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MIfSS FR IANCESI 4 (Copyright. by CHAPTER-X.-Continued. That part or the Ladies' Aid Societ) which lived in west Covington waE bearing down u)on then. "Yonder's our mamas and Misa Minervat," ' o he whispered. "Now 1001 what a mess Hilly's done got us in; he all time got to perposo someping to get ehilii lens in trou ble antd he ill time got to let grown folks ketch 'em." "Aren't you ashatiled to tell such a story, Jitamy Garier?" cried Frances. "Billy didn't plropmo anly such1 thinig. ""Tain't no utse to run," advised Jiminty. "The'y're teo elose and done1 already see us. We b)un' to get what's coming to Is anyway, so yout maight jus' as woell mntake it ithink yolt ain't 'frait of 'Il. Grown folks got. to tall time ahina k little hoys and girls 'r' skeered of 'em, anyhow." "Aunt Minerva'll sio' put me to bed this tlime," saild Billy. "Looks like ev'y day I gotter go to bed." "Mother will make me study the catechism all day tomorrow," said Lina di'mially. "Mamra it lock me up in the little closet under the stairway," said Fran ces. "My mana'll gine 'hout a million licks and try to take all tle hide ofi o' me," sald Jinny: "but we done lad a Ieal) of ra!." It was soite holaurs later. Iilly's auant had ruthllessly elipped. the turkey feathcrs from his heoal. tak!ng the hair off in great patcht.-. h had then hoild his sea!p. so the little hoy thouM'ht, in her effot. to remove the munilnct a '. Now%., shorin of is locks and of som of his courn'', the child was s!tfi;g <atierly by her' sid, listen ing to a superlor moral lctrare tid indul-Jine itt a cotupulsory heart-to heart talk with his relaive. "I don't s''e that it do's youa any good, Williatn. to JItt you to bed." 'I don' see as It do n'ithe." agred Billy. "I (anl not wp1111 you;I a m COnIStitTu tioniallY opposed to cor -poral pui11sh ment for clalldrin." "l's 'Posed to it too," he assr-nt'd "I beli-ve I will hire a servant, sr that I may etvote my antire time tc )our training. This prospect for tho ftut re dh not tii)peal to her tiephe'w. Onl the contrary it tilleId him with alarm. "A htsbatnd 'd be anotrli r:jeht handier," he declared with energy; "he'd be a leap mo' 'count to you'n a cook, Aunt Mlinerva. There's that Ma jor--" "You will never make a preacher of yourself, William, unless y'ou im prove." h'lie child looked :p at her with as toninent; this wvas ithe first he knew of his being destined for the mittist ry. "A pre'acheor whaat 'zorts an' calls 'up muourners ?'' he siud-'"not on yo' tin-type. Mie tart' Wilkes liooth Lin colna "Ilow many times have I expressed the with not to have you br'irng that negro's naine int o the conversation ?" she impratienatly inrterrupted. "I dona' porr'tly kntow, 'm,'' he ana Rwered good humtioredly, " 'hou~t fifty hlunderd, I reckont. Anayways, Aunt Minterva, I aina't goina' to be nlo preach er. When'f I puats on lon g panrts l's goen' to lbe a~ Confed ar Vet'run aran' kill 'hou t lift y hunde ral Ya'na)kee's an' Injunrs, like any Mlajor mtian," CHAPTER Xi. Now Riddle Me This. '[Th ('htildrena were sitting in the swinag. iFlor'ence llamminer, a littie gl whose mnother' was spenditng thle day tat Mliss Mltn'rva's, was with them. "D~on't youalal wxish Sant a ('laus had his birthaya tighat now 'st ead 'o wait ing till Chlrisrttnas to) hantg utp eour stockings ?" tasked Frances. "Charistmaas isn't Sant a C laus' hirth, day,'' cotrrected Linna. "G(od was blorni on (Chriistmaas tandl that's the retasoun we hantg up our stockinags." "Yes; it's old Sanata's birthdlay too,'' argauead Jaanmy. "'ause It's ir the Bible and~ Mliss Cecilia 'spilainiet it to mre and slhe 'bout the dlandies 'splalner' they is." "Which youa'all like the besqt: (God o Doctor Sanford or Sanita Claus?' aasked1 F'lo'rnce. "I like God 'niother sighat better'n do aniyb~ody," declared .Jimmy, " 'cauts Hie so forgivinagsome. lie's 'bout tha forgivinigest person they is. Sant Clraus can't let you go to Heavena no D~octor Sanford neither, nor out' papa and mamas nor Miss Minterva. Nor wouldn't we be in a pretty tix if w had to 'pend on Doctor Sanford o Santa Claus to forgive you every tim you run off or fall down and bust you