Show the house of the thre T ahree ree gra ganders nd 9 1 x s by IRVING BACHELLER 0 f jjr copyright by irving bachelle bervice Ber Fer rlee vIce 11 1 CHAPTER XII continued 22 swift as a a bolt of lightning the flash leaped upon them and shook their hearts with terror and darkness fell as quickly as the light had risen for those affrighted ones it was like the flying open of the doors of hell bell for only a fraction of a second they were blinded by the glare of its flames it may have revealed to one of them the fathomless deep of his own wicked ness the girl gave a little cry as they fled hidden behind the broad base of the big tree shad had not been able to see them but he had seen the light fling itself through the tops and lender slender columns beyond him he sat still out near the edge of the thicket thick et he be could dimly hear a sound like that of smothered sobbing this for only a moment then receding footsteps footstep sl 1 silence fell again not until long after he had heard miss Sp enlows clock tolling the hour of midnight did he be arise from his station behind the tree As he did so he heard a team barting starting tar ting away from some point near smithers store groping in the dark ness he found the camera and covered its lens he picked up his things and set out for the doctors doctor a house his learned friend slept in a bedroom on the first floor shad tapped on a win dow pane in accordance with the doctor a request the good man arose and opened the front door well what luck they came and I 1 guess that ive I 1 got the photograph good work my boy I 1 the doctor ex claimed as he patted the shoulder of his young friend ill put the camera in my dark room and show you to your bed perhaps we shall sleep bet ter if we do not know what it has to tell us until morning shed went to bed his excitement kept him awake until the keen eyed cocks had seen the light of dawn when he arose at eight 0 clock hie his venerable friend was at breakfast he ile looked very grave have you developed the photograph shad asked tes yes and it Is successful said the doctor I 1 was not surprised but I 1 was deeply saddened the whole trag tc fe story Is now as clear to me as the street I 1 see through yonder window I 1 hope that you will not mind if I 1 ask you to let the secret lie ile with me until it Is given to colonel blake it Is properly hia his secret the situation has come to its climax the time for decisive action has arrived I 1 think that you had better go to the county seat and get in touch with the district at torney wherever he be may be and tell him that he Is needed here at once I 1 am going down to ashfield and can take you to the train as well as not do you think that they saw you when the flash came 1 I am sure that they did not I 1 was so hidden that I 1 could not see them he gave the scraps of conversation that he had overheard ali ahl I 1 I 1 thought so its it s a kind of verbal flashlight on the past there was a call on the telephone the doctor answered it ill be ta biere ere in a few minutes I 1 he said turning to shad he announced the girl Is sick this morning and no wonder while you finish your break fast ill go and see what I 1 can do tor for her the doctor returned turned rp saying her heart Is a bit troublesome she 11 get better naturally she Is a little depressed he put a sealed envelope in shade shad 0 hands therein Is the photograph of the man inan who killed oscar perry please give it to your chief and tell him how we came by it I 1 think that when he looks at this photograph he will know how bow it all came about if not I 1 can tell him they got into the buckboard and drove away soon after they set out shad remarked 1 I I had waited a long time in the darkness when I 1 heard miss a clock strike eleven A little later I 1 heard beard a team cross the bridge I 1 knew that it had come from ashfield it stopped somewhere near probably in the shed at smithers store I 1 said to myself there Is royce in a little awhile alle they walked into the trap A curious kind of a man I 1 the doc lalar r exclaimed he Is ill this morning has sent tor for me I 1 wonder how he learned that the girl was at miss Sp enlows a how could every one help learning it with dear miss Sp enlows s tongue as limber as it Is they rode on in silence shad was just in time for his train near the depot in canton a little before twelve 0 clock he met ruth blake he ile was on his way to the office tou you are going wrong she said IIO how so I 1 why because you are to eat lunch eon with mother and me mother wants to ive ave a talk with you come 4 rn on I 1 liast got to see your father I 1 he will not get here until seven clock hes been to chi ago but I 1 want to go to my room and change my linen and put on my very best suit of clothes why all that fusel eg rig arst 4 t I 1 must be dressed like a gentleman it if it was any other girl I 1 t care ruth blushed that s a pretty joke she answered looking into hie his eyes hurry and we 11 wait tor for you CHAPTER XIII the truth crushes its enemy sheridan morrison Mor ryson now a distin gulshen lawyer has written in a vol ume of reminiscences not to be released for publication until he has been lying ten years in his grave that a boy ought to be careful in ma making king the memories that are to go with him up the road he ile has given the historian a limited right of quoting from this record of his