[happy house By Jane D. Abbott COPYRIGHT. 1920. BY J. B. UPPINCOTT COMPANY J------I “The fairy godmother has bursting in upon the Hopworth come,” declared Nancy, later, family with her strange news. She had to read and re-read the letter so that they could under stand and Eric Hopworth had to hear all about the afternoon at Happy House when the great Theodore Hoffman had called. At first he had decidedly op posed the plan. Liz had snorted in disapproval. Nonie had stared at first one, then another, with round, bewildered eyes. “You ought not to throw away such a chance. It’s a wonderful school—I’ve visited there. Nonie will have splendid training-” “I know all about it,” Eric Hopworth had broken in, and Nancy suddenly remembered what, the master had told her. “Tell me about Nome’s moth er,” she begged. There was not much to tell— she had come into Eric Hop worth’s life and gone out again, in a few years. “I always had a feelin’ I’d . _ * _ i i. . _ ..i? .. I .. a. *> TT „« vm.on.u 1101 ui a »v< ■worth said humbly, turning in his hand the photograph he had brought out from old Dan’l’s bureau to show Nancy. It was a cheap little photo graph, taken a few months after they had been married. But the pretty face that smiled out of it was a happy face. Nancy, as she studied it closely, wondered if it had ever been shadowed by a regret for the dreams she had sacrificed by her marriage. “Then—don’t cheat Nonie now,’’ Nancy answered. So before she went away it was decided that Nonie should go to Tarrytown and while little Nonie was pinching herself to he sure she was awake and not. dreaming, NSncy’s and Liz’s minds, in true feminine fashion, leaped ahead to the question of “clothes”. Upon their perturbed planning came Mrs. Cyrus Eaton, walking into the Ilopworth kitchen with the air of one familiar with its threshold. Trip many strange things had happened for Nancy to In* amazed at this. And when she saw Mrs. Eaton pat Eric Hop worth’s arm as she sat down be side him, Nancy knew that in the woman’s heart, all silly pre judices had been swept away by a deep affection for the man who had saved her hoy’s life. Mrs. Eaton had to hear all about the master’s letter and Nonie’s wonderful chance to go to the school at Tarrytown. “Clothes—- land sakes, Liz Hop worth, you’ve got enough to do without fussing over clothes. Let me get the child ready. L always did want to sew for a girl. Be sides, it isn’t much for me to do, a considering- she could not finish, but she laid her hand, again, on Eric Hopworth's arm. Nancy realized, more than Liz, how much Mrs. Eaton wanted to have this opportunity to do some thing for Nonie, so she.answered quickly, before anyone could make a protest: That will be splendid if yob will help out that way, Mrs. Eaton,” and she made her tone very final, as though they must all consider the matter settled. Nancy left Mrs. Eaton and Liz fussing over the wearing quali ties of various fabrics ‘hitherto absolutely unknown to Nonie and walked slowly homeward. It was a sunny, still afternoon, conduc ive to mediation. And Nancy, in a pensive mood, had much to meditate over. A Amoment’s whim had brought her to Happy House and bow much had happened because of her coming. How curiously intermixed everything had been; her acquaintance with Judson’s hired man had brought her in touch with the great Theodore Hoffman and then he, through her, had found Nonie. Life was so funny—Nancy sud denly remembered a game she had played when she was very, very small. She had had a box of queer shaped and many col ored Japanese blocks, that, if placed together in just the right way, made a beautiful castle upon the highest peak of which she could place a shining red ball. But it had beeu very diffi cult to build; Nancy had, often, In impatience, thrown the blocks down, but her father had al ways come, then, to her help and had laughingly coaxed her to try again. Life was like that—if one could £1 successfully fit all the queer edges together and build up, piece by piece one could have the reward of the shining ball at the top. But Nancy, thinking of it now, felt the tugging impati ence that she had used to feel to ward the pile of colored blocks. A few weeks had so changed her own life—she must take up the little pieces and begin to build again. At the gate of Happy House she paused, and turning, looked down the road. In the last few days she had caught herself of ten looking down that road and yet she would not admit to her self—she was too proud to ad mit it that she was always wish ing that she would see Peter Hyde coining. It was very lone some at Happy House without him. Suddenly, in a swirl of dust, a motor turned the corner at the smithy and aproached toward her at a tremendous speed, its outline barely distinguishable be cause of the cloud that enveloped it. No one came up that road _1—„ 4 U .. .: a ~ u uiuvua i/tivj tt vi v vvnautg uv py House. Then someone, swathed in lin en and green, floating veiling, spied Nancy and waved wildly from the tonneau. Scarcely believing her