Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1913-08-12
CHAPTER XVII.
The Trespasser.

TILL the sun was high John Valiant
Law on his back in the fragrant
grass, meditatively watching buc-
caneering chicken-hawk draw WIDEN
ing circles against the blue and lis
tening to the vibrant tattoo of a
"pecker- wood" on q far-away tree
and the timorous wet whistle OF a
bob white. The sun shone through the
tracery of the foliage, making a
ouiverins mosaic of light and shadow
all about him. A robin ran across the
grass with his breast puffed out as
If he had been stealing apples; now
and then an inquisitive yellow ham
mer darted above and in the bushes
cardinals woVe slender sharp flashes
of living crimson. The whole place
was very quiet now. For just one
thrilling moment it had burgeoned
into sound and movement, when the
sweaty horses had stood snorting and
stamping in the yard with the hounds
scampering between their legs and
the riding-c coats winking like rubies
in the early sunshine.
Had she recognized him as the
smudged tinkerer of the stalled car?
"She saw me drop that wretched brute
through the window" he chuckled.
I could take an oath to that. But
she didn't give me away, true little
sport that she was. And she won't.
| can't think of any reason, but [
know" The chuck1e broadened to an
appreciatiye grin. "What an ass she
must have thought mel To risk a
nasty bite and rob her of her brush
into the bargain! How she looked at
me, just for a minute, with that thor
oughbred face, out of those sea-deep
eyes, under that whorling, marvellous
hai Of he
cry? | wonder'
At length he rose and went back to
the house. With a bunch of keys he
had found he went to the stables,
after some difficulty gained access,
and propped the crazy doors and WIN
dows open to the sun. The building
was airy and well-lighted and con-
tanned a dozen roomy box-stalls, a
spacious loft and q carriage house.
The straw bedding had been unre-
moved, mice-knawed sacking and
rotted hay lay in the managers, and
the warped harness, hanging on its
pegs, was a smelly mass OF mildew
and decay. In the carriage house
were three vehicles--a coach with rat
riddled upholstery and fashioned
hoop-iron springs eaten through with
rust, a rockaWay and a surrey. The
latter had collapsed where it stood.
He found a stick, moved away the
festooning cobwebs, and moved the
debris piece-meal.
"Theren' he said with satisfaction.
There's a place for the motor-if
Uncle Jefferson ever gets it here
1t was noon when he returned, after
wash-up in the lake. to the meal
with which Aunt Daphne, in a cos
tune dimly suggestive of a bran
meal poultice with a bingham apron
on, RECALLED him. Fried chicken. corn
bread so soft and fluffy that it had
to be lifted from the pan with a
spoon, Drowned potatoes and, to his
surprise. fresh milk. "Ah done druv
ouah OF cow ovah, suh," explained
Aunt Daphne. Cease she gotter be
MIXED, er she run dry ez de Red Sea
TO de chillon OBJ Izril."
Aunt Daphne" inquired Valiant
with his mouth full, what do you
call this green thing?"
Dat? OATS jes' turnip-tops. sinh.
wild ar hunk er bacon in de pot.
Laws-er me, ct cert'n'y do me good
ter see YOU git arter it dat way, sub.
Reck'n yo' got er appetite, Hyuh,
Hyuhi"
Il have. | never guessed it before
and it's a magnificent discovery
However, it suggests unwelcome re,
] Hectlons Aunt Daphne, how long do
| you estimate a man can dine like this
on-well say on a hundred dollars %
"Er hun'ed dollahs, sub? OATS er
right smart heap O. money, deed ct
is! Well, sub, pens on whut yo
raises. Eff, yo' raises yo' own gyar-
densass en- chick'ns en- aigs, All
reck' n yo' kin live longah dan dat al
! Methoolsalum, en- still hab mos of IL
in de OF stocSin'"
"Ah! can grow all those things
myself, you Think"
"Yo' certn'y kim" said Aunt Daph.
ne. "Ev'ybody do. De chicks done
peck TO deyselves en- de yuddaf