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Show 31 ITTtltrillllllllllllllllTlltTTITtttTTTfMlllllllllMtlllllllllllMlTlltlllltlllllllllllllllMMIlIIIITIIIIITITITTIIIIIlIllllllIIIlIIIIIIIlllllIIIIIITTTIIII 12 1 The Shadow of the Sheltering Pines 1 I A New Romance of the Storm Country 1 By GRACE MILLER WHITE f Z Copyright by the H. IC. Fly Company r; 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 M 1 1 1 M I 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 M 1 1 M 1 1 1 1 1 1 k I i 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 M 1 1 i 1 1 1 1 II I i 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 i 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ( 1 1 1 u i : 1 1 1 1 : i :. 1 1 1 1 1 w i u i 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 : 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 TONY ANOTHER TESS. "Lean against me. dear," murmured Philip. "And thi.i lime oh, Toi'i. don't h'are me today without riling me you love me a lot.'' Tony 'glimpsed him. villi one little upward glance. Her eyes uere slnr-brighi. "I lore yiu mure'n lie idiole world," she trcmhlcd. "More' n I kilow how lu tell." This confession of love comes right in the middle of this fascinating' fas-cinating' story; there's a lot of exciting action ahead of it and still more after it before Tonni-bel Tonni-bel Pendlehaven gets everything every-thing the world can give to one little girl. This is another of the thrilling thrill-ing stories by Grace Miller White of the "storm country" of New York state. It was "Tess of the Storm Country" that made Mary Pickford Fairbanks famous and Tony is another Tess. Over 1,000,000 copies of the author's romances have been sold in book form and motion pictures have made her name a household word. CHAPTER I. "Tony" For Short. Another winter had lifted Its Icy fingers from the Storm Country and Lake Cayuga, and an early spring had brought from the South the red-breasted robins and thousands of other birds to build their homes in the Forest city, as Ithaca, N. Y., is well called, for to the south, the east, the west, and even to the north where the lake cut sharply around a corner, broad forests stretched their lengths and' heights of leaf and bough on miniature minia-ture mountains. One evening on the western side of the railroad tracks, a girl stood before a small building over which, like ropes of green, draped the branches of a weeping willow tree. This building was different from any of the other, habitations near it in that It was well painted, and the door stood open all day. 'Twas a strange little girl that gazed up with searching eagerness at the two lighted signs that had arrested arrest-ed her attention. In her arms she held a diminutive guinea pig. and the way she hugged it close demonstrated her love for it. "THE SALVATION ARMY," she spelled out and thoughtfully considered consid-ered it. "Everybody is welcome here," she read slowly. That meant that anyone could enter If he wanted to, she decided, de-cided, and as Tonnibel Devon did want to go in, she softly tiptoed up the steps and peeped into the room. As there was nobody in sight, she sidled in and looked about. "Welcome" was curved in lottery of red above a table, and the silent young stranger sighed. She couldn't understand under-stand how a girl could be really welcome wel-come anywhere. Of course her mother moth-er liked her and missed her when she was away, but Tony knew of no other place where she was really wanted but the canal boat, called Mary and Dirty Mary for short, which had been her home ever since she could remember. re-member. "Glory be to God In the highest," swung in letters of gold across the right wall, and to the left, "Stand Still and See the Salvation of the Lord," kept her attention a little longer. She didn't know what they meant, hut the varied colors shilling brilliant in the bright light calmed her turbulent spirit and made her happy. She hugged the pig closer, bent her head and kissed the top of its ear. "T guess we're in a church, Gussie." she said aloud, "ami you mustn't grunt or squeal like you do on the Dirty Mary. It's awful nice and quiet, ain't it, honey?" "Were you speaking to me?" said a voice from near the door. Tonnibel Devon struggled to her feet, turned around and saw a young man looking at her. A