St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1911-03-15
WHITTAKER'S
PLACE
By JOSEPH C. LINCOLN
--opyrisht. 1908. by D. Appleton 8 Co.

escort held her fast. and she was oblig-
ed to move as slowly as he did. 1t
was very. dark.
Say, what is your manner" coaxed
the man is it Maud. hey, or Julia
I always liked Julia. Don't be peevish,
Tell US: that's a good girl
She gave a quick jerk and managed
to pull her arm from his grasp. giving
him violent push as she did so. He.
being unsteady on his feet. tumbled
down the low bank which edged the
sidewalk Then she ran on up the hill
as fast as she could. She heard him
swear as he fell.
She had nearly reached the end Of
the Whitaker fence when he caught
her He was. laughing. and that alarm
ed her almost as much as if he had
been angry.
Naughty. naughty!' he chuckled.
holding her fast ''Tryin' to sneak,
was you? Not much-not this time.
Did you ever play forfeits when you
was little? Well this is a forfeit game
and you're it. You must bow to the
prettiest, kneel to the wittiest and kiss
the one you love best. And I'd let you
off on the first two. Come. now! Pay
upr'
Then she screamed, and her scream
was answered at once A gate swung
back with a bang, and she heard some
one running along the walk toward
her.
"Oh, Cap'n Whitaker she called.
Come! Come quick. pleased"
How she knew that the person run
ming toward her was Captain Cy has
not been satisfactorily explained even
yet She cannot explain it, and neither
can the captain. And equally astonish-
ing was the latter's answer. He GER
tainly had not heard her voice often
enough to recognize it under such cir
eumstances.
''All right. teacher!" he shouted. I'm
comm! Let go of that woman. you
Oh, it's you, is it?'
He had seized Mr.. Smith by the coat
collar and jerked him away from his
victim. Miss Dawes took refuge be-
hind the captains bulky form. The
two men looked at each other. Smith
was recovering his breath.
Its you, is itY' repeated Captain Cy.
Then, turning to Miss Phoebe. he ask
ed, did he hurt your"
mo, not yet, but he frightened me
dreadfully. Who is he? Do you know
himP'
ton.
You bet your life he knows mey' he
snarled. He knows me mighty well!
Pard. you keep your nose out of this.
Ad'you see! You mind your own bust
ness. l want goin' to hurt her any"
The captain paid no attention to him.
''Yup, | know him." he said grimly.
Then he added. pointing toward the
lighted window OF the house ahead:
"You-Smith, you go in there and stay
there! Trot! Don't make me speak
twice."
But Mr.. Smith was too far gone with
anger and the 'spirits" raised by Tad
Simpson to heed the menace in the
words
Smith! Well, Smith amt goin'. d'you
see! He's goin' to do what he pleases.
| reckon I'm on top Of the roost here!
know what's what! You can't talk
to me. I've got rights, have. and
"Blast your rightsp'
What? What? Blast my rights.
hey? Oh. yes Think because you've
got money you can cheat me out of
'em. do you? Well. you can't! And
how about the other part of those
rights? S'pose / walk right into that
house and
"Stop it! Shut up! You'd better
not
"And into that bedroom and just say.
'Emmie, here's your -
He didn't finish the sentence. Cap
tain Cy's big fist struck him fairly be-
tween the eyes. and the back Of his
head struck the walk with a smack
Then, through the fireworks which
were Illuminating his muddled brain.
he heard the captains voice:
NYou low down. good for nothip'
scamp" growled Captain Cy '.An this
day I've been hatin' myself for the
way I've acted to you. I've hated N.Y.
self and been Tyin' to spunk up cour-
age to say It's all Off But I was too
mucu O1 d COWdEU, 4 guess. anu now
the Lord Almighty has made me say
it. You want your rights. do you? So?
Then get 'em if you can. It's you and
me for it, and we'll see who's the best
man. Teacher, if you're ready I'll
walk home with you now''
Mr.. Smith was not entirely cowed by
the captain.
you gor' he yelled go aheadl
And I'll go to a lawyers tomorrow.
But tonight, and inside of five minutes,
I'll walk into that house of yours and
get N.Y.
The captain dropped Miss Dawes
arm and strobe back to where his an
tagonist was sitting in the dust of the
walk STOPPING down. he shook big
forefnger in the mans face, and his
eyes cleaned ominously.
you've been out west, they tell
me-" he whispered sternly. "Yes?
Well out west they take fha Iaw info