The Montgomery tribune. (Montgomery City, Mo.) 1892-1910, 1909-02-05
Home pier together, walking as II thsy.

er they ever got anywheres or not.
One OF 'em, the smallest one-he
want more'n six foot one and q hat
looked sort OF sick to me. He had a
white face, and that kind Of tired,
don't.care look in his eye; and the
bigger n sort OF tended TO things for
him.
Good morning" says the big n
the Van Brunt one, / judged-cheer-
full enough. T'other chap said, Good
morning" too.
Morning" says /.
Can you take us out sailing?"
"Why-er-I guess So" I says. II
don't know why / can't, II you feel
like going. Course"
/ hadn't finished what I was going
to say afore they were in the boat.
Now, generally speaking, there's some
bargaining to be done afore you take
folks out for a three-dollar sail. You
naturally expect 1t, you know-not SO
much from boarders as from towners,
but still, some. But not for these two
no, sir! it was this powerful sud-
denness of theirs that hit me betwixt
wind and water, same as 1t had Nate.
Made me feel sort of like I'd missed
the train. Stirred UP my suspicious
again, too.
Twas a nice day; one of them clear
blue and green days that you get early
In June. The water want rugged, but
just choppy enough to be pretty, and
the breeze was about northeast, givin'
us a fair run down the bay.
This is grand" says the big fel.
low, as the Dora Bassett began to feel
her oats and lay down to her work.
Caesar! Van," said the other one;
why do you bring me down to earth
like that? Grand! Blocker next!"
He hollered out this last part in a
kind Of screechy sing-song. Then they
both laughed.
l looked at 'em. There want moth.
ing to laugh at, so far as l could see,
and the "Bleecker" business didn't ap.
pear to have no sense in it, either.
They made two or three other
speeches that sounded Just as foolish.
Thinks /: 81 wonder II Scudder's
right?" They didn't look like luna
tics, but you can't always tell. Old
man Ebenezer Doane went to church
of a Sunday morning just as sensible
acting as a Second Adventer could be;
Sat when he got home he fired the
bean-pot at his wife, chased his chill
dren out door with a clam hoe, and
they found him settin' %a-straddle Of
the henhouse singing "Beulah Land"
to the chickens. These fellers might
be harmless looms that had been
farmed out, as you might say, by the
asylum folks. There was that man
that Nate said was coming. He might
be their keeper.
Il understand you've got a friend
coming" says l, by way Of ground
, bait.
!, "Friend" says the big one.
Friend? l don't understand"
, "Scudder said you had another man
coming to his house." says l. III
He smiled. ooh, 1 see." Then he
smiled again, a queer lazy kind Of
!, smile. like as If he was amused at him
, self or his thoughts. -
!, 81 don't know that I should call him
, a friend, MI. -er-" r
Pratt" says 1. Solomon Pratt"
!, Thanks. No. 1 wouldn't go so far
as to call him a friend; and yet he'l
not an enemy-not openly" He
smiled again, and the other" chap
whose name l found out was Hartley
Martin Hartley-smiled too.
' Hes the man Van here belongs to-
explained the Hartley one. They both
smiled again.
. l kind of jumped, I guess, when he
said that. 1t began to look as II the
y asylum idea was the right one, and
y this Teller that was coming was the
9 keeper.
y Hum" says 1, and nodded my head
= just as If the whole business was al
u plain as A B c. do you belong t.
anybody" 1 says r. Hartley.
-. Il did," says he, "but he's doint
time"
Doing timer" says I.
. YES" says he, explaining, kind o
impatient like. up the river, you
y know"
g l chewed over this for a minute, ant
u all l could think of was that the felle,
must be in a clock factory or a watch
makers or something.
o "Watches?" l asks.
g Hartley seemed to be too tired o
y life to want to answer, but his chun
. did it for him.
mo-" says he. II believe it wal
pearl studs on the showdown"
Well, this was crazy talk enough TO
anybody. l didn't want to stir 'en
up none-Tve always heard that 20,
p had to be gentle with lunatics-so
d went on, encouraging 'em like.
S Studs. hey?" says I.
% YES" says he. HE was a British
beast, and Martin was all balled up il
a the street at the time-away from hi
IS apartments a good deal-and the B. 3