Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1911-12-12
z5He S:E
e/anousl tope/LY lssn VlQg4R4)9&
VAUGHAN HESTER, NASNx1kEl
- BothsMernu Company NNHxHMgBX,

0nel at risk to nlmSelI. IL you pledSe
Mr.. Cavendish!" said the Judge quietly
nodding toward the knife.
You. didn't ask me about him. said
Hicks quickly, IA ~ s
Il do now" said the. judge.
HE was here yesterday. .s
"Mr Cavendish-''' and again the
Judge glanced toward the knife.
watt" cried Hicks. you go to
Colonel Fentress."
II, "Let him up Mr.. Cavendish; that's
all we want to know, said the judge.
CHAPTER xxx.
The judge had not forgotten his
ghost, the ghost he had seen in Mr..
Saul's Office that day he went to the
courthouse on business for Charley
Norton Working or. idling principal
ly the latter--drunk or sober princi-
pally the former-tbe ghost, otherwise
Colonel Fentress, had preserved a
place IL, his thoughts, and now as he
moved stolidly up the drive towards
Fentress'' big white house on the hill
with Mahaffy, Cavendish, and Yancy
trailing in his wake, memories Of what
had once been living and vital crowded
In upon him. Some sense of the wreck
that Uttered the long years, and the
shame of the open shame that had
swept away pride and self.respect,
came back to him out of the past.
He only paused when he stood on the
portico before Fentress' open door, He
glanced about him at the wide fields,
bounded by the distant timber lands
that hid gloomy bottoms, at the great
log barns in the hollow to his right;
at the huddle of whitewashed cabins
beyond; then with his big fist he
reached in and pounded on the door.
The blows echoed loudly through the
silent house, and an instant later Fen
tress' tall. spare figure was seen ad-
from the far end of the hall.
"Who is it," he asked.
"Judg Price-Colonel Fentress," said
the Judge.
Judge Price," uncertainty, and still
4 81 had fattered myself that you
must have heard of me- said the
Judge. e. Il <'' y 3t
II think have" said Fentress, paus-
ing now.
He thinks he hast" muttered the
Judge under his breath.
"Will you come in?" it was more a
question than an invitation
IF you are at liberty" The colonel
bowed. s'Allow me-" the Judge contin-
ned. Colonel Fentress-Mr. Mahaffy
Mr.. Yancy and Mr.. Cavendish." Again
the colonel bowed. E,..ss b.
'"WiH you step into the library?"
VERY good" and the Judge followed
the colonel briskly down the hall
When they entered the library Fen
tress turned and took stock Of his
guests Mahaffy he had seen before;
Yancy and Cavendish were of course
strangers to him, but their appearance
explained them: last of all his glance
shifted to the judges He had heard
something Of those activities by means
Of which Slocum Price had strtven to
distinguish himself, and he had a GER
tain curiosity respecting the man. It
was Immediately satisfied. The Judge
had reached a degree of shabbiness
seldom equaled. and but for his mellow
effulgent personality might we'll have
passed for a common vagabond: and
if his dress advertised the state of his
finances. his face explained his habits.
No misconception was possible about
either
May offer you a glass OF liquor?"
asked Fentress, breaking the silence
He stepped to the walnut comfortable
where there was decanter and
glasses. BY gesture the Judge de-
clined the invitation Whereat the
colonel looked surprised, but not SO
as Mahaffy There was an
other silence.
Il don't think we ever met before?"
observed Fentress: There was some
thing in the fixed stare his visitor was
bending upon him that he found dis
quieting, just why, he could not have
told. 80 ~
But that fixed stare of the Judges
No, the man had j. It
hanged-he had grown older certainly,
but age had not come ungracefully;
he became the glossy broadcloth and
spOtless linen he wore Here was
man who could command the good
things of life, using them with ration
al temperance. The room itself was in
harmony with his character; it was
plain but rich in its appointments. at
once his library and his office, while
the well-filled cases ranged about the
walls showed his tastes to be in the
main scholarly and intellectual.
How long have you lived here?'
asked the Judge abruptly. Fentress
seemed to hesitate; but the Judges
glance, compelling and insistent, de.
an answer.
"Ten years
you have known many men Of all
classes as lawyer and planter?"
said the Judge. Fentress inclined his
head. The Judge took step nearer
him. People have great trick of
coming and going in these western
states-all sorts of damned riffraff
drift in and out of these new lands"
A deadly earnestness lifted the Judges
words above mere rudeness. Fentress,
cold and distant, made no reply. For
the past twenty years l have been
looking for a man by the name of
Gatewood--David Gatewood." Dis
ciplined as he was, the colonel started
Ever heard of him, Fen
tress?" demanded the Judge with a
savage scowl.
sssyyJho+,c oil fh;e - ~ . o., ri. :,