Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1918-07-04
The Light IN
the CLEARING
Bv IRVING BACHELLER
Copyright 1917. The Bobbs-M Merrill Co.

logged along behind the old uno0.-
lender through the streets Of ~
village when her pointing fpga,
had seemed to say 70 me Thee
there is the man who has bropgbt
me TO this. He has put these rsg.
upon my back. this fire in my hear,
this wild look in my eyes. Wa,
and you shall see what l viii pnt
upon him"
knew that old Kate was not tbs
irresponsible, witless creature that
people thought her to be. I bsd
begun to think OF her with a kind
of awe as one gifted above all CTR.
ers. One by one the things sbs
had said of the future seemed To bs
coming true.
When we had pulled the car.
into the stable ! tried TO shift one
of the bags of grain and observed
that my hands trembled and thai
1t seemed very heavy.
AS we were going into the house
the schoolmaster said:
"Now, Mary, you take this Ian.
tern and go across the street 10 the
house O. Deacon Bings, the con.
stable You'll find him asleep nv
the kitchen stove. Arrest his slum-
bers, but not rudely, and, when he
has come TO, tell him that have
news O. the devil"
This shows the power O. knowI.
edge, Bart" he said TO me when
we entered the house.
l wondered what he meant and be
went on:
You have knowledge Of the
shooting that no other man has
You could sell it for any money VI
would ask. Only We cant sell il
now, because it's about an evil
thing. But suppose We knew more
than any other man about the law
o contracts, or the science Of
bridge building. or the history o
nations or the habits o. bugs OF
whatever. Then We become tbs
principal witness in a different kind
o case. Then it's proper TO sell
yer knowledge for the good o. thu
world and they'll be as eager Ia
get it as they are what We know
about the shooting. And nobody'n
want to kill We. Every man o
themIl want to keep We alive. But
mind, We must be the principal wit
ness"
Deacon Binks arrived, a fat man
with a big round body and a very
wise and serious countenance be-
tween side whiskers bending from
hts temple to his neck and sug-
costing parentheses of hair, as Il
his head and its accessories were
in the nature of a side issue. He
and the schoOlmaster went out-of-
doors and must have talked togeth-
er while I was eating a bowl OF
bread and milk which Mrs. Hacket
had brought to me.
When l went to bed, by and by,
heard somebody snoring on the
little porch under my window. The
first sound that reached my ear at
the break of dawn was the snoring
of the same sleeper. l dressed and
went below and found the consta-
BILE in his coon-skin overcoat asleep
on the porch with a long-barreled
gun at his side. While l stood
there the schoolmaster came
around the corner Of the house
from the garden. He smiled as he
saw the deacon.
Talk about the placid rest Of
Egyptian gods" he exclaimed
Look at the watchful eve O. JUS
tice How well she sleeps in this
peaceful valley, Sometimes We can
hardly wake her up at all. at alli'
He put his hand on the deacon's
shoulder and gave him a little
shake.
Awake, We limb o. the law" he
demanded, Prayer is better than
sleep"
The deacon arose and stretched
himself and cleared his throat and
assumed an air of aler.ness and
saiu il was a fine morning, which it
was not, the sky being overcast
ana the air dank and chilly He
removed his greatcoat and threw IL
on the stoop saying:
Deacon, you lay there. From
now on I'm constable and ready
for any act that may be necessary
to maintain the law. / can be az
severe as Napoleon Bonsparte AMI
as cunning as Satan, if I have 20
be"