breeches. Naw; gimmio God ev': time." "I like Santa Claus the best." di clared Frances, "'cause he isn't t' ever getting in your way, and haan any castor oil like Doctor Sanfor and you don't f'rever have to be te ing him you're sorry you did what y< did, and ho hasn't all time got ot eye on you either, like Glod, and g to follow you 'round. And Santa Cla don't all time say, 'Shot your ey and open your mouth,' like Doct Sanford, 'atnd ioke out your tongue. "I Rilce DoctAr Sanford the best Said Florn "'causa-hes mi uno MINLVA GREEN IRiL 30YD CALHOUN lLeilly & IIaritton CUa.) and God and Santa Claus ain't kih to me." "And the Bible says, 'Love you kin-folks,' Miss Cecilia 'splained-" "I use to like my Uncle Doc' heal better'n what I do now," went on thi little girl, heedless of Jimmy's inter riiition, "till I went with daddy to hi otlice one day. And what you reckor that nman's got in his office? Ie 'iE got a dead man 'thout no meat noi clo'es on, nothing a tall but just hi bones." "\\as he a hant?" asked Billy. "I like the Major best-he's got meat On." "Naw; he (lidn't have no sheet on jutst bones," was the reply. "No sheet on; no meat on!" chir rupel Billy, glad of the rhymo. "Was he a angel, Florence?" ques tioned Firances. "Naw; he didn't have no harp and no wings neither." "It must have been a skeleton,' explaited Lina. "And Uncle Doc' just keep that poor imian tlhere and won't let him go to Heaven where dead folks b'longs." "I s)ec' he wasn't a good man 'fore he died and, got to go to the Bad place," suggested Frances. "I'll hetcher he never asked God to fo-iave him when he 'ceived his papa anl sassed his mama,"-this fromn Jiminy,-"and Doctor Sanford's just a-keeping old Satan from getting hii to toast on a pitchfork." "I hope they'll have a Christmas tree at Sunday-School -next Christ ims," said Frances, harking back. "a nd I hope I'll get a heap o' things like I did last Christmas. Poor little Tonmmy Knott lie's so skeered he wNasn't going to get nothing at all on the tree so he got him a great, big, red apple an' he wrote on a piece o pa per 'rom Tom my Knott to Tommy Knott,' and tied it to the apple and put it on the tree for hi'self." "Let's ask riddles," suggested Una. "All right, shouted Frances, "I'M goina to ask the first." "Naw; you ain't neither," objecte( Jimmy. "You all time got to ask th< tirst riddle. I'm going to ask the firs one "'Round as a biscuit, busy as a bee Prettietst little thing you ever di1 see?'- 'A watch.' "'Humpty Dumpty set on a wall, Hiunm pty' Inmpty had a great fall, Ail the k ing's horses and all thi king's men. Cnt. wut luipty Dumpty baci again.' 'A egg., 'Round as a ring, deep as a cup, All the king's horses can't pull 1 Up.' "A well.' 'House fill, yard full, can't ketch-' "'hush, Jimmy!" cried Linai, in dis gust. "You don't know how to asmi riddles. You must n't give the an swers, too. Ask one ridldle at a timi and let some one else answer it: " 'As I was going through a field o I wheat I picked up something good to eat, 'Twas neither fish nor flesh no I bone, I kept it till it ran alone?'" "A snake! A snake!" guessed Flor once. "That's a easy riddle." "Snake, nothing!" scoffed Jimmy "you can't eat a snake. 'Sides Liim wouildn't 'a picked up a snake. 1 it a little baby rabbit, Lina?" "It was neither fish nor flesh no hone," she decdlared; "and a rabbit i flesh and bone." I"Then it's boun' to be a apple," wa "N "etNr l's nNtigb Jus Hi Boes. Jim'1 etges;"htant1 - "N MatpNo cn't run aotng bi -~ triumphantly answered. "Give it uir t Well, it was an egg and it hatchedi 2, a bhrmken. Now, Florence, you at I- one." su "S'Dose a man was locked up in uc house," she asked, "how'd he g at out?" as "'Clami outer a winder," guessi es Billy. or "'T wa'ni't no Wiinder to the house "she declared, ," I"Crawled out th'oo the chim'ly, l e. I anta Claus," was Bily6 lm "'T wa'p't no chim'ly to it. Give It Up? Give it up?" the little girl laughed gleefully. "Well, he Just broke out with measles." "It is Dilly's time," said Lina, who seemed.to be mistress of ceremonies. "Taberniclo learnt this here one at school; see if y'all can guess it: 'Tab by had four kittens but Stillshee did n't have none 't all.' " "I