Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-06-25
fcopvrioht, 1919. by George II. Doran co.,
THE family visibly trembled, but


l. looked more amazed than ever.
This fellow they CALI My uncle
looked over his shoulder and whispered
What the devil was the fellows
name" And then in his stentorian voice
again, This fellow called Jock has
confessed So l know all about it.
What have you got to say for your
selves?"
I.saw their bewildered eyes wander
ing from one to the other of the family,
and in a moment Mrs. Scollay asked in
a quavering voice:
What's come over Jock, do ye say,
sir?"
He has confessed! - repeated my
uncle. I'VE know that he is a Ger
man spy"
He glared at each astounded face in
turn and then exclaimed over his shoul
der:
by heaven. I actually don't believe
they knew"
II think, sir, if you'll allow me" ,"
suggested my cousin, "1'd like to put a
few questions.
well" growled our uncle, fire
away
We all trooped into the kitchen and
the whole four of us cross examined
that family in turn, so that by the
end of it we got a pretty good idea Of
how the land lay.
1t seemed that two years before the
Scollays had been visited by a polite
stranger apparently of the tourist spe.
cies This gentleman, after admiring the
healthy yet retired situation of their
residence, had suddenly been seized with
an inspiration. The very place for an
unfortunate young man Of his acquaint
ance, he cried, and thereupon asked
them If they could take charge of a
blameless, helpless, harmless idiot. The
stranger limited that there were the best
of reasons why the parents of this un-
fortunate wished him kept in the back
ground. He had been boarded out pre-
viously, it appeared, but too near home,
and now here was an ideal out of the
way spot for his retirement! The terms
we're so handsome that further inquiries
on the Scollays' part seemed supertiuous
and so in q weeks time Jock had ar
rived.
His harmlessness had been absolutely
guaranteed, provided always that no
restraints were put upon him and that
any little innocent fancy was lndulged.
Thus he wandered all over the island
and at all hours, sometimes even wan
dered out at night when the foolish
fancy took him, until this was accepted
as the normal thing for harmless JOCK.
Another innocent whim he had of max
ing a collection of rubbishy odds and
ends and keeping them in box IN the
barn. He had even repeated Lock !!
Lock-" and stamped his harmless foot
fill they good -naturedly provided him
with a lock and key for this treasure
chest. And thus long before August,
1914. jock was provided with a char
acter that rendered his habits above
suspicion, and a strong box which no.
body would ever dream of examining.
Two or three times the same polite
tourist paid q visit to the island to see
how the poor demented young man was
being looked after. and on these occa-
sions he would take Jock out for quite
long walk, and afterward assure the
family that their guests health WIS
benefting greatly. But this gentle
man had not visited the island since
the war. it seemed.
This was the Scollays' story, and l
think we all believed that, in the main,
il was true. In fact, since then it has
stood the test of all the evidence that
could be got to check it. At the same
time it seemed pretty clear that their
greed had made them binder than any
one without a strong monetary interest