Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1922-12-06

"N 1feeA tthiaEhable case or SOmnam
builsm on record. Did you ever heaI
OF Mr.. Beasley's walking In his"
She touched me lightly but peremp
torily on the arm m warning. and ]
stopped. On the Osher side OF the
board fence door opened creakily.
and there sounded a loud and cheerful
voice-that OF the gentleman IA the
dresSlng-gown.
Here We comet" II said; "me and
big BIN Hammersley. I want TO show
Bin ! can jump anyways three times
as far as he cani Come on. Bill"
rs that Mr. Beasley's voiceT ]
asked, under my breath.
Miss Apperthwaite nodded in afiir-
nation.
Gould he have heard me-"
"NO." she whispered. Hes just
come out ~ the house" And then 70
herself. "Who under heaven Is Bin
Hammersley? never heard OF him Z"
"of course. Bill" said the voice he
yond the fence. III you're afraid TIL
beat you too badly. you've stin got
time 10 back out. did understand
you 20 kind 81 hint that you were con.
siderable 81 n jumper but IT, WHAT
Whard you say. BinT" There ensued
a moments complete silence. "Oh. an
right" the voice then continued. "You
say you're In this to win. do your
Wen. som I. Bin Hammersley: som
l. Who'll go first? Me? All right
from the edge OF the walk here. Now
then One-twO-three! Ha"
A sound came 10 our ears OF some
one landing heavily - and nj fur
length. IL seemed-On the turf. fol
lowed by a slight. rusty groan in IN,
same voice. "Ughl Don't you laugh
Bin Hammersleyl 7 haven't jumped
as much as I ought 10. these las
twenty years; I reckon I've kind 81
lost the hang OF II. Aha" There wers
indications that Mr.. BeaSley was pick
ing himself up. and brushing his trou
sers with his hands. "Now, It's yous
turn. Bin. What sayf" Silence again
followed by. "Yes. I'll make Simple
dOria get out OF the way. Come here
Slmpledorla. Now. Bill. put your heels
together on the edge OF the walk
That's right All readyl Now then
One for the money-two for the show
three TO make ready-and four fOi
20 Cor Another silence. by lingo
Bin Hammersley, you've beat me >
Tia. ha That was a jump! What
sayT" Silence once more. "You say
you can do even better than that
Now. Bill. don't brag. Oh! you say
that was up In Scotland. where you
had spring-board2 Ohol All right .
let's see how far YOU can jump when
you really try. There Heels on the
walk again. That's right; swing your
arms. One-twO-three There you
90" Another silence. "Zlngl Well
sir. I'll be e-tarnally Switched 10 Tin
ders II you didn't do II that time. Bin
Hammersley see / never really
saw any jumping before In al my born
DAYS. It's eleven feet II It's an inch.
What? You say you"
heard no more. for Miss Apper-
thwaite. her face flushed and her eyes
shining. beckoned me impersonally TO
follow her. and departed so hurrledly
that Il might be said she ran.
Il don't know" said !, keeping at
her elbow. whether it's more like
Alice or the interlocutor's cOnyersa-
ton NJ a minstrel show"
FLUSH :" she warned me. though we
were already at a safe distance, and
did not speak again until we had
reached the front walk. There she
paused. and / noted that she was
trembllng-and, no doubt correctly.
judged her emotion to be that of con
sternatiOn.
There was no one there" she ex-
claimed. "He was all by himself! IL
was just the same as what you saw
last night"
Evidently"
"Did Il sound 20 you"-there was a
little awed tremor in her voice that
I found very appealing-"did 1t sound
to you Ike a person who'd lost his
mind?"
II don't know" said. IL don't
know az all what TO make Of IT,"
"He couldn't have been"-her eyes
grew very wide-"infOxicatedH'
"No. Tm sure II wasn't that"
"Then | don't know what to make
OF Il. either. All that wild talk about
'Bm Hammersley' and 'Simpledoria
and sprlng-boards In Scotland and
"And an eleyen-foot jump" l sug-
gested.
sWhy. there's no more Bill Ham
merslev.'" she cried. with gesture OF
excited emphasis. than there Is a
'SlmpledOria'l"
$50 Il appears" I agreed.
Hes lived there all alone she
said. solemnly. Gin that big house So
long. lust sitting there evening after
evening. all by himself. never going
ont. never reading anything. not even
thinking; but just sitting and sitting
and sitting Well" she broke on
suddenly, shook the frown from her
forehead. and made me the offer OF o
a,yvtfpg smile sfhere's no use both