don't see no sense a tall in that," argued Jimmy, "'thout some bad little boys drowned 'em." "Tabby was a cat," explained the other boy, "and she had four kittens; and Stillshee was a little girl, and she didn't have no kittens 't all." "What's this," asked Jimmy: " 'A man rode 'cross a bridge and Fido walked?' Had a little dog name' Fi do." "You didn't ask that right, Jimmy," said Lina, "you always get things wrong. The riddle is, 'A man rode across the bridge and Yet he walked,' and the answer is, 'He had a little dog named Yet who walked across the bridge.'" "Well, I'd 'nother sight ruther have a little dog name' Fido," declared Jim my. "I little dog name' Yet and a little girl name' Stillshee ain't got no sense a tall to it." "Why sholild a hangman wear sus penders?" asked Lina. "I'll bet no body can answer that." "To keep his breeches from falling off," triumphantly answered Frances. "No, you goose, a hangman should wear suspenders so that he'd always have a gallows handy." CHAPTER XII. In the House of the Lord. It was a beautiful Sunday morning. The pulpit of the Methodist Church "My Father and Mother I wavs not occupied by its regular pas tor, Brother Johnson. Instead, a trav ell'ig mui..fter, collecting funds for a chiwrch orph,,nage in 'Memphis, was the speaker for the day. Miss 'Miner va rarely missed a service in her own church. She was always on hand at the Love Feast and the MIssionary Rat and gave liberally of her means to every cause. She was atting in her own pew between Billy and Jim my, Mr. and 'Mrs. Garner having re. mained at home. Across the aisle from tohe evercs S ar wsttn iher her;own pew betweenyBillyerhndcJim my, reacher after anGarnestvn and elonqdet dhsore. Acroms the aisle from rhil ebersathanes Blackheteen choer fther bnd molethrw pewsang carcut toe wre Mr. andh Mrght Hamilton isl. Hae gown Majrma there.pi too; itoo coste tonl plhaer he coul depend uon heart, sig Miss Mgeout iTer praheafchrld, ernet yen lowqfever eisours fom '78, wet but rtwil reeearrd Ithbot ffathler closd rmther.i ibl iher a ang llopae twakcide upr tany, h sihul be slep ing the oldme w fro the pulpit 3and stood hans th hearrsash madw hislst patetic appal.fitf lyrspne to every orhnchlfrosa in del low afpeer;itdwsmapar of wheru rmerIfu conviction. Ay leittl ohn wa cidenere todayn, I solnd eus iftey woght. coheu tomniterontle fo and she han o wnte."ogot Heave toMise, Mse was aiysthul fbrst preaonher it. aIprf here wreiu conviction. t chrvivas she waender a shiningi oemn Mass ause vater, lht Whenav a iptrmptlred fone altone when wacerted ot evneito ris heldings alway pro firactoed oetng her t.Inveaskte tow seaterand hansked those whoa wre thembers of tHezchurch at the Biblerg totnp yeas. Minsrv Minr onse Oncte bwghent an ceratd trated moeern nde er avsin te aong andfwh had dthsen who thear fe.Shdread the bokoodeeka ibook Bible tove stn cove, Miss Meneva o ne score of te. gtntadhe e vo lover ohn the oreher ideled amfong lte fewphno hadrien totrwd fet Seae hdw rad thsperd bo hr cerw "to oer fom thernesi Wto Reelaian ovaer hand over sothe c thought hehadredr."ia e "Wha' oftieseake.".ontwn o owp hen tev'ybodyhere'lledoo k foreteen little orphans mefrard ashae leaed hado an whisperchild hednpw "Go uptonefrn, Wil-im"cmmne i aunt.m,"an shake hands with the c prkndeacher." kT"Ae lthere noy li orphnsure?"ut theMs minservas nsayting. "e wadintlyo a: shakoedibe herand an litl child Walking gracefully and jauntily ap the aisle to the spot. where the lec turer was standing by a broad table, -he held out his slim, little hand. Jimmy looked at these proceedings of Billy's in astonishment, not com prehending at all. lie was rather in. dignant that the older boy had not confided in him and invited his par, ticipation. But Jimmy was not the one to sit calmly by and be ignored when there was anything doing, so he slid awk wardly from the bench before Miss Minerva knew what he was up to. Signaling Frances to follow, he swag gered pompously behind Billy and he, too, held out a short, fat hand to the minister. The speaker smiled benignly down upon them; lifting them up in his arms he stood the little boys upon the table. He thought the touching sight