> j.
/I SfeCONQUEST :
/ OF CANAAN i
y ?
By BOOTH TARKINGTON.
LA?tKor tf "Cherry." "Monsieur Benu*
' ^ ea.ire," Etc.
! Copyright, 1906, by Harper <ft Brothers
(Continued from page 8 )
ana who naa known mm m ais
boyhood In the town. A lady, turning i
a corner, looked up carelessly and then
half stopped within a few feet of him
as If startled. Joe's cheeks went a
audden crimson, for it was the lady of
his old dreams.
As she came to her half stop of surprise.
startled, he took his courage in
two hands and. lifting bis bat. stepped
to her side. ,
"You?you remember me?" be stam- .
mered.
"Yes." she answered, a little breathlessly.
"Ah, that's kind of you!" he cried j
and began to walk on with her uncon\
aclously. "I feel like a returned ghost
wandering about?Invisible and unrecognized.
So few people seem to remember
me!"
"I think you are wrong. I think
you'll find everybody remembers you,"
she responded uneasily.
"No: I'm afraid not." he began. "I"?
She Interrupted him. They were not
far from her gate, and she saw her fa- i
ther standing in the yard directing a |
paiuter who was at work oil one of the
cast Iron deer. The judge was apparently
In good spirits, laughing with the
workman over some Jest between
them, but that did not lessen Mamie's
nervousness.
"Mr. Loudeu," she said in as kindly
a tone as she could. "I shall have to ask
you not to walk with me. My father
would not like It."
Joe stopped with a Jerk.
"Why. I?I thought I'd go In and i
shake hands with him?and tell him 1
I"M~
Astonishment fhat partook of terror i
and of awe spread itself instantly upon
her face.
"Good gracious!" she cried. "No!"
"Very well." said Joe humbly. "Goon- j
by."
Joe gat him meditatively back to
Main street and to the Tocsin building.
This time he did not hesitate, but
mounted the?siairs and knocked upon
the door of the assistant editor.
"Oh." said Eugene. "You've turned
up, have you?"
"I've come back to stay. Gene.'* said
Joe.
Bautry dropped his book. "Ex.*eedingly
interesting." he said. "I suppose
you'll try to find something to do. 1
don't think you couid get a place here.
Judge Pike owns the Tocsin, and I
greatly fear he has a prejudice against
you."
A *- - -~
"l expect ue uas, ?ive oiui&icu,
somewhat sadly. "But I don't want
. newspaper work. I'm going to practice
law."
"By Jove, you have courage, my festive
prodigal! V raiment!"
Joe cocked his bead to one side with
his old look of the friendly, puppy.
"You always did like to talk that noveletty
way, Gene, didn't you?" he said
impersonally.
'Ko$>oe's color rose. "Have you
saved up anything to starve on?" he
asked crisply.
"Oh, I'm not so badly off. live had a
salary In an office for a year, and I had
one pretty good day at the races"?
"You'd better go back and have an?\
other." said his stepbrother. "You don't
to comprehend your standing In
Canasu."
"I'm beginning to." Joe turned to
the door. "It's funny, too. in a way.
Well, I won't keep you any longer. I
just stopped in to sjy good day." He
paused, faltering.
"All right, all right." Eugene said
briskly. "And, by the way. I haven't
mentioned that I saw you In New
York." i
"Ob. I didn't suppose that you
would."
" 4 -J aatT anvfhlnflP nhAllt I
AUU )UU Utxuu % so/ au;
, It I fancy."
"I don't think," said Joe?"I don't
think that you need be afraid I'll do
that Goodby."
"Be sure to shut the door, please. It's
rather noisy with It open. Goodby."
Eugene waved bis hand and sank back
upon the divan.
Joe went across the street to the National
House. The sages fell as silent
as if he had been Martin Pike. Joe
bad begun to write his name In the
register. "My trunk is still at the
Btation," he said. "I'll give you my
check to send down for It."
"Excuse me," said the clerk. "We
have no rooms."
"What?" cried Joe Innocently. He
looked up Into the condensed eyee of
Sir. Brown. "Oh." he said, "I see."
Deathly alienee followed him to the
door, hut as It closed behind him he
heard the outbreak of the sages like a
tidal wave striking a dump heap of
tin cans.
