Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1915-01-13
The Impossible Boy
i By
CHAPTER xlILcontInued.

81 ,'.} CHAPTER xiII-contlnued.
Trying not to seem over-eager, he
took 1t and read the postmark and the
signature. It was Hills and came
from Jersey City! At last the scent
! was getting warm. What good for
Il tune! But he must not seem too
Il anxious; cor she might grow reticent.
Diplomacy, diplomacy! '5.. - .
/ You are treated better than I ami"
The complained whimsically. II haven't
even had card! But then, you are
q lady, which makes all the difference.
All! woman, lovely woman! How you
I fascinate and abuse us x. u y
She giggled self consciously. y 1.s.
E $50 this lis the latest news OF Hill"
said Pedro. Il suppose you write to
} each other frequently ?" e. .5,.S e Z;
& 81 well, nor said she. You see, I'm
engaged. told Mr.. Sam 1t was use
less, but he's 20 persistent" 81,
She giggled again. b .s5. ..,5
Poor SAINT" said Pedro. You are
4 very cruel! !" ...s if+$ 4
DO you happen to know his Jersey
4 address n she asked, thereby giving
& Pedro the information he wanted, to
]; wit: that she was unaware Of Hills
present wheIeabo ERE. a.s ;
Oh! he was only there for g day!"
said Pedro, putting the coin which she
/ indicated out Of his handful, upon the
counter. t".He might drop in here any
+ time. II he does, tell him Pedro was.
asking for him, will you? And now
Il good-by; 7 must be OF h = a is &:
Sjs AS Pedro joined his waiting com
\ panion outside he was met with q
string Of reproaches. .3 Ii H !. II
sss3 Never; before have seen you
/ tarry y 80 long with woman. oh,
waster Of precious moments! ]" said
y Beau-Jean. "sHow shall It benefit
4 thee?' HI I. sE ii Il. u IL Z 4 N
,5 4, TT has already done SOL" declared
| Pedro. Come, hasten with me. We
Y are going TO- Jersey City. l shall ex-
plain on the way" &. I: :t. 55 I. , 9. q.
Jones, the inadvertent detective, shut
Y Ming after. & 4 &,-5 .s5 VA ID slsft +
To discover where the picture post
card had been purchased would have
been almost impossible; but to locate
D the district In which 1t had been
mailed was easy enough, and that,
combined with the hour which had
!? been stamped upon it, was sufficient
I evidence to show that Sam had been
: near the waterfront at some time be-
4 tween eight and ten o'clock on the
Il evening Of the previous Monday. Con-
seQuently, the next problem that con
fronted them was what Hill had done
after dropping this exquisite chrome
into district ( " x Z, pillar boz Pedro
& at once tried to picture his own prob
\ able actions were he to find himself
/. in such a district at such an hour,
with, presumably, no com pany but Mr..
Jones! All! Il Of course! the cabarets
the saloons of the dance! That
/ seemed the obvious answer, butt he
consulted with *Beau-Jean, to be GER
!. tain. I. Az 4 Yes, Beau-J can would
Z make straight for the cafes, and Hill
I had probably done the same II
Thus it came about that the shades
OF evening found them lettering from
one low-browed ramshackle dive to
another, ever inquiring for Hill. OF
whom they: found no further sign.
u Finally, when nine o'clock had come,
and still nothing had been discovered;
Beau-Jean suggested that they. post
q spone their effort until the following
day, and rest their weary brains and
4 bodies for q while. But Pedro would
have nonetof these suggestions. n
s5E But I am hungry protested the
N giant. Il Here it is. Of an hour. and we
* have eaten nothing since noon. More
over, the bear is famished. Presently
The will begin to growl. M &, sS
5ss well, r. admitted Pedro reluctantly,
NET am hungry myself Let us 60 and
eat and smoke Afterward. we shall
\ feel more inclined to search. Where
II shall we 60 ~ ta B q &
II think there is lunch-wagon
# down by the DOCK" said Beau.J Jean,
let US make an examination"
All right" Pedro assented, and they
set OF at a brisk pace. in the direction
Y Of the lights. 5#. ( I,is Ii. .@ Ss''.
Sure enough, there was a lunch
B wagon backed up against the ferry
house, and as they approached. it took
on an increasingly familiar air. Pc
dro's interest was now quickened by
more than the thought OF food Where
Il had he seen that gaudy decoration be-
fore? I'LL. Holy saints! it was his
own! At the same instant Beau-Jean
recognized the movable hostelry Of Mr..
Isaac Lovejoy, with whoop of glee.
and they quickened their pace to a
{ run. The worthy proprietor was occu-
pied in serving a pair of customers
4 car conductors, or ferrymen, they ap-
+ peared to be-but when he caught
sight Of Pedro he dropped the slice
OF pumpkin pie that he was in the act
of transferring from platter to plate
/ and, entirely disregarding this small
mishap, he stretched out both hands
to the boy, broad smile Of welcome
y spreading over his now rudy face.
well, we'll, I'm blessed" he cried.
THE great little Teller! and the big
husky one, too! Well, well, amt this
grand? Come in, come in and eat.
It certainly does my eyes good ter see
you" ~. ~ =. q - J. 3
=, A very different person from the fat
but Respondent lunch-wagoner whom
Pedro had met in the grimy little sub
urban square was the present smiling
and prosperous I. Lovejoy, who
beamed, who laughed, who pressed
I his best viands upon them. True, he
was still very fat-fatter than ever
but the world had gone well with him.
and he seemed to have used his smil-
ing likeness on the wagons exterior
as an example to be lived up to.
well, well! What brings you way
off here?" he asked. when they had
eaten.