Evening star., 1928-10-19

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she would in that case lose two OF her
oldest boarders. and no knowing when,
II ever. their places would be nlled.
Besides. Mr.. Wayne-well. he was q
| fne man. lust the kind OF man she had
ALWAYS secretly admired-tan, vigorous,
erav-hsired. dsrk-eyed. Joe had not
heen of that order; neither was Harold
She sighed for the third time ana pre-
pared to get into bed.
At that instant there came soft tap
at her door. She waited, wondering.
then opened the door An incn ana
peeped out The hall was empty. But
on the threshold was oox, neaeiy
wrapped and addressed to herself
Mary's hands trembled with excite
ment as she lifted the box and. slip
ping back into her room: closed ss oUar ene
door. Nothing of the kind had ever
before happened to her. What could the
box contain? time bomb? Sne
smiled. Then, with reckless daring. she
tore off the crisp paper covering ana
disclosed quite the most beautiful box
of candy she had ever seen. she
opened the box and gazed enraptureo
at the delicate arrangement OF choco-
iates-two pounds OF them. No mean
Offering! Her head had ached too nard
al dinner time for her to be able 10
swallow more than a cup OF tea. NOW
she sat down with the box in her lap
and began to nibble sirlishly. Even
though Mr. Rich had placed this treas
tt,re at her door. she enjoyed 1t none
the less. Mr.. Rich was old and well to
do. and always doing little kind, gener-
Gus things. He had boarded at her
house since his wife's death, three years
before. and she hoped she had made
him feel at home Dear old man! To-
morrow she would make the dessert ne
loved so we'll Even though the others
did not fancy mince. pie, Mr.. Rich
should have his mince pie.
At breakfast next morning Mary
looked bright and pretty. She had
slept restfully upon her supper OF choco-
lates. She did not thank Mr.. Rich.
because she knew he liked to be a little
shy about his kindnesses. But she
smiled at him when at dinner that ev.-
ming she placed before him large cut
of his favorite pie.
Il made it especially for you. Mr..
Rich" she said. Then flushing, she
realized that at least two people at the
table were looking at her oddly--Mr
Wayne and Mrs. Millard Mrs. Millard'
! in fact, came as near to tittering as a
highly bred widow may. Mr.. Wayne
changed color perceptibly.
From that moment Mary was aware
that something was going on IN her
own boarding house behind her back
mysterious something which evinced
Gus glances. What was 1t? She could
not understand and gave up finally,
being troubled by many things. For
there was always Harold to worry her
and lately there had been other things
The roof had taken a notion to leak
and Mrs. Pease got cold and could
mot come to help as usual and Mrs.
4 Millard complained that she heard
Irat gnawing at night In her room. In
4 such an emergency Mary was very glad
when Mr. Rich offered to wait on the
table for her And Mr.. Wayne insisted
on taking care Of the furnace fire him.
tself
At dinner one evening Just after des-
sert was served there came the sound
of loud explosion, Mrs. Millard
screamed. Miss Purdy grew faint. the
others stared at each other aghast
Through the registers poured coal gas
in suffocating quantities. A second ex-
plosion followed Immediately, and Mr.
Wayne sprang to his feet. Although
Mrs. Millard clung to him, begging him
not to go into the cellar, he put her
aside and went. The third explosion
came after he had reached the cellar
Commotion followed. Mrs. Millard
moaned. He'll be asphyxiated." and
there was a great opening of doors and
looking red and uncomfortable
I'm sorry" he said. IT'S all my
fault l forgot to open the draughts
the gas collected, and OF course, the
first flame that burst through fired it,"
For the rest OF the evening Mrs Mil
lard hung about Mr.. Wayne. She asked
him three times II his heart was beat
ing normally, and insisted on feeline
his pulse to see II 1t was.
Coal gas is so dangerous" she mur.
INJURED as she held his wrist
It was week later that Mary wat
sitting In her little den juggling &C.
counts when there came a tap at thu
door. She called Come I'M" and MIR
Rich entered. The old gentleman looked
embarrassed and troubled.
Mrs. Bird-Mary," he said, Il hav,
come to ask you what fear you vii
feel is foolish question"
What is it?"
Mary laid down her pencil and triec
to smile.
My dear. I want you to be my wife.
Msry's eyes widened She gasped
"Oh. Mr.. Richw and felt herself be.
ing precipitated into a laughter ths'
would be cruel under the circumstances
"Oh. couldn't" she said. Il really
couldn't, dear Mr.. Rich. Thank yol
just the same for asking me-"
Mr.. Rich looked relieved.
You won't mind" he said. "if--if 4
gets out that I've proposed to you ant
you've refused me?"
why. no. Mary looked astonished
Though l shall never mention II u
any one. Mr.. Rich. assure you"
When he had gone out she hid hel
face in her hands and pondered. Whs
a queer, queer thing To happen 10 her
Had the dear only man really wanted
her? II he had. why did he look 70
so comfortable when she refused him,
> What would her boarders say? Her,
were Mr.. Wayne and Mrs Millard driv.
: Ing straight toward an engs cement
Mrs Millard had as much as told hei
so. Well, she had better get back Il
her accounts. But she sighed and TIL
I1gures waltzed trickily before her eye
as she blinked back her tears.
Half an hour later Mary was startlet
ny another tap at her door-a goot
sized knock this time. Again she ca,let
Come in!' and looked up, expectint
+ to see Mr.. Armstrong and his wife. wht
Fcmetimes came in for a chat with ne,
before retiring. Very nice Alderl,
couple the Armstrong; But It was Mr.
Wayne who entered. He looked a littl
pale. she thought.
"Cozy little place." he said. "I'vt
never been in here before" ~
Won't you sit DOWN.
say FIRST. MIR l-er Mar Ma sonI'nine ! und,s :