Two hours later he descended from
an evil ark of a cab at the corral attached
to Beaver Beach and followed
the path through the marsh to the
3bl'.iig pier. A red bearded man i
seated on a plank by the water
Ashing.
"Mike." said Joe. "have you got room
for me? Can you take me in for a few
days, until I And a place In town where
they'll let me stay?"
The red bearded man rose slowly.
\ pushed back his bat and stared bard
at the wanderer; then be uttered a
howl of Joy and seized tie other's
ha4l* In his and shook them wildly.
"Qlorr be on high!" be shojited. "It's
m
jot? L.ouaen code oaitr We aerer
"Excv*c me." v-id the clerk. "Wc haw
itl> riwnuk
knew how we missed ye till ye'd goue!
Place fer ye! Can I flud it? There ain't
a Imp o' perdition In towu. inciadiu'
myself, that wouldn't kill me if 1
couldn't! Ye'U have old Maggie's room,
my own auut's. Ye remember how she
used to dnuce? Ha. ha! She's been
bur.i!n' below these four years! And
we'll l^nve the celebration of yer return
this night. There'll be many of
'em will come when they hear ye're
back in Canaan! We'll all hope ye're
goiu' to stay awhile!"
CHAPTER IX.
IF any echo of doubt concerning bis
undesirable couspicuousness sounded
faintly In Joe's mind. It was slleaced
eftsoous. Canaan had not
fo;-g)treii h.iu. Far from It. so far that
it uegati painting him out to strangers
0:1 the street the very day of his return
His course of action, likewise
that of his frieuds. permitted him little
obscurity, and when the rumors of his
finally obtaining lodgiug at Beaver
Beach and of the celebration of bis in
SCAiiatiou mere were v?u- .
time 1 lie stooJ iu the lime light in- j
deed. :is a Mephistopheies upsprung '
through t!ie trap door.
Tlie welcoming festivities bad not |
beau sj discreetly conducted as to ac- I
cord wttb tbe general policy of Beaver
Beacb. An unfortunate incident caused
the arrest of one of the celebrators and
tbe ambulaucing to the hospital of another
on the homeward way, the ensuing
proceedings in court bringing to
the whole affair a publicity devoutly
unsought for. Mr. Happy Fear (such
was the habitual name of the imprisoned
gentleman) had to bear a great
amount of harsh criticism, for injuring
a companion within tbe city limits after
daylight and for failing to observe
that three policemen were not too distant
from tbe scene of operations to
engage therein.
"Happy. If be bad it in mind to harm
him," said the red bqprded man to Mr.
Fear upon the latter's return to society,
"why didn't ye do it out here at the
beacb ?'
"Because." returned the indiscreet,
"he didn't say what he was goin* to
say till we got in town."
Extraordinary probing on the part ot
the prosecutor had developed at the
trial that the obnoxious speecn nau referred
to the guest of the evening.
The assaulted party, one "Nashville"
Cory, was not of Canaan, but a bit of
driftwood haply touching shore for the
moment At Beaver Beach, and?strange
is this world?he had been Introduced
to the coterie of Mike's Place by Happy
Fear himself, who had enjoyed a
brief acquaintance with him on a day
when both bad chanced to travel Incognito
by the same freight Naturally
Happy had felt responsible for the
proper behavior of his protege?was,
in fact, bound to enforce it; additionally,
Happy had once been saved from
a term of imprisonment (at a time
when it would have been more than
ordinarily Inconvenient) by help and
advice from Joe, and he was not one
to forget Therefore he was grieved
to observe that his own guest seemed
to be somewhat Jealous of the hero of
the occasion and disposed to look coldly
uiM)n him. The stranger, however,
contented himself with Innuendo
(mere expressions of the face and other
manner of things for which one
could not squarely lay hands upon
him) until such time as he and his
sponsor bad come to Main street in
the clear dawn on their way to Happy's
apartment, a variable abode. It
may be that the stranger perceived
what Happy did not?the three bluecoats
in the perspective. At all
events, he now put into words of simple
strength the unfavorable conception
he had formed of Joe. The result
was medlaevally Immediate, and
the period of Mr. Cory's convalescence
in the hospital was almost half that of
bis sponsor's detention in the county
Jail.
