The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-07-21

CHAPTER XIV
 1AYPORT was boiling over with
 IR rumor and surmise. Heman
 iHk had appealed to the courts. - asking that Captain Cy's ap- po1ntment as Bos'n's guardian be re- scinded- Cy had hired Lawyer Pea
 body of Ostable to look out for his interests.
 Angeline Phinney was having the time of her life The perfect board Ing house hummed like a fly trap. Ke- turah and Mrs. Tripp had deserted to the enemy, and the minority-meaning Asaph and Bailey-had little oppor- tunity to defend their friends cause, even if they had dared. Heman At ktns, his Christian charity and high mindedness. his devotion to duty re gardless of political consequences and the magnificent speech at town meet Ing were lauded and exalted. The Bay port Breeze contained full account of the meeting, and it was read aloud by Keturah amid hymns of praise from the elect
 Up at the Cy Whitaker place the days were afnlH ones. Therersalso le- gal questions were discussed with Eeorgianna. the board of strategy, Jo- sfah Dimick occasionally and more lnfrequently still Miss Dawes as par hcipants with Captain Cy in the dis eussions. Rumors were true in so far IS they related to MT. Atkins appeal To the courts and the captains retain Ing Lawyer Peabody of Ostable. MT. Peabody's opinion of the case was not Rncourag ging.
 'fYou see, captain he said, when his rlient visited him at his office, ''the odds are very much against us. The court appointed you as guardian with the understanding that this man Thomas was dead. Now. he is alive and claims his child. More than that. he has the most influential politician in this county back of him. We wouldn't stand fighting chance ex- cept for one thing-Thomas himself. He left his wife and the baby; desert ed them, so she said: went to get work, he says We can prove he was a drunken bIackguard before he went and that he has been drunk since he came back But they'll say-Atkins and his awyer-that the man was des- perate and despairing because of your refusal to give him his child. They'll hold him up as a repentant sinner anx- ious to reform and needing the little AAAAuCaCS EO aGlp keep a1Iu straight That's their game, and they'll play tt-be sure Of that. It sounds reasonable enough, too, for sinners have repenfed before now. And the long lost father coming back to his child is the one sure thing to win applause from the gallery-you know that-''
 Captain Cy nodded.
 He stopped, rose and, str1ding over to the window, stood looking out.
 How does she feel about it her Belf2' asked Peabody.
 Herr Bos'n? Why, that's the hardest of all Some of. the children at school poster her about her father. I don't knows you can blame 'em- young ones are made that way, I guess but she comes home to me cryin', and it's oh, Uncle Cy. he ain't my truly father, Is he? and You won't let him take me away from you, will your tIn it seems as if I should fly ont of the window. The poor little thingl And that puffed up humbug Atkins blowin' about his Christianity and all I've seen heather Injuns, who never heard of Christ, with more of His spirit inside 'em. There! I've shocked you, guess Sometimes I think this place is too narrer and cramped for me I've been around you know, and my New England brfngin' up has wore thin in spots. Seems if I must get somewheres and spread out or I'll bust"
 He threw himself into a chair. The lawyer clapped him on the shoulder
 There, there, captain,'' he said. Don't bust yet awhile Don't give up the ship If we lose in one court
 
 up the line And meantime we'll do a little investigating of friend Thomas career .since he left Concord. I've written to a legal acquaintance of mine in Butte, giving him the facts as we know them and a description of Thomas He will try to find out what the fellow did in his years out l west It's our best chance, as I told l you Keep your pluck up and wait i and see"
 The captain repeated this conver- i sation to the board of strategy when 1 he returned to Bayport- Miss Dawes had walked home from school with | Bos'n and had stopped at the house l to hear the report She listened, but l it was evident that something else | was on her mind.
 Captain Whitaker" she asked, "has | it ever struck you as queer that MT !! Atkins should take such an interest in l this matter? He is giving time and 1 counsel and money to help this man Thomas, who is a perfect stranger. to him Why does he do it?''
 Captain Cy smiled
 -'Why?'' he repeated. ''Why, to down me, of course I was gettin' too ever lastin' prominent in politics to suit him. I'd got you in as teacher, and had Lonzo Snow as good as licked for school committee Goodness knows what I might have run for next, cord In' to Heman's reasonin', and simply had to be smashed. It worked all right I'm so unhealthy now in the tight of most folks in this town that I esI'late they go home md sulphur szaoke their clothes after they meet