Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1923-07-12
CHAPTER VII-continued.

She nodded pleasantly. you're per-
fectly welcome" The words were hos
pitable, but not so cordial as Mrs.
Penfield herself could have wished.
She could not entirely conquer a feel
dng of irritation upon finding in her
house a man whom she instinctively
.distrusted. A foolish feeling, she
thought to herself. She had not a
shred Of tangible evidence against
Frank Bosley, but the repulsion was
strong. Her delight in finding rela
tive here in California had been great
1y tempered by the friendship between
these two men, unaccountable, per-
sistent.
Don't hurry because / came" she
said, waving the guest back to his
seat. "I'm going on into the kitchen
in a minute" She opened her shabby
leather bag and took out small box,
wrapped In paper. I'll just give you
this, as long as you're home again.
She passed it over.
Frank Bosley took the box mechan-
dcally and turned it about as If Devil
dlered. "What is it?" There was no
doubling his surprise.
"Pm sure I don't know. Valuables,
I s'pose. Your wife brought it in for
me to keep while she was gone"
The red Of swift anger surged into
mis- face "Gussie brought 1t inl
What In hi ID she do that forY
Mrs. Penfeld smiled. 81 don't
know. For safety, was all she said.
And of course a burglar would be
rather low in his mind fore he'd try
this place"
His anger mounted steadily, blazing
now In his prominent eyes. 'D-n !!
She makes me sick, always getting
the jumping jimmiesl I'll see that
she doesn't bother you any more,
Mrs Penfeld"
ooh, 'tisn't that 1 count it bother,
Mr.. Bosley; but, land, there amt any
great protection here"
"And, great Scott, you carry this
--he turned the box over In his hands
these rings-or whatever its
round with you when you go any
where?"
mo- hain't never done that before
but going out of The Custard Cup al
together And even so, what If
lost it?"
81 should say!' His words cut the
air with violence. Believe me, I'll fix
this"
Jerry Winston, whose merry eyes
had sharpened with alert interest,
broke in with a careful drawl "Ain't
you a bit hard on nerves, Bosley I?
Likely your wife's had dream or
something"
This Hghtened version seemed to
restore Frank Bosley's composure.
Likely" he agreed glibly. "Been
reading the newspapers, presume,
Got her mind full OF robberies, and
thinks she's going to be the next in
line"
Jerry Winston nodded. "Worst
thing in the world for nerves." he said
sadly. 'eWomen need lighter food'n
that"
Mrs. Penfield started for the kitchen.
Frank Bosley's voice followed her.
"Pll be ambling along, Winston.
See you again in a day or to-"
Mrs. Penfield, emptying the baked
beans into the saucepan, shook his
head. Wouldn't that beat your she
murmured. :.
She put the saucepan on the stove
and went to the back door. Lettie's
game was in full swing. There were
now ten scraps of humanity, because
Thad had been annexed to the party
as a family courtesy and was travel
ing deadhead through its joys. Each
one Of the ten had been assigned the
part of a creature of feathers or fur
and was practicing the new charac-
ter with vociferous spirit. Jimmy
Catterbox, as Gray Squirrel, was eat
ing an imaginary nut with increasing
grace, to the accompaniment of ap-
propriate noises; his little sister, as
Hen, was strutting and cackling in a
way that would have been illuminat-
ing to unframed poultry. Rabbit was
represented; also Cat and Dog and
Mouse and several others-all small,
as Lettie had promised; all active, as
one might expect.
Mrs. Penfeld, satisfied by her mo-
ment Of supervision, went back to her
supper preparations and the ironing
which further utilized the supper fire.
Uncle Jerry tramped through the
Iiving-room and paused on his way
through the kitchen. Mrs. Penfeld
was far from understanding why he
had come into her home. 1t had
seemed natural enough at first, but
the superstition that he wanted to
participate in the home life of his
own kindred was being rapidly dissi-
pated. He had fitted up the loft with
q few pieces of plain furniture and