The Adair County news., 1922-01-03

sure you didn't mean to get the car
smashed. Besides, you had taken
shelter under our roof"
You are true Bedouins," laughed.
is that the code in the West?-your
code?-tO defend anybody who he's eat
en- salt with your
Il should think 1t would be any,
bOdy's code"
You and your father were expecting
this man Beasley to come here look
ing for met"
Daddy thought he might just hap
pen along. We are only four miles
from Atropia, you know"
"And was that the reason you put
the old transit at the window?-so
you might watch for himr
"Of course"
by JOYe! Another woman, any 9th
er woman in the world, 1 thought.
would have let some little shred of
sentiment show; she couldn't have
helped it. But this one didn't. A
boy couldn't have looked me in the
eyes any more frankly and squarely
than she did when she said "Of
course" Since had eaten their bread.
L was, for so long as 1 chose to stay.
a member of the clan.
1t was near the end of the fortnight.
and Daddy Hiram and 1 had secured
and rubbed and scraped and reas-
sembled the engine and pumps. and
WQrp finiChino tbo oJoo1;,,. &c IL. In
ers, These were pretty badly rusted
and scaled, and to do the job properly,
we had taken the manhole heads out
of the holes left to give access to the
interior of the shells, and had had a
gOod-natured Squabble as to which of
us should crawl inside to do the scrap
ing; Daddy insisting upon doing it, be-
cause as he pointed out, he was the
smaller man, and l arguing that /
should because 1 was the younger and
stronger.
To settle it finally we tipped coin
one of those inch-wide copper pen
MES that Daddy carried for a pocket
piece-and l won the toss. The job
wasn't exactly picnic, but got along
all right until we came to the last of
the battery. 1 found that the repair
ers had at some past time inserted a
couple of extra stay-rods, so that there
was little enough room left in the old
steel shell for professional boiler
monkey to wriggle about in, to say
nothing of a husky young chap who
tipped the beam at around a hundred
and seventy pounds, stripped.
Just the same, made shift to knock
the worst Of the scale off and rattle
1t down so that it could be washed
out from below, and was backing out
to make my escape, when found that
one of the extra Stay-rOds was loose.
At my asking, Daddy screwed up the
nut on the outside of the boiler head
to tighten the rod, and then passed the
wrench in to me so that could screw
up the nut on the inside. To this
good day l don't know just what did
happen, but l guess the big S-wrench
must have slipped off the MT while
l was pulling on it. Anyhow, some
thing hit me stunning crack over
the eye, and 1 promptly faded out,
blink, like penny candle in a gust
of wind
When | came to myself again it was
night, and was lying undressed and
in real bed in a room that was total
ly unfamiliar. In the lOOking-glass
which hung on the opposite wall I got
a glimpse of myself with a regular
Turks turban of white stuff wound
around my head and skew-angled to
cover one eye. When l stirred, Jeanie
popped in from somewhere to ask what
she could do for me.
what was it?'' 1 asked "an earth
quaker"
Daddy says you hit yourself with
a wrench Does it hurt much now?"
mot more than having a sound tooth
pulled; no. But was inside the boil
er, wasn't 1? How did you manage
TO get me out?"
She turned her face away and even
with one eye I could see that she was
trying to hide a smile.
ut was funny" she confessed.
though we were both scared stiff at
the time Daddy called me and ran
over. You were all doubled up inside
of the boiler, and there wasn't room
for Daddy to crawl in and straighten
you out. And unless you could be
Strengthened out, we couldn't pull you
out"
81 see. What did you dO?-send for
a bOilermOnkey?"
"What is bOiler-monkey?
at isn't what; it's man; usual
ly the littlest man in the shop"
81 was the monkey" she said.
tried to sit up, but the binding
headache had somehow acquired said
No.
''You crawled into that rusty old
coffin?''
She nodded.
Daddy lent me his overalls and
jumper. 1t wasn't hard; but when
got in and saw how badly you were
hurt there wasn't anything to
laugh at, then, Daddy says you'll be
apt to carry the scar as long as you
live"
Honorable scars" muttered. you
Strengthened me around-I'll believe
it if you say se-and then what?"
"Then l got out and we pulled you
Out-Daddy and l. / was glad you
didn't know; that you were past feel