Show L fRECKLES my y nw n C w H p r. r CO RICHT CHT 1904 BY DOUBLEDAY PAGE pACE E Jv CO Vl p 0 Ct D 8 i tF SYNOPSIS Freckles a n homeless 1 boy Is hired by t Boss Doss McLean to guard the expensive tim expensive tim ber In the Limberlost from timber Umber thieves Freckles does does his work faithfully makes 11 friends with the birds and yearns earns to know more mort about nature He lie lives live with Mr an and Mrs Duncan lie He resolves la 10 oget o- o get books and educate te himself lt He becomes Interested In n a huge pair of vultures and calls his bird friends his chicken Some Some- of the trees he Is guarding are worth 1000 each Freckles' Freckles books arrive lie He receives a call from attempts to bribe Freckles to his trust and Freckles whips him McLean overhears them and witnesses the fight rIght Freckles Freckles' honesty saves a precious tree He Ill finds the nest neat of or the vultures and Is III visited by a beautiful young youn girl She calls Freckles McLeans McLean's son Freckles calls her her- herthe the angel and helps the Bird Woman In taking photographs McLean promises to adopt Freckles Freckles and the angel become very friendly Assisted by the Bird Woman the they drive and Black Jack timber timber tim tim- be ber thieves from the Limberlost McLean fears more trouble but Freckles Insists upon being the sole guard of the Umber Freckles calls upon the tho angels angel's father The angel receives him as her equal and her father Is kind Mrs Duncan ha has exciting ex- ex clUng citing adventures In the Limberlost i The Bird Woman and the angel again r- r visit Freckles and Freckles falls in love with the angel The Hn angel el kisses him I a t CONTINUED f The angels angel's eyes widened curiously and her lips fell feU apart A heavier color col of or or swept su-ept into her cheeks She had intended i tended to arouse e him She She- She had had succeeded suc- suc seeded with u It vengeance She was too young to know that in the effort to tl rouse a at man women frequently kIne kindle kin kin- die dle e fires that they the can neither quench i tier r control Freckles was looking out grer over oer her head now and singing that ng ing ing as it had never been sung before f r b her r alone and instead of her help help- u n hIm as she slIe had intended he was c carrying ruin ying her with him on the ilie waves o hIs voice oke away away Into a world Ve not knew knew- of not When he struck Into they they- chorus wide eyed and panting she shy was ivas swaying s toward him and 1 playing for dear clear life to keep up iI 1 f. f r LOh Oh do you jou ou love Oh say you love YOU love th the tha shamrock A t At t the last note Freckles' Freckles voice died bf i. i and undo his eyes fastened on the tile 1 m angels He had given giyen his best and t ll He lie fell on his knees and fold- fold d dt v his arms across his breast The Tile ngel ngel el as tf If f magnetized walked straight n the aisle nisle to him and running her fingers lingers into the tile crisp m masses of his red redHair Hair tilted his hed back and laid her lips on his Ills forehead hen en she stepped back and nd faced him mm Good boy she said in a voice tha wavered from the tile throbbing of h b haken heart Dear boy boyl I Ib Ithe b the fyon jou could do it I knew it was In out Freckles when you go out Into he world If you can face a great and nce and sing like that just once ya 10 Il be immortal and anything yon Ion want want will be yours I Freckles Anything thing gasped Inching Ailing said the angel r FW Freckles kles found his feet muttered fO touring ng and md catching up his old buck t into the- the swamp blindly blind blind- ly lyon lIon of getting owa water tel telhe The he lage ange asked 1 slowly across the st study y and a down i on the rustic bench and through lids intently studied the t. t er shoe X m CHAPTER XIII EK BUTTERFLIES on the trail the Bird lr Woman heeled on ou McLean with a O dumfounded look t o Do you thing the angel knew sh dJ did that thaU she asked softly No 10 said McLean I 1 do not But it Heaven help the P poor poorboy x W boY knew Tile The B d Woman s stared red across t the h e gently swale I dont don't see how I am going to blame her she saId Wald a last laft Its so exactly what I hare done myself Say SaT th rest demanded McLean hoarse Do Mm him Justice r lI He i a aborn orn gentleman conceded the B B I Woman lIe He took no ad ad- He never even eyen offered to that kiss meant touch hr her i- i It Ft was the lovIng loving lov lov- by- by to recognized reCO of ing lag imps of of a child under stress and man man- A fine strong mo on He was could have c been J n i n ever i f Thank you t n u w Ws his hat he be said s 5 and vart d the bushes for enter Freckles Freckles' room worn her t to 1 It t S visit and before she was V cameras and her left she Ir- Ir eat ent for tor ot of side of it and of each tu a with entranced th tithe he She was and the depot beauty ot of the place it if iter as Freckles her h er eyes eres Ise I o b could ld b be bea c not that it cou she could tot believe his and ind work a conceptI i The td That w. w a happy dIY day W oman fu rought a lunch and they dinner on 1 spread It m b Freckles Freckles' resting and the Study tudy R r d silt sat about angel But the enjoying elv silently put pat her banjo bl j Int its case case