Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1935-12-19

ldhlUE lutius
A shiver passed over Marcia.
mo. They were Jason's. / ought to
have told you they were there. / kept
them because l thought they might
sometime be useful"
"Well. they certainly are" replied
Sylvia. "They will exactly At Mr..
Heath. Where do you uppose he
came from? And how long has he
been knocking about In that boat. !
wonder"
How do i know. dear7" Marcia
sighed. as II determined to control her
patience. "You know as much about
him as l do. l mean," she corrected.
honesty forcing her to amend the as
s%ertion, almost as much. l did, to be
sure, talk with him a little while wait
ing for the doctor, but he did not tell
me anything about himself"
The moving Of chairs overhead and
the sound of feet creaking down the
stairway heralded the return Of Jared
Stetson and Elisha
Marcia went 10 meet them.
"Tain't a broken wrist, Marcia"
was the doctors greeting on entering
the kitchen. "Leastways, / don't think
1t is. I've ~bandaged 1t an Lish an me
have your friend snug an warm in
BED. Tomorrow I'll look In again. For
tonight, the bandage will do. A hot
water'bottle mightn't be amiss. Nor a
square meal, neither. Beyond them
two things, there amt much you can
do at present, but let him sleep. Seems
a nice sort OF felier. Known him
long?'
mot so very long"
"Why, Marcia" broke in Sylvia.
Zone sometimes comes to know a per-
son rather well, though, even In a
short time" went on the older woma
ignoring the interruption.
"S'pose twas a-comin' to see you
that brought him down this way" Eli
sha volunteered. Somehow l don't re-
call meetin' him before"
He hasn't been here before" was
the measured response.
"Oh. so he's new to Wilton waters,
eh7 That prob1y accounts for his
runnin' aground. Fine lookin' chap.
Has quite an air to him. Nothin'
cheap bout his clothes neither. They
was AL quality clear through to his
skin. Silk, with m0nograms on 'em.
Must be a man Of means"
Silence greeted the observation.
Likely he SHAWN a power-boat
an leisure to cruise round in her." per-
sisted the undaunted Elisha.
Il really couldn't say"
swell, apparently he amt one thar
boasts Of his possessions. an that's to
his credit" interposed Jared Stetson
ood-humoredly.
Elisha's interest In the stranger was
not, however, to be so easily diverted
"Seen the boat?" he inquired.
"No."
"Oh, yon ANTI l forgot to ash
Heath the name Of her. I'm sort of q
crank on the names Of boats. 1t al
ways rifles me to have a foolish lame
given a boat No matter how small
she Is, her plankin' Is all that divides
her owner from fathoms of water, an
In view Of the fact he'd oughter regard
her sOberly an give her a decent
name"
well, ! hope the name Of Mr.
Heath's boat will meet with your ap.
prevail" ventured Sylvia archly.
Il hope TWILL" wal the glum re-
tort. as the sheriff followed Doctor
Stetson through the doorway.
The moment the door banged behind
them. Sylvia turned toward Marcia.
Forgive my butting In, DEAR" apollo
gized she. But l was so surprised
You did say you didn't know Mr.
Heath, didn't your
"Yes."
"But-hut-"
Sometimes it's just as well not L
tell all you know-especially In a plac.
like this" was the evaslve response.
Was the reply a rebuke or merely
caution?
SylVld ulu uOl KNOW.
And what was the meaning of tn,
rose color that flooded the elder won
ans cheek?
Had Marcia really meant to give tn
impression that she knew Stanle,
! Heath? And II so, why?
Sylvia wracked her brain for IN
: swers to these questions.
She would have been interested IA
: deed had she known that while sh
wrestled with the enigma, Marcia, t
i, all appearances busy preparing tn
tray for the invalid upstairs, wa
searching her heart for answers I
the same questions.
Why had she sought to shield thi
stranger7
The man was nothing to her. OF hi
past she had not the slightest know
) edge, indeed he might be the creates
9 villain In the world. In fact, circun
. stances proclaimed him a thief. Never
theless, she did not, could not, beliey
it. There was something too fine |
his face; his eyes.
True, he had made no ATTEMPT eithe
to defend himself or to explain awa
), the suspicious he must have know
would arise In her mind. On the col
trary, with a devil-may-care al
r dacity that fascinated her, he actual
ma a. k~-- ia