South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1922-01-20
THE REASON MADGE "TIDIED-'
HER FNTHER'S ROOM


At my fathers unexpected offer to
mail the letter TO which I had in
advcrtcntly referred flashed a
quick. helplessE appealing glance al
Ilcky. How would lac be able TO ex-
plain the embarrassing tarradiId.c
which lac had told my father?
He had said that the letter or
which J. had spoken with such cui-
pable carelessness was one to an in
Surance agent i'm Marvin. And we
were both guilty conscious that the
address was that of a woman il.
Hampstead, the cousin of Linda
Shellford. who was the outside link
an Grace Diapers precarious COM
munication with the world outside
tho circle TO which espionage re-
stricted her.
That my father should not sus-
pect our communication with Grace
Draper was vital o. the sue, ess ol
our Plan 10 have her pose for the
Pennington illustrations knew
! that if he had the slightest mkIinl
of our scheme ne would thwart in
instantly. And with that ccrtainty
came a little pans OF fear as if the
going away of this devoted protector
was an omen.
But ] need not have feared for
p.cky's quick wits Tie put his hand
IN the breast OF has cont. at the same
time speaking gratefully To- my
father.
Thanks, DAD ne SAID. That's
awfully good of you" His hand a,
10 came from his pocket was filled
with envelopes mostly torn open. but
] knew that among them was tho
letter / had written So short q time
ago. Dicky shufled them lcokine
them over at first assure0ly, then iu-
patiently.
! what the deuce" ne mu,tercd.
then thrust the letters back into the
( pocket from which he had taken
them. began TO search through his
other pockets. at last ne looked up
registering such natural emb1rrass-
mert that I paid mental tribute 80
nis histriOniC ability
"A Narrow squeak"
You've certainly got TO hang the
bells on me- he said rueul.v. II
was sure I had that thing with me.
But / haven't ON. weui L can get
it off ON the evening train. There's
the whistle. Dad. snail ] get your
ticket"
Il already have transportation. ''
my father replied quietly. Tia.
words Were commonplace enough.
and yet when the train bad arrived
and departed FOR the city. with my
fathers handsome cid profile out
began 20 speculate upon the posi-
bi.ities contained behind the simple
sentence. Had my father been ex-
pecting this summons Had ne pre-
pared for il. even To- the packing OF
his bag, SO that when the wire of
which ne had spoken arrived he
only had to set the FIRST train to the
citve
"Whew! That was narrow
squeak" Dicky's relieved voice in
terrupted my speculation. FL thought
sure the old boy had US for a min
ute. OF course. he couldn't have
suspected the truth. but he'd have
known we were stali'ng on some ac-
count or other If he'd ever lamped
this envelope. Let's ind out where
the postofice b. IN This burg, ana
Wen get rid OF the thing
] slowed up the car and he called
the inquiry 10 a passing farmer. Tho
man jorked his thumb over his
shoulder in the direction opposite 10
the one we were going. and 1 swung
the car around proceeded on the
road he had Indicated. and I'm an
other two minutes was rewarded
with the sight Of the rustic Office.
\ search.
I had a sudden impulse TO snatch
the letter from Dicky's fingers and
tear So into shreds instead or per
hitting IL 70 go on its unchecked