The Waterbury Democrat., 1935-09-16

soaked handkerchief tighter and drowned. He contemplated looking for a doctor in the next town. then decided against it. He could not afford to have any one recognize his picture, should 1t be published in the interest of his capture. No, better push on to Worthwhile. Bet ter put himself in the old woman's hands.
 "The old house is like fort" he thought. T could dig in there and stay indefinitely"
 A car was coming to a halt be- side him. Breaks ground, tires skidded, and fro mthe window of a gleaming coupe tanned, hatless young man leaned out and called pleasantly, "Can help you?"
 Thanks, mo-" John Smith replied in a gruff voice, not his own. His hat was pulled low over his eyes. He partially concealed his mouth and chin by manipulating his cig- aret with his unin5ured hand. Tt was a blowout" Then he added, lying, T was going the other way. Car turned completely around!"
 What you know about that!" ex- claimed the young man, with sur prised interest. "Well, you're lucky you didn't crash that tree"
 "Yeah," replied John Smith. He was narrowly eying the nonchalant, clear-cut young man whose gaze was so direct and who wanted to be helpful. He wondered why the young man looked vaguely familiar to him. After all, he, John Smith," hadn't been in this vicinity for 10 years. And 10 years ago that young chap must have been only 14 or IS years old.
 The young man lifted his hand in salute, shifted gears and drove on. Toward Worthwhile. An ad- vertising cover on his spare tire said "McNeill Pumps make hard water unnecessary"
 John Smith lifted an eyebrow. So that was it. The McNeill boy, grown up. He was glad he'd kept his own face covered. The inter- view caused him to reconsider his plans. It was possible, even prob- able, that the McNeill family still lived next door to the old Hunter place. This boy might recognize him after the roadside meeting. Certainly he would recognize the injured car. John Smith decided to abandon the car and continue on foot until overtaken by bus. The bus would carry him to Worthwhile. Here he would alight at some busy intersection, and from there would saunter, perhaps under cover Of falling darkness, to the old house.
 John McNeill, already forgetful of the incident just past, skillfully lighted his pipe without reducing speed. He'd signed up the dealer he wanted in Akron-the third such achievement in month-and things looked bright for McNeill Pumps. The factory would soon be running full time again, if this sort of thing kept up.
 Dad would be proud as all get out, if he could see me carrying on," he thought contentedly. T guess I'm going to be fair to mid- dlin' salesman after all"
 Then, persistently, through these pleasant meditations recurred the image of the wirey, thin-faced, slouching figure on the running board back there. "Where've seen that guy before?" he asked himself. The question was unan- swereable. He thought he had dis missed it, but the subconscious mind never dismisses the unsolved. Back, back through the years went the trail of his subconscious thoughts while his conscious mind took up happier theme.
 "Elaine" he said aloud, and laughed in the wind. "Lord!" he said, q believe I'm in love with her. I believe I'd rather have her for my wife than any girl on earth!"
 He imagined her in his arms, in his house, in his life. Belonging in those places. Happy to be there. His pulses pounded harder and his eyes narrowed in determination.
 "I'm going to let myself go," he decided. I'm going to make love to her. I'm going to try to win her. Some hunch tells me could!"
 Then he thought of his mother, whom he loved and whose opinions he respected. He could imagine her saying in her sane, gentle way, "An unsuitable match, John! It would end in trouble. Maybe di- vorce-"
 "But l want her anyway" John McNeill thought unreasonably. And that was how he knew that he loved her.