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Show r W. 1 Ha wkin the W S oi d ' tS"E feS D. APPLE.TOM-CENTURY CO. -sr BY HELLN TOPPING MILLER wVu. service 1" " I CHAPTER XVII Continued 15 'It's a trick!" Virgie cried. "Tom wouldn't sign away his stock. He didn't know what he was signing. He told me so. You tricked him a helpless old man in prison!" "I assure you, Mrs. Morgan, that every document was carefully read to Mr. Pruitt." "What of it? He wouldn't understand. under-stand. He was scared and numb you can scare Tom to death with a legal paper. You tricked him! He would have killed all of you before he'd give up his stock in this mill!" "I can believe that Mr. Pruitt's mania for homicide must be embarrassing embar-rassing to you. But we do not trick people, Mrs. Morgan. We find it unnecessary." The oily voice ran like horrid fingers over her. "So, if you will read this order, please? You will notice that you are directed by Mr. Pruitt, as the custodian of his stocks and property, to deliver to me fifty shares of Morgan mill stock, to the amount of fifty thousand dollars dol-lars par value'" "I won't deliver it. I'll' fight you through every court in this country coun-try first!" . "Of course, vou understand that "You?" "Tom wrote it down for me. Mother Moth-er sit here and let me bring you some cold water. The stock isn't gone, Mother. It's safe. I took it" Virgie sank limply into the old chair that had been David's. "You took it?" "I took it over to the court-house. To be registered. Tom signed it over to me a week ago. It's mine. He couldn't give it to anyone else because he has already signed it over to me. He was going to leave it to me in his will. He told me so. And I saw the will. He left it here with Lucy that day when he went up to Hazel Fork. Tom wanted me to have it. So the last time I went to the jail, he was worrying about it. And I wanted that stock, Mother I'm ashamed to tell you why I wanted it. I wanted to control con-trol the mill. I wanted to make you fire Branford Wills and now I'm ashamed! But the stock is safe. They can't touch it." Virgie' s hands fell limply. "Pick up that mess," she muttered, sagging sag-ging back in her chair. "I give up." "Here drink this " "I'm all right. It's just too much has been happening behind my back. stand you gentlemen, all of you, intend in-tend beginning some extensive operations op-erations in lumber and pulp wood?" "What's your business?" demanded demand-ed Withers. "H you've been inter-ferin' inter-ferin' up there, Virgie Morgan" "Mrs. Morgan has not been interfering," inter-fering," Wills said. "Mrs. Morgan knows nothing about this. I happen to be a government cartographer, formerly, as I have said, with the Park Commission. I made the road maps for that area. There has been, evidently, some confusion and delay in surveys and condemnation suits owing to the confused condition of the title to the land a condition you gentlemen were very quick to take advantage of, but I would not advise you to begin timbering operations opera-tions on that land, gentlemen now or ever!" "You're very smart, young fellow," fel-low," snapped the man Hooper, "but I happen to have a court order that allows me to timber that area to satisfy my claims and those of my associates. Do you think I'd be fool enough to invest money in a proposition propo-sition like that if I didn't know what I was doing?" "Unfortunately," Wills smiled a slow, dry smile"; "I do not know what sort of a fool you are, Mr. Hooper, I am merely advising you going to leave. He didn't do it He was a fool but he isn't crooked. I locked him up. ShaU I let him out Mrs. Morgan?" Virgie's smile crinkled her face and she burst into a sudden laugh. "No don't let him out Lucy. Keep him there till he realizes what a grand girl you are. Keep him there till he melts." Lucy smiled and it was as though a candle had been lighted behind her eyes. "I think he's melting, Mrs. Morgan!" Mor-gan!" "It's raining," Marian said suddenly sud-denly aloud. "Rain and sleet. I'd better take you home, Mother it's going to be a dreadful night." And then the telephone rang. Marian Mar-ian answered it, said, "Mother!" faintly, handed the instrument to Virgie, the color draining out of her face. Virgie barked, "What did you say, how? Who came there? You say he took your gun?" She hung up slowly, sitting rigid and aghast. "Tom has escaped!" "When? How? How could he?" "Lon says he got away thirty minutes min-utes