Glacier County chief., 1940-10-11
CHAPTER x-Continued

front page; Sheila looked perfectly
wild In her tousled travel-crumpled
clothes, and Peter like the scared,
lanky boy he was. And under this
the caption had been, Love Birds
Fly Home. Bandits, Not Wedlock,
Claim. Assert kilograms Hoax"
"Story on Page Twelve" the line
under the picture had been. And
fortunately the story on page
twelve had been absolutely true.
Miss Carscadden, a belle of the
bronx, and the daredevil second
son of the well-known Judge, whose
,.ollege exploits had caused his fam
tly and friends so much concern a
hlw years ago, had appeared at a
police station early on Monday eve
ming, and had told the following sto-
ry to Police Sergeant Francis x.
O'Reilley.
The tale of bootleggers, abduc-
ton, escape followed. The young
couple, the newspaper continued,
whose absence from home since Sat
urday night had been something Of
a mystery, denied their marriage,
although official announcement of it
had been made by. Miss Carscad-
denis mother, and by Judge and
Mrs. Paul B. Nc Cam.
Sheila's brother Nicely and his
wife, Lizzie, arriving early at the
Carscadden apartment to discuss
this calamity, had exclaimed and
tut-tutted about the kitchen until
Sheila had felt ready to murder
them both.
"What I can't understand is why
you wanted to talk to Peter Nc
Cam, Sheila," Lizzie had lamented,
over and over again, in her wonder
ing, innocent voice. "You knew he
was going to marry Gertrude Keane
lit was in the papers"
well, he's got scads, for one
thing" Nicely, who was slow-witted,
said.
''Scads of what, Neely?" Sheila
had asked, in dangerous voice.
Dough-" Nicely had explained,
artlessly.
"Oh. see. ran away with
him because his father had lots Of
money!"
''Wen, Sheila," Lizzie had taken
it up, in her plaintive tones, why
else would you? You hardly knew
him"
"There you are" Sheila had an
swered. why else would II"
"Time to CO." Joe had said
abruptly, at this point. And the
party had started out, anxious and
silent, for the Nc Cam house.
"Joe," Lizzie had said in the hall,
in her whining, persistent voice, "Pd
60 with you gladly to the Nc Cams
If could be of any use!"
mo, thanks" Joe had said briefly.
Usually he liked Lizzie; usually
they all did. Her father had big
bakery business where Nicely
worked. She was wonderful wife
to Nicely, and she could be very fun
ny describing the funerals of her
aunts, and the way her Uncle Jim
acted when he had to change his
wooden leg. But today she had
Jared.
81 thought maybe, on account of
Mother Carscadden-?" she had
said tenderly. At which Mrs. Cars
cadden had answered for herself.
Get out, Lizzie, there's a good
ger'rll"
Lizzie had withdrawn with tears in
her eyes, and Joe, Sheila and their
mother had gone on their sepa-
rate way.
The Nc Cam house, when they
reached it, looked very large and
handsome and formidable, and the
entrance hall, when the obviously
excited and sympathetic Mamie ad-
mitted them, quite overwhelmed
Mrs. Carscadden with its magnifi-
cence. She kept close to Joe, her
eyes exploring the great curve of
the stairway, with its stained glass
window and its palms, the rugs and
the curtained arches of the door
ways, the enormous chairs that
danked the hall.
TITS t'rones they ar'reI"' she OBJ
SeIVeo In a Whisper.
Judge Nc Cam came in with Pc
ter. The older man came forward
Hospitality, with nothing constrained
in his manner or voice, and what
Sheila did not accomplish in the
way Of introductions he did, natural
~ and pleasantly, and they all sat
down.
Then Frank came in with his
mother. The gracious, gentle wom-
an of Sheila's first visit looked older
today; she was pale and she had
been crying. Her lips said Mrs.
Carscadden," and "Sheila," as she
greeted them, but she made no
sound.
''An' my boy, Joe," Sheila's moth
er said. Mrs. Nc Cam looked at
him steadily.
How do you do, Joe?"
She sat down and it was to be seen
that she chose a low chair close to
O~knR and reached for tha t.,,,,, ~.