and n no one o gathered tili bl Mentioned l the concert v x r It r. r f f if TIle Bird Woman left McLean and the angel to clear away array the lunch and with Freckles examined the walls of his room and told him all she knew about his shrubs and flowers She analyzed analyzed an- an I a cardinal flower and showed him what he lie had bad all summer wanted to know why know why the bees buzzed Ineffectually ineffectually about it while the humming hummingbirds hummingbirds birds found In it an anever ever ready feast Some of ot his specimens were so r rare tre that she was unfamiliar with them and with the flower book between them they knelt studying the different different- varieties s. s She wandered the length of of the cathedral aisle with him and It was at her suggestion that he lighted his altar with a row of flaming foxfire As Freckles Freckle came camo up to the cabin I from his long day at the swamp he he lie saw Mrs Irs Chicken sweeping away to the south and wondered where she was going He ne stepped into the bright cozy little kitchen and md as he reached down the wash basin he asked Mrs Duncan a question Mother Duncan do kisses wash off Lord Lard na Freckles she cried At least the anes ye yo get from people ye love dinna They dinna stay on the outside They strike in until they find the center of your h heart art and make their stopping place there and ing can take them from ye ye-I ye I doubt if it even death Na lad ye can be reet sure ld Kisses ses dinna wash off Freckles set the basin down and muttered muttered muttered mut mut- I needn't be afraid to be washing washing washing wash wash- ing then for that one struck in I 1 wish said Freckles at breakfast one morning that I had bad some way tobe to tobe tobe be sending a n message to the Bird Woman Wo Woo man rye Pre something down at the swamp that Im I'm believing never neTer happened happened happened hap hap- before and surely shell she'll be wanting wanting want want- ing lag it it What now Freckles asked Mrs l Duncan Why the oddest thing you ever heard beard of said Freckles The whole insect tribe gone on a spree Im I'm supposing supposing supposing sup sup- posing Its It's my fault but It all happened happened happened hap hap- by accident accident like You see on the swale side of the line Une right against me trail theres there's one of these scrub wild crab trees trees' Where the grass grows thick about it is the finest place you ou ever conceived of for snakes Having women about has set me trying to clean out those fellows A Jl Abit abit bit and yesterday I noticed that tree in passing It struck me that it would be a good idea to be taking it out First I thought Id I'd take me me hatchet and cut it down for it aint thicker than me upper arm Then I J remembered how it was blooming in inthe inthe inthe the spring and filling all aU the air with sweetness The coloring of ot the blossoms blossoms blossoms blos blos- is beautiful and I hated to be bo killing it I Just cut the grass shortall short shortall shortall all about it Then I started at the ground trimmed up the trunk near the height of me sh shoulder ulder and left ef the top spreading That made it look so truly ornamental that idle like I chips off the rough places neat and this morning on me soul its it's a sight You see cutting off the limbs and trimming up the trunks sets the the sap running In this hot sun it ferments in a few hours There isn't much room for more things to crowd on that tree than there are and to get drunker isn't possible Weel Wed I be on exclaimed Mrs Duncan What kind of things do ye mean Freckles Why Just an army of black ants Some of them are sucking away like old topers Some of them are setting up on their tails tans and hind legs fid tId ding 11 away way with their fore feet and anel wiping their eyes Some are rolling around on the ground contented There are quantities of big bluebottle tIles flies over the bark and hanging banging on the grasses about too drunk to to steer a course couise flying so they just b buzz away like flying and all aU the time sitting still The snake feeders are too full to feed teed anything even more sap to them them- selves seles Theres There's a lot of hard bard backed bugs bugs beetles beetles I guess guess colored colored like the brown blue and black of a peacocks peacock's tail taU They hang on until the le legs of them are so wake they cant can't stick a minute longer and then they break breakaway breakaway away and fall faU to the ground They Just lay there on their backs clawIng clawing claw- claw Ing tag air When it wears of off a bit up th they y get and go crawling back t for r more and they so full they bump into each other and roll over OTero Sometimes they cant can't climb the tree until they wait to sober up a little Theres There's a lot lotof lotof of ot big black and gold bumblebees done for entire stumbling over the bark barkand barkand barkand and rolling roIlIng on the ground They Just lay there on their backs rocking from side to side singing to themselves like fat tat happy babies The wild bees keep up a steady buzzing with the beating of their wings The butterflies are the worst old topers of them all They're Just a circus cir dr cus eus You never saw the beat of the beauties They come every color you could be e naming and every shape