| Show the he house o m ase of the three ganders anders 0 1 1 SYNOPSIS Exha exhausted uste d ra raegen gge and ln a a a da boy of about abou I 1 I 1 la fu found d in the woods wood by a campin if par party aie h 1 as WB fled from his hi brutal father bat mor 31 r ryson ryon bat comes come after him b but hi hii diw view tr lands conceal him fad and I 1 in clean clothed clo clot the ba boy W who nho gives bt bl name as a sh shad ab sheridan rr I 1 sent bent on his hi way to canton with a letter to col colonel nel slake blake the colonel hla his w wife I 1 fe nd ind their r young youg d daughter aughley ruth are 1 ard impressed Im by the b boy a man manner rier th the colonel secures him tuition in the village 0 of amity darn dam lie becomes driendl friendly jr with a youth ot of his hl ee byar bony By and nd numpy bumpy brown tinker considered by the strait straitlaced laced deop people I 1 a of amity darn dam us as a drunkard because bebau 8 of him hi periodic perlo dlo lapses lapse from strict sobriety dat Alor ryBon comes to amit arnley yd da dam to take li hl ia son back to his own 0 lute life morrison Mor Alor ryson known lawbreaker k s r I 1 la in overawed over awed by colonel blake who la is the district attorney and hla his father passes 0 out u t of chads shads life with dony bony he pays ft visit 1 sit to bumpy drown CHAPTER ill III Contin continued tied 5 there was a rap at the door shad opened it A well dressed handsome young youn g lady about twenty years old tood stood looking at the boy with an expression pres slon of astonishment in her face she uttered no word of greeting iler her ini manner anner was haughty haug lity when she said 1 I want to see mr brown she turned away anway as aa she spoke bumpy changed color with a look of surprise and embarrassment he said all right ill bo be with you in a InI minute nute I 1 the girl descended the tha steps and disappeared bumpy put on ills his coat and hurried out of doors saying baying set down boys ill be with you eoon lie ile closed the door behind him and followed the young lady through a window the boys saw caw them wall walk together into the edge of the thicket where they stood talking who Is that shad asked darned if I 1 know was Duro dumpys pys answer but id like to set an look at her for a week she la Is pretty no mistake shad agreed soon the girl went away returning bumpy stopped in front of the shack the boys went out to him lie did not speak of his bis mystery ous caller ue ile finished his work ile he put t ome tools and clothing in hosl bis p pac ks basket well boys well go along with ye ho he said cheerfully dick an me are ahei coln to dolton bolton tonight so wo we can begin work in the 11 two small green sticks having four crotches were lashed on either side elda of the basket they sloped upward and backward A lashed rod lay iny in the I 1 lower crotches this was waa dicks saddle the rim of the basket helped I 1 the bird to balance himself when feces sary released fr from ills his cage dick om laughed joyously and shouted co come 0 on and flow to his bis perch behind the pack basket now on the back of his roaster master in a moment settled on his bis perch lie ho soberly declared money makes the mare go the boys boya laughed it was indeed an outfit as curious and as amusing as any that ever took to the rood road bumpy du ampy stopped suddenly and turned to ills his two companions and said by boys I 1 weve had fan an an well have some more I 1 like you if ary one 0 you ever needs a friend er a home come to me when lie he had returned that evening shad succeeded in writing a let ter to ruth blake in which ho he felt a sense of pride and satisfaction it told of his day with bumpy brown its ita spelling and grammar would later have made him wince but not in his best days could ho he have improved its humor CHAPTER IV foreground of the mystery blind spent a year and a halt half in the lutlo little village it was enlivened by many visits to the fun shop in browns cove the mysterious young lady had thrown a ot of romance upon it once bony had spoken playfully of their admiration and of their wish to see her again bumpy brown looked serious and quickly changed the tople topic ue be never spoke of her the boys had jolly times with the tinker and his bird ile entertained them with quaint jests and thrilling tales and good food ills good natured merry talk not like that of any other man had made them fond of him they were keen minded boya they suspected that his stories were not all true that ills his alleged friend muggins was waa a fiction 1 in u spite of all this they loved to bo be w with it h bumpy drown brown shad had now begun to ind find himself ile he was growing in strength stature and wisdom lie ile had learned how to study lie ile had acquired an almost sinful longing for good clothes still he liked not less good books and good company ills friend the village doctor had lent him the novels of reads and dickens and the poems of longfellow and tennyson ills best beat creditors were tho the doctor the grammar and the dictionary lie he had begun to enjoy his letter writing lie ile hadl had a sense of pride in the long letter that he be had written to mr air converse mr converse was so GO pleased with the letter that he sent a cheek check of fifty dollars to the boy and bade him do as he pleased with the money shad went to Ashil ashfield eld and bought tine fine ral raiment that day any he wrote a letter to ruth blake la in which he said at last I 1 can come to visit you without belna intimidated and oppressed by soiled colled gai garments ments I 1 hope that you will like my now clothes and mo wo we have gone into partnership and our business Is to make a good on you it if we fall I 1 shall by IRVING BACHELLER copyright by trying WIM a fries not blame the clothes but I 1 shall think that I 1 am in very bad luck it must bo be said that the undertaking was successful on three sundays that autumn he and the new clothes were engaged in this romantic enterprise the handsome lad ind and tho the girl went ca canoeing n being and rode about the countryside together the boy succeeded in getting himself deeply in love the lust last of these visits was on OL a sunday late in october the colonel was not at home shad ate a midda midday y dinner with ruth and her mother the girl left them tor for a time to go 9 0 0 out U t on an errand this was a purely strategic move the friendly gentlewoman and