When Happy Fear had suffered,
with a give and take simplicity of pa
tience, ms anoimem 01 momus m
durance and was released and sent
into the streets and sunshine once
more, be knew that bis first duty lay
in the direction of a general apology to
Joe. But the young man was no longer
at Beaver Beach; the red headed
[ proprietor dwelt alone there and, receiving
Happy with scorn and pity,
directed him to retrace his footsteps
to the town.
"Ye must have been in the black hole
! of incarceration iudeed if ye haven't
heard that Sir. I^oudeu has his law office
on the square and his llvtn' room
behind the office. It's In that little
brick buildln' straight acrost from the
sheriff's door o' the Jail. Ye've been
neighbors this long time. A bard time
the boy had Dersuadln' anv one to rent
to mm. Dot oy paym' double tDe price
be got a place at last. He's a practiciu'
lawyer now. and all the boys and
girls of our acquaintance go to him
with their troubles. Ve'll see him
with a murder case to try before long
as sure as ye're not worth yer salt!
But F expect ye ran still roll him by
his name of Joe. all the same!"
Ft was a bleak and meager little ofdee
into which Mr. Fear ushered himself
to offer his amends. The cracked
plaster of the walls was bare, save for
dust. There were no shelves. The fat
browb volumes, most of them fairly
new. were piled In regular columns
npou a cheap pine table. There was
but one window, small pane4 and
sbadeless. An inner door of this sad
chamber stood half ajar, permitting
the visitor unreserved acquaintance
with the domestic economy of tDe tenant,
for It disciosed a second room,
smaller than the office and dependent
upon the window of the latter for air
and light. Behind a canvas camp cot.
dimly risible in the obscurity of the
inner apartment, stood a small gas
store surmonnted by a stewpnn. from
which projected the handle of a big
tin spoon, so that it needed no ghost
from the dead to whisper that Joseph
Louden, attorney at law. did his own
cooking. Indeed, he looked,It!
Upon the threshold of the second
room reposed a small worn. light
brown scrub brush of a dog. so cosmopolitan
in ancestry that bis species was
almost as undeterminable as the cast
Iron dogs of the Pike mansion. He
greeted Mr. Fear hospitably, baring
been so lately an offcast of the streets
himself that bis adoption had taught
him to lose only his oW tremors, not
U-1 ? 4 thn comn tlma Trw>
ui9 ilv/^rtri uiuctvj. m iuv ?uu>v i.u<v ?
rose quickly from the deal table, where
he had been working, with one hand in
his hair, the other splattering ink from
a bad pen.
"Good for you. Happy!" he cried
cheerfully. "I hoped you'd come to
see me today. I've been thinking about ,
a job for yon."
"I don't want a Job. nohow!" said j
Mr. Fear, going to the door. "I don't j
want to work. There's plenty ways fer
me to git along without that. But I'll
say one thing more. Don't you worry
about gittin' law practice. Mike says
you're goln' to git ail you want, and if
there ain't no other way. why. a few
of us'll go out and make some fer ye!"
These prophecies and promises, over
which Joe chuckled at first, with his
head cocked to one side, grew very
soon, to his amazement, to wear a supernatural
similarity to actual fulfillment
His friends brought him their
own friends such as had siuned against
the laws of Cauaan. those under the
ban of the sheriff, those who had
struck in anger, those who had stolen
at night, those who owed and could
not pay. those who lived by the dice,
and to his other titles to notoriety was
added that of defender of the poor
and wicked. He found his hands full,
especially after winning bis first important
case, on which occasion Canaan
thought the Jury mad and was Indignant
with the puzzled Judge, who
could not see Just how it had happened.
Joe did not stop at that He kept on
winnlnr cases, clearinz the innocentand
lightening the burdens of the guilty.
He became the most dangerous attorney
for the defense in Canaan. His
honorable brethren, accepting the popular
view of him, held him in personal
coutempt, but feared him professionally,
for be proved that be knew more
law than they thought existed. Nor
could any trick him, falling which
many tempers were lost, but never
Joe's. His practice was not all criminal,
as shown by the peevish outburst
of the eminent Buckalew (the squire's
nephew, esteemed the foremost lawyer
In Canaan), "Before long there won't
be any use trying to foreclose a mortgage
or collect a note unless this shyster
gets himself in Jail!"
