New Britain herald. [microfilm reel] (New Britain, Conn.) 1890-1976, 1927-07-26

READ THIS FIRST:
Sally Jerome, pretty and clever, is
the prop and mainstay of her fam
| lily in the absence of her father, who
have not lived with her mother for
| nine years The family consists of
Mrs. Jerome. the twins, Beau and
Mile, and Sally herself Mrs. Je-
rome enjoys poor health, so Sally
does the housework mornings and
office work for Mr.. Peevey down
town afternoons.
In the flat below the Jeromes
lives young Ted Sloan, an automo-
| bile salesman, who wants her to
| marry him and keep on working.
| But the only man in whom she is
Interested is John Nye. whose real
estate office is across the hall from
Mr.. Pecvey's. in the Nye-Naylor
building.
Nye hires the siren NTillie as his
secretary, and as soon as Mile
| learns that his father is the wealthy
owner of the building she begins to
shine up to him. He becomes blindly
! infatuated with her, as a sensible
man often will with a frivolous lit
tie woman, and Sally is heart sick
| and jealous.
Beau and Mile spend most of
their earnings on themselves, and
rarely give anything toward the up
keep of the house. Her only real
financial help is an occasional check
from her father. and every now
and then she has to borrow money
from her Aunt Emily Jerome. an
energetic spinster.
Beau suddenly blossoms out with
some flashy new clothes, lends Mil
lie some money, and buys the liquor
for party given by his girl, Mabel
Wilmot. Sally is instantly suspi-
cious not only because Beau works
in bank, where money constantly
is in tempting sight, but because he
was light fingered us a little boy.
The crisis comes on a Saturday
night when Ted Sloan, angry with
Sally because of her GOODNESS to-
wards him, tells her that Beau got
$40 from him by means of two
bad checks and threatens to make
trouble for him. Sally borrows the
money to pay him from Mr..
Peevey and turns it over to Beau to
take to him. Beau leaves the Hat
and Sally does not see him return.
She goes to his room to see if he
has gone to bed, by any chance,
without her knowing about it.
NOW GO ON WITH THE STORY
Chapter XIX
The minute Sally switched on the
lights she saw that something was
wrong.
For Beau's bed had not been
touched. The spread was as smooth
and white as a drift Of virgin snow.
His pajamas We're folded over the
foot-rail, and on the little bedside
table lay package of cigarets and
an adventure" magazine.
But his dresser-top had been
cleared of everything except one
thing. The brushes We're gone. The
whisk broom, the jar Of hair
pomade, and the tin of talcum pow
der were all gone. Nothing was left
but a large picture of Mabel Wilmot
In Dutch silver frame.
Mabel had given it to Beau the
Christmas before, and Sally knew
that Beau priced it beyond all other
earthly possessions. just as his pas
sion for Mabel was far and away
the biggest thing in his life.
AS she looked at the photograph
Sally know that wherever Beau had
gone, Mabel was with him. He never
would have left that picture behind
him unless his lady-love, herself,
was with him in the flesh! That
much was certain.
But everything else was mystery.
. Why had Beau gone away
when he had the money to make
good his dl5graceful debt to Ted
Sloan? Where had he gone? @.
And when had he packed his bags
and made his plans to go?
He must have slipped out of the
house while I was bathing and
changing my Clothes Sally said to
herself slowly putting the thing
together like q. paper pattern.
Then another thought struck her.
Beau had been telephoning Mabel
when she came in 90 minutes ago.
They had been making their plans
to get away then. It was just like
Beau to run away from the scrape
he had got himself into, instead of
standing pat and facing the thing.
Beau was weak and foolish, and
there was no getting away from it.
'But he didn't have to go after I
gave him the money for Ted"
thought Sally. opening the empty
dresser drawers one after another
and closing them again. "TIe had
the money to square himself with"
But had he given the money to
Ted? The sudden thought that
perhaps he lad not but had kept
it instead, took Sally's breath away
fer an instant. The hundred
dollars she had borrowed from Mr..
Peevcy was a small fortune to Sally.