flame of red rushed over the tanned skin, but because, be-cause, he was smiling and kindly, she ! smiled back, a dimple coming to life i at each corner of her mouth. "Nope." she flung nut in confusion. "I was talkin' to Gussie -Piglet here. Mebbe her and me hadn't ought to be here. You can kick us out if you want to." Philip MacCauley, the captain of the Salvation army in Ithaca, bowed, and then he laughed. "Every one is welcome here." he ' quoted, coming forward. "Where'd you come from? I've never seen you i before." j "I'm staying up Hoghole way," re-; re-; piled Tony. "I ain't been around Tthoca long. This Is an awful nice rcom, aln'i It. huh?" ! "Yes, very. We like It." replied the 1 ynung man. "SI', down; don't be in a ; hurry. I want to talk to you." comfortably. She was embarrassed in the presence of this handsome young stranger, abashed in the glamor of his uniform, and all the beauty of him. With boyish admiration he was contemplating con-templating the sparkle of her gray eyes, shaded by lung lashes as ebony black as her hair which hung in ringlets ring-lets to her waist. He decided that slje was very pretty, anil that he liked to have her in the Salvation army quarters. "Can't you stay for meeting this evening?" he asked presently. "We have singing here." Tony's eyes deepened almost to lustrous lus-trous black. "Oh, I'd love that!" Then she r.hook her head. "Xopo," she went on, "I got to go home to mummy. She's Jill alone! Mebbe when my daddy gets hack, I'll , come some time and sit ciean through the night." For an instant the smile stayed about the boy's lips, then gravity settled set-tled once more over his earnest young face. . "What's done in this place?" she questioned after a while. "Oh, we sing and read and pray," replied the hoy. "We do everything we can to help people. There's such a lot of misery in the world." "That's as true's you're born," came back promptly from the parted red lips. "I. know that because my mother is sick every day, and she cries too. That's misery, ain't it?" Captain MacCauley was used to tales of woe. but he knew a panacea for them. "Yes, it is so," he said. "Perhaps you could get her to come here some evening! Do you think you could?" "Daddy wouldn't let her,"9was the reply, and she lifted unfathomable saddened gray eyes to his. "You see when a man owns a woman, and she don't do The things he tells her to, he bents her, uh?" , There was mute pleading in her expression ex-pression as she drew back on the bench a little farther away from him. rlfH Side by Side They Sat Together on the Bunk. Ah ! He might have known that she had been swept along by the relentless relent-less tide of brutality. He sighed a little. He had seen enough of ignorant men with their supreme egotism, to know she told the truth. "Your father is is cruel to your mother, then?" he faltered. She remained in deep thought for the space of a few seconds. "A swat or two, mebbe more, ain't a killin' tiling to women folks," was the response she made confusedly at length. So unusual had been her answer that Philip MacCauley gazed at her in. amazement. "Have you ever heard of of God?" he asked finally, ids own confusion apparent ap-parent in the stumble of his tongue. Tonnibel laughed. "I hear God d n more'n a hundred times a day," she replied. "Is that what you mean?" "Not quite," answered Philip, startled. star-tled. "No ! Not that." "Then what?" demanded Tony. "What kind of a God do you mean?" "One that is good," explained Philip. Phil-ip. "Then: isn't any God but the one who helps " "My mummy?" breathed the girl, misty tears shadowing her eyes. "Yes." "Where is he, then?" The words shot forth wiih such insistence that something within I'hillp MacCauley rose to its demand. "Some ore's got to be good to my mo. her," the girl ran on before he could speak. "She's sick and lonely, till, I've get to do something 'or her. Where's your holpiu' God, mister?" "llight hers tn this place." said Philip, a strange emotion sweeping over him. "In fact there isn't any place where God is not." "lie wouldn't come in a dirty canal boat, would He?" demanded Tony, breathlessly. Astonished at such cruileness. Captain Cap-tain MaeCauloy shifted himself about so he faced iter squarely. Was It pretended pre-tended ignorance or Innoeenre In the that truth was stamped on