Evening star., 1917-05-20

at Sam. Don't you know whom he
belongs to?'
Nom It was just dog"
have been dreadfully frightened when
you came home and she saw
She was interrupted by the entrance
of a middle-aged colored woman "Miz
Williams" she began. and then. as she
caught sight of Penrod, she addressed
him directly. You ma telefoam II you
here, send you home right away, cause
they waitin' dinner on you
Run along. then" said Mrs: Will
liams, patting the visitor lightly upon
his shoulder; and she accompanied him
to the front door, Tell your mother
I'm so sorry about your getting bitten.
and you must take good care Of it, Pen
rod
"Yes'm"
Penrod fingered helplessly outside the
doorway, looking at Sam, who stood
partially obscured in the hall, behihd
Mrs. Williams. Penrod's eyes, with
veiled anguish, conveyed a pleadins
for help. as well as horror OF the
position in which he found h1msel1.
Sam, however, pale and determined
seemed to have assumed stony atti.
tude of detachment, as IL 1t were well
understood between them that his own
comparative innocence was established,
and that whatever catastrophe ensued,
Penrod had brought 1t on and must
bear the brunt of it alone.
well, you'd better run along, since
they're waiting for you at home, said
Mrs. Williams, closing the door. Good
night, Penrod."
Ten minutes later Penrod
took his place at his own dinner table.
somewhat breathless, but with an ex-
preston of perfect composure.
Cant you ever come home without
being telephoned for?" demanded his
father.
yes, sir" And Penrod added re-
proachfully,> placing the blame upon
members Of Mr.. Schofield's own class,
"Sam's mother and father kept me, or
keep on talkin', and I guess I had to
be polite. didn't II"
His left arm was as free as his right;
there was no dreadful bulk beneath
his jacket, and at Penrod's age the
future is too far away to be worried
about. The difference between tempo
rary security and permanent security
is left for grown people. To Penrod
security was security, and before his
dinner was half eaten his spirit had
become fairly serene.
Nevertheless, when he entered the
empty carriage house of the stable. on
his return from school the next after
noon, his expression was not altogether
without apprehension, and he stood in
the doorway looking well about him
before he lifted a loosened plank in
the flooring and took from beneath it
the grand old weapon of the williams
any pleasurable excitement as he sat
himself down in a shadowy corner and
began some Sketchy experiments with
the mechanism. The allure Of first
sight was gone. In Mr.. Williams bed
chamber. with Sam clamoring for pos
session, it had seemed to Penrod that
nothing in the world was SO desirable
as to have that revolver in his own
hands-it was his dream come true.
But. for reasons not definitely known
to him, the charm had departed: he
turned the cylinder gingerly, almost
with distaste, and slowly there stole
over him a feeling that there was
something repellent and threatening in
the heavy blue steel.
X +
Thus does the long-dreamed real mis-
behave-not only for Penrod.
More out of sense of duty to bing-
ism in general than for any other sea-
son. he pointed the revolver at the
lawn mower and gloomily murmured,
"Bing''
Simultaneously. a low and cautious
voice sounded from the yard outside.
"Yay, Penrod" and Sam Williams
darkened the doorway, his eye falling
instantly upon the weapon in his
friends hand. Sam seemed relieved to
see 1t.
you didn't get caught with it, did
you?" he said hastily.
Penrod shook his head, rising
Il guess not! I guess 1 got some
brains around me-" he added, inspired
by Sans presence to assume a slight
swagger. They'd have to get up
pretty early to find any good ole re-
volaver, once I got my hands on it,"
II guess we can keep it, all right
Sam said confidentially. Because this
morning papa was putting on his win
ter underclothes and he found it
wasn't there. and they looked all over
and everywhere. and he was pretty
mad, and said he knew it was those
cheap plumbers stole it that mamma
got instead of the regular plumbers he
always used to have, and he said there
wasn't any chance ever gettin' it back,
because you couldn't tell which one
took it, and they'd all swear it wasn't