The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1908-08-22

When Betty
Came HOne.
By C. B. LEWIS.
By C. B. LEWIS.
Copyrighted. 1908. by Associated
Literary Press.

The arrangement was satisfactory
all around. Mrs. Hardin, the widowed
mother, accompanied by her daughter
Betty and maid, was to spend July and
August at seashore resort. Will
Hardin, the son, and his college chum,
Frank Archer. were to keep bachelors
hall in the Long Island manor house.
The faithful old servant who had
acted as cook for many years past
was willing TO remain, to care for their
wants and keep the house from being
turned into stable, but she was given
two months off with wages and told to
make herself scarce
All went well at home and at the
seashore for a month. Then the time
was ripe for something TO happen, and
something did happen. The mother
met with fall, Miss Betty lost the
only young man worth flirting with,
and the maid came SO near being
drowned in the surf that she threat
ened to quit her job unless the family
retired to a safe distance from the
raging sea.
Miss Betty wrote her brother Will
that they would arrive home on a GER
tain date, and the date was put far
enough ahead to enable the two camp
ers to get the dishes washed up and
their fish poles removed from the par
lor But what is the use of writing
letters to a brother who doesn't go to
fho foY
rived all right, but was not called for.
Then, on the afternoon or the even
ing on which the family were to ar
rive home, VIII had to go up to Brook
lyn on pressing business. 1t was mid
night before the young lady gave an
answer to his pressing question, and
1t was two hours later before he
dropped off freight train at the coun-
| try station half mile from home.
Archer was left to fish the time
away, cook his own dinner and go to
bed at any hour that suited his con
venience. That hour was o'clock,
and he had sixty minutes to get to
sleep when the family arrived. No
Will appeared at the depot to meet
them, but fortunately they found a
conveyance, and fortunately Miss
Betty had carried her latchkey away
with her and could now make use of it.
AS the hour was late no time was
wasted looking around-just enough to
be satisfied that brother Will wasn't in
his bed and that it would take two
robust women two weeks to put the
house in its former tidy shape. The
arrivals had been abed for two hours
when Archer woke up. He was dream
ing that he had hooked a fish five feet
long and was playing It, when he
found himself sitting up in bed with
his eyes wide open.
He felt that some noise had disturbed
him. There had been a great deal of
the "Raffies" business in the country.
The chums had talked the matter over
and decided what was to be done in
case he invaded the house under their
guardianship
They were armed, and they were to
do their best to kill or capture him.
One chum and one revolver being alb
sent on this occasion made a differ
ence, but nevertheless the chum on
the spot prepared to die for his host
Getting softly out of bed and partly
dressing, he soon assured himself that
VIII had not yet returned. Just then
he distinctly heard a noise in the lower
part of the house-the fall of some
thing.
Raffles had effected an entrance and
Numbered over q chair. The student of
chemistry hesitated no longer. He
softly opened his door, and, with a
lamp in one hand and a revolver in the
other, he stepped out into the hall to
descend the stairs.
There had certainly been a noise
two noises in fact Mother and daugh-
ter occupied rooms at the front of the
house. After sleeping for a couple of
hours the mother had awakened in q
nervous condition and called her
daughter. This was number one.
The daughter had answered, mixed
sleeping draft and knocked the
bottle off the stand to the floor. This
noise had brought young Archer from
his room into the hall, and he was JUS
in time to encounter Miss Betty as she
was returning to her own room.
OF course she was startled. OF
course he was startled as well. They
were not ten feet apart, and as they
stood there staring at each other she
forgot that Will was to have his chum
with him, and it went clean out of bis
head that Will had a mother and sister
anywhere on earth.
Some girls, under the circumstances
might not have been the first to re-
cover their wits. Miss Betty was
She motioned the young man down the
hall, and when he could back up nc
I farther she advanced quite close Il
him and whispered:
Mother is very nervous, and if she
knew you were in the house the shock
might kill her"
Yes" replied Archer in some won
, derment
There is some silver plate down
| stairs, but I'm afraid it's not very