South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1922-07-16

you may ride on. Anton

There was a crispness in the usu-
ally kindly voice Of my neigh Dor,
Mr.. Briggs, which made me wonder
u ne had noticed the scrutiny TO
which I was sure the man Anton
was subiectlng ne But I did not
look toward the man. az he obeyed
Mr. Briggs kept my eyes fixed
upon the face o. my ne!ghbor.
These Internal fellows are so I'm
pudent." Mr. Briggs said angrily as
the man obeyed. and the sound Of
his horses ho0fbeats receded down
the road. They stare az every new
face as n they never had seen a
human being before. But what can
we poor country folks do2 Talk
about unemployment. suppose
there Is plenty OF it In the city, but
or the farms-weIl. you can see Tor
yourself what kind OF man 1 have %
hire"
"He certainly isn't very prepos-
sessing." I answered. hoping that
could keep my kindly neighbor IN
conversation until I had CLEANED
what little he knew Of the man call
ing himself Anton. us ne a native
OF this section?"
Mr. Briggs Explains.
tried 20 make the question ap-
pear the perfunctory inquiry OF a
neighbor
I'D be tempted 20 move out Of the
section IL he were" Mr.. Briggs re-
torted with a grim little smile mo,
he comes from New York, be-
Ileve. that IS. New York was his last
stopping place. I understood he
hasn't been over from the other side
very long Funny thing how I came
20 get him. too. II I didn't know the
man who sent him I'd think he had
some axe TO grind IN sending this
chap out 20 me-"
From far down the road came the
faint purr OF a motor. / clenched
my fingers into my palms involuntar-
ily. Suppose 10 were Dicly. and he
should reach me before Mr.. Briggs
had finished his casual recital which
meant ESQ much 10 LAIuan's plans.
Hes a big New York manufactur-
er-my acquaintance. I believe he's
some sort Of philanthropist Any
way there are always a lot OF queer
looking people hanging around his
mention how hard Il was 90 find a
man ne told me OF this chap, who.
Il seems. was hurt In some fashion
you saw the bandage-and has
been IN on account of 10. Ny ac-
ouaintance said the fellow needed
outdoor air. and he thought would
be a splendid worker. OF course, I'm
not running a sanitarium, but, on the
other hand, my work isn't hard so
/ said I'd give this man a trial. But
I'm very doubtful about him. He
seems willing enough. but there's
som ething about him"
Madge's Excuse.
The sound Of the motor car was
so near now that 10 attracted Mr..
Briggs attention, and he stopped
talking and looked up just as Dicky
drew UP my car by the side Of the
wood path. But ] felt that / had 10
reason for complaint because Of any
information I had missed.
Mr.. Briggs evidently had told me
al he knew of the man who called
himself Anton. And I did not doubt
that when the occasion should arise
Il would be an easy matter 10 obtain
from him the name Of Anton's for
mer employer. the "philanthropist. "
had a fairly well defined idea of
what sort OF philanthropy Mr..
Briggs acquaintance" dealt IN. The
fact that the shrewd farmer had
been careful to use the word "ac-
quaintance" instead OF friend"
made me sure that he would have
no objection to giving any needed
information concerning the man who
had sent him Anton.
But. Of Couse an this was detail
for Lillian's ear-Liluan's planning.
] had done all that I dared in getting
the information 1 had secured. and
] was delighted at having obtained
Il without any suspicion on the part
OF Mr.. Briggs that I wanted IT,
Although I was wildly impatient
70 get back TO Lillian with what
had learned I was firmly resolved
not 90 stir from the spot without
Dicky. / had too lively a recouec-
tion OF the fact that Anton" or
smith" had most potent reasons
for desiring vengeance upon my hus-
band. Dicky had knocked him down
for his behavior toward me. had
afterward captured and tied him up
for the state troopers. How he had
escaped these bonds was still a nys-
terry. but that he would be murder
ously vengeful against DiCky I was