Licking Valley courier., 1921-12-22
'ScoPYRIGHT BY CHARLES ScRIBNER's SONS I

code!-to defend anybody who has eat.
en- salt with your
u should think 1t would be any.
bOdy's CODE"
"You and your father were expecting
this man Beasley to come here look
ing for me%
Daddy thought he might just hap.
pen along. We are only four miles
from AtrOpia, you know"
"And was that the reason you nut
the old transit at the windowP-so
you might watch for hlmy"
"Of course"
BY Jove! Another woman, any 9th.
er woman In the world, / thought,
would have let some little shred of
sentiment show; she couldn't have
helped 1t. But this one didn't. A
boy couldn't have looked me in the
eyes any more frankly and squarely
than she did when she said "Of
course" Since ] had eaten their bread,
was, for so long as chose to stay,
q member Of the clan.
1t was near the end Of the fortnight.
and Daddy Hiram and had secured
and rubbed and scraped and reas.
sembled the engine and pumps, and
were finishing the cleaning of the boil
ers. These were pretty badly rusted
and scaled, and to do the Job properly,
we had taken the manhOle heads out
OF the holes left to give access to the
Interior of the shells, and had had
good-natured squabble as to which of
us should crawl inside to do the scrap
Ing; Daddy insisting upon doing it, be-
cause as he pointed out, he was the
smaller man, and l arguing that ]
should because was the younger and
stronger.
To settle 1t finally we tipped coin
one Of those inch-wide copper pen
niles that Daddy carried for a pocket
piece-and won the toss. The Job
wasn't exactly picnic, but | got along
all right until we came to the last of
the battery, found that the repair
ers had at some past time Inserted q
couple of extra stay-rods, so that there
was little enough room left In the old
steel shell for Q professional boiler.
monkey to wriggle about In, to say
nothing Of Q husky young chap who
tipped the beam ut around q hundred
and seventy pounds, stripped.
Just the same, made shift to knock
the worst Of the scale Off and rattle
II down so that 1t could be washed
out from below, and was backing out
to make my escape, when found that
one Of the extra stay.rods was loose
At my asking, Daddy screwed up the
nut on the outside Of the boiler head
to tighten the rod, and then passed the
wrench In to me so that could screw
up the nut on the inside. To thi,
good day I don't know just what die
happen, but guess the big S-wrencf
must have slipped of the nut Will,
/ was pulling on 1t. Anyhow, some
thing hit me stunning crack oyel
the eye, and promptly faded out
blink, like a penny candle In q gus
of wind.
When I came to myself again II was
night, and was lying undressed ant
In real bed In q room that was total
ly unfamiliar. In the looking-glasi
which hung on the opposite wall go
a glimpse Of myself with regulaj
Turks turban of white stun wount
around my head and skew-angled /,
cover one eye. When l stirred, Jeanl,
popped In from somewhere to ask wha
she could do for me.
"What was iti" l asked; ian earth
quaker"
DADDY says you hit yourself will
wrench. Does II hurt much nowT
mot moret than having a sound tootl
pulled; no. But was inside the boil
er, wasn't II How did you manag
TO get me outf" .,
She turned her face away and evel
= with one eye I could see that she wa
= trying to hide smile.
ut was funny" she confessed
though we were both scared stlrf a
the time. Daddy called me and | ra
over. You were all doubled up lnsid
, Of the boiler, and there wasn't rooI
for Daddy TO crawl IN and straighte
/, YOU out, And unless you could b
. Strengthened out we couldn't pull yo
cut"
~ see. Whit did you do?--send ia
a boiler-monkey2"
"Whnt Is Il b0llermOnkey"
ut isn't what; it's Il man; usua
ly the littlest man In the shop"
,, ~ was the monkey" she said.
tried to sit up, but the bllndin
headache had somehow acquired sal
'Ou crawled into that rusty oil
h.
] Bhe nodded.
|, 'Daddy lent me his overulls an
y Jumper I wasn't harli but VIZ