, 1906-02-21

was dlloId u lul II NOu, Y
torted Jem. Somehow you always
seem to be there yourself"
"If | am, I'm welcome" was the re-
Spouse. Mrs. Pleasanton was saying
the other night she never seemed to
have a chance for a nice quiet chat,
some II else always keeps butting in"
you could have all the nance you
want" advised Howell, "if you wasn't
bothering Grace all the time. Mr..
Pleasanton was saying just the other
night that Grace ought to know all
your jokes by heart now
"He laughed at that one about the
girl and thu COW the other night" as
serted Powers aggreSsively.
"Yes," admitted Jem. lie said it Is
minded him of the first minstrel show
he ever saw-back in the Sixties"
IF you wan Il drink suggested
Powers, abandoning the warfare, you
will find the cup ON the tree there
I'm not in a hurry was the placid
response. Il kinder like the quiet here.
I'd like to sit here alone for an hour or
SO and jest sort of think things over"
Il think we'd both better be getting
along" suggested Powers, with a
glance at his watch. Its getting Oh.
Ill go as far as jenkins with YOU"
'.What time is it?' demanded Jem.
Half past H." Powers showed the
watch dial. Howell figured that 1t
would take ten minutes TO walk ON to
Jenkins with Powers. lie would go
up the road Il little way and then make
Il cut across the fields and be back be-
fore l..
Together they turned toward the
road, md after a brisk walk Powers
turned in at the Jenkins gate, and Jem
kept OF up the road. A little distance
beyond a clump of trees threw an inky
%blackness over the dust marked path,
and in their friendly shelter Jem climb
ed the fence and made a bee line for
the spring.
He was still painting from his exer-
tons as he reached the butternut and
encountered Powers wrathful glance.
Thought you were going to town."
he jeered.
"Thought you had business with Jen-
kins," retorted Jem.
Jenkins wasn't home," announced
Powers unblushingly.
$50 you came back to get a drink"
laughed Jem unpleasantly. "You had
better get it and be going on. Eve an
engagement here, to tell the truth, and
! don't want you hanging around"
"You?a sneered Powers, abandoning
pretense. why, Mrs. Pleasanton fixed
the whole thing up for me-
"She did not" contradicted Jem.
"You must have heard somehow and
just come around to spoil things, as
usual"
'Spoil things!' echoed Powers in
dignantly. 81 like that. Why, If | had
less patience I'd have thrashed you long
ago for an interfering ~busybody."
"If you had had more sand you'd
have tried it long ago. taunted Jem.
ITS because you know you can lick
me you've kept off. I'd have thrashed
you long ago if it hadn't seemed such
a shame to put it on a chap who can't
defend himself"
Five minutes later two men with
bruised and bleeding faces abandoned
hostilities by common consent to face
a small boy with a broad grin upon his
face.
"What you fellows fighting for?" de-
manded Pax. You amt s%crappin' about
Grace, be YEP"
"What if we are?" asked Howell.
"Nothln' much,' was the coo answer,
''only it amt polite to scrap about mar
ried ladies'"
"Nhose married 2" demanded the pair.
"You see," explained Pax, you fell
lows amt treated me right. You could
come an see Grace and you didn't care
about me. Now, ma wouldn't let Vance
come around or let Grace go out with
him, and so he had to write letters, and
l took ZEN for him. He was nice to me
and you fellows weren't.
last night | could see what ma was
up to, and | could tell pa was goin' to
try the same thing. | figured out that
you'd be out of the way II mad not
be worryin' about Grace, so she skipped
off with Vance md went to Saltwater
to get married"
Silently Jem and Powers resumed
their coats and together they started
for the village. Pax called them back.
"Say," he advised sagely, mex time
you fellows want to get married you
remember that l did this and you get
hunks with the brother; never mind
her pa and ma"