of these Innocent and tender little orphans would empty the pock ets of the audience. Billy turned red with embarrassment at his conBpicu otis position, while Jimmy grinned happily at the amused congregation. Horrifled Miss Minerva half rose to her feet, but decided to remain where she was. She was a timid woman and did not know what course she ought to pursue. Besides, she had just caught the Major's smile. "And how long have you been an orphan?" the preacher was asking of 3illy. "Ever sence me an' Wilkes Booth Lincoln's born," sweetly responded the child. "I 'bout the orphantest boy they is," volunteered Jimmy. Frances, responding to the latter's invitation, had crawled over her fath er's legs before he realized what was happening. She, too, went smiling kre Sitting Right There." , down thle aisle, her stiff white dress standing straighit up inl the back like a strutting gobbler's tail. She grabbied hold of the mian's hiand, and was promptly lifted to thle table beside the other "orphans." Tears stood In the good preacher's eyes as hie turned to thle tittering audience and said in a p~athetic voice, "Think of it, my friends, this beautiful little girl has no mother." Poor Mrs. Black! A hundred pairs of eyes sought her pew and focused th m el e up n t e p etIo n woma Sitting gthere.e," nry n standigfsried. ii iMr. helack l ikbl holsd and tcould' hady keep from AsrIFtralifed passedhb tbe bamie theontewin "orpn."mears sdownh thse, Mrod Hariatn eranedyacos her husband titrng madlen atmp sai oi arends, this deauifl little girlphan" trea mthern." thr. hswa o muoor the. laudknce A huded pairs ofugee sougt he fr hen foustie themselesachonr'h suprceony young woaroused.iAg hereasped, Lngry, ndr sramefaclied hand Blac asd:bl Amuendo couldn hatrd kee fomr AYs, IFane passed byshe angrile tons'te. "My fher oeade owne the asltten Mrs.h Hatonre,"and acr osnter husan and madle anumpumts. cltcI na butshea toladon-lat faled," thaidina.lt "Morpan"h meaho gliding wit sttely, cosous tred o join the a i ouothers.Tia o muaceos headene?"fwby lag"a hed replyd o the sttimer ltte gpreac"he's gtsupcimet eres arod.Ars she catell Litha'm slener "Anyouv b'n. fae or mohoe littl agosr jstgl'ogn"tl "esrhae thepope truh anl rhe tesd ears fher and moher are sittin ighot therean somehow." te "ronr foake told ao down-roicgos fsoetme," said Limmy, "Moe taught metowiced lite and tolwy tellre Did yom everry tell moyou mmathe trth'mosat nolus tomet 'ceig mye mama," ofahe busies relyo the andthe ltle irle "she' oto sucho gimle eyes and er Ise cn ite wit know shutl ifa you alblthe sIppae and haor longe swgce, so I juso'n sand tello hertl thepange truthuer wen Mse "Aunt aidndyr oflways 'res goint wohrm it'tal o' mea bohow." us an'Gryon ' folks offer the closk stimes,"n where youmgot "ou beaoud anou faiae, lite;aynfo me always tl tel1 the srthyan I tell nachemaytde shke hes qstionersnc 'bou thins ain' loned ofhei usnssalalad.h know 'c-hire alln time ain per lance. Prosetlt ..Jimmy broke the quiet by rema'king: "Don't you -all feel sorry for old Miss Pollie Bumpus? She live all -by herself, and she 'bout a million years old, and Doctor Sanford ain't never brung her no chillens 'cause she 'ain't got 'er no husban' to be their papa, and she got a octopus in her head, and she poor as a post and deaf as Job's old turkey-hen." "Job's old turkey-hen wasn't deaf," retorted Una primly; "she was very, very poor and thin." "She was deaf, too," Insisted Jim my, "'cause it's in the Bible. I know all 'bout Job," bragged lie. "I know all 'bout Job, too," chirped Frances. "Job, nothing!" said Jimmy, with a sneer; "you all time talking 'bout you' know all 'bout Job; you 'bout the womanishest little girl they is. Now I know Job 'cause Miss Cecilia 'splained all 'bout him to me. He's in the Bible and lie sold his birth mark for a mess of potatoes and-" "You never can get anything right, Jimmy," interrupted Lina; "that was Esau and it Was not his birthmark, it was his birthstone; and lie sold his birthstone for a mess of potash." "Yes," agreed Frances; "he saw Esau kissing Kate and Esau had to sell him his birthstone to keep his mouth shut." "Mother read me all about Job," continued