Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1917-01-11
CHAPTER ii.
The Logical Custodian.

IggzSSSs sad:
~ live friend here, Sarah,
whom I'd like to-er-present to you.
This is my sister, Miss Hunter" he ar
nounced to the silent boy, land this
young man. Sarah. this young man is
-er-ah-Mr"-
'1;m Steve" said the boy mildly.
I'm just Stephen O'Mara."
"CertaiEst" gasped Caleb quite
so-quite so, Sarah, this is just Steve"
| The frail little woman with her
quaint dignity of another decade failed
to move. She did not unbend so much
as the fraction of an inch. But hard
upon the heels Of Caleb's last words
the boy went forward unhcsitatingly.
Hat in the hand that balanced his big
steel trap, he stopped in front of her
and offered one brown paw.
'Haow dye do, Miss Hunter?' he sa-
luted her gravely. and with a slow
smile that discovered for her row Of
white and even teeth: "Haow dye do?
| IL reckon you're the first dressed up
lady ever did git to know
The calm statement took what little
breath there had been left in Caleb's
| lungs. 1t left Sarah breathless too.
But after an infinitesimal moment Of
waiting she held out her own delicate
fingers and took the Outstretched hand.
"HaoW dye do, Steve:' she answer
ed. and Caleb was at a loss to in
terpret the suppressed quality of her
voice. "And I-some day l am sure it
will be a great pleasure to remember
that was the-frstr'
Then she faced her brother.
"Wil your-will your friend, MI
| Steye-remain for supper, Cal?' she
asked
And Caleb, quick to see an opening.
made the most of this one.
"Stay for SUPPER he repeated her
| question, and he laughed. "Stay-for-
supper! Well, should hope he would
Why-why, he's going to stop for the
night"
| From the vantage place there at the
| top Of tho steps Sarah stood and sur
veyed her brothers wide and guileless
| face for a second. Then her lips began
| to twitch.
every clever, CAL" she told him.
Quite clever-for your
And she Godded and withdrew to see
| that the table was laid for three.
Caleb, cl1uckling, watched her go;
| then, with nod to the boy, he started
to follow her in. But Steve paused ct
! the threshold, and when the man stop
I ped and looted back to ascertain the
cause Of his delay he found that the
| boy was dcnOsiting the bear trap upon
the porch floor-found him tu@ging to
free the rusty old revolver from his
belt.
"Tn leave Samanthy here" the one
called Steve stated, and Caleb under
stood that he meant the trap. AN |
reckon ia better not lug my weapon
| into the house neither, he'd I? She
might He nodded in the direction
of Sarah's disappearance. "O!d Tom
SAYS womin folks that's gentle born air
! kinda skittish about hayin' shoOtin'
| irons araOund the place. And | don't
reckon it's the part of men folks to
poster EN-
Caleb didn't know just what to say,
so he merely nodded approval. Again
| he had been made to feel that it was
not a boy, but some little old man, who
was explaining to him. Silently he led
the way upstairs md after he had seen
the blanket pace. deposited in one cor
ner of Saiah'S beloved guest room,
after he had seen the rusty coat peeled
! off as q preface to removing the dust
accumulation of the long hot day from
| hands and face, an inspiration came to
/ him. While the boy was washing, ut
| terly lost 10 everything but that none
! too simple task, he went out of the
| room on q still hunt of his own and
came back presently with the thing for
which he had gone searching. He
| found the boy wrestling q little deSpCr-
ately with mop of Wavy chestnut
hair, which only grew the more help
less with every stroke Of the brush.
"Never mind that" Caleb met the
misrepresentation in the boys eye.
"Never mind that. And 1--we taken
the liberty Of digging out this old can
| Sarah-for my sister-but, as you say,
women folks are mighty skittish about
anything that has to do with a gun.
She never would go even so far as to
try it on, but if you don't mind That
coat of yours must be trifie hot for
this weather, l should say"
Steve reached out n hand that trem-
bled little and took the coat. He took
it and stared at it with that same
strained and hungry look which he
had bestowed a half hour before upon
the "city."
"Do you mean" he asked, and his
lips remained parted breathlessly upon
the questionable you mean-this
yeres for me?'
Caleb thought Of the ''injine"-the
steam mime"
Il mean just that if you'll have it."
he replied.
The boy slipped his little body into
the garment and wheeled to survey
| T. -, Tn ric