ago. They don't know how. He took Lon's gun." i "But he'll freeze on a night like this! We'll have to find him, Moth- Even you " "I told you I was ashamed. But anyway, we saved Tom's stock. Maybe we can beat them yet." Virgie looked numbly at her child. David's child with her finely cut profile, her dark eyes and resolute mouth. Gallant and splendid and indomitable. Like David. "So you own the mill!" she said. "Are you angry, Mother?" "I don't know. It was a shrewd thing to do. Your father would have thought of it. I seem not to think of things soon enough." "You're wonderful, Mother. I don't want to run the mill. 1 1 couldn't. I'm not wise enough or strong enough." "I seem not to be wise, either. Lock the safe, Baby those men will be back." "They're coming now. It looks like an army." No one noticed Lucy, coming in at the back door, because so many people peo-ple were entering by the front way. Lucy's eyes were blazing and a little wild. Her chin had a dogged that attitude is quite futile. We can compel you to deliver the stock, Mrs. Morgan. We can bring an officer here with a writ " "Bring a dozen officers if you can find one who'll serve a writ against me!" "You exaggerate your importance and your invulnerability, I fear. The stock will be taken to Mr. Pruitt for signature to transfer " "Transfer to whom?" "Mr. Withers has contracted to purchase it I understand." "I thought so." "Look here, Virgie, you're wasting wast-ing your breath," Wallace put in. "This is all settled. You can't do a thing about it." "I'll see about that." "I reckon we'll have to fetch a constable." Wallace mustered pious patience with an obdurate woman. "She's hard-headed. Talk won't be any use. She keeps it in that safe " "How do you know where I keep it?" Virgie flashed at him. "I suppose sup-pose you've got some more spies on my pay-roll? Your Mr. Daniels has er " 'Yeswe'll have to find him." Virgie Vir-gie looked at Wills. "Lon says that Wallace Withers was over there today. to-day. Tom has found out who it is that has been plotting to ruin us. He's a mountain man " "We'll go," Wills said. "They'll look for him, of course?" "Lon said he was sending some of the boys out. They won't know where to go. I know where Tom will go." Virgie's face was heavy with trouble as. she twisted into her heavy coat. "I'm going, too," Marian said abruptly. "It's going to be an ugly night," Virgie objected. "You'd better go home before it freezes." "Mother I'm going. Tell Frank to put the chains on." "Wrap yourself up then. Lucy, you stay here by the 'phone. If Lon calls tell him we're out on a hunt if we find Tom we'll bring him in." Wills drove and Marian huddled in the middle of the single seat of Virgie's old car. Freezing rain spatted spat-ted on the roof, coated the windshield. wind-shield. The light failed with the angle, and scarlet coins burned in her cheeks. She looked younger, lighter, aglow with a sort of fantastic fan-tastic triumph, almost defiant. She pulled out her chair, then waited as the odd procession filed in. "Mr. Payne," the lawyer Introduced Intro-duced the newcomers, "and Mr. Hooper. And this officer, I suppose, you know?" The shambling constable, looking awkward and on fire with curiosity jerked at his hat and said, "Howdy,-Mis' "Howdy,-Mis' Morgan." "Hello, Ed," greeted Virgie. "You travel in poor company." "This here is somethin' I got to do," fumbled Ed. "I ain't so set on it but you know how things is " "Go ahead," ordered Virgie, curtly. Ed rummaged out his paper. Wallace Wal-lace Withers pulled out his heavy old watch and ran his thumb over the crystal, thudded it back again. done pretty well. I suppose you set those fires yourself?" "You are being very unreasonable, unreasona-ble, Mrs. Morgan," soothed the lawyer. law-yer. "We are being very lenient with Mr. Pruitt. My client has been permanently per-manently injured without justification justifica-tion or excuse " "You might as well hush," declared de-clared Withers patiently. "Come along and we'll fetch somebody she will listen to." The door banged behind them. ' Virgie stood still in the middle of the room, still 'shaking with white rage. "The thieves!" she muttered. They would be back presently, with some country constable, who would turn red when she looked at him, but who would drag from an ! unsavory pocket a paper with the seal of a magistrate upon it, and - compel her to open the safe. "You tricked him a helpless old man in prison!" for your own