early life he ile writes I 1 see mostly darkness when I 1 look back upon my young boyhood it was the darkness of ignorance and opples slon with which I 1 could not be content but as I 1 look a light falls upon my way it came from gentle friendly faces mostly it was the light that shone out of the big honest blue eyes of a young girl I 1 began to feel the stir of a new life in me in a little 0 for only a fraction of a second they were blinded by the glare of its flames time the restless daring adventurous human being that I 1 am was born he knew his way no task was too great for him he had a strange faith in his heart that no undertaking was be yond his strength it it was an billu slon it was worth having I 1 knew mean and sordid people these I 1 have almost forgotten but I 1 do not forget or underestimate the kindly help of mrs smithers in spite of her narrowness or the gentle sever ity fly of betsy or the great heart of bumpy brown especially I 1 remember the keen intellect and fa atherly counsel of the beloved doctor and the generosity of mr converse and of colonel and mrs blake above all these forces that have helped to make me the man I 1 am Is that light which long ago shone upon me out of a girl a eyes I 1 was a romantic young knight of the age of chivalry when that day in december elated by my success in amity dam I 1 came to colonel blake s house I 1 sat down at the table with kuth ruth and her mother cautiously I 1 tried to ease the fullness of my heart forgive me if I 1 look at you too much I 1 said to the beautiful girl it Is winter there are no flowers the trees are bare and my eyes long tor for something good to look at mrs airs blake smiled saying I 1 sug gest that you turn your eyes on that portrait of a lovely lady looking down at you from the wall she Is very grand but her eyes tell me no secret her lips do not speak to me my sly heart beats no faster when I 1 look at her these things I 1 tell so that those who read may know that I 1 had an active imagination and a spirit not quite fitted to my thy time extravagance in dress and speech was the keynote of my youth the ladles ladies liked me some men did not those who said that I 1 was a born liar have never under stood me they will not understand me now when I 1 say that there Is no one so uninteresting as a born truth teller whose veracity has the p ellsion of 0 f mathematics mrs blake knew my heart she faced aced me about with thebe words dear boy I 1 know that you mean what you say but you are on forbid den ground did I 1 not warn you to keep off the grass she was smiling my ardor had amused her true I 1 cut but when you gave me that warning you thought that I 1 was a child since colonel blake has told me that I 1 have done the work of a man lie he does not know it but I 1 have helped to solve the mystery which has baffled us so long I 1 present it to him she took my hand in hers a gentle motherly gesture she said you are a boy of a thousand brave thoughtful keen minded a gen tieman I 1 am proud of you but you are only a boy in years even if you are a man in accomplishment you must be patient and wait a while before you can be engaged to marry I 1 can wait but the thought of it Is like a knife in my heart I 1 shall have to go away where I 1 can not see her when I 1 take her hand band in mine when I 1 look into her eyes my hean heart la Is telling her of my love I 1 should think that I 1 might as well say it with my tongue why not I 1 wonder not that she laughed 1 I think that you are area a born pleader she answered the judge decides against you but you can take your case to a higher court why do you not appeal to the colonel ruth had been silent but amused by these proceedings I 1 turned to her and asked have I 1 your permission to appeal I 1 think that she never looked so beautiful as when she turned to me and answered quite seriously I 1 of course well we 11 appeal mother knows how to bribe him 1 I shall be scared I 1 know what he will do he will remind me of the brass cannon and tell me that he uses it to shoot at young fellows who want to marry his daughter then mrs blake offered a suggestion which betrayed her sympathy it was this I 1 you will say that you are not the kind of man who finds discouragement at the cannons mouth I 1 arose and went to her side and kissed her I 1 knew that my case was more than half won this much Is taken directly from the memoirs of the accomplished law yer and statesman it accurately reflects the romantic fervor of Us his tent pe the forces that lifted him out of the slough of his boyhood and started him on his triumphant way the pride he took in the approval of the fr friends lends who had done so much tor for him the illuminating passage should be associated with the query which ends his review of an unusual and most happy career it Is how in any land save this could a boy born as I 1 was and bound tor for many years to a life of hard condl eions have won the friends the peace the plenty that have long been mine colonel blake returned that evening from his journey in the west bring ing good news he said algyre has been convicted I 1 have in my pocket a sworn confession of hig his part in the crime at amity dam the doctor doctors s theory was correct the plan was Algy res s he planted the ver and the cartridges on bumpy brown he was to get a certain sum of money he got only half of it IL TO BID CONTINUED |