and be /
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* ftccy Dcrm W.N.U. RELEASE
THE STORY THUS FAR: Amos, An
nle’i husband, revealed that when he
wai coming home late at night he taw
a ghost bury something in a graveyard.
Also, Amos revealed that he had seen
Beg with Tom Fallon that night. Lau
rence enlisted the aid of Bob Reynolds, a
detective, and they set to work to solve
the mystery of Alicia’s murder. After
careful checking, they were inclined to
believe Amos’ story. Jim MacTavish
came In as Larry. Reynolds and Megan
were ready to eat. He was tired, his
shoulders drooping. Reynolds announced
abruptly that it was an open and shut
case, and Jim almost dropped the carv
ing knife. Later Meg tells Larry that
she and Tom had met accidentally.
CHAPTER XIII
“Not as to the identity, no," ad
mitted Bob. “But I’m convinced
that it was some prowler—a would
be burglar who was frightened off
before he had a chance to steal any
thing. Though, of course, it’s not
usual for a burglar to be supplied
with a knife as a weapon—I don’t
believe he brought the weapon with
him. I believe that he used one of
the victim's own knives—a large
kitchen knife-J-’’ He broke off, scar
let and embarrassed as he saw Me
gan’s white, twisted face. He apolo
gized hastily, "Good grief, Miss Mac
Tavish — I ought to be kicked!
Please forgive me—I’m thoroughly
ashamed—Larry, you ought to have
better sense than to allow me out
with your friends. I’m sorry, Miss
MacTavish—I do apologize—”
Megan managed a faint smile and
said huskily, "Please don’t—I—I am
a bit squeamish, I suppose. You
see—I knew her well—”
Bob nodded soberly. “I know—
everybody says you are the only real
friend she had. Everybody else
seemed to dislike her and distrust
her. I guess that’s the reason I
was speaking so frankly. Let’s for
get it. After all, a meal like this de
serves more cheerful and apprecia
tive table conversation!”
When the meal was over, and the
men were settled in the living room,
Megan stayed to help Annie clear
the table. And while she was thus
engaged. Laurence came back into
the dining room, and stood at her
shoulder and said very low, “I just
wanted you to know, Meggie, that—
everything is quite all right. There’s
nothing at all for you to worry
about.”
Megan looked up at him, tears
thick in her eyes, her mouth trem
ulous, "I—met him by accident, Lar
ry. I didn’t plan it—truly.”
He looked down at her, frowning.
“But — good heavens, Meggie,
don’t you suppose I know that?” he
protested, almost as though he re
sented her feeling that she should
offer such an explanation.
She caught her breath and a wave
of relief swept over her. She smiled
through her tears and said huskily,
t “Thanks, Larry.”
“For what?” The frown still drew
his eyebrows together. “For know
ing that you couldn’t possibly do
anything wrong? For knowing that
you couldn't make, or keep a tryst
with a man tied up as Fallon is?
For Heaven’s sake, Meggie—I’ve
known you since you were a baby—
don’t you suppose I know you well
enough to know that if you met Tom
Fallon on the Ridge at midnight, it
was an accidental meeting?”
Laurence hesitated a moment and
then he said quietly, “I’d like to ask
you something, Meggie—mind?”
“No, of course not.”
“Then — are you in love with
Fallon?”
The words were quietly spoken,
but they took her breath so that she
could only look up at him, unable
to speak. But the way the color
flowed into her face, the look in her
eyes gave him all the answer he
needed.
“So that’s why you—couldn’t get
excited about marrying me,” he
said after a moment, very quietly.
She set her teeth hard in her low
er lip. not daring to trust her voice
to answer him. and after a little
he said in a tone of the greatest
gentleness, “Poor little Meggie! Al
ways doing things the hard way!”
By now she had steadied her
voice, and she faced him straightly.
“If—you’ll J-J-just give me a little
time, Larry—” she managed.
His brows were drawn deep now
In a frown and his look was puz
zled. “A little time, Meggie?” he
repeated. “For what?”
