The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1916-08-17


"Just what does this meanT Caleb
faltered. where have you beenT"
He hardly recognized the boys voice.
II been daown 20 the city" Steve
slurred the words. II been daown to
git Miss Sarah dozen eggs, and run
into trouble daown there a-gittln' EN-"
you'd better go upstairs and get into
your old Clothes" Caleb advised him
then. "And I'll get you something less
less dangerous TO wear before night"
But the boy stood rigid still.
"win you" he asked. win you give
me another quarter nowr
"a quarter" echoed Caleb slowly.
even while he reached Into his pocket
and handed the coin to the boy. Nov.
what do you Here, where are you
going nowT'
why, I'm goin' back daown to the
city" he grated out. I'm goin' back
after Miss sarah's eggsr'
And he went, and when he returned
Che creases In the paper bag which
held his purchase were as fresh as
when II had left the grocer's counter.
"wen, Tm-Tm hangedr' Allison
murmured, after the boy had entered
the house. I'm hangedl You'll have
TO bring that youngster over. Cal, and
Introduce him TO the children"
Acting upon Dexter's suggestion, the
man took Steve the very next day and
| presented him TO the children who
we're guests I'm the big stucco and
| timber house: Little, shy, transparent
skinned Mary Graves and Carrot Deve.
reau and Archibald wickersham-th
Right Honorable Archie. But from
the very first Steves lack OF enthusi-
assn for their company impressed itself
upon Caleb. As q matter OF fact, the
boy did cross over. and join In their
games the first day or two, but II was
only after Caleb himself had suggested
IT, And more often than not he would
| be back again before an hour had pass
ed, to sit>silent and moody.
But IL needed no word OF Caleb's 10
keep Steve at home. without some
suggestion To urge him, the latter
showed no inclination to leave his own
yard, and yet he would sit, too, for
| hours upon the top step OF the veran
da, staring In the direction of the stuc.
co lodge and listening to the voices be-
hind the high hedge. More and more
often Garry Devereau came over and
Joined him instead. and together the
pair made almost daily trips down TO
the mills. A quick intimacy had grown
up between the two boys, an intima
cy which seemed all the stranger TO
Caleb because OF the contrast between
them.
From the beginning Steve had
evinced an Unsuitable appetite for
books; he started In to devour every
thing upon which he could lay his
hands. and the Hunter library was
lined with well stocked cases. But II
was the history volumes that drew
him most With a fat tome upon his
knees he would sit for hours In a cor
ner upon the floor, his eyes glued to
the pages. And one day. two weeks
after the occurrence OF the eggs. he
book In one hand. After she had
caught the drift OF his query Sarah
took the volume and found that he had
been reading OF the fabulous deeds OF
King Arthur and his Knights OF the
Round Table.
Steve went back TO his reading after
she had finished, but ever and again
that morning his eyes. blank with pre-
occupation, wandered from the type
ever and again his ears seemed to be
straining TO catch the echo OF childish
trebles from the yard beyond the
hedge. And after dinner Caleb was
astonished when the boy explained, q
little awkwardly. that he was going
oyer TO Allison's grounds for awhile
Allison himself passed Steve In tho
hedge gap and. with "A word OF greet
ing. stopped 10 shake hands with hin
gravely. So II came about that they
were sitting together, Dexter and Ca
leb, smoking In silence, when Barbarf
Allison's first scream came shrilling e
their ears They waited. staring al
each other until the riotous clamol
which rose set them TO running across
the lawn. But the scene which me-
Calebs eyes when he burst through
the shrubbery froze him into immobil
ity.
There was a seething pack Of chill
dren around two writing figures upoI
the ground; they were all shrieking IL
soprano panic-all save Garry Dever