Oxford Democrat., 1915-07-13

doubts about her in the minds Of all
his family.
Mr.. scboHeld shook his bead pity.
ingiy.
"I'm afraid shss Q sones." b wsnk
% far as to say.
'tOf all the weird ideasr' cried Mar.
garet
II never heard anything Ike It in my
ufew Mrs. Schoneld exclaimed. WAS
that all she saidT'
"Every wordr'
Penrod again resumed attention %
bis soup. His mother looked ct him
curtously, and then. struck by Q sod
svWaiti shs stsed thew sqvssziNe ~
hand and struggling 70 get her ~e'es.
den thought, gathered the glances oe
the adults of the table by q significant
movement Of the head, and, by snoth-
er, conveyed an admonition to drop tho
subject until later. Miss Spence was
Penrod's teacher. II was better. foe
many reasons, not to discuss the sub
ject Of her Queerness before him. This
was Mrs. Schonsld's thought st the
time. Later she had another. and Il
kept her awake.
The next afternoon Mr.. Schoneld, re-
turning at s o'clock from the cares Of
the day, found the house deserted and
sat down to read his evening paper In
what appeared to be an uninhabited
apartment known to its own world -
the drawing ROOM" A sneeze, unex-
pected both to him pnd the owner. In
formed him Of the presence Of another
person.
where are you, Penrodr' the par.
ent asked, looking about.
Here" said Penrod meekly.
STOPPING, Mr.. Schoneld discovered
his son squatting under the piano. near
an open window-his wistful Duke. ~
ing beside him.
What are you doing thereT
"MeT
"Why under the pianoT
"Well," the boy returned with grave
sweetness, II was just kind Of sitting
here-thinking."
"All right" Mr. Schoheld, rather
touched, returned to the digestion Of
q murder, his back once more TO the
piano, and Penrod silently drew from
beneath his jacket where he had slip
ped 1t simultaneously with the sneezs)
q paper backed volume entitled. "slim-
sy, the Sioux City SQuealer: or. Not
Guilty, Your Honor"
In this manner the reading club con-
tinued in peace, absorbed, contented.
the world well forgot-unttl Q sudden.
violently irritated slam bang Of the
front door startled the members, and
Mrs. Schofeld burst into the room and
threw herself into q chair moaning.
"What's the matter, mammaT ask
ed her husband, laying aside his paper.
Henry Passloe scho6sld." return
ed the lady, II don't know what Il 70
be done with that boy; I do not!'
"You mean Penrodr
"Who else could I meanT She sat
up, exasperated. to stare at him
"Henry Passloe Schoneld, you've got
to take this matter In your hands. Irs
beyond me-"
"Well. what has he'-
LAST night got to thinking sAs
began rapidly. "about what Clara told
us-thank heaven she and Margarst
and little Clara have gone to tea at
Cousin Charlotte'tbut they'll be homo
soon-about what she said about Miss
Spence
"You mean about Penrod's being .
comfortr'
Yes, and I kept thinking and think
ing and thinking about It till couldnt
stand It any,
by Georgs!" shouted Mr.. schoheh
startlingly. STOPPING to look under The
piano. A statement that be had SOD
denly remembered his sons presence
would be lacking In accuracy, for the
highly sensitized Penrod was, In fact,
no longer present. No more was Duke.
his faithful dog.
whats the mattefr
Nothing" he returned, striding 70
the open window and looking out
''Go on"
"Oh! she moaned. 1T must be kept
from Clara. And I'll never hold up my
head again II John Fairy ever hears
Of it!'
Hears Of whatr'
"Well, / Just couldn't stand It, I got
so curious. And thought, OF course,
II Miss Spence had become a little
unbalanced 1t was my duty to know
It as Penrod's mother and she his
teacher. 30 I thought I would just
call on her at her apartment aftss
school and have chat and see. And
did, and-oh"-
"WellY'
"Iye tust come from there. and she
told me-she told me! Oh. I've never
known anything like this"
What did she tell your"
Mrs. Schofeld, making q great e.
fort, managed to assume a temporary
appearance Of calm. Henry she
said solemnly, "bear this In mind,
whatever you do to Penrod 1t must be
done In some place when Clara won't
hear it. But the first thing to do is to
find him."
Within view Of the window from
which Mr.. Schofeld was casing was
the closed door of the storeroOm In tho
stable, and just outside this door Duke
was performing a most engaging trick.
His young master had taught Duke
to sit up and beg when he wanted
anything, and II that didn't get It 10
speak" Duke was facing the closed
door and sitting up and begging, and
now he also SPOKEN a loud, clear
bark.
There was an open transom over the
door, and from this descended-hurled
by an unseen agency-a can half dlled
with old paint
II caught the small besieger Of the
door on his thoroughly surprised right
ear, encouraged him to some remarka'
BILE acrobatics and turned large por'
tions Of him a dull blue. Allowing
only moment to perplexity and dectd-
ing after single and evidently unap-
petizing experiment not to cleanse him