The Delta independent., 1897-02-24
XI.
IN THE NAME OF THE LAW,

IN THE NAME OF THE LAW
After dinner Duncan went in search
of the old mountainecr and Thorndyke
shut himself in his room to finish the
letter begun the previous evening. lie
went about il leisurely. placing the
table in front of an open window end
| sitting where the sweet afternoon
! breeze might blow in his face rs he
! wrote. Between the sentences he
stopped often. weighing and turning the
words until they fitted his purpose:
which wa3 to make this latest letter TO
his mother as one with those preceding
it. This preserving of the unit;es proved
to he less difficult than he had thought
IL would be. The new determination
was but sucking as yet, and the turn
ing of O fresh leaf in the book of rcso-
lutions Is, in any event, only a begin
ming. BESIDES, ones mother is always
the first to nccept a show of frankness
rs substitute for the real quality,
and Mrs. Thorndyke would have found
reasons for refusing 70 believe Philip
II he had told her the plain truth.
Tho window in tho rttic bedroom
looked out upon the stretch of yellow
road leading to hllacoochee, and In
saw two horscnen ride over the crest
Of the SPUR which shut of the view Of
the lower valley. They halted among
the trers on the hillside, aid one OF
them pointed 10 ti,e farmhouse, while
tho other took something from his
pocket ard went through the motions
of q man drinking from bottle. Philip
watched them listlessly until, ut the
cnd of q full minute, his curiosity
awokc to comment upon tho phcnomc-
nal thirst Of the man who still rnt like
| an equestrian statue with arm bent and
head thrown back. There was field
glass hanging in its case on the wall,
and when Philip took IL down and TO-
cuscd It upon the statucsque horscman
the mystery speedily took another form.
The man was not drinking; he waA ex-
amining the house and tho adjacent
mountain through . glass not unlike
tho one in whose field Philip woA OBJ
serving him.
Thorndyke's first thought was Of Kill
| grow and his prosecutors. but before he
could form a plan for warning the old
mountaincer tho two horscmen rode
down to the house. and he heard one Of
them ask Mrs. Duncan II the road led
to Alta Springs, a village on the western
| slope Of Johns mountain. Since the
| question appeared to explain the recon-
Nuisance, Philip let his suspicious
lapse, and straightway forgot the Incl
dent when the travellers had ridden on.
lie had finished his letter, and was be.
| ginning TO wonder IL Duncan would
succeed in finding Eilgrow, when he
heard voices below. followed by STUN
bling footsteps on the stairs, and Dun
| can entered with the old mountainecr.
"This 10 euld johnnie kce!gprv,
Master Thorndyke, he said, presenting
his companion with . perpendicular
| gesture which seemed to call attention
to Kilgrow's great height. II Just
made free to fess him till yer ain room,
| whaur ys could hae Il oot WI him in pri-
| vnte."
That was right-I'm glad 70 meet
you, Mr.. Kilgrow. Sit down, both Of
| you. and let me ask . few questions"
The mountaineer folded his thin
length upon the edge Of q chair, but
Duncan stood irresoiutc. "I'In no sae
over rnsh, myself, Master Thorndyke,
~ ye ken, but auld Johnnie here is
| mair captious than the canniest Scot o.
them a.. D. ye think, now, he Wilma
set foot in the house till he makes me
promise to pit myser on guard on the
doorstane!"
Duncan's dissatisfsction with any ar
rsngement that excluded him from o
share In the conference was very evil
dent, but Thorndyke judged wisely that
his client would be less embarrassed ~
the inquisitive Scot were ods Of the
wny. and he commended the prccau-