Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-05-25

that DR.. Raleigh said about the pos
sibility of trouble with the police, but
when he went back to bed he had q
terrible nightmare, In which he was in
danger of being burnt to death In q
prairie fire. Jimmy Raleigh, less i'm
aginative and more practical, dreamt
that the police came to drag away his
friend and idol to prison.
The fire still burned next morning,
and the three joined with the villagers
in beating 1t out with damp sacking
and branches cut from the gorse bushes.
Its mighty far for spark from
the railway" commented one farmer,
and another expressed the opinion that
some tramp had started the trouble.
The feeling of guilt had worn off, and,
as Dennis suggested, they were like
secret service agents In an enemy camp.
The least word, the least sign of con-
fusion, might betray them, and then
they would be scalped and burnt alive.
In order to make quite sure that every
thing was all right, they chose q pass
word, "Blackbird," which they used to
each other every time they met.
1t would have been difficult for any
body to suspect Dennis of causing the
fire; he attacked 1t with such method
ical vehemence that men warned him
he was getting into danger, and when
he returned home his mother found
the soles Of his boots had been burnt
through. He could not quite feel that
her reproaches were justified, because,
even If the boots were nearly new, the
fire had been far too good to miss.
CHAPTER II.
Y AMES RALEIGH was very proud
because, on the afternoon OF
Dennis Stanhope's arrival to
~ spend his second holidays at
Alum Green, his own school was
playing its annual cricket match
against Mr.. Forester's eleven, and he
was captaining the team. 1t was true
that his preparatory school was very
small one, but there was something
very satisfactory in arranging the field
and choosing the bowlers, even though
the blacksmith and Joe Bennett, the
postman, knocked UP a depressingly
large score between them. Just outside
the tiny, wooden pavilion, Dennis Stan
hope sat in all the respondent glory of
his red Barford School cap. He had
only been one term at public school,
but 1t sufficed to give him an air Of
great superiority over the youngsters:
When at length Joe Bennett had
been run out, and the rest of Mr..
Forester's team had been dismissed,
Jimmy sent his first men out to bat,
decided to 60 in second wicket down.
and came over to his friend. They
each had sixpence for their tea, and 1t
went, penny by penny, on ice comets,
which they licked with an air of
superior connoisseurship which went
we'll with their important position
there was no mistaking the Barford
cap, and Jimmys pads and new bat
were impressive.
Have a good time this ,term?" he
asked negligently.
Ripping" Dennis Stanhope was an
imaginative and highly strung boy who
might easily have been very unhappy
had 1t not been for his keenness, and
his excellence at games. The first half
of the first term had been a strain,
especially since the combined loneliness
and lack of privacy were emphasized
by the return of his mother to India,
and the knowledge that he now had
no English home to 60 to. But he
could not tell Jimmy his difficulties
Somehow 1t would not be playing the
game, and, whatever else he had failed
to learn at Barford, he had piled up an
immense list Of things that were mot
DONE"
"It's a bit rough. especially for fell
lows who funk, or anything like that,
he allowed himself to say, but on the
whole it's ripping"
"I'll be coming in year or two
Daddy's got my name down"
Eyes, I know. It'll be pretty useful
for you, having me there. I'll be able
to help YOU"
eyes," agreed the school captain
humbly. Its awfully decent of you.
Then he went in to bat, hit out In
fine style under the encouraging eye
of his friend, scored "a. including 4
boundaries, and got caught ~ the slips
Jolly good for a kid" commented
Dennis Stanhope approvingly.
But, after a day or two of the holi.
days, he forgot the superiority OF hi!
position. The airgun, slightly rusted
was produced, and it was found thai
even fellow from Barford could play
at cowboys without loss # dignity
Besides, the two boys built a small
laboratory out of cardboard boxes ir
the corner of their bedroom, and miXeS
liquids and powders with astonishing
results. Mrs. Tucker, at the village
shop, had many old fireworks left owe
| from last Nove-.ber and these were
useful for experiments, while DR.
Raleigh sometimes wondered II hi
stocks of methylated spirit an,
| medicaments did not dwindle with un
usual rapidity-wondered, and thel
| gave 1t up, for he was too much takei
UP by his medical journals to motto