Show cz 4 aadot of the I 1 p r y graca MILLER WHITE A I 1 ca 1 Rom of aho storm Coun irti SYNOPSIS CHAPTER I 1 lonely and almost friendless Ton donnibel nibel devon living on a canal boat child of a brutal father and a worn out discouraged mother wanders into a salvation army anny hall at ithaca N Y there she meta meets a young salvation army captain philip maccauley ilac MaL Cauley CHAP TEIl IL urlah Uriah devon tonys falber aher returns to the boat from LL a protracted tract d pree 11 and announces lie ho has ur arranged ranged for tony to marry a worthless companion of his reginald brown mrs dei deon on objects and uriah beats beata lier her she intimates aLl mates there la Is a secret connected with r i CHAPTER the picture of a baby TonnI bels heart jumped niti almost lost into lier throat then seemed to cease beiting beating there stood blood her father growling enraged and drunk ind and us its if site ci cie c dead and no longer able to help her child her mother lay almost itlie within 1 touching lou ching distance if uriah carried out ld plans plan then the horrid fellow dhere bould oon claim lier her as his woman that thai thought frightened her so that she steppe stepped bad as the lie now roiner came anie upon tilt alio deck what the matter ry by lie ns asad cd quite ea cabill cau ill lies s killed mut mummy burst forth the sir orl and if both betl i you fellens dont winit to get pinched aoud oud better scoot lot off ottea eu this bont boat uri uriah ill laughed at and id Reg gies lil high it pitched cackle followed B been cen giving your woman a little eh ch pall pal lie he demanded turning on oil devon well they nil all need tt it now and then but ashes the liveliest breathing corpse I 1 ever saw did iou hit ler er dev yep growled the other man and tm im goin oan to heat beat tony too the lm ardent brit brat s pass she marry on if you was the elie last man bilvin tou batch atch the brat there rege while mille 3 duck ede in the cabin Ton donnibel nibel wide eyed and suffering TOW mw tier lier father lift her mother up in his brawny arms and carry her downstairs stairs none too gently when he be had Sis disappeared appeared a throat sound made her aa ing her eyes to the other man he was vas contemplating lier her with a smile sn in evil smile such as she hated in men his white teeth seemed like many gleaming knives sharp strong and 2nd nd overhanging his red lips spread sag away from them he took a step toward her and stopped why so much fuss about nothing tay my little one onea he be said cooing daddy sam said I 1 had to marry you bre breathed albed the girl brushing amk a astray stray curl from her brow but I 1 dont im coln to stav with my mother on the lie dirty mary there nent no law forcing a girl to marry a man bip ili ilont dont like ilke and I 1 little linte you on see sec null hill who spoke of a law smiled jbrown bron 1 I I 1 rut but I 1 do know my mv blittle little tony sill that say a very meek yes locq when I 1 set get through with noth you suddenly shuddered and nn n lloP PIc helpless feeling went in waves over her oh to lc ile anywhere in ili gods clear clean awny away front from tho c e gleaming lust hist ful fill eyes but ahe zaw aw no opportunity to escape reg reginald dinald bron was nas mocking the I 1 manill space through which slip she lly fly if she were to be saved at it all slie site know nery ey ia 1 I if rhe lie could bildo for a 11 little while the two men bould drink until they slept then she could come hael back and help her mother pitt plainly lilly she had hoard hear the woman noman weeping lie he low in the cabin and even boic plainly to her suffering hafl cring oar canie came devons devon blos and after that sli silence ence her heart thumped like a l against her side Be behind hilli he bior lav the file shining lake and one hasty glance over her shoulder only added to her tear fear there was nas not a sign of a boat anywhere rc she wa ia frantic canough to scream if it would have done her nil any good 1 I think thin ill kiss you my little blid said reggie suddenly narrow narro ili ing ills his eyes youre pretty enough for a anyone ny to want to kiss by jone joe I 1 nener neer realized realised reali sed until today just how much I 1 liked you if I 1 kissed you we well ll 11 perhaps change your mind about about things lings ti Ton donnibel nibel slid backward back waid to the boat rail when she touched it slie she whirled about and done doe headlong into the lake when reginald brown saw the girls feet disappear under the water lie he uttered an oath and cried out lie ile expected such an action on her part ue ili ran rail to the cabin stops steps and screamed to devon ashes in the lake ry lie he as the other man sprang to the deck when donnibel Ton nibel felt the water over tier her she swept to the lakes bottom with one long stroke then deftly she alic rid herself of her dress skirt and be gan to swim swiftly under the water ater they were tense minutes that the two men stood waiting until sudden suddenly 13 beyond them to the south a curly head beat came above the waters edge then they leapt to the shoie and raced to ward the place she must land hind to the panting girl it was a race for life suddenly like a flashing glimpse from heaven the words stand still and see the salvation of the lord