every line of the apt unied face. "Of course, everywhere." lie exclaimed ex-claimed brokenly. "Why. dear child " j Tony Devon interrupted him swift- ' ly. "Toll me how to manage it," she pleaded. "How can 1 wheedle your God to the Dirty Mary?" "To the what?" was the question the hoy asked in shocked swiftness. "The Dirty Mary," repealed Tony. "My iiiummy and me live on a canal boat. Once she were just called 'Mary.' But she's so d d nasty, Ede calls her the Dirty Mary. She's a nice boat just the same as long as my mmiiiny's there. But I can't see how a clean God could come on 'er. ... I guess you're foolin' me, mister." Philip swallowed hard. Then slowly and gently he talked to her, trying to make her understand as best he could what he meant by God, Spirit. "And you can help your mother, little lit-tle -what's your name?" "Tony, just Tonnibel," she mumbled. Then her voice rose and she uttered sharply, "Now tell me how to help my mother." Philip went to the altar and sorted out a small card. "This," he said, coming back to her, "has happy, loving thoughts written on it. If you think these things all the time oh, how they will help both you aud your mother." Wonderingly she took It In her fingers. The first thing that met her eyes was a beautiful uplifted face of a man and in his arms was a little lamb. Underneath the picture was printed, "Feed my sheep," and directly under that were the words, "Stand still and see the salvation, of the Lord." Once more her eyes nought the face above, a face wherein lay all the pity and love in the world. Tony Devon caught a glimpse of the lesson he was trying to teach, , a.nd when she went out of the Salvation army hall she held within the depth! of her a wonderfully new aud utterly' strange emotion. She was panting for breath when she ran up the gangplank of the canal boat. A woman was busy brewing tea when the girl slipped down the steps of the cabin. "You been gone a long time, Tony," mumbled Mrs. Devon. "Did you see anything of your daddy?" "Nope, and I squinted in every beer hole In Ithaca," Tony replied, "but but but I found ou,t something for you. Listen ! There's somebody qn this boat besides 'me, and you and Gussie.'" Gus-sie.'" "Who?" came sharply from the woman. She shivered, fearing that the law lay in wait for her absent husband. "Who, brat?" she repeated imploringly. implor-ingly. Tonnibel bent over and looked straight Into the sad. wan face. "God, just a plain lovin' God !" she replied, her countenance expressing unusual exaltation. "Sit a minute while the tea's muklu' good, and I'll tell you." Side by side they sat together oil the hunk while with lowered reverent voice the girl told the story of the Shepherd who had said long ago with infinite pity, "Feed my .sheep." "And mummy," the girl continued, leaning her head against her mother's arm, "Darling mummy, that beautiful man said, "Love'd make crooked things straight,' and and it's so." A look of unbelief came over Edith Devon's face. "Fiddle." she said In a disgusted voice. "Tony, you ain't a brain In your bean." "I don't need any brains as long as I got Hi is, Edie." the girl replied,, lifting lift-ing the card she held. "Come on, let's say these things over. Here's one that'll keep well, It'll help keep daddy from beatin' you." Mrs. Devon grasped the girl's arm In sudden frenzy. "You told some one Uriah beats me?" she demanded sharply. "Mebbe I did, ami mebbe I didn't," answered Tony, slyly, "but these here words about standin' still and watching watch-ing Salvation slam goon all about will keep puppy's fists up his sleeves. Say it, Edie," she c":od. I "I won't." said Edith, getting up swiftly. "If there anything in It, Tony, you can show me by gettin' your daddy back home. Mebbe he's In jail." "Even if he was," retorted the girl. j with a wise shake of her head, "lovin' I hard could make the coop-doors fly w iilc open, and claddy'd flop out like a dogfish Hops into the lake. I'm goin' to find out more some of these d:iys, and then I'll tell you all about it. Hull, mummy?" "Yes," muttered Edith, "but I'm getting get-ting a guess out of t he days I spent on this boat that God, or whoever you're talkin' about, nln't botherin' his head over the Dirty Mary, nor us other. " "Uriah, if you go on with l this, I'll tell 'er all I know." (1X1 HE COM'INUEU.) |