Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1924-09-19
THE OWLS HOUSE
A Thrilling Adventure Story
By CrOsbie Garstin
Copyright. 1924. BY Frederick A. stokss Co

| lights of home, delivered to Eli on
| his return from his first trip with
| Pyramus, had been perfectly honest
| He had had "A rough experience and
| was played out.
But he was tired no longer He
rode to join Pyramus, singing the
Helston FURRY Song:
Where are those Span-I-ards
That made so brave boast-O!
They shall eat the gray goose feather
And we Will eat the roast-O.
Eli. leaning over the gate. listened
to the gay voice dwindling away up
| the valley. and then turned with a
| sigh.
|, Dawn was breaking, the mists were
rolling up. the hills doomed gigantic
in the half-light, studded with gran
lite escarpments, patchworked with
clumps of gorSe, thorn and brack en-
his battle field.
Ortho had gone again, gone sing
ing to try his fortune in the great
| world among foreign multitudes For
him the dour grappee with the wilder
| ness-and he was glad of ii. He dis
liked foreigners, disliked taking
chances. Here was something det-
| mite. something to lock his teeth in.
something to be subdued by sheer
doSged tenacity. He broke the news
that Ortho had gone sypsying again
that evening at supper.
Teresa exploded like charge Of
gunpowder She announced her in
| tention of starting after her son at
| once, dragging him home and having
| Pyramus arrested for kidnapping.
Then she romped up and down the
| kitchen, cursing everybody present
for not informing her of Ortho's in
tentions. When they protested that
they had been as ignorant as herself
she damned them for answering her
| back.
| Eli, who came in for most of her
abuse. slipped out and over the hill
| to Roswarva, had long farming talk
with Penaluna and borrowed d
| pamphlet on the prevention of wheat
diseases.
| The leggy girl Mary sat in cor
ner sewing by the light of a pilchard
chill and saying never word Just
before Eli left she brought him a
mug of cider, but beyond drinking
the stuff he hardly noticed the act
and even forgot to thank her. He
found Teresa sitting up for him She
had her notched sticks and the two
| remaining money bags on the table in
| front of her. She looked worried.
Here" she growled as her younger
| son entered. Count this" Eli count
ed. There was round hundred
| pounds in the one bag and 81 pounds.
! 10 shillings and pence in the other
| He told her.
There was so" said she. How
much have ! spent, them" e.
Eighteen pounds, 10 shilIings and
pence" Eli made demonstration
| on his fingers.
Teresa's black eyebrows first rose
and then crumpled together omi-
| nously.
"Eighteen" she echoed. and began
| TO tick off items on her own fingers
mumblinS soto voce. She paused at
the ninth finger, racked her brains for
forgotten expenditures and began the
count over again.
Eli sat down before the hearth and
pulled his boots off. He could feel
his mothers suspicious eyes on him.
| Twice she cleared her throat as if to
speak, but thought better of it He
went to bed, leaving her still bent
over the table twiddling her notched
stick. Her eyes followed him up the
stairs, perpleXed, angry. with "A hot
CLEAN in them like d spark in coal.
So Ortho had found her hiding place
after all and had robbed her SO clever
| ly that she was not perfectly sure she
had been robbed. Eli tumbled into
bed wishing his brother were not
quite so clever. He fell asleep and
had a dream in which he saw Ortho
hanging in chains which creaked as
they swung in the night winds
Scared by the loss of her money.
Teresa had another attack of eX-
travagant economy during which the
Tregors lease fell in. She promptly
put up the rent; the old tenant re-
fused to carry on and a new one had
to be found. An unknown hind from
Budock Water, near Falmouth, ac-
cepted the terms