floated before her eyes like a flame elaine of gold philip lacCa MacCa uleys deep voice seemed to speak them in her ringing ears immediately after goddy site she groaned salvation of the lord oil oh darlin salvation just then her feet touched the pebbles on the bottom of the lake with on ono she was on the short shore and up the bank uriah screaming at her to stop she heard the two men crashing after her that her short swift leaps could outdistance them for long 1 if she tried for the boulevard she had haa no hope but all about tier ner were giant friends with outstretched arms offering her shelter for one instant she paused then s sprang prang into the air caught the lower branch of a great pine tree and like a squirrel scurried up it almost at the top spanned over by the blue sky she crawled out to the end of a big limb and clung to it IL beneath her the men paused and shouted curses up at her cared nothing for curses shed heard them all her life used them too when she felt like it IL suddenly there came to her ears cars the lapping of a paddle in the lake she hung flung up her head bead peeped out and saw a canoe taking its leisurely way toward ithaca she bent over and looked down diuri Diu ui alie he cried theres some one bromn on the lake im goin to holler like li I 1 and when nhen tie lie ponies otnes ill tell lui liow you banged ude ede and if blie blies croaked both get jailed Jit Sled alei e s I 1 huller buller S she lie N ent out a quick birdlike trill and lie he man in ile canoe hid ills his in ili the air its as lie studied the forest tills this inter L 1 si l 1 I ns as much as lid did file fad fact that denon and reggie brown bronn juried to their feet and raced away tn ay iy toward the loul evard Ton donnibel nibel from tier her ILI ell div joicin disappear if it 1 before c fore she slid tu to elie ground round the man in the canoe too made bill a short pause before lie he dipped his padilla paddle uno miot away avay on the deck dech of tilt the hont Toli nibel picked up lip jus SIC and dripping wet et went vent swiftly down the cabin steps t lie round found tier lier mother on the bunk her face discolored by her husbands blows she looked as it if site she were dead anti anil for it moment the forlorn child of the wilderness uttered heartbroken little cries crie for help the cabin was cluttered in ili ill ohp struggle uriah devon had had find with his wife in ili despair tony looked around the old clothes daddy hat had brought home were strewn over the cabin floor Ton donnibel nibel heaped them together then began to examine them they needed nothing but pressing this shed he d do tu to save her mother the work and perli perhaps tips the fart fact that dial lie had something ready to sell bell would make uliah less brutal when lie fit cattle came back in ili iu nning tier lingers oer mer it a coat for rents tony felt something between the lining filling tilt and outside a book it seemed like which slie she lustily hastily pulled out it was and much worn there any money in ili it in fact nothing but a picture wrapped ui ill in ill paper she looked at the picture curiously A babs abs li face smiled up lip at her and 11 11 0 1 i I 1 A en t II 11 1 I 1 N Y RV I 1 ka ja 0 she looked at the picture curiously her own min lips curved a bit in ai answer isNer to the laughing challenge in the little ones Q ee eez then she turned it oner oer on lie file back was written my baby camoline Ca ioline aged six months if this picture is ever lost the finder will a money reward by returning it to dr paul peri da lehaven place ithaca N Y money was what edle needed money food and a doctor if she could find tills this paul Pend lehaven perhaps in exchange exclia for the picture he would give tier her a bottle of medicine for her mother hastily changing her wet clothes she slipped the babas pictured face into her blouse turned down the lamp and crept from the canal boat and with gossic in her arms was soon lost in the forest CHAPTER IV the in all of tompkins county no family had bad mote moie prestige than pend I 1 elin vens john and paul Pend lehaven had chosen medicine and surgery us as their vocation when they flioy were in ili colic college ge john was a bachelor and paul a widower at the time this story opens the latter was an invalid ills his infirmity brou glit about by the death of his young wife who had died tit at the he birth of their daughter and the disappearance of the little girl when she ww was but it year old Pend lehaven place comprised comprise a whole city block on which stood a house almost a mansion in the family were john paul and mi 3 curtis and her two children eatherl katherane Kather ine lne and reginald mrs curtis was a second cousin to the brothers and had made her home with ith them since her children had been left fatherless mrs curtis had burled buried two husbands silas curds the father of katherine and edmund brown the father of 0 reginall reginald for or over a year now paul pendle haven hadnot had not left big apartments in the southern wing of 0 the house many times he had bad told his brother john that ho he only waited with what patience he be could for tho call to go away to follow after hla his girl wife and perhaps well perhaps his child might now be with her mother on the day that urlah uriah devon