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Show evidence fop a prompt conviction nnd the charge will be murder In the first decree. I think thnt he will loosen up Boon, rty the wuy, the rew:ird lias come. Suve for a few expenses I am going to give It to you." Shad's face began to redden. "To me?" lie aslted. "To you. It will give you a liberal education nnd a Blart In the world when that Is done." Shad had grown very serious. Tils eyes were n trifle moist when he said: "I can't see what I've done to get all that money." "For a boy you've done pretty well. Three times your life has been In danger. dan-ger. You're a good boy and I want to help you along." "I won't take It unless I can do what I want to with It. I've thought it all over." "What do you wish to do with It?" "Oive It to Bumpy Brown." "My boy, the plan is a credit to you," the lawyer answered. "I expected that some like Idea would come to your mind, knowing you as I do. Let me make a suggestion. At present Bumpy would not need so much. If it should be necessary later we could help him. Let's put half of the sum out at Interest Inter-est and give him the income from it. Use the remainder for your education. If you wished to help Bony to get a year or two of schooling you could do it." Shad was quick to say: "I'd like to do that." "I suggest that you put five hundred dollars In the St. Lawrence County bank to Bony's credit to be used for clothes and board and also tuition in the Canton union school. Later, If advisable, ad-visable, you could do more for him." Shad rose from his chair. "It's grand," he said as he went and looked out of the window at the old man who was splitting wood. "Converse has written me a letter. He told me how when he woke you up one day on the shore of the Oswegat-chie Oswegat-chie you rubbed your eyes and asked: 'Is God here?' You were born into a new world that day. I'm not much of a preacher but I'd say that God Is main until It was served, but novor long. It was a beverage to be remembered. remem-bered. Shad nnd Colonel Blake sat down nt the table. l'romlly Bumpy stood at lis head between them and carved the turkey. What a fragrance and flavor were In (he tender flesh of tho bird and tho mashed polatoesl The coffee was a Joy. They spent a delightful hour at the table. The turkey eaten, Bumpy brought on a pumpkin pie. "It's a surprise," he said. "I made It yesterday while Shad was away. A wedge o' that will finish the job." "That will require another cup of coffee," said the colonel. lie ate his pie and added: "You could do a good business In our town as a caterer. I'll give you twenty dollars to come aud cook our Christmas dinner for us." "My clothes ain't Dt fer goln' out In comp'ny." "I've got that all fixed,' the colonel went on. "You and Bony are to go down to Ashlleld and get a complete outfit at my expense. You shall have a credit of fifty dollars at the store. See that you spend all of it Don't scrimp." "It's liberal," said Bumpy. With a smiling face he began to pick up the dishes. The colonel lighted his cignr. When the dishes were washed and put away the old man excused himself as usual and went out to cut wood. The lawyer began his story. "Shad, we have been sitting at table with the most remarkahle character I have known. I have been over to Burlington to see old Colonel Grimes of whom one day Bumpy spoke, perhaps per-haps inadvertently. The colonel reports re-ports that William Brown was the best and bravest soldier in his regiment; regi-ment; that he had told Lincoln of Brown's heroic fighting at Gettysburg and that the President had said that he would be glad to see the young soldier sol-dier at the White House. Grimes told me that Bumpy refused to go for fear that he would miss a battle. "The first thing of Importance that I have to communicate to you is this: The House of the Three j I Ganders j By ! IRVING j BACIIELLER j Copyright by Irving Bacholler (WND Sorvlce) CHAPTER XI Continued 20 T couldn't have done half so much Sf it hadn't been for the doctor," Shad answered. "It's a good thing for a boy to know how to pick out his friends," Bumpy declared. Saturday morning Shad went up to . the Dam for the mail and needed provisions. pro-visions. He received a letter from Colonel Blake which said : "My dear boy: I have some good news. You look for me Sunday about one o'clock at Brown's Cove for another an-other dinner with you and Bumpy. Tell him that I have not forgotten the Elysium of peace and joy I found under un-der his roof. Go and buy a good fat