The Oakley herald. [volume] (Oakley, Idaho) 1908-1961, 1923-06-08
CHAPTER Xxx
LettIe on the Firing Line.


Lettie's plan was definite, but onl,
a child would have formed 1t. He
suspicious were red-hot, but only
child Of ten-second impulsivenes,
would have acted upon them. Their,
was a great deal of inlammable mate
rial In her nature, and no one could
tell what chance spark might set II
of. The evidence that had REQUIRED
TO her, under the stress of Mrs. Pen
fields suffering. was slight, even un-
reliable, but her imagination had In
vested 1t with integrity.
From Mrs. Sanders living room
window she had caught the merest
glimpse of man with a child in his
arms. hurrying out of The Custard
Cup. Looking from a lighted room
into the deepening twilight, she had
seen neither clearly and had not
thought of recognizing the man or the
child. But when she had found that
Thad was missing, she had jumped
to the congenial conclusion that she
had seen Frank Bosley carrying Thad
away. Why Frank Bosley? Chiefly
1
ed him, and because in build he was
not unlike the man she had seen. The
fact that Frank Bosley could have no
possible interest in kidnapping a Gus
tard Cup child, did not occur to dis
turb her conviction. True to the Inn
pulsiveness which was the keynote of
her nature, she had jumped to a con-
clusion.
IL was several blocks to the Eve
ridge street house, but Lettie covered
them rapidly. There was no light in
any window, but she rang the bell.
TN begin decent" she thought to her.
self. She was sure that queer people
came here, and somehow she didn't
expect them to do anything so mild
as to respond TO a bell. Giving them
the chance was her way of discharg-
ing her formal duty.
There was no answer. Lettie set her
teeth and proceeded to business.
"Thad's in there" she thought stead
lily. "and I'm going to have him."
Quietly she circled the two-story |
house. 1t had a high basement |
There was basement window toward
the vacant lot, but 1t was fastened.
Immediately she reflected that If she
got into the basement, she would
probably want to get upstairs and
might find herself locked away from
the main floor She knew that the
key was not likely to be on the base
ment side. The windows on the first
floor were all closed-except one on
The other side from the vacant lot,
the bathroom window. That
was raised few inches. 1t was very
narrow. but so was Lettie. Mentally
she bounced on that window.
She called upon her wide experience
n providing to help her. In the back
lard she found an old box; in other |
,ack yards she found other boxes.
She borrowed four of different sizes,
md with every intention of returning
hem. No one knew better than Let
lie how important piece of personal
property an old wooden box may be;
nd In spite OF her acquisltive ten
encles. she had a rigid respect for
rior claims.
She placed the boxes on end, by way
T making them reach. Then through
cquired agility and with the help of
ails that had once fastened vine to
he wall, she climbed within range OF
he ledge. pushed up the window
sstly. squeezed her thin body through,
sung downward with her wiry hands
rssping the sill, and touched her feet
the floor.
She was inside. With the exuber-
lce Of ignorance, she felt that her =
lest was nearly accomplished. She
retched out her hands till she dis
'vered the door; then went through
into inky blackness. She CROPPED $
ong the wall. tried door, found II ;.
cked; tried another, found It also {
rked; tried a third. The knob ;
elded. She turned 1t carefully and =
oked into room In which a gas Jet :
rned. A woman was sitting by a Z
ble-a rich woman. She was count .
3 her money and putting the green s
is Into different piles There was
'apping paper on the table, ball of
rd, a stick of red wax. a
There was no child in the room. Y
wing glanced around to make sure. ssv
title tried to withdraw quietly, but
} doorknob slipped in her hand. 1t
cked sharply. The woman turned he
tn a violent start, sprang up. bu
what are you doing here?" she de-
nded. is.
L.ettie shivered at the sound Of her lie
ce. 1t was low but harsh. cold as
ferent as possible from Pennies sti
e voices she had been accustomed tw
in those lean years before she came wr
o The Custard Cup. With a jerk fai
woman had covered her money frs
n one Of the papers She turned on wit
tie with eyes that glittered, her
on tsnad Har faca had a chm loot. -.