eyes, Nancy took a step forward. With a swerve and a roar the car came to a stop and from the front seat, throwing off goggles and cap, sprang Eugene Leavitt. “Daddy!” cried Nancy, throw ing herself into his arms. “I thought it was Anne, but I couldn’t-” she began, finally withdrawing from his tight clasp lo greet the others. “I just— couldn’t believe it.” Anne was standing now beside her, and behind Anne, unwinding yards of dust^covered veiling, laughed Claire. “Oh, it’s too good, good, good to be true,” Nancy cried, trying to embrace them both at the same time. “To have you all corne al once. I'm so happy, 1 just want to cry.” “And, Nancy, at list you’re going to meet my brother Bar rs.' interrupted Claire, her eyes sparkling. “You wouldn’t come to Merrvcliffe, so you see I had to bring him here.” Nancy was so happy that she could aven turn to greet the de spised “lion” with a radiant smile. Claire’s brother, who, forgotten by the others in their joyous reunion, had been busying himself with the engine of his car, now turned and removed from a dust stained face the gog gles that had almost completely hidden it. “Be-ter. You—” and Nancy, her face crimson, put her 'two bunds behind her back. UxlAL 1 llixt A At A. Barry. Nancy presented such a picture of bewilderment and unbelief that the others all laughed—ex cept Peter; his face was very grave. “You see I though the only way I could get you—to forgive me—was by bringing them all back with/me.’’ But Nancy had no intention of forgiving—-at least, at once—the trick that had been [flayed upon her. She lifted her chin with meaning disdain and turned to the others. “Let's go up to the house; My aunts will be so glad to «ee you all,’’ and slipping one hand through her father’s - arm and another into Anne’s she turned up the path, leaving Claire and her brother to follow. Miss Sabrina had seen the car stop at the gate and had come to the door. She knew at once that this was Nancy’s father. A color swept her cheeks and fad ed. She tried to say some word of welcome but her trembling lips could not frame a single syl lable. But almost instantly her' fears were set at rest, for Eugene Leavitt took her two. hands in his clasp and lightly kissed her cheek in a cheery way that put aside forever the trouble that had separated them. In the hub bub and chatter that followed, Nancy did not realize that Peter Hyde had slipped away; not until Aunt Sa brina had carried her father off to Aunt Milly’s ro“xn and B’lindy, radiant, Rad gone back t to the kitchen to prepare a sup per “fit for folks,” leaving the three chums together. Claire gave her friend an affectionate shake. “N«w, Nancy Leavitt, don’t be silly and stay cross at Barry. It’s my fault. 1 knew he was here and that you were here, and that he knew you and you knew him, and neither of you-” “Please, please Claire,” begged Nancy, trying to stop her friend. Her face turned scarlet. Of course she could not be offended at his deception, had she not, herself, been masquer ading? But burning in her mind was fhe recollection of that af ternoon when she had opened her heart to Peter and had told him how she despised Barry Wallace and his kind. And he had let her talk—she could not forgive that, ever. “After you’d been here a few weeks,” Claire went on, “Barry wrote to me. I suppose he’d got ten to the point where he simply had to confide in someone. You can imagine, I nearly dropped when I saw the postmark and knew what he was doing, but pic ture how I felt when he wrote that he’d met the ‘best girl ever —no frills and fropperies like mother’s crowd, but a regular girl.’ Of course I knew he meant you. I let him write a few more letters—I don’t think Bar ry ever wrote so onen to me before—and then, I told him everything.” ‘‘You did?” exclaimed Nancy. ‘‘Then-” she stopped short. Now she understood why he had refused to accept her answer as final—that last evening they had been together. ‘‘And I made him promise on his honor not to tell you that I had told. So don’t be cross at him,” Claire pleaded, a little worried at Nancy’s expresssion. ‘‘He has gone back to Judson’s and he said—he asked me to ask you if you would go out to Bird’s Nest—after supper—and ” Claire, failing in words, threw her arms around Nancy’s neck and kissed her. Anne, who had been impatiently waiting for an opportunity, took up her part of the story. ‘‘Goodness, Nancy, you can be thankful you’ve been up here and not at the apartment— it’s unbearably stuffy and hot. Al though it ought to have seemed like paradise after my quarters in London, snapping her lips to gether. Poor Anne, her dream of service was now only a bitter rec ollection. ‘‘I was sitting there as forlorn as could be when in blew —no other word could describe it — Claire’s brother. You 1 wouldn’t have dreamed from the way he acted that he’d never laid eyes on me before. He told me about the confession you’d writ ten him and he said he knew you were unhappy up here because of your false position and that I ought to come back up here with him and get