Argosy, Vol. 112, No. 2 — page 57: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

EVERYTHING BUT THE TRUTH. although with a gulp. ‘‘ We’re ever so much obliged, but we’re in a hurry now. Er —good-by!”’ He took Mrs. Elton’s limp arm and marched her straight down the hill. Just once he glanced back. The agent, with obvious difficulty, was fitting the key to the lock—the tagged key from his real estate office—doubtless the only existing key for that door! William’s smile was ghastly; he did not turn it upon Annabel as he said thickly: ““Er—we—we were there last night, weren’t we?” ‘““T was just going to ask you the same thing!”’ Annabel faltered. ‘Then I guess we were, all right enough! But nobody else was there!” “There aren’t any ghosts!” Mrs. Elton protested. “Well, it was no ghost that put me into that strait-jacket and it was no ghost that dragged away that ladder! I wasn’t con- sidering the ghost end of it, anyway. I was thinking about—you!”’ Beautiful eyes clouded, Mrs. Elton stared for a moment. “You see, we’ve been missing all night and still we—well, we can’t tell the truth about where we’ve been. We—” “T can’t lie!”? Annabel protested posi- tively. ‘“ Not to Jackie!” “Well, you can’t tell him the truth and prove it by people who have ceased to exist!’’ William suggested. ‘“ You can’t tell him about that place and then have that real state agent—just to mention one possibility—turn up and state that the house hasn’t been tenanted for a year!” “No!” breathed Annabel. ‘“ But I can’t lie to him.” “ And a tale like this one of ours needs darned solid evidence to back it up,” Wil- liam went on grimly. “ You see, we're bound to admit that we were locked up tight—since it was the only thing that prevented our getting out. And if we get Peter or the nurse or the doctor to prove it, we’re going to prove also that we were locked up together, and whether all the doctors in the world could make Jackie swallow a dose like that I—” Really, he was thinking out loud! He 228 caught himself suddenly, but not before his heart smote him at Mrs. Elton’s sudden pallor and the tears that welled up in her eyes. “That’s just it!” she cried terrifiedly. “We have to find some of them—but if we do find them we’ll be worse off than if we hadn’t found them at all!” As had happened one or twice before, her childlike helplessness had its own brac- ing effect upon the perturbed William. Quite an unusual effect this time, it seemed, for he smiled very suddenly. “Don’t look so frightened,” he said. “ Jackie’s not coming home until to-night, is he?” ce No.”’ ‘Then there’s no real need of his know- ing anything at all about it, I think. You'll have to—er—to lie to him about—” “F ean't!” “You can happiness! ” ‘“‘T—maybe,” Mrs. Elton faltered. “ If it really was—”’ “It really will be!” William assured her dryly. “ You'll have to tell him—wait a minute and we'll see whad sounds best.”’ He paused, a dozen yards behind the Turnstile Inn carriage shed; wrinkles ap- peared between his eyes for a little; then he smiled. “It’s simple and easy,” he said. “ Youll have to tell him that you misunderstood the arrangements for last night. You'll say that you thought you were going to stay with your Aunt Fannie in the city instead of having her come to Blythedale. The telephone service up this way is vile, I suppose?” | ** Awful!” sighed Mrs. Elton. “Good enough! Connections were tangled and you made a mistake, my child. You went down to the city. You went to your aunt’s hotel and found her missing. You did not know where she’d gone and you were afraid to come back alone. Then you did the most natural thing in the world; you went and spent the night with some intimate girl friend! Simple?” “It’s a lie.” : “Yes, but it’s a good, reliable lie and if you’ve got a really good girl friend it ’Il if it’s for Jackie’s own GComichbooks (E@)