turkey and whatever else you may seed and charge the cost to me. Don't ori7 about the 'Commentaries.' You . are young yet for that kind of food." Fowls were every day coming down from the hills to market. Shad found one to his liking at Smithers' store. That done, he went to the doctor's house. The learned man in his great coonskln coat stood by his cutter at the door. He was about to begin his rounds in the country. He called the boy aside and said : "The young woman is getting better. bet-ter. She has promised to commit to me important revelations. I may get them on my next visit. Say nothing of this to any one. I don't want her to he harried by lawyers. She Is not yet out of danger. A moment of undue un-due excitement might be fatal to her and to the hope I have of serving Justice. Jus-tice. We must be patient." With that the doctor shook the boy's hand, got into his waiting cutter and drove away. , Shad returned to the store and, with a well-filled basket in one hand and a kerosene can In the other, set out for Brown's cove. He had intended to Invite In-vite Bony down to dinner but with Cononel Blake coming for a talk his , young friend would be in the way. However, the prospect of seeing his beloved chief allayed his disappointment. disappoint-ment. Bumpy was elated by the colonel's compliment and the prospect of having the distinguished lawyer at his table again. "Talk about 'lysiums I That's a long Jump ahead o' me, but I'm a-goin' to cook him a turkey that'll make the hair grow on his bald head" Bumpy had a peculiar way of storing stor-ing his meat In winter. There was a pulley in the roof-beam under the overhang over-hang outside the front door. The turkey, tur-key, well wrapped In cheese cloth and fast to the end of a cord, was hauled up to the peak, where it hung through the night beyond the reach of coons or foxes. After supper that night they sat under un-der the evening lamp and went on with the adventures of Pip In the humble hum-ble home of Joe Gargery until bedtime. bed-time. Next morning Bumpy prepared the turkey for the oven, stuffing it with sage dressing and basting Its breast and sides with strips of well-cured ., y bacon. When the oven was Judged to be hot enough the panned turkey was shoved into it and the doors closed. At that moment he began to look solemn sol-emn and refused to talk or to allow any Interference in the matter of keeping keep-ing the fire right. "Now don't talk to me none," he would say. "This Job has got to be done right. You run down to Warner's War-ner's an' git a pint o' cream. Hurry up." Shad returned with the pitcher of cream. "Now set the table an' keep an eye out for Colonel Blake," Bumpy com-. com-. manded. "I don't want to be took by surprise. If he don't come on time we'll hang him without a trial." The table set, Shad stood by the window watching the trail. The tur-K tur-K key was hauled out of the oven. Bumpy peeled his potatoes. He put them in the spider and mashed and stirred them, adding cream and butter and salt and pepper with a cunning here. A man who has been pursuing criminals as long as I have Is sure to get that opinion." "I guess you're right," the boy answered. an-swered. " 'He lifteth up the poor from the dust, " the colonel quoted as he came and stood by the boy. "It Is a great sentence from the greatest of all the law books." Bumpy had finished his work and was getting ready to come In. "Poor old man I" the boy exclaimed. 'Tve got Just one more thing to say about him," the colonel remarked, as he stood looking out of the window. "Grimes told me that Sergeant Brown would never apply for a pension al-thought al-thought clearly entitled to It. He's growing Into quite a considerable figure fig-ure of a man. I must be off." The day was near its end. He put on his arctics and his overcoat and added : "We'll have a great Christmas day." At that moment there was a rap at the front door. The doctor's stableman stable-man entered. He said to Shad: "If you please, Blr, Doctor Gorse wishes to talk with you this evening. I can take you up with me and bring you back. The horse is hitched out on the road." "I'll Join you there in a few minutes." min-utes." The doctor's man left tliem. The boy turned to Colonel Blaka and said: "Something has happened. Maybe we'll get light on our mystery." Colonel Blake made his acknowledgments acknowledg-ments to Bumpy, who had Just come In, and Shad announced that he was going up to the Dam for an hour or two. In a moment the lawyer and the boy set out on the trail. The boy