The Belding banner-news., 1922-03-15

and held. the lumD uiott In the air,
high out of her reach. With rough
oath he pushed the girl from him so
roughly that she fell. When Polly
scrambled up. he had the lamb I'm one
hand and large stone In the other.
"Oscar!" she shrieked.
She dropped to her knees. clasped
Wee Jerry I'm her arms, and shrouded
his face and her own in her curls.
When she dared look up again, Oscar
had thrown the dead lamb on the
ground.
There" he gritted, that's to teach
you lesson, Miss Poll Hopkins. And
now I'll open your eyes to something
else"
AS lie crossed 10 her, she tried To
struggle TO her feet; but her legs were
weak, and she was sick over the quiv-
ering body there in the road. In an
other minute Oscar had snatched her
into his arms.
She shrieked again and again; and
Jerry's loud cries followed, as she
fought desperately with the burly
farmer.
Once out of sight of the Red Cross
poster and the little group in front of
II, Percival checked his horse. Bay
Dexter shook his head and champed
his bit In disapproval He was ac-
customed TO mad, harum-scarum gal
lops, and he loved them; hut this
morning, especially since the pause by
the fence corner, he had been com
PEELED TO mog along like worn-out
old nag.
His master was thinking, really and
seriously thinking. Happily born and
the heir To an immense fortune. his
way through life so far had been
marked out for Lin. lie had gone to
war careleSsly I'm mood Of hot pa
triotism and because II was the thing
to do. Over there he had done his
share and gained, especially from his
French comrades. IN inkling of life's
vital purpose He had decided that,
when he returned, he would do some
thing worth while. something to make
the world d little better because he
had lived in 1t.
Now he was bQme: and almost the
first day had come TO him this appeal.
He smiled ruefully at the recollection
Of Pollyop's plea. He had promised TO
help the squatters, and he meant to do
1t. Suppose II did bring him into con-
fict with Marcus MacKenziel He
knew how to fight. and a good fight
was not bad fun.
Family from the direction he had
ridden, the sound of cries came TO his
ears. Idly he wondered what the row
was. Some squatter man dsciplining
his wife, he decided; but he could not
stand to have a woman beaten!
He vaulted into the saddle and raced
back over the road. 1t was not long
! before he located the place where the
! screams came from. Then Bay Dex-
ter had an opportunity TO show all the
speed he had.
/ The sight of Pollyop writhing in the
strong arms of man he did not recog-
nize made Percival see red. He was
off his horse with one leap, and two
long strides took him TO Oscars side
One blow from his powerful knuckles
In the farmers face staggered Bennett
and freed Polly so quickly that she
fell to the ground. Instinctively she
crawled out of the way of the battling
men. The blow that had released hei
had done no damage to Bennett ex
cept to aggravate his rage. He recoy
cred himself and confronted his assail
ant, dripping oaths like ram from q
cloudburst
Bennett took the offensive, his fists
flying like fails. He wanted to get
his arms around the other fellow, tC
trip him and make the fight rough
and tumble on the ground, but Perez
val avoided the rush. and struck al
Bennett went by. Again and agar
Bennett tried to come to close quar-
ters. But he could not; neither coult
he hit his elusive opponent. At length
he hesitated, distressed as much by
his own efforts as the blows he hat
received.
Then Percival stepped in, and quick
ly II was all over Two well-plantet
thumps laid Bennett like log on tn,
ground.
Robert busted off his hands, picked
Wee Jerry up, and handed him to hi
sister.
"Did he hurt you, Polly?" he queried
and her answer was positively gleeful
4 - n
lummox's got plenty this time"
Robert brushed off his clothes slow
ly. The farmer still lay on the ground
"Get up" ordered Percival scornful
ly, touching the PROSTATE man witt
the toe of his boot. "Get up and max,
or II you don't want me to lick 20,
again."
7 Oscar rolled over and crawled slow
ly to his hands and knees.