The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1937-04-30

THEN.
Cecily sighed, looked up at Jim
with faint encouraging smile. "Fa-
Their will be here in the morning"
she said. II dread this wedding.
The morning papers hadn't the sto-
ry, merely a brief police report"
81 wouldn't worry about that, -dar-
ling" Jeremy said soothingly. "The
countryside has been too greatly alb
sorbed in the wedding to read pa
pers today. You're completely ex-
hausted, Cecily." He took the bas-
ket from her. you've time enough
to sleep for an hour, at least. See
you again, Fielding"
Cecily smiled back over her Shout
der at Jim as Jeremy, his hand on
her arm, led her toward the house.
Jim watched them go in through
the side door, then continued on
his way to the cottage, thinking, fit
ting fragments together, growing
more and more convinced that it
was Clyde who had taken Cecily's
car last night, that it was he who
had left Dolly-dying perhaps-at
the side of the road.
Why hadn't he thought of it be-
fore, he asked himself, lying wide
awake on his bed, lighting one Gig
arctic after another in sheer nerv-
Gus excitement as the fragments of
the story fitted neatly together and
suspicion became certainty. Jere-
my was angry last night because
he had not been included in the
festivities which had been arranged
for the wedding party. He had taken
Cecily's car from the garage, had
picked Dolly up somewhere and per-
suaded her to ride with him. He
might have been drinking. That
wasn't important. Cecily had spoken
of Jerry's unreliable driving. Or
Dolly, herself, alarmed at the speed
at which the car had torn along the
winding road, might have grabbed
the wheel.
Wher the car crashed, Jeremy
had not been hurt. He had probably
tried, unsuccessfully, to rouse Dol
ly, and discovering that they were
near the riding academy, had gone
there for help.
Was it Jeremy who had knocked
at the door? Jim made a concep-
trated effort to remember precisely
what had happened at the moment.
He'd been aroused. The voice which
had called had not sounded famil-
lar. But then he'd been only half
awake. 1t might have been Clyde.
What would Clyde have done if he,
Jim, had been awake and had rec
ognized him?
Since Jim hadn't seen him, Jer-
envy had taken advantage of the
unexpected opportunity to keep him
self out of the mess. Jim saw, in
imagination, Jeremy hiding some
where near the office, watching him
as he opened the door, as he located
the car in the side road from the
fence at the rear of the grounds and
set off across the fields. Knowing
that Jim would find Dolly, hoping,
perhaps, that Jim would be held
responsible for the accident, Jere-
my had walked back to Meadow
brook and gone to bed.
It all fitted together. Why hadn't
he thought of it before? Because
his certainty that Tommy had taken
the car had precluded any other the
ory; because, even now that he was
sure Jeremy had done it, he
couldn't make it seem plausible.
How did he think he could get away
with a thing like that? Even if no
one had seen him take the car, if
no one had seen him all evening,
didn't he know that when Dolly re-
gained consciousness the truth
would be revealed? Or was he hop
ing that Dolly would not regain con-
seriousness?
That was the truth of the matter,
of course. Jeremy was counting on
the possibility of Dolly dying with
out regaining consciousness. in
which case, he would be secure.
But it wasn't possible, Jim thought.
No one he knew would do a thing
like that.
Jeremy was terrified. His entire
future had been at stake. He had
seen himself in certain danger of
losing Cecily, her fathers support,
his professional advancement. 1t
was possible. People were con-
stantly taking chances equally dis
honorable.
Yes, Clyde had taken Cecily's car.
But how could he prove it? He was
fairly certain that no one had sus-
pected Jeremy, the MacPhersons,
Cecily-
Cecily-! For the first time Jim
considered the certain effect upon
Cecily of any proof of Jeremy's
guilt. She would be completely
crushed. He knew that she was
terribly in love with him. Yes, ter
ribly was the word. Recalling her
condolences, recalling the lighted
look of happiness she'd had when
Jeremy first came to meadow
brook" Jim groaned and tossed
restlessly on the bed.
Cecily-! He recalled her defense
of him early this morning in the
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