you could be thinking up They drink and drink until if Im I'm driving them away they stagger as they fly and turn somersaults somersaults som som- in the air If It I 1 lave them alone they cling cUng to the grasses shivering shivering shivering shiver shiver- shiver shiver- ing like happy-like and Im I'm blest Mother Duncan Dunca if the best est of ot them then could be unlocking the front door with a lead pencil even even evenI I never neer heard of ot anything sae surprising surprising sur our said Mrs Duncan Its a rare sight to watch them and no one ever made a picture of a athing athing athing thing like that before Im I'm for thinking thinking think think- ing said Freckles earnestly Na said Mrs Duncan Ye can be pretty sure there The Bird Woman Must have wo word d In some way it if ye ye walk the line and I walk to town and tell her Fr Freckles took his bis lunch and went down to the swamp He ne could find no trace of anything yet he be felt a aten atense atense tense ten so nervousness as If trouble might be brooding lIe He came around to his room r a and cautiously scanned ed Jb toe J i 10 trance before he lie stepped in Then Jhen he pushed the bushes apart with his right arm firm and rind entered his left hand on the butt othis of his favorite revolver Instantly he lie knew that some one had been bren there thre Ho no could find tInd no trace of a n clew to confirm his belief yet so Intimate was he with the spirit of orthe the Pla place e that he knew Ho lIo was most sure about the case Nothing was disturbed yet it seemed to Freckles that he could see sec hero prying fingers had tried the lock He lIe stepped back of the case cas carefully examining the ground all nIl about it and close by th the tree tret to which it was WM nailed he fou found d a sleep deep fresh footprint In the spongy soil n coil a long narrow print that was never undo made by the foot toot of Wess- Wess ner The feeling roso rose that he was being bein watched 1 rowing Crowing restive at nt ta last t under tinder the strain he lie plunged ed boldly Into the swamp and searched minutely all nb about ut his room but he could not discover discover dis dis- cover the least thin thing to give him further fur fur- ther cause for alarm rod he traveled he lie used u the caution that sprang from knowledge of danger and the tho direction from which it would probably come Several times ho he thought of ot sending RendIng for McLean but for hi his life Ufe he could not make up hl hla hia mind to do It with nothing more tangible than one footprint to justify him He lIe waited until he was sure Duncan would be at home homer if Ir if he were coming for the nl night bt before he went up to I 8 HB nE FO FOUND UD A l DEEP FRESH FOOTPRINT supper Tl The e first thing he saw as he crossed the swale was the big bays in inthe inthe inthe the yard nud There had been no one passing that day and Duncan readily agreed to watch until Freckles rode to town He lIe told Duncan Duncan of the footprint and urged him to watch closely Duncan said he might rest easy and filling his pipe and taking a good revolver went down to the Limberlost Freckles made himself clean and neat and raced for town but it was night and the stars were shining before be be- be before f fore re he reached the home o of the Bird Woman As he neared the steps he saw that the place was swarming with young people and the angel with an excuse to a group that surrounded her came scurrying up to him Oh Freckles she cried So you could ge gee off We were so afraid you could not Im I'm as glad as I can cm be I dont don't understand said Freckles Were you expecting me Why hy of course exclaimed the angel Hn ent you come to my party Didn't you get my invitation I sent you one By mail mall asked Freckles Yes said the angel I had to help with the preparations and I couldn't find time to drive out But I wrote you a letter and told you that the Bird Woman was giving a n party for me and we wanted you rou to come sure I told them at the office to put it with Mr Duncans Duncan's mall mail Th Then n that's likely where it is at present said Fre Freckles Duncan only comes to town once a week and at times not that Hes He's home tonight for the first in a a week Hes He's watching watching watching watch watch- ing an hour for me until I 1 was coming com com- coming ing to the Bird Woman with a bit of work I thought shed she'd be caring to to hear bear about Is she where I can see her The angels angel's face clouded What a n disappointment she cried I did so BO want all my friends to know you Cant Can't you stay anyway Freckles glanced from his wading boots to the patent leathers of ot some of the angels angel's friends near by and smiled whimsically but there was no danger of ot his ever misjudging her again You know I 1 cannot angel he saidI said I am afraid I do she said ruefully Its too bad But there Is a thing I I. I want for you more than to come to my party and that is to hang on and win with your work I think of you every every every ev ev- ev- ev ery day and andI I Just pray that those thieves are not getting ahead of you Oh Ob Freckles do watch closely I She was so lovely a picture as she stood before him ardent in his cause that Freckles could not take his eyes from her bel to notice what her friends were thinking If It she did |