Show The Chivalry of Silas Dy PHILIP VEIUULL MICHELS Copjrlvbi bl Joseph 11 llowlei The little garden gate complained speakingly and tried to sag even lower low-er for a man Iliwe to lean on It be silo the woman who was already thereYou You dont spose you could noway say yea en1 settle the whole shebang tills mornln do you Bald ho The woninn was reading a book Sao wet her thumb and tamed leaf read lug on slowly until a paragraph was finished Silas Jud said she leaning an elbow el-bow on the volume to keep It opon you aint never ylt rend Sir Beverly ho Knight of the Mystic Moor I aint never No I feared yo hadnt Yod bo less pcstorfylti If yo had How kino kin-o ruminate on matrimony with men me-n you iloln no chivalry deeds I made Tilly a good husband Yes bit whores ycr bncktono tiered to since she went Ho answered with n 1 sort of wilts pored whistle that conveyed u skelo ton Idea of a time Why dont yo buckle on yor armor ar-mor an faro forth with a chunk of my hairribbon In yen helmet an Provo ycr vallor If yo want mo so terrible ter-rible Ho did not answer but walked away silently and sho continued to road That same question ho had put to her very week for three mouths Jud was a lorn and a silent mnn who lived apart from other mon In Deer Hollow and looked Indefinitely fnrunril In n limn Pnllfniiiln farm nil n moo n nom the hillside for a homo Ho mad1 his living cutting wood and even managed man-aged to save a 1 trlllo against tho farm of tho future For a year now which tine hud elapsed since the death of his wile ho had spout a great many of his hours In the cabin to which he now repaired At tho door ho paused and listened No sound ho heard but when ho had tiptoed In a 1 curlhalood head way raised from a bunk I and ono largo vlo let coloreti eye greeted nlm Its mate being hidden by a chubby fist tha screwed vigorously around rubbing away time few remaining Bleopwobs Then a dear redlipped mouth stretched Itself Into an 0 as largo ash as-h halfdollar Turned back papa said tho owner own-er of tho fist and eye and mouth and golden hair and she climbed to tho floor Yep honeybug ho answered cheerfully llabyn dress tired vouchsafed the tot bringing tho garment for Inspection Inspec-tion Pore ill I gel tis ha ha Ho tool It up jerked a needle as large as a small sword out of tho wall waxed his linen thread and sat down to bow I stabbing his lingers now and then but getting on nevertheless after his kind The child sat near her facj In her dlrapTed hands looking very oldfashioned and altogether wise Baby wants mamma she said at last and the utter Irrelevancy of this observation scorned not at all apparent to the man What would mama do for baby Baby sit on her yap and nmninn sing i Having finished tho dress and put It on her he took the child up on his knee holding her tenderly against his rough coat and rocked himself back and forth as he sang The song which fortunately mho little one preferred of all tho vast repertoire of tho mother who was gone was the only one ho know After half a dozen verses of It the child sllppoj away awayMamma Mamma det baby sumlln to cat Why en course my popsywopsy blossom So he fetched a 1 howl of milk a can of brown sugar and home strange mush from a pall that hunt from a hook over tho dying ember In the fireplace where he had put H to cook before going out Taking her once more on his knee ho satisfied her hunger unintentionally hastening matters not a little by using a spoon with that was large enough to dig potatoss I What else would mamma do fo I baby he asked after tho weo appetite appe-tite was appealed Pay on floor wit blocks said she Down he got on all fours building build-ing matchless structures with tho halt peeled cubes and giving the most desperate des-perate descriptions of the animals represented rep-resented therein An uneventful week wont by When Wednesday was come Silas fared him forth to do his accustomed wooing As he neared the cabin of the Widow Harvey he saw her leaning as befora on tho garden gate and reading as usual In tho famous book of Beverly He took the place that she left for him saying after a moment You dont sposo you could anyhow say No en settle the whole shebang this mornln do you She was taken off her guard completely com-pletely he had never put It that way before Turning red and fumbling the book till It shut on her place she gazed nt him blankly Ahem Sfsna Silas Jud I mean hey I ever read yo how Sir Beverly slew the demon wolf In the black cavern cav-ern You aint never Well listen to this end thereupon she read a scintillating and length description of this marvelous event Whatd ho tin u tor anyway no asked at thr end Sho was surprised again Silas srmnd elt rebellious Ho was a true an tremcnjls knight an done It for his lady lair she re plied with no small amount of splrl na If you was a proper an courageous man an1 dooly sincere youd sow my favor on to yer hat