Show ay irav P 1 ked red 11 was hemmed in by the breaf fung a lences of scattered woods apen fields and the far reaches of A laty misty space as though it were in hid bid ing trig from fi om the railroads mills and h gh wass of an age of hurry upon its toos lee IL nei ere crest st it bore but cen con t fees ter 9 of I 1 fe and a symbol maple house the firs and elm house halt half hulden from rom the roid road by the r d sti c five trees but as alive as the warm eyes ot of a veiled woman oman v and the church nie the church was but a symbol a shell within it presented the appearance a of a lumber room in d a ass a playground for rats and a ha ven fordest or dust but without all was as it bad ever ener been for the old church was still belfied belo ed its fresh wh te gralfs and greet greez shutters and the asp r in ing steeple towel ng into the blue f dewed neglect and robbed abandon neat luent of its sting if fu the shadow of its a walls lay an old graveyard whose overgrown 0 I 1 had long been und stubbed along the tl single road which cut the crest of the bill from north to south were nere ruins ruin of houses that once had sheltered th the f scattered congregation but the ru ns were we re hard to find for they too were overgrown by jun un per dematis cle mitis and a thicket of mounta n ash on these evidences of death and en crol debt ent the old church seemed to turn its back as if by light of its fresh walls and unbroken steeple it were still stin linked to life through its small paned varied w endows it seemed to gaze con tent edly across the road at three hamsel widely separated that aalf 1 alt cased it U in a dim n sh ng perspective yle tle three bouses houses looked toward the 4 the church toward its de chae f oa on a day in early cpr ng alan N W ayne vvs to ped hill snow still aurig a in the crevices of east moun jf tala on the h 11 the ashes after the fc taw eel apse of winter were meekly pale green 17 fhe he elms of elm i bouse too were but faintly out ned tied in verdure I 1 arther down the road the baliles stretched out bare black limbs A oas the firs in a phalanx scoffed at 4 the general cpr ng cleaning and looked 0 ad id and sullen in consequence 1 the colts driben dm en oy by alan wayne over the brim of lied red hill on to A the evel level top coachman ichman Co joes jaw u vas hang ng in awe and so had hung t mr ur alan had taken the reins 4 for the first time in their five fire years w oc ot equal life the colts had felt the a cat of a wh h p not in anger but as a reproof for breaking coachman joe ii had braced himself for the bolt his I 1 binds itch ng to snatch the reins but here had been no bolting only a sud and sea jen settling down to business f for 1 the first time in their lives the A i colts were being pushed steadily k vealy almost but never quite to the breaking po nt lit twice in the long drive joe gathered up his jaw and tamed turned his head preparing spoken tribute to a master hand but there vi as no speaking to mr alan a face at that moment joe was a part of the seat to mr alan and being a coach man of long standing in the family he knew it L t of got here quicker if be he d tet tot em bolt said he in subsequent J ade uTip tion to the stable hand and the f awil he tie snatched up lip a pall of water i and poured it stead ly on the ground 18 refit jest like that he ile knew what was la in the colts the in nute he laid bands hands aa an eab eni and when he pulls em up at there wasn gasn t a drop left fai in their buckets was there arthur dry nary a drop said arthur stable band and his face continued the coa coach c 11 min f most alost timea times mr air alan has no ere eyed to speak of but today and that a time alme miss nance struck him with the member cook his eyes spread I 1 ke a fire and eat cat up his face thas is Ls a I 1 lack day for the hill fill some thins going to happen you mark rue in troth truth mr alan wayne had bad been summoned in no equivocal terms and for all his haste it was with jervous step he approached the house maple house sheltered a mixed brood 3 1 wayne seconded by mrs X Y was the heid head of the family their thear daughter nance sterling erling qt and bier babies represented the direct line but the orphans alan wayne and clematis mcalpin were on an equal footing as children of the house alan was the only child of J Y a dead brother clematis was also of wayne blood but so intricately removed that ber her exact rel relation atlon to the rest of the tribe was never figured out twice to trie VM same conclusion old captain wayne retired from the army wae was an uncle in a different degree tc to every generation of wayne lie ile was ithe the only man on red hill who dared call cah for a whisky and soda when he wanted it 3 0 bamm M ca story of I 1 today to day a and n d N by of all days GEORGE AGNEW chamberlain copyright by the century company evv when alan reached the house mrs J Y was in her garden across the road sun suri eying winter a ruin and nance with her ch eh idren bad had borne the captain off to the farm to see that oft repeated wonder and always wel wet come forerunner of plenty the quite new calf clematis mcalpin shy and long limbed just at the awkward age when woman misses being e ther boy oi 01 girl had disappeared nobody knew she in be bird birds s nesting in the samp