to lick good morn
| ing on their rosy heels. merry Is
going way off on q boat!'
But you don't go of 'thout US any
more" Ricky protested.
That's so, don't" Merriam an
swered She was realizing with
start of surprise that she. VINO mao
never wanted to settle down At
home before, was now loath to leave
/ Ii for minute, lest In that minute
some word might come from John.
She was as mournfui as they were
: when the time to leave came. But
she had promised the Blaisdells tina I
she would spend this Sunday on their
sioop, The Flirt, to celebrate Mans
first outing since her illness Mer-
, RAM looked very trig In her white
things when they arrived. Sup
posedly she was going to cheer Nam
but actually the Blaisdells were tax
ing her in hopes that day on the
water would take some of the tense
lines from that pathetic face. For
not for a moment since Merriam had
known that John was missing ana
suspected of the pay roll robbery had
she looked her normal self. She was
entirely apathetic as they sailed out
of the harbor. sitting meekly in the
cockpit thinking how she hated SAIL
! ing. But half an hour later. when
! ders for reefing sails. she began
/ watching him. And suddenly. with
the dear contrariness of her, she an
nounced that she adored sailing
when it goes zip. zippety!
1t went "zippety" all that day.
! Color was whipped into her wan
! cheeks; sparkle came in her tired
eyes: the sweep of sky and wind and
water soothed her. Thorne beckpn-
i ed to her. and. with his hand steady
ing the wheel, began teaching her TO
steer by compass. And through the
/ long afternoon, as they tackled back
and forth across the sound, she thrill
; ed to this new sensation that kept
her mind on wheel and sail. When
sunset came and they sailed toward
home on stin following breeze,
The F1irt. .pSrverse creature, leaped
like a buckiAg broncho. Merriam
! tugged and pulled on the wheel until
| the ship thre atened to jibe, ana
! Thorne came to her rescue to take
! hold with a laughing. Not so easy
to steer when the following breeze
| is after you. eh?'
! She rubbed the muscles OF her t1red
arms.
/ "It needs a man for following
breeze" she philosophical. IT'S that
! Thorne-the twins and me-there's a
following breeze of worry and work
! and debts and-oh. I think I'm steer
. ing without any compass. without
! knowing where"
! She ran up the steps of the Pump
! kin Shell at dusk. She had insisted
! on walking from the Blaisdell house.
She found every door and window
locked fast. shades drawn. She could
hear the twins whimpering.' She
f: pounded on the door. Susan peered
f; through a crack. unlocked the door.
yanked her in and bolted 1t quickly.
'Oh, ma'am." wheezed Susan. whose
asthma was always worse when she
was perturbed. I'VE thought you'd
never come, Such a time had we! A
| man come and threatened Ethel with
/ her life If she didn't go with him. and
she ran to the attic. ma'am, and /
! slammed the door. and he cursed US
out something awful, and she's up
stairs in highsterics, begging me not
to make her go back to that gang
Of Doreen's."
Copyright, 1927
CONTINUED in Mondays Star)