Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1916-1918, 1917-04-13
Evening Story
H JUDGES CATCH"
Bv Oliver Grav,

Copyright, 1917, by the Mcclure
Newspaper Syndicate.)
The Judge was fishing. He was a
good fisherman, not because he caught
SO many Of the finny tribe, but because
he could sit hour in and hour out, day
in and day out. week In and week out
without getting a single strike and
without losing his patience.
The river stretched away on both
sides, quiet. undisturbed by so much
as a ripple; the day was warm and
very still. Willows fanked the stream
on both sides and under one Of these
in an old boat, with a straw hat baked
brown with the sun of many summers
a pair of trousers long since overdue in
the missionary box and pipe caked al
most solid sat the Judge, happy as a
boy out of school.
His thoughts were drifting like the
white clouds in the blue sky reflected
in the water. ANY fellow is a fool VINO
! goes to a summer resort Puff!
Dress up and mind your manners, pre-
tend you're clear sappy over half the
fools in the world, chase a golf ball til!
you drop and a lot Of rot. This-is the
life He felt a tug and gently rails
sed the line. 1t zane up too easily to
be carrying freight and dropped 1t
again.
It's nice to be free. If a fellow was
married he'd have to go where the fam
lily wanted. Look at poor Willis drag
ged away like a lamb to the slaughter.
| He didn't want to go to the mountains
any more than I want to go to the bad
! place. That's what he gets. for getting
married. Any softly can do that" Sud
denly he felt a pull on his line. He
reeled in slowly. very slowly. Its a
hig bass, I'll bet" he exulted. 81 always
knew the river was full Of EN-. I'll
| take a picture of it and send it to WI
lis
But to his surprise he hauled In not
! a bass but a pocket book. well, I'll
be hanged. I've fished up rubber boots
and clock springs but this IS the first
time ANYTHING like this has come my
way" He was wiping the mud off on
the grass and by this time had uncov-
cred a long fiat purse of patent leather
with fiat plates of silver at each end
and a silver clasp. He turned it over
thouehtfully. Wet and soggy as it was
it had not lost its identity and it was
coming to him slowly that he had seen
that same purse before. Could it be?
Or was he Just having n of those
hallucinations common to us all thar
the event of the moment has happened
icons Of ages before. and that we
know. almost but not quite, what is so
ing to happen next. He laid the purse
on the seat in front of her and nursing
his knee, puffed th%ouehtfully.
"nf onIrca: he arcued "hpr mama
and address are inside and its r'd'cu-
lous for me to waste time guessing.
But there's something about hat purse
that brings back = I have it. 1t was
the case Of the Crockett heirs and the
whole family connection was in court.
She wore dark blue and had sort OF
copper colored hair and deep blue eyes
and she dropped this pocket book three
times and every time young Skllings
| picked it up for her she blushed as red
as her hair. Pretty girl! She was
afraid of me. l remember. Wouldn'.
look at me al all. Thought I'd bite her
head off / guess. Come to think of it
I lost some sleep over those ewes for
several days. If l were like Willis and
hadn't the sense to keep my head !
might be married to them by this time.
I'll just open 1t to make sure it be-
longs to her" But the first thing he
pulled out was a newspaper chipping,
wet and discolored but nevertheless
perfectly decipherable. In the center
was his own photograph! On the mar
gin was written in ink. THE peachiest
thing you ever saw Only about 30.
Dream of him every night. Sorry
when the case is over
Shades of Izaac Walton. The fish
were forgotten and Sc were the river
and the clouds and the weakness OF
Willis. who was led to the mountains.
He gathered up his tackle and poles
picked up his oars and rowed down
river to the landing and thence went
afoot across fields to his farmhouse.
"Mr. Elder. T found a pocketbook to.
day with a Miss Eileen Porter's card
in it. You don't happen to know her
do you?"
mo, don't believe I do. Nobody
around this neighborhood by that name
Must be-oh, ! know. she's likely n
of those girls who visited the
They have a summer home here on the
hill, but they're all away now. Tha'
was a month ago"
"All right answered the judge cas-.
ually. There's not much money in it,
Just two dollars and something. Ill
hunt up her address in the city when |
go home and send it 10 her. BY the
way, Mrs. Elder, I've had some import
ant mail today. I must go home for a
while at least. Can ! AVE dinner
early so / can make the afternoon
train?'
Eyes, indeed. Judge Stratton; any
thing you say goes, but we're sorry to
lose you
The city was hot, dusty and noisy,
~unbearable after the cool, fragrant
quiet of the country. The judge did no
go home. He left his bags at a hotel
and took Il taxi for Howard avenue
the address on Miss Porter's card. But
the house was deserted. Then he call
ed up the editor of a society paper and
found that the Porters had gone to
Pinehaven in the mountains. That's
where Willis s." thought the judge.
"Nuct he some Dlace."