the boy talked together amity dam Is no place for you said bald mrs blake im going to try to help you out ot of that mire of rusticity you must come to canton and go to school the colonel and I 1 have been laying plans I 1 ia have ve n no 0 boy a and n d I 1 could be a kind of mother to you 1 I should like that I 1 would be very lery proud you need a mother or a father to whom you could bring your troubles you are ara so young well my greatest trouble Is the fact that I 1 am so young do you call that a trouble I 1 I 1 wish that I 1 were back at your age I 1 was 1 46 her manner was haughty when she sha said 1 I 1 want to see mr brown in love at seventeen it was the beginning of a great happiness trie the boy was quick to take advantage of this opening ue he was loaned tor for it ue ile blushed BB as he looked at her and said 1 I guess that I 1 know how bow you felt you loved to lie down at night and be alone with your happiness in the morning the birds sang of the love in your heart even the flowers in the field knew your so secret cret they looked at yo you u and nodded their heads asif as if they would give you encouragement that Is the way they treat me you 7 yes yea they are always reminding me of tho the colors in her hair and eyes and cheeks I 1 think that the sun and the tha moon and the stars shine only to show her face to me my child I 1 aro are you in love yes but I 1 am not a child whom do you love your daughter mrs blake took the boys hand band and laughed in lovet lovel and getting one hundred and fifty dollars a yearl year I 1 sho she exclaimed with good natured amusement 1 I suppose that you and your w wife ife could get along on broad bread and water im not always going to be poor your school days have scarcely begun 1 I learn fast I 1 shall get niong along 11 the tha time to fall in love Is after you have got along not before it cornea comes when it comes nobody can tell when he will fall in love 1 I take this so BO seriously get over it never I 1 you dont know how bad tt it Is I 1 would rather die than give it up I 1 want to bo be engaged to ruth it Is impossible you are both far too young but you were only seventeen when you yon fell in love true but those days things were 0 different and I 1 was not engaged for a year after that the colonel was then three years older than I 1 old enough to be sure of himself now shad I 1 must ask you to proul promise tse me on your word of honor as a gentleman that you will say nothing to ruth of this until I 1 give you permission to do it well see aee how you got along and we wa shall do everything that becan we can do to help you yon if you keep your love for her and it if she ehe should be fond of you we will vill have another talk about it by and by 1 I will make the promise and keep beep it but it if I 1 see sea that some other fellow Is trying to got get her it would be hard for me to kee keep p myself m y 5 e if fro from in ju jumping M III in dont worry you have the inside track we are all fond of you lets see what happens shad returned to his bis task in amity dam a bit depressed soon after that an unexpected trouble came upon him one of the gold rings bad been missing from its showcase for a week since the loss had been discovered shad had observed a difference slight but unmistakable in the manner of mr and mrs smithers indeed he thought that other people had begun to treat rent him coolly the next sunday afternoon shad and bony went down to browns Brown cove shad told bumpy of his trouble folks are just na trally cussed mean said bumpy made that way by I 1 they cant help it no moren a toad can help havin warts I 1 heard day la in a house where I 1 was tin tinkering kerin that you an bony was wild I 1 says them boys are all right till learnt their lesson be easy on em cm come out as straight as a loons leg 11 boys are quick to detect tho the note of insincerity they knew that bumpy spoke from his heart in spite of hla his own bitterness suddenly he came to shad ho hoy I 1 forgot yer trouble he be said tell me about that ring when did you see it last when I 1 was showing it and some other trinkets to a girl the other day what girl 1 I dont know her name she was about eighteen years old light col ored hair an blue eyes she had pretty teeth an a turned up nose there was it a sear scar on her left cheek wore a blue dress im afraid ashes rather light fin said bumpy 1 I know her an what folks say in her neighborhood a few miles south 0 here im a coln up there in a day or two ill see what I 1 can do dont worry As they were leaving bumpy said come down next nest sunday I 1 may have sonic some news the next sunday to avoid criticism they went to meeting and promptly set out for browns brown 8 cove bumpy was standing by the door ile he waved his hat bat as they came up and called out by boys im happy I 1 see that ue ile held up the gold ring between his thumb and forefinger shad trembled with excite excitement mint ilow how did you get it he asked oh I 1 went an see that gal an I 1 jus scared it out ol 01 0 her told her shed have to give it back or go to jail she broke down and handed it over it was kind hind 0 pitiful I 1 told her nobody would even know her name an they wont not from me im a goin to take it to smithers and tell him how I 1 come by it ILI the sat down to their dinner of roasted partridges and baked pota and pumpkin pie theres just one fly in my ointment said bumpy as he began to carve the birds that 11 bony asked ive been drunk agin agan met an old comrade we got to bout the second day at gettysburg theres theren suthon burus bout bont gettysburg its slippery ground ile he had a bottle we walked to browns cove in tho the cool ol 01 0 the night an got drunk on the way we sot down here an fit the abo confida till daylight if I 1 could tergit gettysburg an n some other things id be respectable they ate a moment in silence then bumpy added one drink will put the devil in me the old sores begin to bleed but im through by I 1 never no more whisky fer er me im through the woman his has looked solemn since then lie ile carved the birds and loaded their plates it was no time for idle words talk was not resumed until each had dulled hla his appetite on the bones then dumpy bumpy began his tales of thrilling and improbable adventure when the boys thanked him and bade him goodby good by the sun was low they left with a most friendly feeling tor for tho the old man TO DM BB CONTINUED CONTINUE Dl |