"To pull myself together and get
over this — this — craziness about
Tom,” she said. “Because I will,
you know. I’ll—I’ll get over it and
—maybe if you haven’t got disgust
ed with me before that—”
“Oh, I’ll be around, Meggie. Is
that what you mean?” asked Larry,
and now there was a grimness in
his voice, a coldness in his eyes that
chilled her a little. “You are the
only girl for me. You've always
been. I’m a slow and plodding cuss,
but once I get my mind—and my
heart—made up, I hold on. Like the
good old snapping turtle that gets a
grip and swings on until you have
to kill him to make him let go. But
what makes you so sure that you
can get over what you feel for Fal
lon?"
“Because I’m going to!” she told
him with determination.
He turned away from her then as
Bob called to him from the hall, and
a little later they were gone.
f Megan and her father sat in the
living room for a Uttle In silence
after they had gone. It was Jim
who finally broke the silence.
“Did you know that she—was mar
ried?” he asked heavily.
"Yes," Megan nodded. "Laurence
told me.”
Jim’s face twisted. “What a laugh
she must have got out of me—want
ing to marry her. And she told me
she would—she never for a moment
even hinted that she was not a wid
ow!”
Megan waited, knowing a little of
the release that would come to him
if he could rid his mind of these
revelations.
“It began, at first, as a sort of—
well, joke,” he admitted. “It seemed
to amuse her to give the Pleasant
Grove folks something to talk about.
I was lonely, and I suppose she got
a kick out of making a fool of me—”
He broke off and passed a hand
across his eyes and looked straight
at Megan. “But I didn’t kill her,”
he finished quietly, with a simple
m .—m iii i i i ■ H
'-_I
“Then — are you in love with
Fallon?"
dignity that was somehow oddly
touching.
‘‘I know you didn’t, dear,” Megan
assured him swiftly.
He studied her for a moment and
then he asked in a puzzled tone,
"Meggie, how did you and I start
disliking each other? I’ve been do
ing a good deal of thinking lately.
I admire you very much. You’re a
fine girl and a brave girl, and—
well, I can't quite understand why
it is that we seem to rub each other
the wrong way all the time. I’ll prob
ably be just as hard to get along
with tomorrow, as I was yesterday
—only tonight. I’m—well, I’m lone
ly, Meggie, and tired, and maybe—
just a little afraid. Could we sort
of—be friends, do you suppose?”
“Of course. Dad!” She bent swift
ly and kissed his cheek.
Jim looked at her for a moment
and then nodded as though he had
reached some sort of decision.
Both Jim and Megan were silent
for a bit, each with his own thoughts
of their new-found relationship.
He cocked an eye at her humor
ously. "Of course, you understand
that I’m just as lazy and shiftless
and generally no 'count as ever, for
all that I’m suffering a change of
heart tonight. But, you know, Meg
gie, the whole thing boils down to
the fact that I've been jealous of
you since the day you were born.”
“Jealous, Dad?" the astonished
Megan repeated.
He nodded. “I adored your moth
er. Meggie. I know now that it was
a jealous, possessive love, the sort
of thing that makes a spoiled little
boy say, ‘If we can’t play my way,
then I won’t play at all.’ We were
happy at first. I was first with her;
her every thought was for me, for
my comfort, my happiness, my well
being. And then—you came along,
and took up a lot of your mother’s
tenderness and thought, and I had
to take second place. And like the
no-good that I was, I resented it.”
"Oh but, Dad—that’s—why, that’s
wicked! Poor Mother!” she said
just above her breath. "It wasn’t
that she loved me more than she
loved you; it was that I needed her
more.”
“And I resented that, too!” said
her father.
Megan could say nothing. She
could only wait, her hands linked
tightly together, her eyes clinging
to his face.
“Odd. what a chastening effect it
has on a man, when he realizes that
he has made a complete and un
mitigated fool of himself!” he said
at last. “I feel as though I’d been
kicked—almost as much as I de
serve to be! And that is quite some,
Incidentally!”
“But it’s all over and done with,
Dad—we can have a lot of fun to
gether—” Megan began eagerly.
“Over and done with, Meggie?
