Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1900-11-29
e,sn ~ red.

But the fresh ar anu =.
long rambles to the various lakes anu
n,aces of interest soon chased away tne
.racas of study. ard as I was invari-
ahIv his companion in these expeui-
lions. I grew to like him
and the feeling i had towards MN was
erhaps. intensified because, having
seen so much more of the world than
he, I had much to tellhi m, and he was
in a high degree the most pleasant OF
companions, a good listener. iheie
was something in his face that puzzled
me. especially when he was animated,
for at such times his features eemea
to be familiar to me, though 1 was
unite certain that we had never met
until I saw him for the first time at MS
uncle's.
One day. we had taken a longer RAM
BILE than usual, and had walked through
Longsleddle Valley to Hawswater ana
thence to the top of High street, and
we were admiring the view, for the
day was remarkably clear, when he
turned to ask me some question, and
in that second, while his face, aglow
with excitement, was fully towards me,
I saw a remarkable likeness to the face
that I had worked out at Oldburgh.
Could it possibly be that he was the
lad who had disappeared in such a
sensational fashion, and, If he were
who was Mr.. Travers?
II must be some accidental likeness,
and / tried to put the idea away from
me: but as he, from time to time,
looked at me, it would recur again and
again, until at last I determined to put
the matter to the test. / would ask
him a simple question, and IL he were
not the lad no harm could be done, for
he would be ignorant OF the motive
that was actuating me. Presently,
when we were talking Of people we had
met, I asked him If he knew anyone
named Willie Ruddock; and from the
tremor that seized him and the way in
which he started from me and stood
staring at me, speechless with amaze
ment, I might have answered my own
question and said. Thou art the man."
With a great effort, he pulled HIM
self together.
''Why do you ask" he said, in a
husky voice.
Because" I went on, I found, In an
old photograph at Mr.. Byrne's farm a
picture of a group, and I enlarged m
of the faces. 1t was a boys, and he
was eleven years old at the time. I
drew other pictures of him, altering the
face as l supposed he would alter, year
by year, and the last n I did resem-
bles yours in many particulars. You
have the same colored hair and eyes as
this boy had. You are Willie Rud-
dock!"
He made no attempt at denial. With
out a word, without even glancing at
me, he set off at the fastest walking
pace he could compass along the roe
in the direction of Kendall, and I fol-
lowed him as closely as could, until, his
pace slackening as W. breasted the hill
to Kirkdale pass, I got a chance to
come up and speak with him.
What are you going to do, Travers?"
I asked.
He halted suddenly and faced me.
What am 1 going to do?" he repeat
ed. Tn going to warn one of the
kindest-hearted men that God ever put
the breath of life into hat his secret is
known, for IL / am Willie Ruddock, you
know who Mr.. Travers is. BY Heaven!
I feel that I could kill you here and
now, and the secret would be safe"
and for a moment or so there was a
dangerous CLEAN in his eye, and so pal
pable a bracing UP of his figure, as
though for a supreme effort, that I act
ually stood on guard and waited for his
attack. But 1t never came. His mood
changed quickly.
IT don't know how you got your
knowledge, Tremayne," he said. 81
don't even know who you are, or where
you came from; but If you bring n
harm to the man who has made me
what I am. I give you fair warning that
I shall kill ~you-unless you kill me-"
and he spoke in such a steady tone. and
so quietly withal. that I could not fail
to see that he meant every word he
uttered.
How could I be such a cad as to in
3ure him?" I asked. Didn't he be-
friend me when, goodness knows, I
wanted a friend badly enough? Let US
sit down here, Travers, and have 1t
out. Let us understand each other
thoroughly"
We sat down on the turf at the side
of the road, and / went on:
ut was quite by chance that I came
across an old newspaper with an ac-
of the attack upon-well, upon
Mr.. Travers of Oldburgh. / was stay
Ing in the town at the time, and I was
interested enough to go to Mr.. Byrne's
farm. There / heard your name and
saw your likeness, and 1t was merely to
while away the time that / went on
with the drawings. OF course, in COM
mon with everyone else. / looked upon
your disappearance and his, and the
attack upon him, too, for hat matter,
as most mysterious. The secret Is his
still, for / have no notion of why he
was set upon, nor why he chose to hide
himself up here; and, upon my honor. I
shall never tell a soul what chance has
revealed to me-"
i held out my hand to him.
81 believe YOU" he said, as he
grasped it. And now let me say some
thing on my side. I don't mind clear
ing up the mystery, as you call it, of
my disappearance. The matter was
very simple. You. no doubt, know all
the particulars of the case. for they
were fully reported at the time.