The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1921-12-08

ICIuiIJ WASH bOA'S NAJ
thing he said he needed a caretaker
here, and since that time he has sent
us money every month. But now I
suppose it will all he different. Mr..
Dudley Is dead"
But the. heirsY" | suggested.
ave don't even know who they are.
When Mr.. Dudley went away he left
a sealed envelope with Daddy. He
said he might come back again, some
. time. but If he didn't, or couldn't, Dad
DIV was to keep the envelope and give
1t to his-Mr. Dudley's-representa-
tive, whoever that might be-"
Talk about plots thickening! This
one was already as thick as molasses
In the dead OF winter!
"H0w were you to know this repre-
sentative If one should Gomez" / edged
in cautiously.
81 don't know" she replied simply.
81 should suppose he would be able
to identify himself In some way,
though shouldn't you? That is, If he
EVER comes"
Sure; nothing easier, Of course"
| agreed and then, since we seemed
to have scraped the bottom of the Gin
nabar dish clean 1 switched off to
something else.
"When we were coming up the road
a while back, Miss Jeanne, you gath
cred the impression that I was q crazy
man, didn't youT"
Didn't you try to give me that i'm
p~ression?" she countered.
~ fancy | didn't have to try very
hard-inasmuch as you had been
spending the afternoon in Atropia."
She forced a queer little laugh and
bent lower over her knitting.
"When you were in Atropia, did you
see or hear anything Of the other crazy
MANI"
as there another one?" she asked,
a bit ~breathlessly.
81 was told so in Angels this after
noon"
as this other man a friend Of
yours?" she wanted to know.
"You could scarcely call him that:
I've met him only once. He is a min
ing engineer and his name is Butler
ton-Charles Fullerton"
If l had reached up and got her pis-
tol out of its holster over the mantel
to bang it off into the fireplace she
could hardly have been more startled.
"Ch-Charles Fullerton" she stam-
mered. us Mr.. Fullerton here?"
mot here, exactly, but he was in
Atropia two days ago. Do you, by
any chance, happen to know him?"
"Oh, yes; qui-quite WELL"
Then, naturally, you know best
whether or not he Is in my class-the
crazy class, / mean."
once more she let the blue eyes
drop to her knitting, and If l wasn't
mistaken the pretty lips were twisting
themselves In a sort of wry smile.
"The last time l saw him he told
me he was crazy" she admitted.
isn't this delightful !" 1 murmured.
FULLERTON is crazy and I'm crazy:
perhaps we are all a bit crazy. Do
you know, Miss jeanne, that l have
come thousands Of miles to find your"
ITO find me?"-the blue eyes were
as round as the full moon.
Even so; you, your horse and your
dog. Would you-er-would you per-
NIT an exceedingly personal question?
Remembering always that it is put
by a man who has lost his wits? Have
you a small brown mole on your left
shoulder?"
She blushed very fetchingly; even
the handsome mountain wind tan
wasn't brown enough to hide it.
Il think you are crazy-completely
crazy"
Certainly 1 am; there hasn't been
the slightest doubt of 1t since-well.
since about two weeks ago, when I
started to hunt for you and a pie
faced dog and piebald horse"
There was silence before the fire
for a long minute and 1 began to be
afraid Daddy Hiram would come back
before anything else happened. Then
she said, with more curiosity than re.
sentiment, l thought:
"How did you know about the
mole?"
"Then there is one?" I questioned
eagerly.
"Y-yes."
"Glory be {" l chanted. "You don't
know what a load you have lifted from
whatever poor fragment Of a mind I
have left !"
Again she said: II don't know what
you mean"
"Just you wait" I begged. II have
lucid intervals at times; all crazy folks
do, you know. When my next one
comes along I'll explain as much as I
can-which isn't nearly as much as
you might think. at that"
1t was just at this moment that her
father returned, SO she went on with
her sock-knitting while we two men
talked a bit and had a bedtime smoke.
Pretty soon / began to get sleepy
a natural consequence of the strenu-
u day-and at the third yawn, which
was trying vainly to hide, Daddy
TwombIy lighted a candle and offered
to show me my bunk. h
This proved to be In the cabin loft.
aS the blue-eyed maiden had throa<.