The Elk Mountain pilot., 1921-11-03

appearance was distinctly welcome
His own feelings were in nowise
mixed. They were distinctly nppre-
hensive. and the volley of mingled
Questionings and reproaches which
met him did not tend to remove them.
Each member of the party seemed to
feel In some manner particularly ag-
grieved.
Herberts father Joined them, few
minutes later. but 1t had already be-
come clear to the son that the North
End Daily Oriole was In one sense a
thing of the past, though In another
sense this former owner and propric-
tor was certain that he would never
hear the last of 1t. However. on ac-
count Of the life of blackma!i and
slavery now led by the members Of
the old regime, the Orioles extinction
was far less painful to Herbert than
his father supposed; and the latter
wasted a great deal OF severity. In
sisting that the printing press should
be returned that very night to Uncle
Joseph. Herbert's heartiest retrospec-
tive wish was that the ole printing
press had been returned to Uncle Jo
seph long ago.
III you can find him to give it tol"
Aunt Harriet suggested. Nobody
knows where he goes when he gets
the way he did this afternoon when
we were discussing 1t all with him.
I only hope he'll be back tonight"
He can't stay away forever" Aunt
Fanny remarked. "That garage is
charging him FIVE dollars an hour for
the automobile he's In. and surely even
Joseph will decide there's limit to
wildness some timer
II don't care when he comes back"
Herbert's father declared grimly.
whenever he does he's got to tnke
that printing press back-and Herbert
will be let out of the house long
enough to carry it over. His mother
or l will go with him"
Herbert bore much more than this;
he he'd seated himself on the third
step of the stairway in the hall, and
maintained MS much dogged silence as
he could. Once, however, they got
yelp of anguish out of him. 1t was
when Cousin Virginia said:
"Oh, Herbert, Herbert! How could
you make up that terrible falsehood
about Mr.. Crum? And, think of 1t;
right on the same page with your
cousin Florence's pure little poem!"
Herbert uttered some sounds, totally
incoherent but loud, and expressive of
supreme revulsion. The shocked
audience readily understood that he
liked neither Cousin Virginia's chiding
nor Cousin Florence's poem.
"Shame!" said his father.
Herbert controlled himself. 1t
could be seen that his spirit was not
broken, even when Aunt Fanny
mourned. shaking her head at him,
smiling ruefully:
"Oh, If boys could only be girls -
Herbert just looked at her.
"The worst thing" said his father
that is, If there's any part of it
that's worse than another-the worst
thing about 1t Is this about Noble
DILL"
what about that poor thing7"
| aunt huTrlet uSkeu. we HdNeu
heard"
"why, 1 walked up from downtown
with old man DILL" said Mr.. Atwater,
"and the Dill family are all very much
worried. 1t seems that Noble started
downtown after lunch, as usual, and
pretty soon he came back to the house
| and he had copy of this awful paper
that little Florence had given him"
"Who gave 1t to him2" Aunt Fanny
asked. "Who?"
Little Florence"
why. that's curious" Cousin Virgil
MIA murmured. II must telephone md
ask her mother about that"
The brooding Herbert looked up,
and there was a CLEAN in his dogged
eye; but he said nothing.
go on" Aunt Harriet urged. "What
did Noble do?"
"Why, his mother said he just went
up to his room and changed his shoes
and tie"
II thought so." Aunt Fanny whls-
pered, hurriedly. but solemnly.
Crazy
"And them" Mr.. Atwater continued,
'he left the house, and she supposed
he'd gone down TO the Office; but she
was uneasy, and telephoned his IA
ther. Noble hadn't come. He didn't
come, oil afternoon, and he didn't go
back to the house; and tliey tele-
phoned around to every place he could
go, that they know of-and they
couldn't find him or hear anything
about him." Mr. Atwater coughed and
paused.
'But what" Aunt Harriet cried,
what do they thinks become of him?"