or crying over the idyll idylls of the king xing in the barn loft certainly she was not in the house J Y wayne had seen to that stern and rugged of face he sat in the library alone and waited for alan he heard a distant screen door open and slam steps echoed through the lonely house alan came and stood before him alan wis was a man without being tail he be looked tall his shoulders were not broad till you noticed the slimness of his h ps 11 s neck looked too thin till you saw the strong set of his small head in a word he had the perfect proportion that looks frail and Is strong As he stood before his uncle his eyes grew dull they were slightly bloodshot in the corners and with the r dullness the clear cut lines of his face seemed to take on a perceptible blur JI J 1 began to speak ile spoke for a long quarter of an hour and then summed up all he had said in a few words I 1 ve been no uncle to you alan I 1 ve been a father I 1 ve tried to win you but vou were not pot to be N ft on I 1 ve tried to hold bold you but it V it U 5 IT r gpo g p o 1 I 1 I 1 ve tried to win you takes more than a wayne to hold a ayne you have taken the bit with a vengeance you have left such a wreckage behind you that we can trace your life back to the cradle by your failures all the greater tor for your many successes you re the first wayne NN ayne that ever missed bis his college degree I 1 never asked what they ex polled you for and I 1 don t want to know it must have been bad bad for the old school is lenient and proud of men that stand as high as you stood in your classes and on the field money I 1 wont talk of money for you thought it wa was your own for the first time alan spoke what do you mean a r with the words bis his slight form straightened his eyes buzed blazed there was a sl qi quivering of the thin nostrils and ad his features came out clear and stron strong 0 J Y dropped his eyes 1 I may have been wrong alan he said slowly but I 1 ve been your banker without tell ng you your father didn dian t leave much it saw you through junior year I 1 alan placed his hands on the desk between them and leaned forward how flow much have I 1 spent since then in the last three years J Y kept his eyes down you know more or less alan 5 e wont talk tall about that I 1 was trying to hold you but today I 1 give it up I 1 ve got one more thing to tell you though yv vv and there are mighty few people that know it the hill a battles have never entered the field of goss p seven years before you were born my fa ther your grandfather turned me out it N w as from th a room he said I 1 had started the name of wayne on the road to shame and that I 1 could go with it he gave me five bundled dol lars I 1 took it and went I 1 sank low with the name but in the end I 1 brought it back and today it stands ii gh on both sides of the water I 1 in not a happy man as you know for all that you see though I 1 brought the name back in the end I 1 never saw your grandfather again and he never knew here are an a e hundred dollars its it a the last money you 11 ever have from me but whatever you do whatever happens remember this red hill does not belong to a lansing nor to a X ayne nor to an eiton elton it is the eter nal rill mother of us all broken or mend ed landings Lan sings and waynes have come back to the hill through generations city of refuge or harbor of peace it 8 all one to the hill remember that he laid the crisp notes on the desk alan halt half turned toward the door but stepped back again his eyes and face were dull ou one oue e moi mor i he p eked up the bills nd slowly counted them I 1 shall ledurn the money sir he said and walked out he ile vent to the stables and ordered the any and cart for the afternoon train As he came out he saw nance the children and the captain coming slowly up lona lane from the farm he dodged back into the barn through the orchard and across the lawn mrs J Y stood in the garden directing the relaying of flower beds alan made a circuit As he stepped into the road swift steps came toward him he ile wheeled and faced clem coming at full run he turned his back on her and started away the swift steps stopped so suddenly that he looked around clem wis was standing stock st it 11 one awkward lanky leg half crooked as though it were still running her skirts nere ere absurdly short her little fists brown and scratched pressed her sides her dark hair hung in a tan aled mat over a thin po anted face her eyes were large and shadowy two tears had bad started from them and were cravi ling down soiled cheeks she was quivering all over like a woman struck alan swung around and strode up to her he put one arm about her thin form and drew her to him don t cry clem he said don dont t cry I 1 didn dian t mean to hurt you for one moment she clung to him and bulled butted her face against his coat then she looked up and smiled through wet eyes alan I 1 in so glad vou ve come alan caught her hand and together they walked down the road to the old church the great door was locked alan loosened the fastening of a shut ter sprang in through the window and drew clem after him they climbed to the belfry from the belfry one saw the whole world with red hill as its center alan was disappio cited the hill was still halt half naked almost bleak maple house and elm house shone brazenly