The Elk Mountain pilot., 1924-02-07

came straight to Gwynne, smiling cor
daily.
Il see you beat me in. After We
parted decided to cut through the
woods to have look at Jack Moxley's
keelboat, stuck in the mud on this side
of the river. Happy to have you here
with US, and hope you will like us well
enough to stay"
"Thank you. shall like you all bet
ter after have had something to eat"
said Kenneth.
"And drink" added Lapelle 1t was
then that Kenneth noticed that his
eyes were slightly blurred and his
voice trine thick. He had been
drinking.
What turned you back, Barry?' In
quired Mccormick. Thought you
were to be gone a week or"
Changed my mind" said Lapelle
curtly, and then. apparently on second
thought, added: II got off the boat at
La Grange and crossed over to spend
the night at Martin Hawks, the man
you saw me with this morning, Mr..
Gwynne. He is a hunter down Mid
dlet0n way. fish and hunt with him q
good DEAL"
Without another word, he strobe up
the steps, across the porch and into
the tavern, his head high, his gait no
ticeably unsteady.
Martin Hawk !" growled the land
lord. "The orneriest cuss this side of
HI Plain no-good scalawag. Barry'n
find it out some day."
Il wouldn't trust Mart Hawk as far
as could throw a thousand-pound
rock" observed Mr.. johnson, compress
ing his lips. well, come on in, Mr.
Gwynne, and slick up a bit. The din
ner bell will be ringin' in few min
utes, and want you to meet the cook
before you risk eatin' any Of her
victuals. My wife's the cook, so you
needn't look scared"
Robert Gwyn's son is always well
come at my store and my home," said
one man, cordially. I'VE didn't know
till last fall that he had a son, and
well, hope you don't mind my saying
we couldn't believe 1t at first"
You spell the name different from
the way he spelled It," answered
Bugher, the recorder. 'T noticed it in
your letters. and it struck me as
queer"
my father appears to have revert
ed to the original way Of spelling the
name" said Kenneth, from the upper
step. my forbears were Welsh, you
see The manner Of spelling 1t was
changed when they came to America.
over a hundred years ago"
When Kenneth returned to the din
ing room, he found johnson waiting
there with his wife and rwo of his
comely daughters. They were present
ed to the new guest with due Informal
ity, and then the landlord went out
upon the front porch to ring the din
ner bell
long, Mr.. Gwynne," said Mrs. johnson.
Your mother-I should say, your STEP
mother-has got your house all ready
for you to move right i'm
Kenneth, forgetting himself in his
agitation, interrupted her with the
startling question:
where does Rachel Carter liver"
Rachel who?"
He collected his wits, stammering:
Il believe that was her name before
she-before she married my father"
"Oh, see. Her name is Rachel. Of
course. Well. her house Is up Colum-
bia street-that's the one on the other
side Of the square-almost to the hill
where Isaac Edwards has his brick
yard, just this side of the swamp"
After dinner he repaired to the Of
ace Of Recorder Bugher.
"Everything's In good shape" an
nounced Bugher. There amt claim
against the property, now that Mrs.
Gwyn has given up her idea of contest
ing the will. The property Is in your
name now. Mr.. Gwynne--and that re-
minds me that your father, in his will.
spells your name with a double n and
an e, while he spells hers with only
one n. He took into consideration the
fact that you spelled your name In the
new-fangled way, as you say he used
to spell it in Kentucky. And that also
accounts for his signing the will Rob
ert Gwyn, formerly known as Robert
Gwynne'
he bequeathed certain property to you
as my son, Kenneth Gwynne,' while he
fails to mention his daughter Viola at
all, except to say that he bequeaths So
and-so to Rachel Gwyn, to give, be-
queath and devise as she sees fit
Judge Wylie says Viola can contest the
will II she SO desires, on the ground
that she is entitled to as much as you,
Mr.. Gwynne. But she has decided to
let II stand as 1t is, and I guess she's
sensible"
II did not know till this morning,
Mr.. Bugher, that had half-sister."
SWELL" began the recorder, pursing
his lips, for that matter she didn't
know she had half-brother till the
will was read. so she was almost As