The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-01-22

hog tryin' to find it. Which way are
you headed at this time O night? Late
fer you to be out, amt it?"
ST wasn't goin' nowhar," Abe replied
hesitatingly,
sat the blacksmith's shop in the edge
| O. town this mornin' the Teller that was
| blowin' the bellows, Abe, said you'd
| jest passed along an a1ed eff he'd SEED
| me. Was it anything particular vol
| Wanted?"
Fulton blinked helplessIy.
mo, II didn't want nothin','' he
said haltingly. ''Nothin' at all. I was
| jest wonderin eff you'd passed along
Up The voice died away.
Abe looked toward the full moon and
stood stroking the bristling, week old
beard on his chin.
"Oh, I'll bet you did want to see
me-" Abner said. ''You are jest a little
BACKYARD an slow to come to a thing,
Abe. I used to be that way myself till
politics, tradin' bosses, an one thing
or other learnt me that it wouldn't do.''
The man offered no denial, and of
this Abner made a mental note
81 did want to see you,'' he blurted
out. 81 hain't been right in my mind
here lately. Sometimes I don't know
what I'm sayin' Or dom. Ny wife has
noticed it an called my attention to it
several times''
"Ah, he is goin' to own up an claim
mental unsoundness. Abner reflected,
while sudden glow of hope suffused
him! He's sharp enough to know that
it will strengthen his claim" Then
aloud to Fulton, he said: GA man amt
accountable fer what he does when
he's that way, Abe, especially eff he's
all keyed up in pity over somebody be-
in harmed or wronged-seme helpless
person that he hated to see suffer-
Fulton seemed so much absorbed
over what he was now bent on saying
that Abner's words fell on closed ears.
Il was havin' one o my worst spells
other evenin' when you was out look
in fer yo' boss. Td>been feelin' so bad
that I drunk lot o. whisky just fore
you come. thought that, would clear
ID my mind, but tuck too much. l
Trunk mighty nigh a pint, all told. I
vas jest gittin' under the influence of
it when 1 wes talkin' to you, am after
you left was plumb soaked. Ny wife
overheard the ramblin' way I was talk
IN to you, an when come in-or it
was the next mernin', when my mind
she had never heard anybody say sech
ridiculous things in er life.'
Ridiculous % Abners heart sank in
sheer dismay over the unexpected stand
the man was taking. ridiculous? Did
you say ridiculous, Abe2"
Yes; an I've been tryin' to remem-
Der what it was did say that night.
think, among other things, we talked
about-about''-
Yes, we talked about Craig an How
ard Tinsley," Abner went on fiercely,
for the course Fulton was taking had
upset one of his best hopes. ''You said
you was sorry fer the boy-you said
he'd done you fayors, an you seemed
to think. though I didn't fully agree
with you at the time, that Howard
was tellin' the truth"
81 may have said it, Abe went on
insistently, keeping his desperate gaze
on wheel cut rut in the road, which
he wa@nervously kicking with the toe
of his coarse shoe. 81 don't git full
often, but when / dol slobber over an
sometimes cry about the least thing.
My wife said I cried abouts Howard
when got to bed after you left that
night an said he was bein' treated
wuss'n a dog. That was odd, too, for 1
q 4
reckon Howard is as nice as the gen
eFal run o. boys. but everybody knows
he has hot temper an armed hisse'f
an went lookin' fer his man.
Yes, he has a hot temper Abner
was speaking at random in an effort to
get his bearings. Never before had he
felt his Ingenuity put to such a bewil-
dering test, and his hope of rescuing
was becoming less and less as
he realized the safe ground Fulton now
stood upon. Was it possible that the
wass OF u man Of this low type could
defeat his own?
I'm gotn' to quit drinkin'. even fer
my health" Abe went on, the glare of
a half insane man in his eyes. You
must a thought I was a plumb idiot
that night, an must a been actually
full O. liquor"
Il didn't smell it on you, Abe. I was !
bothered about my boss an the hard
work me an Mary have on our hands
in the Office, You can have no idea how
awful it is to be In sech a tight place as
me'n her are in.'' -
'T remember little bit O. what I |
said-jest sort o. like a dream, you
know, Mr.. Daniel. I think maybe
talked about-about my cousin susy
Thomas an her trouble. Bein' out o. |
my head that way >an' thar bein' so
much talk about-aboptA Craig's bad
reputation with women. reckon I got
the pore gal mixed up with him some
way in my silly mind. She did have
trouble like that. but a young Teller
knowed about that used to run as
brakeman on the W. and a. road was
the one that was to blame. He desert
ed her all right enough, an run away
somewhar. IL must give the devil
his due, an Craig, with all that is said
agin i'm, ortn't to be blamed with
with another feller's deeds
IT see, see" Abner said, helplessly.
''But she did-you said, believe, that
you got word back from Texas that the
pore gal died out thar"
There was just a hint of hesitation,