white budding trees they looked as if they had crawled closer to the road during the winter the firs with its black bor der of last year years s foliage looked fune real ilan turned from the scene but clem a little hand drew him back clematis lI mcalpin cAlpin had happened between generations alan nance gerry lans ng and their friends had been too old for her and nance s ch idren were too young there were eiton elton children if of about her age but for years they hid had been abroad consequently clem had grown to fifteen in a sort of loneliness not uncommon with single chil dren who cv a just remember the good times the half generation before them used to have by reason of their num bers hers this loneliness had given her in certain ways a precocious develop ment while it left her subdued and shy even when among her famil ars but she was shy without fear and her shy ness itself had a sweetness that made a bold appeal isn t it wonderful alan she said yesterday it was cold and it rained and the hill was black black like the firs today all the trees are fuzzy with green and its warm yesterday was so lonely and today you are here alan loot ed down at the child with glowing eves and do you know this summer i a a a gerry lansing and mrs gerry lan sing are coming I 1 ve never seen her since that day they were married do you think it its a all right for me to ca call 11 her mrs gerry like everybody does alan con consi derel I 1 the point gravely yes I 1 think that s the best thing you could call her perhaps ft AN hen I 1 in really grown up I 1 can call her alls AUX I 1 think alix is such a pretty na name tre don t you clem flashed a look at alan and he nodded then with an impulsive movement she drew close to him in the half wheedling way of woman about to ask a favor alan they let me ride old dubbs when he tan t plowing 0 libe old donkey ashes so tat fat now she can hardly carry the babies some day when you re not in a great hurry will you let me ride with you 1 alan ala n turned away briskly and start ed down the ladder some day per haps clem he muttered not th s summer come on when they had left the church he drew out bis his watch and started run along and play clem he left her and hurried to the barn joe was waiting have we t me for the long roid road joe asked alan as he climbed into the cart oh yes sir especially if you drive mr alan I 1 don t want to drive let him go and jump in the coachman gave the pony his head climbed in and took the reins the cart swung out and down the lane alan alan alan recognized clem clems s voce vo ce and turned she was racing across a cor k 0 af w clem he said you austn t ner of the pasture her short skirts flounced madly above her ungainly legs she tried to take the low stone wall in her stride her foot caught in a vine and she p ached headlong into the weeds and grass at the road side alan leaped from the cart and picked her up quivering sobbing and breathless alan she gasped you re not going away alan half shook her as he drew her thin body close to him clem he said you austn t do you hear you t do you think I 1 want to go 90 away clem stifled her sobs and looked up at him with a sudden gravity in her elfish face she threw her bare arms around his neck good by alan he stooped and kissed her FR to the surprise of his friends alan wayne gave ap debauch and found himself employment by the time the spring that saw his d from maple house had bad ripened into sum mer he was full of preparation for his depart departure are for or africa when a an sum mons from old captain wayne reached him with equal horror of putting up at hotels or relatives houses the captain upon his arrival in town had gone straight to his club and forthwith be come the sensation wn of the club a win dows old members felt young when they caught sight of him as though they had bad come suddenly on a vanished landmark restored passing gamins gazed on Us his short cropped hair star ing eyes flaring collar black tie and flowing broadcloth and re maikel gee look at de old epolt in de do winder alan heard the remark as he be entered the club ab and smiled how do you do sir huh huhl grunted the captain sit down he ile ordered a drink for his guest and another for himself ile glared at the waiter he glared at a callow youth who had come up and was looking with speculative eye at a neighboring chair the waiter retired almost precipitously the youth fol lowed in my time remarked the caption capt aln a club was for privacy now its it a a haven for bellboys and a playground for whippersnappers they ve made me a member sir air have eh growled the captain and glared at his nephew alan took toik inspection coolly a faint smile on hia his thin face the captain turned away his bulging eyes crossed and un crossed his legs and finally spoke I 1 w is just going to say when you inter erupted he began that engineering Is a dirty job not however I 1 he con tinned after a pause dirtier than most its a profession but not a ca reer oh I 1 don dont t know said bald alan they ve got a few in the army and they seem to be doing pretty well huh flub the army said the captain he ile subsided and made a new start star t what a your appointment TO BE CONTINUED have you ever built bridges i in i n south africa and dreamed of home I have ilave you ever du dug ditches in |