Evening star., 1941-07-25

and delbareuY SrOunQ II ulueI MS
heel, then crossed the cell. Joan S
hands came between the bars and
touched his arms.
Don't touch me" Phil said, max
Ing thin joke of this. I'm trail
tor, you know
And Joan said, He put you in here
YOU, an officer. He could have
ordered you to keep to your quarters
if he had to see you under arrest
He reached for her hands, gave
them a reaSSuring squeeze.
Forget it. Joan. I'm not guilty OF
slugging Bugs Porter and stealing
those papers. Your father was just
q little overzealous,"
mo, that isn't why he blamed
YOU" Joan said brokenly. 1T was
something else. 1 was the cause
of it."
Next you'll say you slugged
Bugs"
Joan turned her head and. not
looking at him, said brokenly, Il
r. told him I was in love with you
He was furious. He said he'd put an
end to that"
Hammond's Hate Explained.
He said thickly, You certainly
hunt for trouble, Joan. But don /
blame yourself for getting me into
this mess. The Old Man wouldn't
frame me-eVen though he hates
me"
Phil, do you want to know why
he hates You?"
I've wanted to know for months.
Can you tell me?"
Yes. He told me yesterday, when
We quarreled about you. Your
father and my mother
"Oh, I see" said Phil, as her voice
trailed away. My father was the
man who came between your par
ents. And for that Richard Ham
mond has had hate in him for IS
years. And he's taking his hate out
on me"
And on me, Philip" Joan said
miserably. He looks at you. and
remembers your father. He looks at
me and sees my mother. I can't
blame him whole lot, though. He
must have loved my mother great
deal"
Phil nodded. He understood Mai
Hammond now: he understood the
mans bitterness, his strange dark
moods. his nasty temper. And sur
denly he didn't blame Hammond.
But Phil saw a sudden explana-
ton; an ugly explanation of this
Porter affair. 1t looked like frame
Of A.
conscious, but with the envelope IN
his hand. A spy wouldn't have left
that envelope behind. The truth,
then, was that there had been no
spy.
Joan Believes in Phil.
Phil said, thinking aloud, But il
he framed me, how did he know
ahead that I would be found in
Bugs Uorshop? It's ScreWy."
And Joan looked at him in a
frightened way. He didn't frame
you, Phil. No matter what he is my
father is not dishonest. He found
you there, and because he hates
you he believed what his eyes saw"
But I didn't attack Bugs Porter,
Joan. I haven't lost my reason
Il know, darling. Everybody in
the post knows it,"
There's an intelligence officer
coming He won't know it. Joan,
I'm in tough spot, Porter is my
only hope. If he lives and can tell
who did attack him"
Hes still unconscious" Joan said.
Mai. Brennan is worried about
him" She reached inside the bars
and gripped his hands. 1T was that
prowler, Phil. 1t must have been
him. He must be a spy"
But a spy would have taken
porters papers" Phil said.
He felt alarmed. Worry was an
increasing pressure in him. He felt
trapped. And all this was in Joan's
eyes; she was as scared as he-for
him. There were things in her face
and in her eyes such as no other
girl had shown him. There was no
doubt about it; Joan thought her
self in love with him. He lifted his
hand and tilted her face up, and he
kissed her on the mouth.
Joan stood back, and trouble was
a misty shadow in her eyes.
Last night" she said, you fought
with Jim Mason-over that woman"
Phil Tells of Quarrel.
And that made Phil Howard vince
mentally. He said. Yes, that's right
did quarrel with Jim over Stephanie.
Stephanie and I were both outside
the post last night, for two hours.
My story is that followed her, out
of suspicion. Her story IS that we
were together. 1t. Mason believed
her. You, Joan, can take your
choice"
Joan was watching his face, her
head tilted to one side. A faint
froWn came and made her prettier
than ever.
You followed her?" she asked.
"Where did she go? To meet some
one?"
Il don't know" replied Phil. Il
lost her on the beach. I searched
the beach and the glades. but she
simply vanished. She had rendez-
vous, of course. With Stacey Van
Arden, I'd bet"
It knew it." Joan said. as if to
herself. Il knew it. That woman!
That beautiful" She broke off
unfinished. And for an instant, she
looked at Phil Howard in remote
way. Then abruptly she turned and
walked from the guardhouse.
CHAPTER XIII.
The day was endless. The officer
from G-2. Army Intelligence. didn't
arrive. Phil had no other visitors
until Helen Brennan came that eve
ming. He realized that his fellow
officers couldn't we'll visit him, an
officer under a treason charge.
Helen brought him cigarettes. Her
dark eyes were worried and belied
the cheerfulness of her words. Helen,
Phil realized, was an Army wife and
worked at it like career. She was
concerned about him, as friend
but she like the other officers would
be alarmed that this affair would
give Marfield a black eye-and even
reflect badly on the Army as q
whole,