Show J without resort to law by DONALD ALLEN copy Covi richt 1910 by associated litel ary press come and put in your vacation with me house in the country lake fish golf mighty good looking girl only eighty rods away cupid moonlight etc so ex judge gorman german wrote to his nephew phil walker just before college vacation the judge was a bachelor sixty years old who had bought a mauor house on retiring from tho bench lie ho was alone except for hla hie servants and phil was wa s his favorite nephew w judge gorman had caught only a brief glimpse of alleen aileen travers as she crossed the lawn of her mother a grounds next door any lawyer could have made a case of false pretenses out of that letter but phil walker replied that he would bo be happy to come miss alleen aileen travers was just two iwo weeks ahead of him on vacation she had got home and settled down for the summer before he was due when at home she was tho the man about the house she could handle saw or hammer and whon who n the lawn mower got out of kilter she had a way of fixing it up instead of sending it oft off to town to bo be tinkered at she reached home on this occasion to find that many things needed her attention and among them was the glazing of a pane of glass in the kitchen win dow this was loft left to the last but on the day her mother and little sister went away to be gone till night the cook was informed now then if james got that pane of glass and some putty wo we will fix that window we shall need the stepladder its the easiest thing in the world for a smart and good looking girl to putty in a pane of glass she first takes out any fragments of the old pane then she mounts to the top of a stepladder and has the cook hold L e j V t 1 I 1 it its the easiest thing in the world it while she cuts away the old putty then pane la Is set in handmade and made fast miss bliss alleen aileen set out to accomplish this task mid alid afternoon came along while she was still working so did phil walker ile he was walking out from town for exercise ile he know what house his uncle lived in and he decided that the sensible thing to do was to make inquiries ile he rang the bell at the rravis mansion and as he rang he wondered if that mighty good look ing girl lived there no answer ile he thought he heard beard voices at the rear of the house the sensible thing to do was to go around ind and find the owners he found them miss bliss alleen aileen was standing on the arest of the stepladder sleeves rolled up tip old skirt on and bareheaded and her hair tousled and flying about the way a glazier glazes the cook was hanging to the stepladder like grim death and throwing out a suggestion now and then and the stage setting was ready when the young college man app appe apperea ered ored there was a yell from the cook there was an exclamation from the mistress there was a roar from the family dog who has been held back until this moment to complete a dramatic situation the cook let go the stepladder babbled wab bled bliss alleen aileen came down mr walker stepped backward and it seemed to the dog as aa it if the three people were all mixed up for a moment then he took after the one who tied fled nipped him and chased him off the grounds and down the road where ex judge gorman german standing at his gate throw uy lp hlo hie arms and called out what villain has dared to set a dog os on my favorite nephew 1 tell me his bis name that I 1 may give him seven kinds of lawt phil thought lin he understood tho the case and when he got his breath lie he tried to 40 explain it was a case of natural cause and effort let any young man discover a girl puttying in a pane ot of glass from tho the top of a stepladder stop ladder with the family cook braced to pro vent a and the family dog dozing lit in the sunshine and exclamations falls and bites must follow its like the stock market when a report is circulated that john doe la Is dead it creates a flurry lie he held no ono one to blame say boy replied the uncle when the story had been told that girl on the stepladder must have been the one I 1 wrote you about I 1 am afraid you have dished your case right in the beginning 1 I can call and apologize and make another mistake beverl you see ashes mighty good looking 1 I I 1 guess so I 1 just got ono one glimpse and then she came sailing and ashes a sylph she flew like alko one and sue stio diani have her hair done up tip and her sunday clothes on and you see her in the parlor and have a formal introduction then then you all tumbled around together and the dog bit you and the cook probably swore and taken all together it will require all the legal tal lents ants I 1 possess to win your case but what case am I 1 going to win or lose sir was waa asked why the mighty good looking girl misa travers the girl on the stepladder I 1 have it all mapped out I 1 shall give you this place and then board with you after marriage right handy to mar her mothers you know pass back and forth across the dewy grass glass one phonograph answers tor for both houses birds sing to both at the same time no separate thunder show ers era needed had it down pat my boy and then you had bad to go wandering around to the back yard and making discoveries lands can I 1 ever convince that girl that you stood there thera for ten minutes before the cook yelled out A mr phil walker was contrite con trUe enough that day but on the next he stood on his dignity what business had bad a girl good looking or not to turn glazier what business had the family faintly cook to let go of that stepladder what business had that old dog to bite him all the injury was on his part miss bliss travers was not the only person to be considered and he wanted her to understand it his uncle saw how things were with him and interfere ten days passed very quiet days the glass was in and the putty all used up the stepladder was laid away and the dog was at rest then the college man ached for exercise there was an old dead tree on the shores of the lake at the back end of the ground lie he would remove it he took the saw and went forth hat off coat and vest off shirt sleeves sleeve a rolled up he be mounted into the top of the tree to cut away a limb nothing startled him ile he simply slipped and caught his foot in a crotch and there he was hanging head downward and yelling for help ile he had been yelling for five minutes when he heard beard footsteps ou on the grass and some one lifted up lip his head bead and shoulders until he be could get a grasp with hla his hands bands then that some one softly said please dont set your dog on me for its it that mighty good looking girl had bad been rowing on the lake and witnessed tho the accident just as she landed she was war gone before the tree climber could descend say boy your case is won and that without resort to law exclaimed tho the uncle as he rubbed his hands in glee you discover her she discovers you two discoveries with the cook and the dog left out she cant call and thank you for discovering her er because she was on top of a stepladder but you must call and thank her because you were hanging head bead downward from a tree see the difference why boy your case la Is wort won without the jury leaving their seats prettiest affair I 1 ever handled mr phil walker called and explained all about that tree and several other things and there were blushes and smiles and laughter and a game of croquet on the lawn and later on judge gorman german was called upon tor for ills house as a wedding present |