La Junta tribune., 1907-03-30

went to the war both gave their lives.
and botl, are now at rest In the plot
that IL shaded 10y the twisted pine.
The woman with the gray hair WAS the
belle OF the region in those days, but
she Is still Miss Stanbury; so there's
the romance. all right. The girl with
her Is her brothers daughter. an or
phan. In fact, that's the whole Stan
bury family over there. so far As
know"
"A beautiful girl" said prummond.
And he turned his mind again TO the
story OF the nHmeless soldier, with an
obvious effort as II constrained by
some impulse OF his nature. an inbOrn
love OF the curiosi,ies OF life.
Couldn't the man tell who lie wasp
he asked.
II believe there was some slight pa
raiysis OF the muscles OF the jaw. re-
suitinS from a wound" said |. MY
father could tell you. They understood
him to say that he WAS William Pendu.
lum, and his gravestOne bore that
name for many years. But nothing
could he learned about him. He was
never traced back beyond Portland.
Anu leH years ot dSo, WITCH thC
war department records were over
hauled and saved from chaos and de-
cay. the local q. A. X. Investigated this
case aud came to the conclusion that
no such man Ms William Pendulum
was ever In the army. SO the name
was erased from the stone. There's no
doubt, however, that this man was
soldier. with the rank OF second lieu
tenant. His uniform gave no clew to
his regiment. however. There was no
number on 1t: II had seen too much
service. and lie had not II scrap of pa
per In his pockets"
Nobody ever knew why he came
here. eh 2" said DrummOnd. Gould be
have got on the boat by mIstake!'
II wasn't born till some years after
ward" reJoIned. My information Is
all secondhand and In a very misty
condition. lf you're really Interested
I'll Introduce you to Miss Stanbury. the
elder
Both. II you please" said Drum
mOnd. with II smile. And we strolied
across to the spot where they stood
my friend muttering to himself: Pen
dulum. Pendulum. Never heard of
man named Pendulum before
In spite OF Drummond's expressed
desire to meet pretty Margaret Stan
bury, he devoted himself to the maiden
aunt while we remained In the burial
ground and during our walk to the lit
tie old house where they lived. More
over. lie was enthusiastic In praise OF
Aunt Jane afterward.
"A fine mind and a true heart" lie
declared. "a thoroughly cultivated
woman and not the least imbittered.
She could shine In the most exalted
circles OF society except for the very
trivial matter OF clothes. Is she very
hard upy'
.She Is indeed | answered. .And
Margaret. OF course, has nothing. She
has an eye on the typewriter. poor
sirI. But what did Aunt Jane tell you
about the s0ldier:"
Drummonds manner insts ntly show
ed tile reserve which ciiaracteriEea 4
deep thinking man when his mind Is
hsltiny among many opinions.
''She IL sure about the name said
he after pause. 1T was Pendulum.
sure enough. II seems that the un-
fortunate fellow repeated 1t over aud
over again. Hut Miss Stanbury says
that his frat name WAS not William.
To her ear 1t sounded more like Willis.
willis y. Fendulum that WAS the
way she heard it--bmt the doctor was
strong for William and carried his
point. And always thought that
Yankees Were smnr,.'
This exclamation hardly seemed to
nt the context. and I asked DrummOnd
what lie meant.
Either there are stupid folks In
SingsfOrd or l am misled by wild
delusiOn." he replied. but declined to
give me any clear view OF his mind.
This matter OF speaking in riddles"
he told me In answer to Il protest, lis
reporters habit. We go out on stories
together. and every fellow Ia trying 10
beat the others. We keep our points to
ourselves. and as 1t Is very hard to re-
frain from speech entirely we learn to
talk without saying anything. And that
reminds me that I'm thinking Of going
back to the trade. haven't much of
stake except this property down here"
That's enough to save n lazy man
from work." said l. Cut il up into
sites for summer cottages. and you can
sell theu to the elect Of Boston. This
place is getting fashionable. tell you.
It's fortune"
II believe YOU, my friend said he.
And yet I'll bet that ! go back 10 re-
porting
You have my permisslOu." said !.
somewhat annoyed, but more perpleE
ed.
by the way" he remarked mo
ment later. IL suppose you know where
Miss Stanbury found Lieutenant Pen
dulum? No? Well. she found him in
front Of her own gate
what Of itT' said ].
.Arfhnr Merrill the Man TO WHOM