Show e house of the ganders by irv irving irvin ing copyright b br r irvins bacheller V service SYNOPSIS n aged and starving a boy of 0 about siman SIM an I 1 fou found A in the woods by a byh camping party having fled from rom hid a brutal fat ather lier bat at wor Morry ryson aon fed fail and in clean cloties clo the boy shad sheridan IB 19 sent to canton with it a letter to colonel blake the tha colonel hla his wife and their thair young daughter huth ari are impressed mpr essed by the boys manner ve ho goes to work in amity dam and becomes c ornes friendly with a youth uth c of f h hla I 1 as agre cony ony and lo 10 brown rown tl link n k r vallage character bat Mor Morry rymon don comet om 0 4 dote determined r min a d to take hla his son back fo io h hid own dissolute dlo lute lut life its ha 1 to Is over o ver awed by colonel blake the district attorney ney and lili him father passes passe out of shad ada life A girl young a and nd pretty petty y comes comb to browns sha chack ck 1 inquiring or bam shad applies himself diligent d g t r to his neglected acted education lova zv tor for uth fluth blake blaka takes taho a stronghold on his aart art in an attack attach made on the perry amaly w Y oscar perry the father Is 1 athly r shot ahot nna and hla his daughter dau mrs wife of cyrus doolittle I 1 on nt citizen seriously wounded tr i circumstantial r uz evidence points to ampy dro brown r n ai the as assailant a lant ire he la in treated arrested th tho friendship between shad and nuth blake kindles into love colonel blake arranges arran Reg for the youth to icko a ke up the atud study y of law under his hi now new evidence points to robert royce noyce as the tha possible po sible murders murderer of 0 perry ferry CHAPTER VII 1 13 the mysterious arm colonel blakes offices were up one flight from the main street of the village in tho the rear of a brick building it Is necessary to tho the understanding of s a singular event in the case of the people against brown that the render reader should have a clear perception of a part of tho the structure of these offices end and the points tit at which the hel help p employed near their entrance was stationed there was wag an outer room in which a young typist received all comers the bo typist opened a panel in an onte oak partition and gave their names and the nature of their business to a clerk who sat gat at a table inside the partition and against it shad was immediately trained for this latter task 0 Col Blates outer ader L cherkof Clerk Of office office I 1 OOM j slide rn r n the evening train for the south was almost an hour late shad ate his supper with a small lag bag in his lap and got aboard the train arriving at the county bounty seat about eight thirty thero there were not more than half a dozen people in the streets he went to the office the anteroom was dark the colonels key was in the door that opened from it to the large room occupied in business hours houra by clerks and stenographers the colonel was at work in lis his private room the door ot of which was open shad put the bag on hla his desk and removed his overcoat and muffler the lawyer came out and greeted him they stood a moment talking together colonel blake stood facing the door in the middle of a sentence sen tenca he topped stopped suddenly ile he was looking at a mans arm which had been thrust thronia the open slide saldo in the oak partition its hand seized the little leather lag bag on chads shads desk before tho the colonel had quite gulte recovered from his astonishment ment it vanished lebed with the bag the lawyer ran to the door it would wt not open it was wa locked the tha thief bad turned the key on its farther tide side the bag was gone with the man who bad seized axed lt 14 and they were helpless the colonel ran to the telephone and called the sheriff with two minutes the latter with bin big deputies was out on the colo ol 01 alake returned from the telephone the devil and tom walker Wal kerl I 1 hh be exclaimed this kind of thing Is well enough in fiction but when it jumps into real life its ita going too far that was the arm of the murderer or an accomplice lie ile may have hate followed you from the train if I 1 had bad not been here he might above overcome you with violence we iare gre getting close to the guilty man zo to la seared ile he Is desperate ile he I 1 thinks that the tha revolver volver ra to Is a vital part ot of our case he know that it la Is so BO well known that it Is no longer needed its evidence la Is on record my old slouch hat was in that bag with the revolver said shad colonel blake blaka went to the telephone and called the homo home of judge swift in Ashli ashfield eld 1 I have reason to believe that the tha nan abw who 0 killed e oscar perry la Is in or lear this village please go g 0 quickly ind see aeo it if robert royce hoyce Is in ashfield va ts important let lel me know at my aco as massood as possible the colonel requested eques ted the sheriff came and unlocked the loor weve scoured the town he eadd gate arwe awe have seen no stranger I 1 learn that a team hitched to a buggy atoo stood d in front of your door a few minutes es ago 6 0 it faced toward th e river A woman nn sat in the buggy boggy the lawyer told what had happened in the office sheriff colewell said the thief ifie Is at into that buggy with the bag and was a mile out of alien you yau called me the telephone bell rang colonel mata blat it ile he was aston dished by the information that came to him from judge swift it was this it I obert tobert royce hoyce Is now sitting by the fireside at the westminster hotel in ashfield rodney the proprietor tells me that lie he has been sitting in the chair he now occupies ever since ho he finished eating his supper about quarter past six blake told the judge of the singular incident of the evening and rang off ile he came out of ills his belee Iff well lell sheriff im about ready tor for an important move in this game of checkers he said ive got a man in the king row im going to move for bumpy browns release on ball the county court convened in the morning the district attorney in view of the discovery of new evidence in the tha cosa case of the people against william brown moved for the release of the defendant on ball freely offered by a number of responsible grand army men 1 I am convinced that the prisoner if he be Is set free can be of some service to us the motion was granted late that afternoon colonel banke called shad to his office he