good. I have sent to Washington for plats and surveys for confirmation of- what I know to be the truth they should arrive by Monday. But I happen to know that I am right. I went over the land today to be sure. I do not think you will cut any timber on the land formerly belonging to Tom Pruitt." "What are you crashing in here for, anyway?" demanded Wallace Withers, angrily. "And what are you getting at, anyhow?" "I'm advising you not to cut timber tim-ber on Hazel Fork, Mr. Withers you nor anyone else. Of course, I can't Drevent vou but I can bring swift completeness of mountain night. Wills got out to scrub the wind-shield clean. The wheels slewed on the curves in spite of the chains and Virgie's profile, against the dim light, was granite and grim. "Drive on," she said. "I'll tell you when to turn." "He wouldn't take the road, Mother," Moth-er," Marian worried. "And even if we met him we couldn't see him.". "Drive on," said Virgie, flatly. They passed a looming mill and a curve where a waterfall came down, roaring and splashing under a high bridge. "Left at the next road," said Virgie. "Mother" an edge of panic was I in Marian's voice. "You don't A sudden thought came to ner. Swiftly she bent and twirled the combination of the safe. The heavy door moved open slowly, and she flung it back and unlocked the inner in-ner compartment. Flat, taped bundles bun-dles of paper slid out into her hand. She sat on the floor, turning them over rapidly. AH the papers on the Hazel Fork property she knew those well, she had had them out the day before with Wills. Her own stock in the mill tied in an envelope she counted the shares. All there. But that was all! Twice she turned over the entire contents of the compartment. Then in a panic flurry she pulled everything every-thing out old ledgers, old bills, contracts, con-tracts, and leases. Papers that David Da-vid had filed, papers she herself had put carefully away; tax receipts, deeds to timber lands, insurance policies, she unfolded each, shook it, opened and shook every book, searched frantically. Tom's stock-and Marian's-was Lucy's eyes were big and anxious. Only Marian stood calm, smiling a one-sided smile. "I got an order here," began Ed, "for some stock belongs to Tom Pruitt" "Go on and serve the paper," snapped Withers, "I got to get home. It's most time to milk." "Don't bother, Ed," Virgie said, "I know what's in that paper. It won't do you any good to read it to me. These gentlemen and their attorneyare at-torneyare very astute. They know exactly what they are doing. You investigated the ownership of this stock, I suppose, gentlemen?" "Certainly!" snapped the man Payne. "You're just stalling, Virgie and it won't do you a bit of good." "I'm not trying to do myself any good, Wallace. I'm doing you good. You got that order by fraud and I can prove it. That might not sound so well in court" "We got it square Pruitt knew it to the attention of people who can prevent you That land up there, gentlemen, belongs to the people of the United States." "You're a meddling young fool!" stormed Withers. "What do you know about it?" "Perhaps," suggested the lawyer uneasily, "it might be well to look into this matter, gentlemen." "We'll look into it. And we'll look into that stock transaction, too. It has a fishy sound to me." "By all means investigate thoroughly. thor-oughly. You'll find as I found, gentlementhat gen-tlementhat that area of land up there is included in the boundaries of the National Park. Probably the condemnation suits to establish ownership own-ership are lost somewhere in the maze of other lawsuits and claims that have been filed on the property. But I wouldn't advise you to cut any timber there till you have satisfied satis-fied yourself where the boundary lies. It's easy to take timber away from old men and to rob women- think" "I know!" said Virgie, soberly. "They were over there Wallace and the others. Tom didn't know before who was working against us but now he knows. Take it slow, Wills this road is dirt and it'll be slippery." "It's freezing a little. The chains hold. I can go faster if it won't make you nervous " Marian huddled, small and frightened, fright-ened, under Branford Wills' elbow, her head in a snug beret, scarcely reaching his shoulder. Once he looked around and gave her a scrap of smile, in the dim light from the dash, but she was looking solemnly and searchingly ahead. "How awful to be wandering around in the hills on a