Omaha daily bee., 1922-04-16

that led 70 the doctors ruom- And hssoss
starting Clayton psefsd around him. s.AscA'
ing smoassi the shrubhssy vhsss be hoesa.
by the fsvor Of providence. 10 catch the dut'
ter Of hsr skirt but provsdsnos inisadsa
that events should happsa IN anothss ~.
Il always gave Uncle MAI the jlmnaiss not
TO know what vas occurring w his tnsnsdi'
ats vicinity. OF course. Mr.. Clayton must
have someihinx powerful important 70 tsu. o.
hs would not have taken DE-. Humphrsys
plumb down 10 the fsnos. and stayed and
stayed. while Nat wriSxied on the front sssps
with curiosity s,evins his inx.ass. until hs
saw Lr. Humphreys returning from the road.
Up spranS tho Negro with tho anxious Ques
ton. II he gone. doctor' In he GOT Awayr'
But DR.. Humphrsys did not answer: he
only brought his lips Close to Mats ear and
whispered:
where's the mzJorf-
Majors mighty nigh through vd his
bath"
where's Miss Rarbsral and Mira RAJ.
ily7-
Mrs Rxxls's In hcr room. Yonder's
Miss Barbara nigh de wharf. arGufstn' wsd
Mr.. Raxzle-
All four Of the white people beinE definitely
located. the doctor said. That's good! Go
and ask Major Stark TO please como to my
room at once"
"Yas sub. I'll fetch him"
Such unusual secrecy on the part Of Dr.
Humphreys SGT Uncle Nat on IRE. He Won.
dered why tho doctor should he % particular
TO hnd out where everybody vas. Why he
marched into his room and locked the door.
he being q man who always left things wide
open. And the major nearly snapped Mats
head Of when he poked II into his room and
said. DR.. Humphreys 'xires to 80 you, suh."
Everybody had got mixed up In . tansle.
ment, and the Negro itched to discover what
It was all about. But he couldn't even get
peep into DR.. Humphrey room, for the
blinds were drawn. So Uncle Nat sat down
vi LILO SlCpo oAU OIOOuc0 ONCI N1Ao S0s bONAS
behavior of white folks until he forgot every.
thing else. and paid NO attention to IN auto
which was then turning In at Bennington
gate. Had he looked he could have recog.
nized Mr.. Fatface at the wheel. But Nat
wasn't studying about Mr.. Fatface, when he
could hardly sit still for wanting to know
what might be happening behind DR.. Hum
phrey's blinds Maybe the doctor had forgot.
ten to shut his north window. a. nobody ever
passed along that ell Of the gallery; and Nat
went sneaking around the house to take .
look.
The door was closed. but the window BE-
side 1t stood open. Huh! they warn't nigh
smart enough to hide things from him, and
company had no legal right to shut them.
selves in like that. Soft footed as a cat he
crept up the steps. Not board creaked Is
he eased along by the door. and had almost
suddenly flung open his door. and shouted:
MAT! o. Natl"
"Yas, sub. Vas, sub" The startled negro
whirled, and began fumbling with some fish.
ing tackle in the corner. while DR.. Humph.
reys seemed even more surprised a. he said:
"Ah! There you are"
"Suttinly. doctor. dis is me. was seekin'
fer dat little pole O. your,n. You tole me to
put on new sinker."
Never mind the pole. Never mind the
pole. Run and get Major stark-quickly."
"suttinly. sub; goin' sub"
A strong shove gave Nat running start.
yet even with the doctor looking At him he
squinted through the window as he passed.
and saw nothing. Then DR.. Humphreys
called after him in low voice. Oh, Nat.
Mr.. Clayton viii be in here: but don't ny .
word about him to the major"
"Lawd Gawd! Mister Stuart In dts house?
No sub, won't speak his name to dc major.
Not me-"
That's what DR.. Humphreys had up hh
sleeve. and the miracle Of It filed the Negro's
mind as he went shutlins along the gallery
and turned the corner. He was 20 busy pom.
dering over Mr.. Stuart and the major com.
ing together that he didn't look whore he
was going. and never even saw an automo-
bile that had halted at their steps. Mumblinx
to himself. Nat got mighty nigh to the front
door. when he stopped and sQuatted and
gasped, for Mr.. Foxyjaw sprang from his
car and landed on Major stark's gallery. Nat
broke into . run. but the marshal halted
him with an abrupt order:
Come here!"
"Meanin' me. sub? Sutdnly. sub, sut.
tinly."
"oho-" snapped Foxyjaw. his mustachs
bristling and his gimlet eyes boring tho
Negro through. "Oho You're. the Same
man who got my fve dollars"
"Yas sub. dats me. suh."
Bad luck had dogged Mats heels ever gince
he first glimpsed those constahles In their
automobile. No matter how hard he tried to
do right everything turned ont wrong. After
taking so much trouble to keep away from
the detectives, and withdrawing tampta.
ton to collect twenty dollars at the magnolia
tree. here came Mr.. Foxyjaw himself Jump
ing right on top of him Nat wasn't think
ing about that white man, and never had .
dogs chance to think Of anything when
F'oxyjaw opened on him with hot shot:
vrs, uof nv Avn Ar,lta paSs