Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1933-09-28

CHAPTER XIV

AeSahk III tue OLuce OF the president
Of MARYLAND university a thing strange
~ grim and unacademic.
Because the matter decidedly af
fected the reputation Of the university
the president sat there looking extreme
" III at ease and gazing with some
wonder al the assemblage.
At the door stood John Reagan, the
muscular and decidedly efficient police
man.
Next to Reagan was Teddy Farrell,
president Of the student council,
president OF Psi Tau Theta.
Beside him. anonymously enough,
was Mike Carmicino. ~janitor at the
fraternity house. By his side was
HUne Farnum. and beside Rube val
Phil Gleason. Next to Phil was the
trim little figure of Ivy WEIGH. Ivy.
considerably older than she had been
= week previously. looked unusually
serious.
Larry Welch occupied the seat next
to his sister. Occasionally his eyes
met the pair on the other side-those
Of Tony Peyton-
Tony showed the strain under which
h had labored; and she gave evil
dence. too. OF the annoyance which
had been caused by the unpleasant
publicity. OF course the students and
faculty had been more than kind to
her. but their very solicifude had
rhsped her nerves until she felt that
all she wanted now was tt get off
somewhere alone.
Jim Harvey was standing beside the
presidents desk. He did no appeal par
ticularly happy, and his first words
were couched In an a%pologetic tone
Folks" he said gently, I'll
make things about as brief as /
can. and I'll start with the most Inn
portant- Max Vernon didn't have no
more to do with killing Pat Thayer
than ! did, and"
He was interrupted by d shout OF
glee from Rube Farnum ms that lanky
Individual Ieaped across the floor and
pumped vernon's hand. He was close
" followed by Gleason and Teddy
Farrell. but Jim waved the others
back and continued his recital. His
sleepy. half-closed eyes missed no de-
tall: the startled expression on the
faces OF Tony Peyton and Larry
Welch-the inquiring looks flashed
toward them by the others az he
bluntly exonerated Max Vernon.
about Max" he went on smoothly
him and me have got a little secret
which nobody Ii gonna find out about.
Amt that a fact. Son7"
Yes, SIR" Vernon was dangerously
close to tears.
.And now for Miss peyton. | sup
pose you've all heard that she was
Pat Thayer's wife-that is. that thew
went through a sort Of ceremony last
year. She didn't want to say anything
about that. but l explained 1t would
be best because you-all were talking
anyway. and you'd never have under
stood why she went to Thayer's room
on May day. What she went for.
folks. was to let him know that his
hold v her was broken: that ia.
that from then on the campus would
have to know that she was legally his
wife.
What happened mp there Is no
body's business Not ever mine. But
I'll tell you this much.-and he
grinned Neutrality-suspicious. Peyton
didn't kill Pat Thayer-and that's d
fact
There was a gasp. Larry WEIGH was
sitting forward ~tensely. his eyes To-
cused on Jfm's placid face. The others
stared at him In doubt and fear. Was
1t possible 7
Impulsively Ivy reached for her
brothers hand. 1t was cold as Ice.
And as though from a great distance,
she heard Hanvey's words.
And nov well discuss Larry
Welch's part In this little affair. On
May first, Larry WEIGH learned two
important things. The first was that
Pat Thayer was the husband of the
girl he was crazy about. The second
was that the man his sister was going
with was q married man. And as q o |
as he found out those two things. he
went to see that man."
There was a tense, b~reathless nod !,
ding of heads. Jim smiled reassur-
toward Larry.
Tive got a reason for telling you
all that, folks. The truth might be
embarrassing sometimes, but 1T never
hurts, and II ! held anything back,
you might either think we didn't have
Ill the facts or else You might put two
md two together and make a million.
Larry and Miss Peyton have given me
permission to tell all this. and they
lon't care whether the students hear
I or not-provided they hear the
truth. seer L
Just what might have happened be-
WEIGH and Thayer nobody Will
,ver know. Because when Larry
WEIGH got to that room. folks-pat
was already deadI"
There was a nerve-racking hush
hen a buzz OF conjecture. 1t wasn't
lax Vernon; 1t wasn't Tony peyton:
t wasn't Larry WEIGH but Pat
'hayer was deadI