"Don’t kid yourself, my dear—we
haven’t seen the last of this! Nor
heard it, either,” he corrected her
swiftly. "Had you realized that if
Amos was on the Ridge that night,
as he must have been to tell Larry
the story he did, the chances are ex
cellent that he saw you—as well as
the eight-foot-tall ghost?”
Megan nodded, her face white but
her outward composure commend
able. “I know that he did. Dad,”
she said quietly. "He told Larry.”
Her father’s body Jerked like a
marionette on a string manipulat
ed by an inexpert puppeteer.
“Told Larry—that you were on the
Ridge with Fallon?” he repeated
sharply.
Megan nodded.
Far a moment Jim was very still,
like a man suddenly paralyzed. And
then very carefully he asked, "Did
he tell that fellow Reynolds?”
Megan shook her head, her hands
cold in her lap.
“He—didn’t seem to think it was
necessary,” she managed the words
with difficulty. "He seemed to think
that the fact that I was there gave
me an alibi. If I was there at that
time, I couldn’t possibly have been
across the road—even if I had had
a motive.”
Her father nodded. “Which, of
course, means that Larry doesn't
know I intended to try to marry her
and bring her here,” he finished the
thought for her. Then he smiled, a
mirthless smile that made him look
suddenly very old and very tired.
“Now if only somebody had seen
me going for my walk—”
"Perhaps somebody did,” said
Megan eagerly.
He shook his head. "I saw no one
—after I left Alicia,” he said quiet
ly and distinctly.
She stiffened a little and her eyes
were wide.
“You—saw her—that night?” she
whispered, her lips pallid.
“At eleven-thirty,” said Jim and
heaved a sigh as he ran his fingers
through his magnificent crop of sil
very-gray hair. “The way I figure
it, she couldn’t have been alone, aft
er I left her, more than ten or fif
teen minutes.”
His fingers trembled a little as he
filled his handsome pipe and tamped
the tobacco carefully into the mel
low bowl, but his eyes did not leave
Megan’s white, frightened face.
“We quarreled.” said Jim quietly,
distinctly, “when she admitted that
she had not the slightest idea of
marrying me. She called me a
pompous old fool, and a no-’count
stuffed shirt and a lot of equally
uncomplimentary things. But I did
not kill her, Megan, I swear it.”
Suddenly Megan was on her knees
beside him, her arms close about
him, her cheek hard against his, all
the ugliness and the animosity that
had colored their relations for years
wiped out between them in this mo
ment when she ached with pity for
him, and when for the first time in
her adult life she had begun to have
some glimmering of understanding
him.
“Of course you didn’t, dear—no
one could believe for a moment that
you did,” she told him, her voice
shaken with emotion.
Jim put his arm about her and
seemed to welcome her nearness,
the sheer creature comfort of her
warm presence and her sympathy.
“Thank you, my dear—but I’m
afraid a great many people could
be persuaded to believe that I did,"
he pointed out to her at last. “The
circumstantial evidence against me
is pretty strong. We did quarrel.
Undoubtedly I am the last person—
save one!—to see her alive. And
when I left her, in a fury of injured
pride and bruised self-esteem, I
went for a long walk alone, and saw
no one. I returned home here well
after one o’clock—by which time
she had been dead, according to the
doctor, for at least an hour. So
you see—”
"But you didn’t—you couldn't—
have done it. Dad! Nobody could
ever make me believe you did!” she
comforted him, as though he had
been the child, she the parent.
It was long before she slept that
night, but in spite of the unpleasant
turmoil and excitement of the last
forty-eight hours, she was more at
peace than she had been in a long
time. She could begin to understand
her father a little; and to under
stand is to forgive.
She was conscious only of the fact
that she and her father might hope
to live together now with less fric
tion, less animosity than before. And
the thought had healing and com
fort in it. She was able to fall
asleep at last, emotionally and phys
ically exhausted, and when she
awoke in the morning, she felt
stronger and more refreshed than
in many months, in spite of the
horror of the last twenty-four hours,
and in spite of knowing that the next
few days were going to be far from
pleasant.
She had finished her morning
chores, and was busy with a seed
catalog and an order blank when
Laurence arrived.
