The Washington herald., 1913-10-17
CRAVEN IMAGE.
By MARTHA -a1eCuLLoCH-wILLIAi

U
By MARTHA A-aIeCULL0CH-wILLIAms.
coprishf. ISIS By the MsCurs Nsuspspsr syndicats
AIidvaIs was asog. Well II might be-
In a society whose epochs were births.
deaths, and marriages. a man. q mystery
and a motor car. all strange, all In some
occult fashion linked together, all coming
nobody knew how OF why. were amply
sufficient to set all tongues wagging.
The man came first by six hours He
was thin and tail, with a face youngish
but lined, his hands were wasted. and
his voice q tribe uncertain Still he was
very masculine-as Betty, the tavern
maid. was ready TO avouch. He had
rallied at the sheets, calling for long fresh
ones, big enough to tuck all over the
mattress. He had further ordered the
feather bed into retirement, and set wide
every one Of the three big windows.
I'm here for air-understand. you have
plenty of IL, he had said. Don't try to
stop us from coming together. Curtains?
Take down the lot Of them. Take your
rugs out OF sight-they profane floor
boards OF real hsndsawn oak.
"Also he had banished three perfectly
good chromos In fine gilt frames. After
that he had flung himself on the fresh
white bed and slept like a baby-until
the mystery appeared, that Is to say.
When IL halted In the turnpike, fifty yards
on thA tavern gate, folks stared hard
enough. but nothing to compare with
what they did when the truckman who
had fetched II unhitched his team, mount
ed the leader and whisked away with
out a word to anybody. The thing he
had left behind was full of angles. and
jutting offsets-so much was plain through
la padded swathing of tarpaulin upon
excelsior. Before real investigation could
determine more, the motor. large md
blue, with a forbidding chauffeur sitting
primly upright at the wheel. hummed in
to town and out. stopping at last in front
Of Gilead gates and staying there.
Once Gilead had been the show place
Of Midvale. Now II was a ruin, pic
turesque but hardly habltable. It had
stood twenty years tensntless-but lately
rumor said the last of the family was
coming back to see after it. Hence the
apparitlon OF the halted motor was not
really 30 amazing as the other things.
The Ransoms. owners OF Gilead, had
been rich-very rich for their time. II
motors had been in fashion then they
would doubtless have owned at least
three.
The man slouching out into the gazing
crowd. viewed the mystery with eyes
that twinkied- Every hear Of Gilbert
RansomT' he asked OF Squire Barrow.
who was poking the mystery tentatively
with his cane.
The squire snorted. 'T knew Glib
Ransom same as 1 did my own self.
while he was in these parts" he said.
standing stralghter. "What makes ye
ask? Has he done anything? Out o.
the common I mean? The papers amt
mentioned him as I've seen"
mo; he's merely made millions; more
than he can count handIly," the man
answered with a faint. very faint
chuckle. Mind. I'm not saying / know
IL, but il has somehow got through my
head that he's tired Of making money.
and now wants to play with IT. Wonder
how Midvale would take II IL he came
here. and played with II, by giving II
Gilead for a park
'why, I should say we'd welcome him
as a noble and patriotic native SON
onless he wanted franchises and things
to set up trolley fight. you know"
the squire said, doubtfully. "fe see. We
had a trolley fight three years back.
and the upshot was We had ter walk
three months with snow two feet deep"
"He isn't that sort-not at all. In
fact, / don't believe you could chase
him fast enough TO give him any sort
of franchise" the man answered, lift
ing the tarpaulin from a specially salient
spot and peering underneath. With
satisfied chuckle, he Strengthened and
went on: "If this town is wise, II will
get busy-at once. Ransom Is coming
here in a fortnight or so. He ought
to find himself famous-in Midvale as he
is elsewhere. Indeed, suppose he cameI
and saw his statue set up here in front
Of the Old First Church-his people
worshiped there, i hear-why, he'd be
about ready to goldplate the town.
''But-we haven't got no statoot-and 1t
takes time to make them things" the
squire said. his eyes round, his mouth
hanging open in surprise. The man
laughed softly. my name is Hartly-and
] have got a statue. A model rather
there IL is-just the clay, you know. But
I will show what bronze or marble will
be like. Suppose we set IL upon specula-
ton, as il were?"
How dye come by it," the squire
asked.
Again Hartly laughed. "Fve a knack
at such things" he said. "Also. I've a
knack of adaptation. Don't tell-it would
ruin US sculptors to give away our secrets
but we can get exact measurements
from the tailors: after that 1t Is only a
matter of eye and knowledge how. 1 had
the further advantage of seeing Ransom
pretty often-his daughter brought him
to my place; she is simply dippy over
art"
"And artistses-eh?" the squire supple
mented. giving Hartly dig in the ribs.
Say, lad" he went on. tell me the
straight Of all this. I sorter like your
looks II you're straight and square
why. I'd know. But I'll see you
through"
"a bargainr' Hartly said. holding out
his hand.
They walked on together. to the won
derment Of the crowd.
sss
Midvale simply wallowed in excitement
throughout the next month-An army Of
restorers was making Gilead not only
habitable, but luxurious; another army,
smaller but more astonishing through be-
ing foreign was busy in front of the Old
First. doing something inside a high fence
something which nobody was permitted
to see in full. Adventurous lads an
nounced from the fence top, sundry and
several things-it was a house. grave.
a set of stairsteps, they were building.
The one sure thing was that the town
council had authorized the work. agreeing
to pay for it out Of its own pocket, II
need should arise.
The mystery rested also inside the high
fence-it had been drawn there first
thing. Hartly was there the best part OF
the time, except for the days when he
went motoring in the big car, along with
a very pretty girl whom 1t fetched in the
morning and took away at night He had
lost the pallor Of illness, grown plump i
and tanned, even ruddy-his eyes twinikled