Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1908-10-07
CHAPTER XII.
MIR. Babb at Home.


enters the lungs; fresh, but given &
sharpness of salt; pure, but tingei
with the sweetness of heather bloom
and the honey of gorse. Human
spirits bound in this air. The scenery
of Dartmoor, if bare of trees, is wildly
picturesque with granite masses and
bold mountain peaks. Barbara could
not shake off the anxiety that envet
oped her spirits like the haze of val
ley till she rose up long ascent OF
three miles from the wooded valley OF
the Tayy to the bald, rockstrewn ex
panse OF Dartmoor. She rode on, at
lended by her little groom, till she
Geacled Princes Town, the highest
point attained by the road, where, in
a desolate plain of bog, but little be
low the crests of some of the granite
few mean houses. From Prince !:
Town Barbara would have rough
moor-path, not a good road, before
her; and, as the horses were ex
hausted with their long climb, she
halted at the little inn, and ordered
some dinner for herself, and required
that the boy and the horses should be
attended to.
Whilst ham and eggs-nothing else
was procnrable-were being fried
Barbara walked along the road to the
prison, and looked at the gloomy,
rugged gate built of untrimmed gran
tie blocks. The unbroken desoIation
swept to the very walls of the
prisons AT that height the wind means
The author has allowed himself A
slight anachronism. The prison was
not a convict establishment at the
period of this tale.
among the rocks and rushes mourn
fully; the air is never still. The land
lady OF the inn came to her.
? That is the JAIL she said. There
was a prisoner broke out not long ago,
and he has not yet been caught.
How he managed it none can tell.
Where he now is no one knows. He
may be still wandering on the moor.
Every road from it is watched Per-
haps he may give himself up, finding
escape impossible. If not, he will die
of hunger among the rocks
What was the crime for which he
was here?' asked Barbara; but she
spoke with an effort.
He was bad man; it was no or.
binary wickedness he committed. He
robbed his OWL father
His own father!' echoed Barbara,
starting.
Yes, he robbed him of nigh on two
thousand pounds. The father acted
sharp, and had him caught before he
had spent all the money. The as
sizes were next week, so it was quick
work; and here he was for few days,
and then-he got away
Robbed his own father!' murmured
Barbara, and now she thought she.
saw more clearly than before into
matter that looked the blacker the
more she saw.
There's man in yonder who set
fire to his house to get the insurance
Folks say his house was but a rum
macy old place. TITS a pity. Now, if
he had got away it would not have
mattered; but, rascal who did not
respect his own fatheri-not that
hold with man prosecuting MS own
son. That was hard. Still, If one
was to escape, don't see why the
Lord blessed the undertaking of the
man who robbed his father, and turned
His face away from him who only fired
his house to get the insurance.
The air ceased to sparkle as Miss
Jordan rode the second stage of her
journey; the sun was less bright, the
fragrance of the gorse less sweet. She
did not speak to her young groom the
whole way, but rode silently, with
compressed lips and moody brow
The case was worse than she had an
tieipated. Jasper had robbed his
father, and all that story Of his COM
ing as a messenger from Mr. Babb
with the money was false
One evening, unattended, Barbara
Jordan rode TO Buckfastleigh, asked
for the house of Mr. Babb, and dis
mounted at the door. The house was
a plain. ugly, square modern erection,
almost an insult to the beauty OF the
surroundings. The drive from the en-
trance gate was grass-grown. There
was a stucco porch The door was
painted drab. and the paint was blist-
cred. and had faxed off. The house
also was notified. 1t had peen
painted over plaster and cement, and
the paint had curled and come off IN
patches. The whole phase had an I'M
cared-for look There were no flower
beds. no creepers against the walls:
the rain-shoots to the roof were
choked. and the Overlooking water