Licking Valley courier., 1921-09-15

u Wasr s-rryIn' to skssr Him Out o
FIshA9' Any More" She Inter
rupts ,.tti,..
John NQreland.
But Horeland didn't hear. He ran
forward with bis right hand out
stretched. and so did Ben Llttleford.
Men could not have greeted brother
with more gladness, Dale thought.
"hi. thar. Major Bradley" the hill'
man cried. "And how dye come on
todayT
II am very well, gentlemen, thank
you," ssid the major, smiling.
He shook their hands heartily. "rhe
trainmen gave us your message yester-
day." he went on, still smiling, "and
we were delighted to learn that the
young woman was out Of danger.
trust you are all In good health, gen.
tlemen."
They assured him that they were,
Moreland turned.to Introduce Bill Dale
and the mining man. From the mo-
ment that Major Bradley gripped
Dale's hand they were friends.
mighty glad to know you, sir r.
exclaimed the old lawyer. 1--we been
hearing q great deal about you, sir
over in the valley Of the Doe. They
seem 70 think there's nobody just like
Bill Dale It was Bill Dale this
and Bm Dale that; 1t was Here's
where Atil Dale whipped Black Adam,
or. Here's where Bill Dale was stand
Ing whom such. h.and-such happened or
Here's where Bill Dale crossed the
fepcep.
"Hah.hah-hahl" sluggishly laughed
By Hetk, who stood leaning on the
muxzls of his rtfe. "Bill Dale Is al
right, mstor; ys'ye shore got my wore
TO- that p
The others laughed. Then JohI
MoreiaRa said they'd better be NOV
Ing. or they'd be late for dinner.
When fhey had put hundred yard
Of David Moreland's mountain behint
them. tie old Southerner tugged slyl,
at .DalSI sleeve and whispered:
"Let % ian behind little. II 20,
please. want to speak with yov
privately" d
They began to lag, and soon ther
was a distance Of several rods be
tween them and the others.
II heard through Addle Moreland,
began Hradley, his friendly hand O.
the younger mans arm, "about 20
and what you're planning to do 70
the Aorelards. ! tell you, sir,
thanked heaven for your coming, an
ypp mar count on n'me to help In an
way I can. The Morelands are quit
friendly to me now, though up to tn
middle Of last summer they didn't lik
me any too we'll because made Be
Llttleford's cabin my home when OF
here.
"It was a simple thing that brougf
US together. John Moreland's littl
nephew was lost In the woods and h
mother was frantic. There are pal
thers. you know. and wildcats, rattler
and copperheads. was fortunat
enough to find the boy, and carrie
him home. That was all, They're
Tine people, my boy, and SO are Il
Littlefords. Good old English bloc
that somehow wandered of. There
no purer. cleaner blood In Americ
sir.
"And now-how are you gettlr
along With your plans for the oper
tiOn Of the coal miner"
"Excellently," answered Dale. "W
have the necessary finance; q gear'
locomotive and cars and light ste
rails hRye. been bargalned for"
"Go0dl" Bradley gave Dale a hear
slap on the shoulder.
"Thege's something else wanted
say. AE Dale" he continued,
voice grave. you're nearly certa
to hayA . barrel Of trouble with
shyster coal man named Henders,
d, Con. He's 'lllain, sir, II ever the
was o1ei And he's quite the smoot
est article I've ever seen. He Ct
make you believe black is white,
! only yap,ll listen to him long enough
: Us he-bas he been here recently
, Dale wanted To know.
He's here now" answered the n
!, jor. Hes been here for three da!
n and he's been working devilment fa
. He was up here last summer, tryi
!. to buy he Moreland coal for son
he kneT# all the people, you see.
soon az he landed here on this pr,
ent trip, be found out about your
tentiOI Then. ut night, he FIRE
!. Adam Hall from his tobacco barn pr
'' on. and went home with him.
Y = wei, by Heck followed them a
= " did SOUP eavesdropplng--poor BY b
y his strohg pointsr the major We
y on. "Goff learned that Adam Bal
:, = father khew about the coal vein 10
~ before David Moreland discovered
" and got lawful possession OF the mot
le y tain. Then Con made the Balls
J, " lieve that they were due a big sh,
u u OF the proceeds Of the Moreland CO.
y II wasn't very hard to do | guess. I
!, u Balls. this set, at least, were orlgIna
|. lowlanders; they took TO the moi
!, y talns, { understand, to keep from
- Ing forced to aght during the VI
3 war"
"Goff's idea" muttered Dale, us