parted with his friend on the road where the latter's team was waiting. Shad got In with the doctor's doc-tor's driver. He had begun to feel grown up. Was he not now a person of some Importance? The colonel had seemed to have that opinion. Shad had written an essay on the common com-mon law. It was full of resounding resound-ing words. Still It was a credltabU effort brightened with characteristic humor. "If he dares to read It hell find out that I'm no child," the boy said to himself. "Maybe I'll get him pawing over the dictionary." At the Dam he found a letter from Ruth Blake. It was a pretty letter, In which she said: "Sometimes I think that you do not care whether I write to you or not Sometimes I think that you hate girls. There are many pretty girls here who would like to know you. I think that you should learn how to dance and you ought to go to the parties." The letter filled him with a shining happiness. "I guess that I've been pretty mean to her," he said to himself. (TO BB CONTINUED.) Bumpy Is not the liar that he Is supposed sup-posed to be In these parts. He has probably been telling the truth. It is a fact that a man who has the habit of drinking too much ruins his credit among the people who know him. He was getting no pension. Therefore many assumed that his tales of heroic adventure were made out of whole cloth. The world we live In is rather harsh and uncharitable." "I guess that Bony and I have been a little like that ourselves," Shad answered an-swered with a twinge of remorse. "It was natural that you should fall In with the popular opinion. The thing I sought mpst In my trip to Burlington was the private history of this singular man. Grimes told me where he was born and where he married mar-ried the woman whose portrait is on the wall yonder. She came of a good family. I went to the little town In the mountains. I got the Information I wanted. They lived there for years after they were married. Brown had a sawmill. One child was born to them after their marriage a girl with dark eyes and hair. She would be about twenty-one years old now. The mother died when the child was eleven. It seemed to break the man's heart. He took to drinking and became a nuisance to his family. He left the girl with relatives and came west to Ashfleld with this remarkable bird which had been his wife's pet. He went to work in a big sawmill. The girl was a bit headstrong. Three years ago she ran away. Word came to them In a week or so that she was with her father. Now there you are. It is altogether likely that the unfortunate unfor-tunate girl who worked In the store at South Bolton Is his daughter." "Why doesn't Bumpy claim her V Shad asked. "She Is handsome and rather proud, I take it," the colonel went on. "He was a drunkard and more or less despised. de-spised. She was ashamed of him. My theory Is that they had a quarrel and agreed to live apart. I think that she was engaged to some one of means and apparent respectability, In whose Identity Iden-tity we, as the state's officers, are deeply Interested. Was It Itoyce, and if so why has he not married her? We shall know soon. The Inevltaole consequences con-sequences are closing In on the criminal. crim-inal. I hope to see the young woman tomorrow." "Don't try to do It not yet," Shad urged. "I have good reason for asking you to wait." The colonel sat smoking In n moment mo-ment cf silence. "I think that I understand you," he said. "I know of no reason why we should be In a hurry." "Did you get any help from AlgyreJ" Shad asked. "None as yet. The detectives have taken hlra to Chicago. With my help they captured John O'Brien, Jr., his confederate, at Brockvllle. They have "Here he comes I" the boy called. "Throw open them doors quick," Bumpy commanded. "There's a leetle too much dinner In the air o' this room." He shoved his turkey Into the cooled oven and closed Its doors to protect It from the draft. "Hello 1" the colonel shouted aa he came in. "I .hope that the dinner Is as ready as I am." "We was seared for fear It would be too ready," Bumpy answered. "A good dinner loses its temper if It has to wait It gits kind o' disagreeable." ' The old man stirred the fire a little and put his coffee on the stove. "Watch it now an don't let It bile," he said to Shad. "I'm goln' to git some cider fer the colonel that has a razor edge on It." He was especially careful In the making of coffee with a fixed rule as to quantities and temperature. The second it began to bubble the pot was aet In pan of hot water, there to r- |