The Lamar register., 1920-09-29

"Eeeeh Years nas D.rf as PC ,e,e
him. Up to that time he was the mosr
wonderful father girl ever had. He
wasn't grny until then. and he didn't
wear beard. Those who knew him
then wouldn't know him now. 1t was
| seven years ago this June-the twen-
tleth. remember II because II was
my blrthdny--I wsS twelve. That eve
ming | heard groau at the kitchen
door. ran ont, ana there was Dad
dy, holding 10 the dnOr post to keep
from failing. his hands covered with
blood. and blood all over his face and
hair. helped him In. washed on the
blood and discovered II came from a
wound ln his head | bound 1t up the
best could and ran to The village for
the doctor
when he came. he said Daddy had
been shot. There was a long scar
like grOoye-that the doctor said
was made by the bullet. 1t had caused
concusslon of the brain. Since that
he has been llke-thIs. The knife he
must have taken from the person that
shot him. for he had none of his own.
II was clutched tight In MS hand when
found him-the knife, and this"
She beckoned him across the room
TO the book case 1t was the first car
pet the Pearl Hunter had ever walked
over. He set his feet down like man
crossing thin Ice
She fumbled out from behind a row
Of books n small packet, with the eau
tlon:
You mustn't let Daddy see It. He
VIII go wild II you do. ! used to keep
1t stuck behind the picture. but II
worked out into sight one day. and he
drove the knife through It before
could get 1t away from him. II he
ever finds the man 1t belongs to he'll
serve him the same way. I'm afraid.
Sometimes think that's why he
haunts the woods-to see II he can find
him. There, you can see where the
knife went through"
She had been unwrapping fold Of
paper as she talked. The sight OF its
contents surprised low exclamation
from the Pearlhunter. II was red
mask.
The Pearlhunter fingered the bit
of stifr cloth lying across the girls
palm with such quick eagerness that
her eyes sought his face curiously. The
red mask. The slit Of the knife near
an eye hole-no man in the Flatwoods
better able TO read the story II told;
none better able to piece together the
fragments OF that seven-year-oid trag-
edy.
Up through the eve holes there
seemed to glow pair OF eyes-biue.
like blue Ice; eyes that glow black
when reused. He knew what they
looked like when the blue turned to
black.
Suddenly without warning, n deep
groan set the silence ashiver The
girl crammed the packet back behind
the books; the Pearlhunter whirled.
The Wild Man hnd risen from hi
chair and stood peerlng toward him
with wide. weird eyes. with a step
that was ghostly no'seless he crossed
the floor Quite close he came. hl-
dulled senses seeming TO need the
stimulus OF close contact. His bony
hands and long arms were quivering
his hollow face iwltching pitifully
Aie AfNtA I'M ihi-t tiif XII
whispered.
The young man glanced nj her and
stood still. The thin hands fiuttere,i
over his face and iead Even theIr
lightest touch was heavy with
strength that must have been proiip-
inus--as II the fires ( his malady kin
died a force In him more than human
Some impulse nf compassion must
have reached. the heart Of the Pearl
hunter. for he stretched his long arm
forth and laid II about the old mans
shoulders. Instantly he felt the weight
Of the gray giant upon him. II migln
have been the one hing the stricken
man crnved ia his dumb way-the
touch Of his kind the prop Of a man.
arm
The situation embarrassed the Pearl.
hunter. II was Ike winning the con
fidence Of d little child. and then nor
knowing wha: TO do with H.
The girl was quick TO see his embar-
russment, and. much as mother
might coax child away from some
one she imagined II was annoying. she
led the old man back TO his chair:
then. leaving him. she hurried across
the room to the book case.
Il never saw him so restless before"