Show ts the ives family andy kate hope dave and granny take a tract 0 of lane land given tree free by the state to those people who will cultivate the wilderness in a modern homesteading home proposition the they make friends with their neighbors in eluding the websters Webs Web lers emerson eliot and absalom flipp they are awakened one night by rowdy hunters who bously used the ives home as their quarters andy barely averts a serious run to in with them the following day he and dave go to town and sell their car tor for some mules and a buggy wavon watson bird hardware store owner warns andy about the hunters andy learns that during his hi absence a hunter shot a doe and hit his home instead CHAPTER VIII let me go with you dave begged you ought not to go by yourself id rather andy said andy ives had set his head As he saw it there was no way to reason around a course of definite action A fierce protectiveness urged him on A man had shot a charge of lead into the wall of his house his house no matter if it had been a moon shiners hangout no matter if hunters had camped there for several years it was now the residence of andy ives and family and a man had fired buckshot into it it is a regrettable situation mr eliot said but my suggestion is that you ignore it passive resistance is often a powerful weapon mr ives but I 1 dont feel the least bit pas tive give andy told him it if ive got to face things like this I 1 might as well start now right now kate viewed her husband with surprise and perhaps a sense of deeper appreciation andy usually was cautious to the extreme although the she had known always that in a real test he would measure up four square youre going to satisfy your pride andy she said that icv it well maybe he shouldered a sack of flour picked up a slab of side meat A mans got to have pride and its up to him to take care of it or he loses it mr bird said for you to be careful all the time dave reminded him 1 I know it andy turned toward the cabin to carry in his load ill be careful say mr flipp how do I 1 get to their camp well you can go west from here 5 till ti you hit the big bend in the aj alou ou then you can turn down flam till you come to the old bridge camped over there bout a hundred yards below the bridge thanks he went into the house mr flipp looked at kate dont let him take a gun he advised then he turned and disappeared in the woods west of the cabin mr eliot picked up a small bag of salt and followed andy into the house bouse ill be glad to go with you I 1 he offered it would be well if you were accompanied by a witness a favorable witness in case there were er developments andy shook his head thanks but I 1 dont want to get anybody else mixed up in my troubles I 1 dont mind going alone there wont be many developments I 1 reckon s you wish mr eliot acceded ifft W t an idea of mine after all you were not here when the shot was fired and unless you involve someone else you wont be able to make any accusation except a very general one ive ave thought of that andy told him 1 1 I wont have to call any names to make what I 1 intend to say find and its mark thanks just the same ame mr eliot nodded by the way your daughter has considerable talent for music with a little practice we are will have some excellent numbers well in hand hope plays the piano right well when ashes in practice andy said well ill be getting along I 1 want to be back here before dark be very tactful mr eliot implored we are all disliked out here by the newcastle clique and whatever trouble you have with the hunters from there will be another mark against this section the situation Is explained to andy whatever I 1 do or say wont have anything to do with the rest of you andy argued this is my affair mr eliot removed his glasses and polished them with a very soiled handkerchief he pursed his lips studiedly and blinked against the discomfort of having his glasses off you have raised an interesting point there he said and I 1 grant that you are strictly speaking correct tor for it is your affair however newcastle thinks of the donators don dona alors tors as a group and of everyone out here as part of that group mr flipp and I 1 have no land to clear up yet we are disliked too you see for several years this was all wild country perfect for deer and turkey and moon shiners the so called sportsmen looked upon it as their private hunting ground they would like to have it that way again and whatever they can do to discourage those who are trying to settle this lowland and make it into farms they will do 1 I see andy said slowly youve given me a better idea of the setup than ive had before now sure ill be careful mr eliot I 1 wont take my gun for that would give them an excuse to say that I 1 came to their camp looking for trouble right mr eliot agreed oh say mr ives to change the subject a little I 1 attempted to discourage mr flipp from giving you that pup but he was very determined please dont think I 1 was involved in that generous move we think you were andy told him ive got to t go now once mr flipp makes up his mind mr eliot declared putting on his spectacles again he is a very firm person it was his view that you should have a dog he laughed shortly with little change of expression and when jessie bell has her next litter along in the spring he may offer you another this ones ones andy moaned certainly mr eliot agreed but absalom flipp is a person of remarkable sentiment he just cant bring himself to the point of drowning jessie bells progeny as most men would do he tries to find homes for them and it is a problem in such a thinly settled area with jessie bells disposition toward motherhood mr flipp should live in a populous section perhaps in a suburb of chicago or new york andy laughed well I 1 know that angle he was getting rid of a pup as well as giving me onel one precisely mr eliot concurred that is it precisely 11 andy left then for the hunters camp the sun was still about an hour high and the woods were quiet save tor for the occasional bark of a squirrel or the screaming and hooting of an owl heralding the approach of night just before he reached the stream he heard off to the southwest the long blast of a hunters horn calling in the hounds he guessed must be nice to have time and money to go in tor for such sports andy thought he had never had it used to take a half day off now and then for a quail hunt with joe tat urn um but that was all ail once he had thought he might like to kill a gobbler but never had he known any ambition to shoot a deer to him a deer was a living symbol of the woods something that be killed the woods were dry and leaves on the winding roadway whispered as andy walked