Evening star., 1922-07-02

in his real estate office. or else in the
barber shop two doors beyond"
CHE was right The little, shriv-
eied-up old chap with the thin
gray hair, the apple cheeks
and the shrewd eyes admitted that he
was Jeff Tuttle.
know Luella Dodge" he chuckled.
Il sh'd say l did. Kept compny with
her on and off for ten years. until
saw it want any use and let Bill
Sammis widow rope me in. Mebby it
was all for the best, though. Luella
was one of these double an twisted
old maids. and she had a mighty
sharp tongue in her head-she GER
tainly did! Why. say. when she found
cut I used chewin' tobacco, il she
didn't come purity nigh skinnin' me
alive before / could promise to quit
and join the church then. But per-
haps she's some relation of yours,
miss?'
Aunt" says l.
Mr.. Tuttle blew out his cheeks and
whistled.
Exc me. miss" says he. She
was an ALFRED smart woman. Luella
Dodge was. Some different from that
brother of hers-Eph Dodge-who
was so lazy he could hardly git out of
his own way. Tried runnin' news
paper here. Ephraim did, but he never
made go of it. and finally, after his
wife died. he moved out west some
where with that kid of his. Maybe
you know Eph. too?"
slightly says l. He was my
paw"
Gosh all blicketts" gasped Mr..
Tuttle. 'if amt gone and
NO apologies necessary" says l..
You're an accurate describer. Mr..
Tuttle. Paw wasn't what you would
call go-getter. That's why / was
left stranded on a sandy farm up in
Minnesota. But l must take after my
Aunt Luella. By the way, what did
become of herr"
Moved" says he; fifteen years or
more ago, it must have been. Any
way it was soon after they hired the
new soprano at the congregational
Church. Took LueIla's place. you
know. after her voice begun to crack.
Somehow. Luella just couldn't stand
the sight of that young lady. Didn't
like the kind of hats she wore nor the
way she held her chin, nor the trick
she. had of rollin' her eyes on the
high notes, nor anything about her
Stood it about month. Luella did.
and then she went to the trustees and
told 'em if that new soprano wasn't
h Calf
Course. they didn't believe she would.
but. b'gum. she did. Sold her home
here. loaded all her belongin's into a
freight car, and went off up into New
Hampshire somewhere to live. And
that's the last l ever heard of her."
You've forgotten the name of the
town she moved to, I suppose" says L.
1T does slip my mind just now.
miss" says he. but 1 must have 1t in
my books. for l had to cancel some
insurance policies and send her pre-
MUM rebate. Yes. I had her address
at the time. Guess ! can find it for
you. Just a minute
PARRY and l waited twenty MINI
uteS White Pd"Su
through some dusty old account
books. but finally he found what he
was looking for
"Chenwick," says he. Yes. that's
it-Chenwick, n. H. It's up beyond
Keene. but l couldn't say just where.
And If you do find Luella, just give
her my best regards and-er-don't
let on that I'm a widower. 1 was
kind of sweet on her. once. I'll admit.
but tastes change. you know. and L
well. the fact is, ! took up chewin'
again"
Trust me, Mr.. Tuttle.' says 1.
Besides. why rake up old ashes?
And I'm much obliged"
So we had to drive on until we
came to town big enough to have a
fair sized hotel, and the next day we
took up the aunt hunt once more but
with rather less enthusiasm.
1T strikes me- suggests Barry.
that your Aunt Luella might not be
the kind who would welcome crowd
with open arms, hot biscuits and
strawberry jam"
I'm not promising a thing about
my aunt. Barry" says |. "lf you will
remember, she was simply our excuse
for getting out into the country over
hot Sunday. All held out was an
aunt hunt. and we're having one. I'll
say it's perfectly good country were
getting into, too"
!: Barry couldn't deny it. Once we
had plunged well into New Hampshire
and climbed over some tall hills on
smooth gravel roads, We dipped down
again and began to follow the wind
ing bed of a river that couldn't have
been more picturesque II 1t had been
laid out by a movie director. Now
it would slide along between grassy.
level banks; next 1t would pour in
CLASSY sheets over a dam, with a fac
tory of some kind rattling away with
looms or lathes close by. and then iof
a mile or so 1t would tumble and
foam over shoals and bouldeis. as II
in a great hurry to get somewhere.
A boy on a. bridge told US 1t was the
Ashwillow, but from some signs we
saw later we concluded the real name
Of the river was the Ashuelot. Any:
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