Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1914-11-07
CHAPTER XII,
Hedgerow House

centric circles of scandal
financial. political. social-and
mostly untrue. Those in which the
greatest portion of truth inferred dealt
with the escapades of Wilfrid Blair.
the only son and heir OF the household
who had burned up all the paternal
money he could lay hands on. writing
his name in red fire across the night
life OF London. Paris and New York.
firing OF this. he had come home and
married girl OF nineteen. beautiful
and innocent. whose parents. the elder
piously opined. had sold her to the
devil per Mr.. Blair. agent. The girl.
whose maiden name was Marjorie Dor
rance-Kent's fingers went to his ear
Mt this-had left Blair after a year OF
marriage. though there was no legal
process. and he had returned to his
haunts of the gutter until retribution
overlook him in the form of tubercu-
losis. His father had brought him to
their place on Sundayman's creek. and
there he was kept in semi-seclusion
visited from time TO time by his young
wife. who helped to care for him.
That's the story they tell.'' COM
mented the elder. but some folks has
got suspicious. My own suspicious is
that the young Teller hasn't got no
more consumption that you have. al
though he's got a man nurse. 1 think
old Blair has got him here to keep him
out of the papers,
Publicity is not to Mr.. Blair's taste
then?''
II don't believe the old man would
hardly stop short of murder to keep
his name out of print. He's kind o.
.oony on the subject. Sailor Milt
Smith is the Teller that can tell you
about the family and the place Here
he comes up the street
He thrust his head out of the door
and called. Sailor Smith. sturdy and
white. entered and greeted Kent cour-
teously.
Mr.. bennett was saying" remark
ed Kent. that You know something of
the history of Hedgerow house. as l
believe they call it.
. They call it," repeated the old sailor
"Who calls it? II you mean the Blair
place. that's Hogg's haven. that is,
You can't wipe out that name while
there's a man living as knew the place
at its worst. Old Captain Hogg built
It and lived in it and died in it, The
devil is fryin' bacon out of old Hogg
today for the things he done in that
house"
How long since did he die?"
''Oh. twenty year back
And the house was sold soon afterT'
stood vacant for ten years Then
this Teller Blair bought it. 1 don't
know him, but he bought a weevily
biscuit there. A bad house. it is-rot-
ten bad
Whats wrong with it?''
MEMS bones in the brick and wom-
ems blood In the mortar
WAS the old boy eannibal:" asked
Kent. amused by the sea veterans
heroics.
Just as bad-slave trader"
Have you ever been in the house?''
''Many's the time when it was Hogs
haven. Only once since. They do tell
that the curse has come down with the
house and is heavy on the new owners
SON.
so I've heard"
The old white head wagged bodingly.
The curse of the blood" he said. It's
on all that race
Hogs oldest sister was the grand
mother of this young felier's mother,
wasn't she:" put in Elder bennett;
THAT right. Wilfrid Blair's great
And bad 'un. too. guess" con-
tinued the elder relishingly.
Don't you say it," cried the old sea-
man. The curse of the blood was on
hn ff1ll
so my mother used TO tell me, but not
bad She came in at Lonesome Cove
too"
Drowned at sea?' asked Kent.
They never knew. One day she
came in. They said in the country
side that she had the gift of second
sight and foretold her own death"
"Hum-m." unused Kent. And now
the Blairs have changed the name of /
the place. No wonder"
There's one thing they haven't /
the private buryin' plot"
Family"
Hogs there. all right, an never a .
parson in the countryside dared to
speak TO God about his soul. when
they laid him there. His nephew. too. /.
mat was as Didch HeuTteu as ulDSelI {
But the rest of the graves has got no /
headstones."
'Slaves?"
Them as he kept for his own serv- /
ce an killed in his tantrums. Nobody /
Knows how many. You can see the ,
bend OF the creek where they lie, from .
he road. and the old willows that lean
over 'em."
Cheerful sort of person the late Mr.. /
aogg seems to have been Any relics
II his trade in the house,"
Relies? You may say so. His old .
pistols and compasses, guns. nautical
Instruments and the loaded whalebone
whip that they used TO say he slept
With They've got 'em hung on the
walls now for ornyments. Ornyments.
4 they'd seen 'em as I've seen 'em,
hey'd sink the dummed things in
hundred fathom o clean sea-
"Sailor Smith was cabin boy on one
f the old Hogg feet one voyage" ex-