The Mena weekly star., 1921-07-07
6be Blue Moon 4 Tdle Of the F7QtLDOOdS
71onsinued From Previous Issue1
zls eyes urged her to go on.
BY DAVID ANDERSON
!;
 lcopgright by Bobbs-Merrill Col

hin. Up to that time he was the most w1nderful father a girl ever had. He naen'f gray until then, and he didn't w4ar a beard. Those who knew him l*en wouldn't know him now. It was S1fen years ago this June--the twen- fls.h. l remember 1t because it was ny birfhday-I was twelve. That eve dI16 I heard groan at the kitchen door. ran out, and there .-as Dad dy h0Idlng to the door post to keen fr6m falling, his hands covered with blood, and blood all over his face and haIr l helped him in, washed off the blood and discovered 1t came from a wound in his head. I bound 1t up the best could and ran to the village for ike doctor.
 when he came, he said Daddy had been shot There was long scar ]ike groove-that the doctor said uas made by the bullet It had caused c6ncussion of the brain. Since that he has been like-this. The knife he mn have taken from the person that shot him, for he had none of his own. It xas elutehed tight in his hand when found him-the knife, and this"
 Ahe beckoned him across the room 10 Inc book case. It was the first car 5ess she Pearl Hunter had ever walked 5yer. He set his feet down like a man ero8sing thin ice.
 She fumbled out from behind a row of books small packet, with the eau fIoIl. xses---.s.s--
 sX6u mustn't let Daddy see 1t. He VIII go wild if you do. I used to keep |t sfnek behind the picture, but it worked out into sight one day, and he drove the knife through 1t before I could get 1t away from him. If he &xef Ends the man 1t belongs to he'll ze5ye him the same way, I'm afraid. so1etines I think that's why he hunts the woods-to see if he can find him. There, you can see where the koI2e vent through"
 Ehe had been unwrapping a fold of p1per as she talked. The sight of Its tAEldIldIlO0 4o11 fhe Pearlhunter. It was a red n15k
 He Pearlhunter fingered the bit of tiff cloth lying across the girls palm with such quick eagerness that her eyes sought his face curiously. The Ill mask The slit of the knife near Fl e4e hole-no man in the F'latwoods t<{<&K able to read the story it told; n41& better able to piece together the fE6Sz1ents of that seven-year-old trag- 9p through the eye holes there 1cefned to glow n pair of eyes-blue, m Blue ice; eyes that glow black when reused. He knew what they IoQked like when the blue turned to 8qddeniy, without warning, a deep xx94n set the silence ashiver. The 6'H Hammed the packet back behind fhe bpoks; the Pearlhunter whirled.
 4h< Wild Man had risen from his c1aIf and stood peering toward him x1I1 wide, weird eyes. With step
 Fas ghostly noiseless he crossed
 Hoor. Quite close he came, his --l| senses seeming to need the 144lus of close contact. His bony z41t and long arms were quivering;
 pllow face twitchlng pitifully.
 IS never like this" the girl <1I<pered.
 e young man glanced at her and eto0Q still. The thin hands fiuttered :. ozeE@his face and head. Even their nshffst touch was heavy with a s1Fength that must have been prodig- ie'is~-as if the fires of his malady kin 0ses force in him more than human. N0Ae Impulse of compassion must aaxe reached the heart of the Pearl Aan{er, for he stretched his long arm zQFL1 and laid 1t about the old mans 121Iders. Instantly he felt the weight oooE ana hurried back to tne cnuIr z&hlhg it, she laid 1t upon the old
 2S knees. He bent his head and z<pVer the open page with his hand
 EFhe weird eyes could no longer re M The frozen magic of the words 1E nngeted in his chair and the book z'af fo the floor.
 picture was too distressing, and
 Pearlhunter turned his face
 From where he stood he had
 'most unobstructed view Into the I F room, the girls room, and before
 ealized 1t his eyes had strayed
 the curtains. Amusement held % mere moment in spite of him
 room, in striking contrast to what
 ahd seen of the rest of the house almost bare of furniture-a car
 sS noor; the rudest of beds; a
 fn chaiE, and little else.
 , heard her walking across the Z z;' and turned away half guiltiiy
 had her hand upon the curtained Hhce Of the west room, and he no
 that It was carpeted, and was et<rwlse furnished quite in keeping ". the room In which he stood, cer- In very decided contrast to the foQm upon the east.
 put he had no time to reflect on all
 e things, for the girl reappeared
 moment carrying a cello, which 9 placed between the old mans 9es She put the bow in his right au and lifted his left to the strings e laid his cheek down upon the in kment; grew quiet The faltering gV tried to wake the strings. but in iL The old mans body seemed to prAk together. His chin dropped pwl upon his breast. But the next &efnf ha eat unriDhf and ripfd his