Annie, big-eyed with excitement,
showed him into the small den
where Megan worked, and hovered
anxiously.
“It’s all right, Annie—we found
something that proves that Amos
was telling us the truth—that is, that
he did see something at the old
burying ground that night,” said
Laurence quickly.
(TO BE CONTINUED)
Here’s Meat for Your Table
(See Recipes Below)
Choice Ways with Meat
The large amounts of cattle
butchered recently mean more
meat on your table and for many
of us, it will mean rounding up those
delectable, mouth-watering recipes
that make meat so good to eat.
There’s not meat to waste, but
you'll be able to find a variety of
cuts with which
I’d suggest you
do your very
best. Cook it
carefully so as
not to shrink it or
dry it out. Sea
son it well and
you’ll give the
family something to cheer about.
First we’ll start off with some
very flavorful beef recipes. One
uses sour cream which will make
rich, delicious gravy along with the
meat, and the other uses good sea
sonings which will do the most for
the cut of meat.
*Swiss Steak in Sour Cream.
(Serves 6 to 8)
3 pounds round steak (2 inches
thick)
Flour, salt, pepper, fat
2 onions, sliced
V4 cup water
W cup sour cream
2 tablespoons grated cheese
Vi teaspoon paprika
Dredge steak with flour and sea
son with salt and pepper. Brown on
both sides in hot fat. Add remain
ing ingredients, cover pan closely
and simmer slowly until meat is
tender, about 2V4 hours.
Beef a la Mode.
(Serves 10)
5 pounds beef rump roast
Vi pound fat salt pork
Pepper
1 clove garlic, chopped
Salt, cayenne, flour
2 onions, sliced
4 tablespoons bacon drippings
1 bay leaf
1 sprig parsley
3 carrots sliced
1 turnip, sliced
Vi cup boiling water
Cut deep gashes in beef. Slice
salt pork very thin, rub with pep
per ana place in
gashes of meat.
Rub meat with
garlic, salt and
cayenne and
dredge with flour.
Brown onions in '
bacon drippings, ^ »
remove onions and place meat in
kettle. Place onions, bay leaf and
parsley over the meat. Cover and
cook slowly until well browned on
one side. Turn and brown on other
sides. Add vegetables and cook un
til well browned. Add boiling wa
ter, cover closely and simmer for
3 hours or longer, adding more wa
ter if necessary. Serve meat with
vegetables and gravy.
You should be able to find plenty
of pork on the market, and there’s
no more tempting way of preparing
pork chops than with apple stuff
ing. Here’s how it's done:
LYNN SAYS:
Pan-Broiling Meat: If you don’t
have a broiler and want to broil
meats, use a heavy, pre-heated
frying pan. Do not use any fat
in the pan, except when broiling
ground meat. Brown meat in the
hot pan on both sides. Season
only after it is browned, other
wise the salt will draw out the
rich juices.
Never add water or cover the
pan for pan broiling. The idea is
to make it as close to oven broil
ing as possible.
When meat is browned, turn
down the heat to finish cooking.
Turn occasionally to cook evenly,
and keep pouring off the fat as
it accumulates so that the meat
will broil rather than fry.
Lamb chops, small steaks,
chops and meat patties are excel
lent when prepared by this meth
od.
LYNN CHAMBERS’ MENUS
•Swiss Steak in Sour Cream
Green Beans with
Slivered Carrots
Browned Potatoes
Head Lettuce Salad
Fresh Cantaloupe with Berries
Bread Beverage
•Recipe given.
Pork Chops With Apple Stuffing.
(Serves 6)
6 thick pork chops
1 slice salt pork, diced
Yx cup bread or cracker crumbs
2 teaspoons finely chopped parsley
3 tart apples, diced
Yx cup chopped celery
% cup chopped onion
Yx cup sugar
Salt and pepper
Have pork chops cut one to two
inches thick, with a pocket cut from
the inside. Fry salt pork until crisp,
then add celery, and onion and cook
until tender. Add diced apples,
sprinkle with sugar and cover. Cook
slowly until they have a glazed ap
pearance. Add bread crumbs and
season. Stuff into pocket of pork
chops. Season chops with salt and
pepper and brown on both sides in
hot skillet. Reduce heat, add a few
tablespoons water, cover and cook
slowly until done, for about lVx
hours.