Lina; "lie was afflicted with boils and his wife knit him a Job's comforter to wrap around him, and he-" "And he sat' under a 'tato vine," put in Frances eagerly, "what God grew to keep the sun off o' his boils and-" "That was Jonah," said Lina, "and it wasn't a potato vine; it was-" "No, 't wasn't Jonah neither; Jonah is inside of a whale's bel-" "Frances!" "Stommick," Frances corrected her self, "and a whale swallow him, and how's he going to sit under a pump kin vine when he's inside of a whale?" "It was not a pumpkin vine, it-" "And I'd jus' like to see a man in side of a whale a-setting under a morning-glory vine." "The whale voinicked him up," said Jim m y. "What sorter thing is a octopus like what y'all say is in 'Miss Pollie Bum pus's head?" asked Billy. "'Tain't a octopus, it's a polypus," explained Frances, "'cause she's named Miss Pollie. It's a someping that- grows in your nose and has to be nanied what you's named. She's named Miss Pollie and she's got a polypus." "I'm mighty glad my mama ain't got no Eva-pus in her head," was Jimmy's comment. "Ain't you glad, Hilly, your Aunt Minerva ain't got no Miss Minerva-pus?" "I sho' is," fervently replied Miss NIinerva's nephiew; "she's hard 'nough to manage now like she is." "I'm awfui good to Miss Pollie,' said Frances. "I take her someping good to eat 'most every day. I took her two pIleces of pie this morning; I ate one piece on the way and she gimme the other piece when I got there. I jus' don't believe she could get 'long at all 'thout me to carry her theb good things to eat that my mama send her; I takes her pies all the time; she says they're the best smell ing pies she smelt." "You 'bout the piggiest girl they is," said Jimmy, "all time got to eat up a poor old woman's pies. You'll have a Frances-pus in your stomach~ first thing you know." "She's got a horn that you tall th'oo," continued the little girl, serene ly conltemptuous of Jimmy's adverse criticism, "and 'fore I knew how you talk into it, she says to me one day, 'How's your ma?' and stuck that ohd hofn at me; so I put it to my ear, too, and there we set; she got one end of the horn to her ear and I got the other end to my ear; so when I saw this wasn't going to work I took it and blew into it; you-all'd died a. laughing to see the way I did. But now I can talk th'oo it's good's any body." "That is an ear trumpet, Frances,' said Lina; "it is not a horn." "Let's play 'Hide the Switch,'" sug gested Dilly. "I'm going to hide it first," cried Frances. "Naw, you ain't," objected Jimmy, "you all time got to hide the swit~cb first. I'm going to hide it first my, self." "No, I'm going to say 'William Cour Trimbleton,' " said Frances, "and see who's going to hide it first. Now you, all spraddle out your fingers." CHAPTER XIV. Mr. Aigernon Jones. Again it was Monday, with the Ladies Aid Society in session. Jinmmy was sitting on the grass in his owr> front yard in full view of Sarah Jane who was roning clothes in her cabir with strict orders to keep him al home. Billy was in the swing in Misi Minerva's yard, "Come on over," he invited, "I can't," was the reply across the fence, "I'm so good now I 'bout got 'ligion; I reckon I'm going to bo a mish'nary or a pol'tician, one or t'other when I'm a grown-up mar 'cause I'm so good; I ain't 'got but flve whippings tls week, I been good ever since I let you 'suade me to play Injuin. I'm the goodest boy in this town, I 'spec'. Sometimes I get seared 'bout being so good 'cause I hear a woman ay if you too good, you going to die or you ain't got no senseo, once, You come on over here; you ain't trying to be good like what I'm trying, and Miss Minerva don't never do nothing a tall to you 'cepting put you to bed." "I'd ruther to gt whipped ffty ho derd times 'n to hafte' go' to bed in. the daytime with Aunt Minervi look in' at you. An' her specs can se right th'oo you plumb to the bone. Naw, I can't come over there -caUse she made me promise not to. I ain't never go back on my word yit." "I hope mama won't never ask. me to promise her nothing a tall, 'cause I'm mighty curious 'bout forgetting. I 'spec' I'm the most forgettingest little boy they is. But I'm so glad I'm so good. I ain't never going to be bp-4 no more; so you might just a."'well quit begging me to come over an4 swing, you needn't ask me no mor,-. 