returned from his weeks bouts bout doctor Pend lehaven was seated opposite his cousin mrs curtis at dinner sarah sarab he b haenn legan gravely 1 I wish consent twiny taking Reg reginald inala in hand for a time lie he will he be absolutely ruined if something flono with him the coquettish smile mra mm cultis cuitis always used inthe pre eliet of 0 alii eminent doctor left lier her fave face and tier her lips drew down donn at the eor corners ners lie he done coite bowl now ha be cried ne ile going to 0 colic ellew e tit at ill all jy jact ur ne wom wart j pubs abs d uny ny of his if lie go to aln s art sibil get his hig hours ili rip irp paused 11 moment ani and then went on oil Mi Ati oilier ollier tiling thing I 1 dislike dl to peak or of liui I 1 illusto hai ha i tio ho iden idea of mine and thine rin im xer er lie what flat bloc nt belong to 11 I 1 in ill mia ml curd uttered it ri iio il bodne girie ous um imi P hm him of she sere aimed ini im afraid it he does doc 14 arah irah lie answered cenal con constant h im ml miss in ins lioney and thin tiling it 11 will hurt mi to know that lint some ont one almost stripped mv iny vind mil robe of clothes and now I 1 find there lant much left for floor peul 1 anul Is 13 ery cry much disi nested ered i e red I 1 suppose it if reginald did take them tie lie thought thoy were or of no I 1 nine were they queried SIN mn curtis leaning over the table still very n nn ngy ng y v Wh whether other they were or not surah replied doctor Pend lehaven ignoring ill ills young cousins appeal they belong to him and they wre were valuable to paul in that they held something lie he prized highly it been my illy habit to interfere between you yon and bour children sarah but I 1 do wish ask the boy if he did take tahe pauls clothes if hes sold them ril ill pay whatever hat ever the amount Is how perfectly dig disgusting gusting snapped sli mrs q curtis if the child did sell thinking they were no good certainly not want them back from a second liand shop doctor Pend lehaven roio front from the ta 1 1 e ask him about uie the sarah 1 lie he said walking toward the door if you tell him paul will give him a hundred dollars for thorn them tin and the contents of their pockets hell look them up mr curtis rose with dignity her lamp damp handkerchief clenched in her liand hand ill not insult in alt my only son she nid distinctly with a ge gastille stille of despair do doctor actor Pend lehaven went out of the room for I 1 or a moment after hod hed gone and the sound of liis his footsteps had been lost in the corridor the mother stared at her daughter the fact is she burst out ita as cousin john says I 1 much influence oner oer reggie but I 1 dont bo lieve lies hes as bad as people say in a little town like tills this a person cant take a step sideways without old wags commenting on it I 1 hate ithac ai for just that reason it if Regg led behave himself replied the ladys daughter in a bored tone lie have to be chattered about my advice iq Is mamma that you give him a good raking over if you dont mind your Ps and Qs never liae lae cousin john for your third husband I 1 can tell you that you youa rc e no nearer marrying him than alian you wert were ton ten years ago as I 1 can sec 1 I will though miss impudence flashed back the woman paul wont lc be much enort morp than in liis his grave before cou cousin couin in jolin john makes me ills his x ifo ife I 1 wish to heaven paul would dle die anti and and I 1 dont notice with all your flirting and maneuvering youre getting citing your clas clanny on philip tit all that hot told face had gone red at the words then very white how perfectly vile she exclaimed with a catch in her voice then she bhe straightened up and laughed well im not forty five years old and pretending im thirty five anyway nor do I 1 dye my hair and out with lace to prove im young theres a shot for you mother darling the irate mrs curtis rushed out of the room followed by her daughters in mocking ock in I 1 laugh augh for three years katherine Kather lne had been madly passionately in love with philip MacCa maccauley ulcy an intimate friend of the family the young mans home adjoined a hers and during his orphaned boyhood hed spent a great deal of his spare time at the Pendle havens but since lied hed returned fro from in france and had taken up tip the salvation army work a worl which katherine Kather lne held in open contempt the intimacy had about ceased CHAPTER V doctor john has haa a visitor after remaining hidden in the forest for some ahne Tonni hol tole stole along toward ithael in ili the gathea gathering I gloom her heart IMP mth ili hopr hope to get some medicine for edith and to take back the picture to the father who had offered money for it erp cro the two things she wanted to do now her young mind wag budr with plans for her mother if site she could find some work to do tind and edith would go with her she would get well again that evening just after dinner dr john was in ill hi hf office his hh mind disturbed ills ails fie heart rt ching aching a for the sick brother brot lier upstairs and lie remembered that the first throe three or four years after the disappearance of pauls daughter had been spent in it a frantic fr search all those working on the case had bad finally decided that edith |