said 1 I think that you now have a chance to render me an important service I 1 want you to po go up with bumpy brown tomorrow and live with him or near him for a couple of weeks the old man likes you and dony bony for you yon especially especial ay he entertains e a real affection af fellon perhaps you can get him to help elp vs us 1 I want to know who Is that pretty miss do de long who works in south bolton and who came caine to his little house one sunday when you were there I 1 cannot place her slie seems to have dropped out of the skies how does it come about that she and bumpy brown are on familiar terms I 1 have staked out the ground for or you it may be that love can accomplish what fear could not 1 I dont believe that I 1 ought to do that shad objected the old man has been good to me and I 1 want you to be good to him you are not to be a spy but a friend you will be under no obligation to report anything which he Is unwilling that I 1 should know then I 1 shall enjoy my job shad answered a th the next day shad got a livery team and an ample store of provisions for bumpas larder lie ile telegraphed to bony asking him to meet them at the run shop they put a warm brick tn in the bottom of decka case cage and covered its bars with a shawl before noon they arrived in a sleigh at the en end d of the trail leading into drowns browns cove bony standing by the door waved his hat as aa they drew near welcome hornet home I 1 he shouted bumpy shook his hand band but did not speak they hurried into the shack bumpy stood a moment looking up at the portrait of his wife just a faint quivering hello mo mother therl 1 came from his lips ile he hurried to the filled water pall pail took down a dipper and drank shad winked to bony as he said bald well go out an break up some more mora wood an leave you with the woman a few minutes the boys boya went out of doors and cut dnn down a dead tree in the near thicket I 1 1 I never heard him call her mother before said bald shad nor I 1 bony answered ye know rat im kind ol 01 0 seared scared for the old man I 1 dont see how hes hea coln to make a livin its winter time ile he cant travel around much ile ho has to git home every night to look after that or ol bird he has some money saved up op and if he needs more the colonel la Is going to give it to him they returned to the shack aback bumpy was now in a cheerful mood the tha bird was laughing and going over bis big reminiscent and familiar sayings on the broad windowsill window sill near the oven shad unwrapped the supplies well boys theres some dead kayin around here but we might be in worse shape as aa a feller felle r used to say that had a hump bump on hla his back bumpy began dont look so solemn well fix up a good dinner you look kind ol 01 0 nervous the matter ive been with some fools that still think youre guilty bony answered well tools fools are like frogs in a pond you can hear ism em pr preaching preach eachin ln day an aag ight ht but nobody la in ever converted bumpy had bad washed at the sink and was drying his face and hands bands the people agan brownl brown 1 he ez ex f claimed looking downward in is thoughtful manner boys luord to tell yo y th the dead honest truth ol oil drown brown has ha been a fool himself if theres anything th that at fools hate its U competition folks used to say abny that brown wo a quite a feller I 1 thought so myself but ive turned agan him well boys lets not git excited youve worked worked up some come wood les skirmish around tor for some borne happiness ne ile began to prepare a venison roast for the oven lie ile turned to the boys and said boys bog be a kind of a grind grindstuen stun for yer appetites if ye keep on with the wood job till I 1 sit git dinner ready they went to the ravine and resumed their work with bumpus ax and bucksaw buck saw in an hour or so tho the old man came out and shouted to them dont tear down the woods wooda cant ye see when yeve rone gone fur enough come in to dannor As aa they came he added 1 I dont dare let ye sit git too hungry I 1 want suthon to eat myself go an wash yer hands they sat eat down to their dinner of venison and baked potatoes and bas ni VA 5 its hand seized the little leather bag on shads chads desk cults and coffee dumpy bumpy was happy again their dinner eaten dony bony asked him to toll tell about his life in jail 1 I dont doat want to think of it said the old man this mornin I 1 got into the sherlf sheriffs rs bathtub an washed it all off me the boys helped with the dishes As they sat ty by the fire bony drew three amity dam cigars from his pocket and d generously passed them anno no im too tired the pipe for fer me said bumpy 1 I dont like ilka ephs c cigars kind of quick tem I 1 want peace io tonight night cigars are like indians indiana hostile aril an friendly ill take a chance shad resolved as he aad bony lighted up the boys sucked hard bard but could get no smoke bumpy got a piece of wire ram that through lem em he suggested then maybe behave learn lem em abos master the obstinacy of the two cigars was overcome by the wire but the boys boya spat frequently and seemed to be getting the worst of it 1 I think that ephs cigars are made to keep boys good said bumpy with it a laugh they have gizzards giz in em cm said bald bony with a sad look as an hard to till kill as a cat simultaneously the boys boye gave up having decided that as an aid to happiness the cigars were a failure 1 I ought to have known better said bald shad 1 11 I smoked since I 1 quarreled with a cigar named ephs epha dest best in banys room one night after miss had bad gone to bed it almost crippled me how do you get along with that woman same an aa ever said bony sniffs an looks me over every night when I 1 come in sometimes she makes me so go an take tabs a bath fore fora I 1 go to bed its awful how Is in the homo home for the friendless gosh I 1 ashes me up for fer the home miss denson benson has hag made her chairman of the infants infanta committee ashes terrible strict now bumpy got out hla his fiddle tuned it up and played while the bird sang it was time to light the lamps when bony left shad ahad and bumpy were going up to tho the dam in the morning to get kerosene and other needed supplies ill see you tomorrow said bony as ao he went vent away bumpy lighted the lamps no ile had strung a clothes line and put out a lot of bed clothes to air in the breeze mattresses sheets covers and pillows were now brought in and heaped on chairs around the stove TO CONTINUED |