Mower County transcript., 1902-08-20
Stairs OF Sand
By
ERNEST DE LANcY PIERsoN
Copyright, 1901, By Street 4 Smith.

warming s.Hist!" was notice to draw
the epistle to close. He folded It,
and, without stopping to set down
the address, went back to the win
dow and passed it to the stranger by
tying it to the end of a poker which
happened to be standing by the fire
place.
s"You will be sure and deliver it?'''
he said, earnestly, wondering 1t he
was doing right in trusting the note
| to q man he had seen for the first
time in his life.
"Deliver it? To be sure will, un-
less I should happen to have an acci-
dent that would lay me up. Hush!
Go back! There is some one COM
ing!" he whispered, warningly, and
, then suddenly dropped out Of the
tree and disappeared among some
bushes on the other side of the
garden.
"A queer character, that" NUT
tered Barnett, as he watched the
small man disappear, and noted that
he was very agile for man of his
years. swell, he managed to cheer
me up, and I relished his visit. How
did he manage to get into that tree
in broad daylight without being
seen, I wonder? Evidently it is not
the first time that he has had occa-
sion to make surreptitious call. I
should not be sorry to see the old
fellow again."
The subject of these remarks had
wriggled his way through the dense
ly growing bushes, just as the village
constable came around from the
front of the house with party of
friends. Job Hendricks, for such was
the name the stranger had given to
the innkeeper, peering over the top
of the hedge, grinned and wagged
his gray head. "Ah, there's an ideal
keeper of a prisoner. I wish there
had been one of his kind way back
in the past. It might have changed
everything"
He seemed to lapse into sad and
thoughtful mood after that as he
turned and made his way to the
highroad, leaping the fences mechan-
ically, immersed in (what seemed to
be from his expression) very bitter
thoughts.
For moment he stood in the mid
die of the road, looking up and
down, as If undecided which way to
go. It seemed to be a matter that
required some consideration, but
presently he nodded, and, turning.
made his way along the highway
that led in a northerly direction.
II promised to take that letter to
the young lady. 1 wonder If I shall
have any trouble in seeing her. Per-
haps I am altogether too sure of
what can do, and what pressure I
can bring to bear on others. None
too sure OF my own liberty, for that
matter. Go slow, Job, slow, or you
will spoil everything!"
He had reached q little brook
spanned by wooden bridge, and he
stopped for q moment to wipe the
perspiration from his face, for The
day was oppressively hot.
AS he leaned there for moment,
with hia hat off RESTING and COOLING
himself nao,,l;or ri,>S;ro -, hei1
cached h,s ears ,.on;nr fro1n ~.
direction ~ +ha tour ha nod +,s+
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~ fr-e hand ha ~. Me H., ,.,;+h
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