you out of it. He didn’t want me to lose a moment. Then, while we were talking, your letter came with its as tonishing news. Isn’t it all like some nightmare—all the aunts and things mixed up the way they were? We had to read your letter over and over to under stand it. Then when we finally got it through our heads, we de cided we’d get Claire and start the next day for North Hero.” ‘‘But Dad?” asked Nancy. ‘‘We were all ready to go when a taxi drove up to the door and out jumped your father. Of course he had to hear the whole story way back to the letter Noah brought to our room. Barry didn’t give him a chance to even wash his face, he bundled him straight into the automobile as though it were a matter of life and death. •iviui nere we are. auu uus place looks like Heaven,” Anne fin ished. - m It was a merry party that gath ered around’Miss Sabrina’s table. B’lindy wanting to express all that was in her heart, had spread a supper fit for the gods. Nancy’s father had carried Miss Milly downstairs and sat bet.ween her and Nancy. Every now and then Nancy slipped her hand into his, under the tablecloth. Miss Sa brina, at the head of the table, beamed down upon them all in a pathetic ecstasy of happiness. From the kitchen came the insist ent “goo’s” of the smallest Hop worth, to the accompaniment of a silver spoon beating against a silver mug. Through all the light chatter in the room there was an undertone of deep happiness and content ment. Only occasionally Claire’s eyes flashed a worried, pleading message to Nancy that Nancy wilfully ignored. But when, af ter supper, the others all went to the Hollyhock porch and Nancy slipped away, the watchful Claire drew a sigh of relief and proceeded to feel riotously happy. « ks Nancy walked slowly down * the path to the orchard she felt her heart grow inexplainably, foolishly light. She was so glad that Peter Hyde had come back. The gladness shone ifi her eyes as she let him clasp her two hands. He did not even ask her if she would forgive him; they both laughed joyously, like two children. “Wasn’t it funny? Both of us up here pretending to be some one else.” “But it wasn’t fair. You knew —and I didn’t.” Peter hastened to defend him self. “I didn’t—at first. And then Claire made me promise not to let on that I knew. Anyway, I’d grown so downright sick of that Barry Wallace that I want ed to just see if I could make someone like plain Peter Hyde. Did I?” he asked. Nancy ignored the direct ques tion and avoided the pleading in Peter’s eyes. “Why did you come here, Pet —Barry 1 ’ ’ “t _ stand, Nancy?” Peter’s voice was serious. “Mother thought I was crazy and Claire would have, too—at the time. But when I heard you tell—that afternoon —what you though of Claire’s brother, I decided I’d done just about the right thing. You see, when I came back from the other side, just because father and mother are quite prominent, I found that a lot of stuff had been printed about all the things I’d | done-” “But you did do them,” cried Nancy, warmly. (To be continued next week). “The railroads have been slowly starving,” said J. H, Beek, of the Na tional Industrial Traffic League, at the traffic gathering in Sioux City. Reports of net income of the railroads for the last five years do not tell the same story. It is not "starvation” that hurts the railroads. It is ma nipulation by financiers. The rail roads' troubles are rooted in misman agement and wrecking in past years, not in “vindictive legislation.” They are trying to make the govern ment shoulder the sins of the Harri mans and the Goulds. Does mind control matter? Yes, al so life and death. You need read no book on faith healing to prove It. In Berlin Mr. Kobler disliked a merchant, ill from consumption. - Daily Mr. Kobler called up the un fortunate man to ask “have you still got your lung?” Or to suggest “you had better ham? yourself, you will fail anyway before you die." The victim died prematurely. , Millions of fathers .and mothers, constantly putting into the minds of children thoughts of fear, disease, etc., thus diminish their mental pow ers of resistance. It Is possible to protect children without frightening them. This is not written by a Christian Scientist but by one who believes in w-ordly science. You can use science to combat disease without frightening the pa tient to death while using it. The French are agitated because the "European balance of power has been upset.” Upset is putting it mild ly. Against a little more than 100, 000,000 inhabitants of England, Italy and France are now arrayed 200,000, 000 of Germans and Russians, to say nothing of the Turks and the pos sibility of other hundreds of millions farther east. The European balance is a delicate thing, to be established only by a common sense determination to work and buil TURKISH VIRGINIA BURLEY ix? ^^kJ^FIFTEEN In a new package that fits the pocket— At a price that fits the pocket-book— Thp same unmatched blend of Turkish. Vie ginia and Burley Tobaccos i q/* Caeranlcodihy \ \ *||| PiFTH.AV*. .»' w* 'll —■ I —