along he came to the bayou which was so low that there seemed to be no current except in the shallow stretches between holes melancholy cy presses trailed beards of gray k 0 0 t V 10 A man shot your house the sheriff said slowly surely it was an accident moss m oss straight and motionless in the windless late afternoon it was a scene of brooding peace and quiet where time stood still introduction to sig flanagan he followed the left bank of the stream until he reached the rough bridge here he crossed and turned left now he could see the shack where the hunters were camped A bright fire was burning in front of the ramshackle log structure and ibe two wo negro cooks were busy with supper three bucks swung from a limb of a great white oak near the cabin heads down motionless as the gray moss four cars were parked beyond the white oak several horses were eating from boxes in a pole pen behind the cabin saddles covered with their blankets to protect them from the heavy dew of late fall hung to the uprights of the pole fence there was a dim light in the cabin As andy drew nearer he should could hear men laughing and talking in there drinking he reckoned when he was a few yards from the campfire campf lre he looked at the horses more closely and saw that one was rangy and black with grayish white while saddle marks on him showing that he had been hard ridden sig flana gans horse the cabin door opened and a man came out he was slender wore horn rimmed spectacles andy recognized david wellons county attorney from hamilton a member of the party that had roused him from bed before dawn that morning when wellons saw andy he turned back to the door and said something to those inside five more men came out one was the short thick fellow who had made a show of wanting to fight andy early that morning another was sheriff martin andy guessed for he wore a star on his vest he was a florid portly man of fifty something with heavy features except for his small almost petulant mouth he was lighting a cigar behind him stood the tall powerful figure of a man with black blac k hair swarthy face his eyes were small and quick and dark his nose high bridged and noticeably thin in con to the broadness of his face his mouth wide and thin lipped cruel he was sig flanagan sheriff martin andy said by way of opening matters hello the officer replied pleasantly enough weve just had a lit tle appetizer to make a good supper better wont you take one come in and thanks andy broke in but I 1 dont indulge I 1 came to see you about it ah david wellons broke in smiling at andy youre the gentleman we so rudely got out of bed this morning the name now let me see I 1 make a practice of recalling names but ives andy said again he be sure of the mans attitude for he was either very courteous or slyly sarcastic im andy ives sheriff martin I 1 came to see you about dont indulge he says sig flanagan interrupted maybe hed like a bottle of beer how about it ives have a beer be sociable youre oure among friends three cases of it in the cabin thanks andy said but I 1 dont care a thing about beer im pleased to know im among friends though he turned to the sheriff again started to speak sure youre mong friends flanagan cut in his speech growing less clear cut for his drinks were taking effect were friends hey sheriff sheriff martin nodded right sig he waved his cigar laughed quickly the tone of his laugh much higher than that of his speech ive got to be friend or id be out of a job he turned to andy resumed his mien of seriousness and dignity well if you wont drink with us how about supper plenty to eat good coffee and be as welcome as the flowers in may thanks andy realized that they were either playing a game with him or else they recognized him for a donator and particularly tor for the donator who had caused them to change camp sites for the deer season sheriff ive just moved into this section and im anxious to be friendly with everybody too but when a man shoots the short thick one broke in you moved somewhere else ives instead of where you did we drive all the way down from monticello and find our house taken by a homesteader heck of a note aint it sheriff im not dealing with you andy said calmly unless I 1 have to and then I 1 will too bad if ive interfered with your hunting now keep out of this he Is right said wellons in his smooth way he is perfectly right gentlemen of hamilton he wishes to deal with the sheriff and we are but the guests of the sheriff so youre a donator sheriff martin said slowly his face losing the friendliness that had at first re assured andy youre the one who took up the quarter section where ws we used to camp im the one andy said 1 I moved here in the hope of owning a peaceful farm and a place id be proud of but I 1 understand now that its easy to have trouble here this afternoon a man shot a load of buckshot into the west end of my house I 1 dont like that sig flanagan moved forward standing beside the sheriff his eyes were black and hard as he studied andy the left corner of his thin mouth twitched a little confucius say intoned david wellons that a mans house is hit his castle A man shot your house the sheriff said slowly surely it was an accident 1 I dont think so andy told him the man was on a horse chasing a deer it if he had shot at the deer which happened to be a doe the charge would have gone into the ground instead of into my wall ten feet above the ground sheriff martin nodded logical now who could have done a trick like that he laughed again in the high pitched tone what a hunter misses a deer and shoots a house dont know a deer from a house he nudged sig flanagan or a doe from a buck andy added 1 I dont think it would be easy to make two mistakes like that all at once do you sheriff face to face across a table does are protected the officer replied im sure that none of my party would shoot at a doe he looked with mock seriousness at the group nobody here would shoot a doe with a warden in camp I 1 knowl know and to andy you see we carry our own warden around I 1 to keep us straight hes out rounding up the hounds now 1 I was the one that shot the house said sig flanagan looking narrowly at andy must be that a limb knocked my gun up a little just as I 1 pulled the trigger shoot a hole through the wall did I 1 no andy faced him saw smoldering anger in the mans mana eyes saw the thin mouth twitching at almost perfectly regular intervals id rather you shoot when youre so close to my house spose I 1 do Fla voice was tight therell be trouble andy told him what kind A bad kind and a quick kind it if im at home andy replied and was amazed by the calm manner in which he had delivered the threat TO BE CONTINUED |