'tain't no use a tall." "I ain't a-begging you," cried Billy contemptuously, "you can set on yo' mammy's grass where you Is, an' be good from now tell Jedgement Day an' 't won't make no change in my busi ness." "I .ain't going to be 'ticed into no meanness, 'cause I'm so good," con tinued the reformed one, after a short silence during which he had seen Sarah Jane turn her back to hi i, "but I don't b'lieve it'll be no har'm jus' to come over and set in the swing with you; maybe I can 'fluence you to be good like me and keep you from 'ticing little boys into mischief. I think I'll just come over and set a while and help you to be good," and he started to the fence. Sarah Jane turned around in time to frustrate his plans. "You git right back, Jimmy," sbe yelled, "you git erway f'om dat-ar fence an' quit confabbin' wid dat-ar Willyum. Fixin' to make some mo' Injuns out o' yo-selfs, ain't yeh, or some yuther kin' o' skeercrows?" Billy strolled to the other side of the big yard and climbed up and got on the tall gate post. A stranger, coming from the opposite direction, stopped and spoke to him. "Does Mr. John Smith live here " he asked. "Naw, sir," was the reply; "don't no Mr. 'tall live here; jest me an' Aunt Minerva, an' she turns up her nose at anything that wears pants." "And where could I find your Aunt Minerva?" the stranger's grin was in gratiating and agreeable. "Why, this here's Monday," the lit - tie boy exclaimed. "Of course she's at the Aid; all the 'omans roun' here goes to the Aid on Monday." "Your aunt is an old friend of mine," went on the man, "and I knew she was at the Aid. I just wanted to fInd out if you'd tell the truth about her. Some little boys tell stories, but I am glad to find out you are so truth ful. My name is Mr. Algernon Jones and I'm glad to know you. Shakel Put it there, partner," and the fasci nating stranger held out a grimy paw. Billy smiled down from his perch at him and thought he had never met such a pleasant man. If lie was such an old friend of nis aunt's maybe she would not object to him because he wore pants, he thought. Maybe she might be persuaded to take Mr. Jones for a husband. Billy almost hopet that she would hurry home from the Aid, he wanted to see the two togetiv or so. "Is you much of a cusser?" he asked solemnly, " 'cause if you is you'll hafter cut it out on these premises." Mr. Jones seemed much surprised and hurt at the question. "An oath never passed these lips," replied the truthful gentleman. "Can you churn?" "Churn--churn?" with a reminis cent smile, "I can churn like a top." Jimmy was dying of curiosity, but the gate was too far away for him to do more thans. catch a word now and then. It was illso out of Sarah Jane's visual line, so& sh',' knew nothing of the stranger's sent. "And you're Ue all by yourself?" '4 insinuated Billy's new friend. "And the folks next do . whore are they?" "Mrs. Garner's 1t the Aid, an' Mr. Garner's gone to Memphis. That is "She's Got a Horse That You Taim Through." they little boy a-settin' in they yard on they grass," answered the child. "I've come to fix your Aunt Minet' va's water pipe," said the truth-lovingq 'Mr. Jones. "Come, show me the way; I'm the plumber." "in the bath room?" asked thw child. "i didn't know it needed nj fixin'." Hie led the agreeable piumbep through the hail, down the long back porch to the bath room, remarking: "I'll jes' watch you work," And he seated himself in the only chair. Here is where Billy received one oi greatest surprises of his lifa The fascinating stranger grabbed hha~ with a rough hand and hissed: "Don't you dare open your mouth or I'll crack your head open and seat. ter your brains. I'll ott you alive." The fierce, bloodsho'. eyes, wicie had seemed so laughing and merry before, now glared into those of the little boy as the aman took a stout cord fr-om his pocket, hound 1Hilly to the dhair and gagged him with a large bath towel. Energetic Mr. Jones took the key out of the door, shook his i , at the child, and went out, and lock.A the door behind him. (TO DIllCcONTIN -3),