Braised Veal Steak.
(Serves 4)
2 pounds veal steak
1 egg, slightly beaten
2 tablespoons milk
2 cups crushed cereal flakes
4 tablespoons fat
1 small can mushrooms
Have steak cut one inch thick.
Cut into pieces for serying. Dip
into mixture or
egg and milk,
then in cereal
flakes. Brown in
hot fat and cover
witn musnrooms vs-—-ujr
and their liquid. Cover tightly and
cook slowly until lender, about 45
minutes. Thicken the liquid for
gravy and serve over the veal
steaks.
If you’ve been lucky enough to
get your share of lamb, then you
will want ideas for preparing the
, different cuts. Because of its del
icate flavor, lamb takes a different
type of seasoning than other meats,
Lamb Mash in Cabbage Leaves.
(Serves 6)
I head of cabbage
1 pound lamb, minced
2 onions, chopped
1 cup uncooked rice
Salt and pepper
3 or 4 tomatoes, sliced
% cup water
Meat stock
Cook cabbage until tender; drain
and separate leaves carefully. Com
bine lamb, onions, rice, salt and
pepper and mix well. On each cab
bage leaf place a tablespoon of the
mixture and roll, turning ends of
the cabbage in to secure the roll.
Place the rolls in a greased pan,
add tomatoes, water and sufficient
stock to half cover the rolls. Cook
in a moderate (350 degree) oven or
until rice is tender.
Lamb en Brochette.
(Serves 6)
2 pounds lamb steak
3 tablespoons cooking oil
6 tablespoons lemon juice
1 onion, minced
1 teaspoon salt
% pound mushrooms
Cut lamb into 1-inch squares.
Combine oil, lemon juice, onion and
salt and pour over lamb and let
stand several hours. Drain lamb
and place meat on skewers alter
nately with mushroom caps. Place
4 inches below moderate broiler
heat and broil 12 to 15 minutes,
turning several times.
Remember that uncooked meat
will keep safely only a few hours
unless you put it in a refrigator or
very cold place. Ground meat needs
colder storage and keeps a shorter
time than unground meat. Leftover
cooked meat also needs storing in a
cold place.
Released by Western Newspaper Union.
—■ I-.1 ■ I ■ .11 I ■■ —• ■ ■ ■ - - ' ' ' ■■ I—
SEWING CIRCLE PATTERNS
JJrim WJaiAted behoof JJrocL
Side-j^utton JJL\eAA for junior A
8871 1
u«w U
Wide-Girdled Dress
A N ideal school frock for the
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• • •
Pattern No. 8871 cornea In alzea 8, 8,
10, 12 and 14 yeara. Size 8, 21k yards
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Wide Shoulders, Narrow Waist
T_I ERE’S a smart frock that’s
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on the skirt and pocket. Notice
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accent a tiny junior waistline.
Pared apples will not darken if
dipped in lemon, orange, grape
fruit or pineapple juice.
—•—
When through sewing, use Jun
ior’s magnet to pick up the stray
pins.
—•—
Never nut a dress away imme
diately after wearing it. Air it
to get the wrinkles out.
—•—
When handles break off teacups,
let them do duty as flower pots.
With hammer and nail drill a hole
in the center of cup for plant drain
age. Easy on the drilling through,
to keep the brittle china from
breaking.
Moths and beetles breed in a
warm place, but if you must
choose between a damp closet or
basement or a hot attic, choose
the attic.
—•—
Like pretty dishes? Then make
wall decorations of your pretty
plates. Run a wire around the
8049
1118 ' '
Pattern No. 8049 Is designed for size*
11. 12. 13. 14. 16 and 18. Size 12 require*
3'» yards of 35 or 39-lnch.
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Enclose 25 cents In coins for each ?
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Pattern No_Size_ j
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llllllyB ^ f*W ■■H3| WjjljjijBBt
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