Evening star., 1921-07-10
UClUS FRY lived up back OF
the powerhouse on the out
skirts of Tinkletown. He had

smallish, bony sort of man. with
larre Adams apple and bow legs, ne
was an object Of considerable scorn
not only to his acquaintances, but 10
his wife and children and, after
fashion, to his horse.
No one, 1t would appear. had the
slightest use or respect Tor Luciuo
He was, by profession. we'll
digger. The installation Of wafer
works system In uinh,eusm 81 uame only.
His wife took in washing and II wss
his lob to collect and deliver the
wash" three times week. In return
for this he received board and loaS-
ing and an occasional visit to the
moving picture theater. One OF ms
daughters clerked in the fve- e-and-ten-
cent store, and the other, aged twelve,
was errand girl to Miss angie NiSoh'
the fashionable dressmaker.
Mrs. Fry was nearly six feet tall
and very wide. but Lucius was not
much over five feet two: he had a
receding chin that tried to seerete
itself behind q scant, dun-colored crop
of viii skers.
Lucius had been in the habit OF cur
ryins the old gray mare on Saturday
mornings. Moreover. he changed the
bedding in her stall on Saturdays.
employing pitchfork and a spade:
One never-to- be forgotten Saturday
morning in the spring of the year
Peggy planted one of her hoofs on
Mr. Fry's toes while he was engaged
in brushing out the kinks in her
mane.
Mrs. Fry happened to be in the
stable at the time. seeing IL the hens
had mislaid anything in the hay. She
was astonished by the roar of
mighty oath. followed almost instant
ly by thunderous thump on the
barrell.ke anatomy of the family
head came in for a resounding whack
and the stream Of profanity increased
to torrent.
sprinsing to her feet. the surprised
lady called out to him: stop it. you
Peggy was spared the impending
blow. Instead. the outraged hostler
charged around the partition, through
a narrow passage and into the pres
ence of his wife. He hobbled pain
fully. lnarticulate sounds issued
from his compressed lips. He gripped
the spade handle so tightly that cords
stood out on his rather formidable
foreasms
little" and then. as he bore down
upon her. turned to fee. As she pass
ed him on the way to the open. the
fat of the spade landed with i'm
pelling force upon the broadest part
Of her person. Mrs. Fry's howl could
have been heard quarter Of mile
away. She passed through the door
into the barnyard on the wing. as 1t
were.
Lucius hurled the implement after
caught Mrs. Fry below the waist line
and for nearly a month thereafter she
was In the habit of repairing with
female visitors to an upstairs bed
room where she proudly revealed to
them the extensive welt produced by
her husbands belated return to
power. -
7 UcIUS set out in pursuit OF her
= principally on one foot. Overtaking
her near the barnyard gate. he pull
ell up suddenly. realizing the peril of
being too precipitate. But she topped
down on her knees and began beg
sing him for Gods sake to spare
he! Her eyes were tightly closed
and her arms wefe raised to. shield
her face - ,r'.'''' ,' '.''
forthwith planted his fist soiidly upon
her unprotected nose.
He had always wanted to do II, but
never before had the opportunity pre-
sented itself
q second or two and then sat down
some distance away with the same
heels in the air.
Then and there Lucius F-y ceased
to be a person of no consequence.
Two or three neighbors.t bent on
rescuing Mrs. Fry. got no nearer than
the barn-lot fence. Lrcius. still hop
ping around on one foot, gathered up
a stick of stovewoOd in each hand
and let fly at them with. such de-
termination and precision that they
decided to let him go ahead, and MUIR
der her s.
When Mrs Frys daughters hurried
into the house short time afterward.
bandaging Mr.. Fry's foot and chokingly
inquiring IL she was hurting him. Be
tween sentences she applied a wet towel
to a prodigious. unrecognizable object
that had once been her nose.
Juliet. the older. planted herself in
front Of her father and passionately in
quired II 1t was true that he had dared
to strike her mother.
Lucius had provided himself with a
stick of stove wood before entering the
house. without answering his daugh-
ter's question, he took q firm grip on
the stick and started to arise from his
chair. upsetting the pail of water that
his wife had been using. Mrs. Fry
Don't lit her: Don't kill her. Lu-
Cius, For Gods
shut up," snarled Luclus. I'm go
in to belt the life out of her If she
comes around here disturbin' the peace.
what'll happen. young lady Go an get
a mop and clean up that water. D'yre
hear me? Beat it,
For the Lords sake. Juliet. do what
he tells you begged Mrs. Fry.
"An do it quick" said Mr.. Fry.
Having so suddenly-and unintention-
ally-gained the upper hand in his
household. he was determined II possible
to retain 1t. 1t was too good to be true.
But as long as 1t really appeared to be
true. he couldn't afford to relax for an
scowl and swore from morning till night.
Every week he went out to the stable.
and after closing the doors. proceeded
to belabor an old saddle with a pitch
fork handle. The sounds reaching the
back porch of the house caused Mrs.
Fry to cover her ears and moan: Poor
old Peggy! O-oh! My gracious! He'll
hell kill her.
Occasionally he threw stove lid or
hatchet or something else at his wife.
but his aim was singularly bad. Once
in while he displayed the most ap-
palling desire to destroy everything in
sight On such occasions he smashed
cd all over the garments that Mrs. Fry
had just hung out to dry.
In a very short time everybody in
Tinkletown was talking about Lucius
Fry. 80. -,
When Lucius appeared on Main street
men who had never noticed him before
went ,out Of their way to be polite and
fr.encry. Women who pitied Mrs Fry
looked at him with interest and called
him. under their breath. big. ugly
brute" Children stopped playing and
ran when they saw Lucias Fry ap-
preaching.
- r.