The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1927-12-16
CHAPTER III-Continued

But" said Mr.. Schwenckton, puz-
zled, "you must know how to school
teach when you're a graduate Of
Kutztown Normal yet! Well, guess
anyhow! Us we don't cleo no teacher
to our William Penn that ain't got
her Normal school diarploma."
"Oh.y yes-well. but--yes, of course, :"
Nicely concluded in some confusion.
She glanced surreptitiously at Aunt
Rosy-and found, to her discomfort,
that she was being regarded with q
look of cunning suspicion.
"Say!" suddenly spoke up Rosy.
slave you got such a Kutztcwn Nor
NAL school diarploma?"
"Why-why, Of course-why, of
course / have"
Mister" she demanded of her
brother-in-law, did you ever see her
diarploma"
Zach, Rosy, what's over you? To be
sure, she had to send her diarploma
along with her application and her
photygraft when she wrote for the
job here at our William Penn. Your
photygraft," he said to Nicely, "don't
favor you much. You're lot prettier
than that there photygraft."
''Its funny" answered Nicely, show
my photographs never look like-nev-
err do me justice" she amended her
remark.
Again she found Aunt Rosy's little
cunning eyes boring like gimlets into
hers.
Nicely Schwenckton seemed to her.
self, these days, to be ever walking in
fear. Yet never in rall her young life
had she found existence so exhilarat-
ing, so tense with interesting sus-
pense. It was not really fear, she
decided, only a thrilling apprehension
that hung over her every minute
Of the day and night; an apprehen-
sion which even if realized could not
really bring harm to her, only awk-
ward embarrassment.
''But somebody else would feel
more awkward and embarrassed" she
smiled to herself.
However, this apprehension, fol.
lowing her ceaselessly, was a bit
nerve-racking; and the startling
knowledge just acquired that Marvin
Creighton cher STEADY Dates"
brotherD stood over her as the school
superintendent and was therefore
bound to make her acquaintance very
soon, greatly augmented her sense of
the danger of her situation--a situa-
ton brought about less by her own
plotting than by succession of for
tuitous and unforeseen circumstances.
Never would she have had either the
audacity or the ingenuity to have ar
ranged such an extraordinary chain
of circumstances.
"Up to now, I've always held fiction
to be stranger than truth-but never
again! If were novelist I'd never
have the cheek to make up such a
lurid and improbable yarn as I'm liv-
ing!" she amazedly told herself. IF I
offered it to the movies I'm sure
they'd consider it too true to life to
be convincing"
If either Of the Creighton brothers
should ever see her in the others
company! Or if st. Croix discovered
she was the district teacher, instead
Of the ignorant COW she feigned to
be! Or if any of the Schwenckton
family discovered her meeting with st.
Croix or any of the other things about
her which they were congenitally in
capable of suspecting!
1t was just three days after her last
rendezvous with st. Croix that one
afternoon at a quarter past four.
school having been dismissed and her
plain tailored school dress having
been changed right here in her empty
schoolrcom for the fancy, cheap
finery in which she always disguised
herself to meet her Date" that she
came out of the schoolhouse and
after locking the door and hiding the
key under stone, glanced cautiously
I'M and down the road before starting