even It twas onl n bone button an prove ycraolf noba before yo asked mo to Bay Yes or No or Mind yor business coucornln timid hero marryln There aint no way for mo to know yorvaller nn theres no chivalry left these days nohow an those woods might bo lull of demon wolves an never a ono youd kill for t moHrr Her words came forth with an unwonted un-wonted sputter while sho eyed thj nearby woods as If expecting to see a demon wolf Issue thorefrom forthwith forth-with Silas looked upon her oddly If you was my wlfo or would promise prom-ise to splice up along of me Id wear yor ribbon er button or anything of yourn but fist nov Im wearln a ribbon rib-bon for somebody 1 olso Ohl BO yo ore an whose may I ask My I little gels said ho Oh They were silent Rome time Then you dont think you noways could this mornln7 Silas moved off slowly And never a turn turned ho to look upon her but tho book was neglected while she watched him and her lips quivered a time or two With tho baby l mounted high and chuckling merrily Jud went forth to his work that morning grinning and joking tho little ono sighing and dropping drop-ping a long jaw for himself Soon she was babbling In tho woods with her tosa headless doll a badlywarped napkin ring and a long row of fresh chips clean from tho glittering steel and yet redolent of tho plno From log to log wont Silas bowing his way vigorously If not valiantly and glanq hie nt thin baby between time sciiddliiir bits that Hew from tho polished edge Presently his measure along tha log whereon ho worked brought Itlmj opposite a tree that hid the little ono from sight Well ho would rush It tho faster ho thought and he did Suddenly above tho nolso of his echo Ings blows came a shrill call Papa mamma papal Like ono iiossessed ho bounded over a fallen tree toward tho baby An1 he nearly reeled with tho stroke of his heart for out of tho copse swaying sway-ing heavily on Its silent feet came a gaunt grizzly bear with blazing hungry hun-gry eyes IIol Jud halloed In a fearful voice rushing madly forward arid lw felt his flesh creep all achill at the slzo of mho monster It stopped leered at him maliciously malicious-ly and swung Itself erect with a movement at once active and awkward coming forward to meet him as If well aware that ho must first bo dealt with Without a sign of fear Jud leaped straight In front of tho beast nail swung his ax at Its head Tho hug brute dodged saving Its skull but sacrificing sac-rificing half of Its left paw Enraged with pain It stood again and Gains at him pory and roaring Again the axman struck but not KO skillfully and tho bear warded with his other paw with such accuracy and force ns to strike tho handle a heavy blow that sent tho weapon hurtllilg away end over end With a fiendish snort tho bent closed In rime scream of soma 0112 who had hurried there startled by the babys call attracted only a seconds notice from the animal but In that ran ment Jud whipped out a long keen edged bowie knife and crouched vc strike > Fierce then and furious the scene Grasping tho man about tho shoulders shoul-ders daubing him chest and neck and back with tho bleeding paw tearing away the clothes and flesh from his breast and arms raking him again and again with its clawarmed hind fee tho grizzly seemed a very demon Indeed In-deed Into the reeking hairy body tho mai drove tho steel time after time but his stabs were fur too short tho hido vas far to thick and tho bears vitality most wonderful Forward they trampled tram-pled backward they staggered In n seemingly endless struggle Yot It could last but little longer for the man now bled from gashes deep and long scored on his arms legs and body his strength waned and his thrusts with tho knife seemed almost useless Backward Silas went He know that ho should fall In a moment and the thought of what would happen was maddening lie lunged again desperately des-perately stabbing tho blade In to the hilt he felt tho huge brute quiver then somebody came and rapped u furious tattoo on the back of the animals ani-mals head with a rattling umbrella that cracked and bruised In a manner so utterly aggravating that the creature crea-ture was glad to drop the man and turn Heeling forward Jud grabbed his ax and looked Strangest of sights The Widow Harvey was frantically avoiding the clutch of tho grizzly and was slashing with her weapon with a mad wild energy en-ergy peculiar to her sex An awful sound made the ax as it clove the skull of the monster and all three fell to earth two human beings be-ings and a mountain of great dead s bear v On the following day as Silas lay wounded and bandaged upon a lounge ho said to tho widow How did you happen to come Why she said Willie Mlllett heard the baby scream an went to see what was up anhe seen ye slaylu tho demon bear an boylike run to my house it beln nearest Yes but An I hod to go fee no harm como to the babys kngui an mine |