Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-04-29
CHAPTER ~.

action. but one was before him. As soon
as Johnny Bapter heard jennings inquiry,
and found that the wagon had disappeared.
he ran 70 Aaron's cabin with the news In
e,tantly the Son of Ben Ali was on his feet
md running Straight to the horse lot he
went where he gave q peculiar cali, and
one Of the horses came gallOping to him.
whinnying There was chnking of har-
ness. a rush to the carriage house, and. in
two minutes the rattle of buggy wheels
was heard on the gravel. By the time the
White-Haired Master could get his overcoat
on and fix himself for facing the cold, crisp
air. the buggy was at the back gate with
Aaron calling. "AH ready. Master
He had no need to repeat the call The
chiIdren's grandfather came running down
the steps very nimbly for one Of his years,
and in moment was in the buggy, with
Aaron beside him
Are you going?" he asked.
Yes. Master replied the Son of Ben
Ali.
I'm mighty glad Of it,, remarked the
E-hIte-Haired Master. Where are the
In the saddle ring; l forgot to take EN-
out lie spoke to the horse, and the AMI
NAL broke from a walk into q canter, Shak-
ing its head playfully. BY this time Johnny
Bapter armed with flaming torch, was
more than half way to the side gate, where
the wagon had come in and gone out. He
reached the gate the buggy drove up,
and Aaron seized the torch and examined
the ground. he saw the wagon tracks com
3nl; in and saw where it turned as 1t Went
out He spoke TO the horse as he hung the
torch away, and climbed into the buggy
as IT moved off. He spoke once more. and
the animal broke into what seemed to be a
wild gaIlop going so rapidly that the buggy
seemed 10 be in the air when Il went Whlrl-
ing over d sunken place in the road On
hos I hl bFFrS
runs and the wheels of the buggy gave
forth an undertone thai sounded ike thd
drpniug Of swarm.
How do YOU drive without the lines
III. Whire-Haired Master asked, when he
became convinced that the Son Of Ben All
had the horse under complete control.
He knows me, Master, and l know him,
replied Aaron.
IL was not a satisfactory answer. perhaps,
but il seemed To be sufficient Up hill the
horse. which was a strong one. went WIN
a long. swinging trot- The top reached
the LrJt would be exchanged Tor a Sdlloi-
This Went ON for some time, until Aaron
vetoed the gallop. When they had gone
on for an hour and Were nearly 10 faf-
Mony Grove. a small! settlement about ten
miles from the AtercTombie place, the Son
OF Ben Al stopped the horse. ! Jumped from
tho buggy and carefully examined the
road ahead. getting down on his hands and
He rose and shook his head, and walked
slowly back To the buggy.
What Is the matter? the White-Haired
Master asked
The wagon amt come long here. mas
ter. Tn wheel tire is two inches wide. No
track like that in the road
1t was an army wagon said the grand
father muSiHgiy. What has become OF
it. 1t must have passed here. The first
fork Of the road Is at Harmony Grove.
Wei go there"
So they drove on to Harmony Grove As
II happened there was a sort of social gath
ering In the school house. As always hap
pens on such occasions, there We're several
young men and boys who We're too shy to
Venture in the house where the girls and
young women were. If a wagon or vehicle
OF any kind had passed they surely would
have seen it. But no wagon had passed.
Such Of them as had horses volunteered
70 Join the searching party. but the White
Haired Master thanked them II the wa
gpn hadn't passed II was still on the road
somewhere, and he and Aaron would find
IL Indeed. the White-Hafrad Master had
made calculation Harmony Grove was
ten miles from his place. He had come the
Instance IN something less than an hour
ana II was now 10 o'clock. If the wagon
had Ieft the spring at ) o'clock IL could
hardly have reached Harmony Grove he
fore then Aaron judged that they should
nave pvsrtakcn the wagon about six miles
from the spring.
As matter Of fact they had overtaLen
the wagon and passed it five and 0na-haIf
m. IS from home. or. to be more exact AT
the humble residence of Mr. Barlow Robs
-ANN 44ei'l 4ttSStN4 the wagon without know
44S ~ L'[ tHe reason that the vehicle wa
not In sight from the road and they woIIId
have passed it in broad daylight.
H. driver Mr. Roby Rauson-that wa &c
ram MS name. as il turned out-had moi
gone more than two miles from rho abart
CIpmhe place before the desire to sIeay
oEercame him. and he began to nod Eor
. WhlIe ne would nod. and then rouse him
80 oGt hHaiiy he leaned against the
Hame work. over which the cover va
Spread. and began 10 sleep s5undIv The
I4AeS SIpped from his hands but caught
on the brake and hung there too biob Tor
in them. S'i'"'isie''
hen the wagon came to the top Of the
I,l-S MIL Jhaf slopes down to Crooked crock
the mules were surprised L, feel no ra
Struning hands on the reins ~ f4rs+ -,
hdriIy Knew what TO do but they were
Wen trained and they held back the wa
81 - rH il near the bottom. and then they
DroAe INTO swift trot and went swtshing
through the shallow waters of CrooLa1
oIttA- without pause they pulled the
aa"n sedateIy up the opposite hill which
W. not a very steep one. They remained
IN the road. as became sensible rnnIaS ~
icy became more and more uncertain in
sntl5 movements as they realized that no
A'IIld was guiding them
FINALLY they came TO the burnbla bo-,o 6
III. tf'bs-or. rather. they came TO the
snort lane that led to Mr.. Robs' Iop carr,
I-b.ost ms they turned: the hub of the hind
49, missing the fence corner by tbe
Dreadtn OF a hair. Pursuing this rod
Ihey followed it into Mr.. Bobs' back vorJ.
90 'ney HHaHy drew up behind the corn
crto. double pen built of logs. As .bera
was Tat fodder stack behind mis- crib
.Ht mules concluded they would put mn for
Ihe night. After this the only movement
- made was 10 seesaw the wagon as
they reached for the fodder ,1 a'
slorIeq occasionally when too much dISt
from the forage crept up their nostriIs
once about five minutes after the rnuIee
Edi reached this harbor. they prtcked nm
thtlr ears at the sound of running borel
WhE!iIS buggy along the road and Mr.
booS house dog harked obviously: but he
SOhu lhls there was nothing 10 bothcr
mem. and no alarming noises were heard
sweetest Susan. Little Biscuit and DrusiiIa
were sound asleep, and SO was Mr. RnLy
I.ahSoEn- II Was very good thing for MI
Ls'tIS'in that he was asleep. for there 10 mo
o"-p' mat II the Whtte-Haired Master had
Svliie up with him the road he wouId
JARED but i'll But Providence seemed
% nave taken him under its wing
Inc Nhite-HaiTcd Master concluded 70
~ II the nelghhorhoOd Of Harmony
SroEe until dawn, knowing that nothing
CoHId De done in the darkness II x,as :
long. long night. The grandfather waika@