The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1932-02-19
CHAPTER vII-Continued

NSA&3A "A 4AAN OAA@AAA@AS4
il
He watched the blood coming into
her face. There was a moment before
she answered.
"Yes," she said, II guess would"
At the foot of the stairs, he paused.
~We've really been having a row." he
said. do you suppose we've walked
Edithr
She laughed as she clasped his arm.
II don't care" she said.
Edward had window-seat on the
shady side of the five-eighteen. He
had opened his paper and was skim
ming the headlines; not reading them
exactly, but giving them fair chance
to attract his attention If they could
CHANGING up, he saw Bert Willard
in the act of passing his seat. No one
had taken the other half of it yet; the
car wasn't full enough for that. He
got sharp impression-the sharper
for being unanalyzable-that Bert had
seen him and meant to pretend he
hadn't. Equally surprising was his
own impulse, in the same moment, to
let him go by unrecognized. Neverthe-
less, he called his friends name, and
Bert, with a start not quite convinc-
fngly genuine, came back and sat be-
side him. He opened his paper.
"Nice to have spring show signs Of
.pnn,inO around oOoir, icp,f II 9O bo III
Edward agreed that it was. SCOT
your golf started yet?' he asked. II
should think nice day like this would
have tempted you"
"Oh, get tempted sometimes when
I don't fall" Bert answered absently.
His eye was on the smudgy numerals
In the Extra column-the first three
innings of the afternoons ball game.
~The Cubs are showing signs of life
this year." he remarked. Wouldn't
surprise me If they turned out to be
pretty good"
Edward had nothing to say to that.
He couldn't even make conversation
about baseball. He returned into his
OWAA ACWoPoPCks
This was worse than he'd expected
It to be. He had known, Of course,
that there was loose end to be tied
off with Bert. He'd been meaning for
days to seek him out; tell him Of the
: revolutionary turn that had taken
place in his affairs; and, incidentally,
acknowledge that Bert had been right.
more than right; that he'd played the
part Of true friend in circumstances
that had made 1t about the hardest
thing he could do. OF course he
shouldn't have put it off. 1t was
heavens it was more than two weeks
since that CHASTITY morning when
they'd brought Edith home from Ashe-
Vile!
Why hadn't he, the very next morn
ing, at least written note, apologize
ing and saying that he meant to follow
his advice? OF course, not having
done that, it had been progressively
easier to put it off. And~then, when
he had seen things moving to a point
where it was going to be possible to
show that he really didn't need any
outside help, there had been reason
for waiting for that point to arrive.
1t had only arrived, as matter of
fact, today.
The train was slowing down. The
brakeman put his head in the door
and called, "High Forest!"
The two raxucv,o MANS xuouc .l.1.s
simultaneously, and the two friends
stared at each other. They'd ridden
ave miles beyond their own station.
"H-lr' Bert said. There was q
twinkle in his eye, though. and the ice
broke with crash. "D-n you, Ned ="
he went on. "were you going to Mil
waukee before you said anything?
How are things going with your?
"All right" Edward told him. III
suppose I've stuck because the first
thing / had to say was that I'd been
. d-n fool, and don't really believe
It yet. At least, if was. I'm glad of
II. I've got rid of the choke, though.
I'll tell you all about it."
"Better get of here first" Bert sug-
gested. I'VE don't want to ride al.
other five miles on this d-n train.
We can drive over to the golf club and
have dinner. Tell our wives that's
what we meant to do all along. No
use looking sillier than necessary"
1t wasn't until they'd washed up
and sat down to dinner that Edward
began his story-the story Of the
inadvertent sale to Jake German of a
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. life insurance
contract.
at wasn't what you meant to do
when you went after him?" Bert
asked.
'No," Edward told him. "I'm sure
Il wasn't. and yet l don't think
meant to ask him to put his money
into the choke. I don't think could
have asked him. You'd convinced me,
as far as my mind went, that I'd be a
crook If 1 persuaded anybody to In
vest in that. I'd already gone out to
<ask Julia to let me put mortgage on
Nhe house to keep the thing afioat, and
when 1t came to the point, I wouldn't
ut her do it.
~Down inside, there must have been