night like this!" she said. "Poor old Tom!" "I know how awful it can be," Wills agreed. "I had two nights of it. There's so much sky and black air and empty wind and savage dark around you and you feel a sort gone! But how who No one but Lucy knew the combination. com-bination. Lucy and Tom. And Tom was locked in jail. She was still sitting there, shaking shak-ing out papers, staring at the empty spaces in the safe when the door onened She started, then saw that it was Marian who stood there. "Mother! What has happened? Marian exclaimed. . Virgie tied a tape with cold fingers. "We've been robbed," she said -A lawyer came-Wallace was with SSn, back withar rslonl AnPdyo stock-he stock your father left for you-is gone. Parian closed the door,. slid the what he was doing. He Knew ne was signing away his stock he had to save himself." "Sounds funny," Virgie's voice drawled. "I've known Tom a long time He was a shrewd old mountain moun-tain man. He knew what he was doing most of the time except when he lost his head because he was being be-ing robbed. It's hard to believe he'd sign an order to deliver that stock to you-yesterday, that was? when he had already transferred it a week ago!" "I don't believe it!" barked With- ""The transfer is recorded. You can see the record at the courthouse court-house That will be about all today, gentlemen-" Virgie. drew herself up superbly. No not quite all," said a quiet voice from the door. but don't try it on the Government of the United States, gentlemen. That will be all. Good afternoon." Lucy let her breath out slowly as the procession filed out the door. "It's like the movies!" she gasped. Wills was standing still, tall and lean and purposeful, in the middle of the room. "There are some things to be settled," set-tled," he said. "We may as well finish it Withers planned all this sabotage to force you to sell. But he had help. Men inside the mill. Brains inside the mill. He had Mr. Stanley Daniels." "No!" The choky cry came from Lucy. "No it isn't true." "I'm sorry it's true. I've been doing some investigating. Mrs. Morgan." Mor-gan." "They framed him," wailed Lucy. of hatred in it as though it would kill you if it could. And the branches reach out and snatch and almost snarl and boulders and roots trip you up and the wind gathers up handfuls of ice and flings them in your face." "And you were lost!" said Marian in a small, frail voice. He looked down at her. "I'm still lost," he said, levelly. Virgie cleared her throat. "I'm here," she reminded them, "but I'm old and my hearing isn't what it used to be." "Tom wouldn't be lost." Marian essayed the commonplace again. "He knows his way anywhere in these mountains no matter how dark it might be." The river was alongside now, dark and noisy and hidden by the whirling whirl-ing dash of sleety rain Trees hung low. and the darkness grew thicker; it brooded and was hostile and fearsome. fear-some. Marian clutched a sleeve and laid her face against it. Wind shook the old car fiercely, but the wheels dug and spun and plowed on. Once a frightened rabbit leaped through the darting steel rods of the rain, its eyes green and terrified Ice was glassy on the hood, the wind-shield wiper gouged a feeble arc and then failed. (TO BE COXTISIED) Branford Wills stood there, lean and calm and tall, a folded paper in his hand. Mr Pavne, I assume? he said. "And Mr. Hooper? I have just come ; from Hazel Fork, gentlemen-" The lawyer interrupted. This is I another matter, sir. We do not i k"TamUemployed by Mrs. Morgan 'My name is Wills-formerly with i the National Park Commission. I nave been investigating the area on lazel Fork-upon which I under- b"Mother-get up-and sit down here You're white as a sheet. You're shaking all over. -I can't sit down. They'll be here any minute. They won't believe me Some fool took it, I suppose-some , of The sneaks who've been working ?or Wallace. It couldn't be Lucy- . Oh no not Lucy i -She knows enough to know thai j the stock's useless until it's s.gne, over But-nobody else knew th, combination." Tom knew it. And I "Old Wallace Withers asked him Stanley. I mean if there was any chemical that would destroy pulp and Stanley told him. And then the pulp was ruined and Wallace Withers With-ers threatened to tell Mrs. Morgan that Stanley did it unless he gave up his job." "Why doesn't he come here to speak for himself, if that's true?" Wills asked. "Because," said Lucy faintly, "I've got him locked up. He was |