The wrath of Judge Martin Pike was
auguBt?tb?se was a kind of sublimity
in its immenseness?on a day when It
befell that the shyster stood betwixt
him and money.
That was a monstrous task?to stand
between these two and separate them,
to hold back the band of Martin Pike
from what it had reached out to grasp.
It was In the matter of some tax titles
which the magnate had acquired, and
in court Joe treated the case with such
horrifying simplicity that it seemed almost
credible that the great man had
counted upon the ignorance and begottedness
of Joe's client, n hard drinking,
disreputable old farmer, to get his
land away from him without paying
for it. Now, as every one know such
a thing to be ludicrously Impossible, it
was at once noised abroad in Canaan
that Joe had helped to swludle Judge
Pike out of a large sum of money?It
was notorious that the shyster could
bamboozle court and Jury with his
tricks, and it was felt that Joe Louden
was getting Into very deep waters
indeed. This was serious. If
the young man did not look out he
might find himself in the penitentiary.
Joe did not move into a larger office;
he remained in the little room
with its one window and its fine
view of the Jail. His clients were
nearly all poor, aud many or nis rees |
quite literally nominal. Tatters and
rags came up the narrow stairway to
his door?tatters and rags and pitiful
fineries; the bleared, the sodden, the
flaunting and rouged, the furtive und
wary, some in rags, some In tags and
some?the sorriest?in velvet gowns.
With these, the distressed, the wrongdoere,
the drunken, the dirty and the
very poor, his work lay and his days
and nights were spent.
When Joe went about the streets be
was made to feel his couditiou by the
elaborate avoidance, yet furtive attention.
of every respectable person he
met, und when be came home to his
small rooms and shut the door behind
him he was as one who has been
hissed and shamed in pnblic and rnns
to bury his hot face In his pillow. He
petted his mongrel extravagantly (well
he might) and would sit with him In
bin rooms at nlaht holding long con
verse u-itU li:.u. iUe two uloae togetner.
The do-^ ?mh uot bis ouly conflduut.
There ratne to Ik* another. a
more utid uure frequent partner to
tbeir eon venation*, at last a familiar
spirit. This tbird came from a brown
jus wbicb Joe kept on a shelf in hisbedroom,
a vessel too frequently replenished.
Wbeu the day's work wa?
done be shut himself up. drank aloneand
drank hard. Sometimes when the
Jug ran low and the night was late- hewould
go out for a walk with: his dog
and would awake in bis room the next
morning not remembering where hehad
gone or how he had come home:
Once, after such a lapse of memory;
he woke amazed to find himself at
Beaver Beach, whither, he learned
from the red bearded man, Happy Pear
had brought him, bavlug found him
wandering dazedly In a field near by.
These lapses grew more frequent until
there occurred that which was one of
the strange things of his life.
It was a June night, a little more
than two years after his return to
Canaan, and the Tocsin had that day
auuuuuixu i Lie aiipruauuiug uiurrmj;<;
of Eugene Bantry and his employer's
daughter. Joe ate nothing during the
day and went through his work clumsily.
visiting the bedroom shelf at Intervals.
At 10 In the evening he went out
to have the Jug rifllled. but from the
moment he left hi? door and the fresh
air struck his fa -e he had no clear
knowledge of wb: r he d'd or of what
went on about hi::i until be woke in
his bed the u :;i ;
And yet. whatever lifrV part of the
soul of him remained that night still
uudulled. uot numbed, but alive, was
in some strange manner lifted out of
Its pain toward u strunge delight. His
body was an automaton, bis mind in
bondage, yet there was a still small
consciousness in him which knew that
In bis wandering something incredible
and unexpected was happening. What
this was be did not know, could not
>
"i! don't want a Job, noJu*wf to. id Mr.
Fear.
see, though his eyes were open, could
not have told himself any more than
a baby could tell why it laughs, but It
seemed something so beautiful and
wonderful that the night became a
night of perfurpe, Its breezes bearing
the music of hnrps and violins, while
nightingales saog from the 'maples that
bordered the streets of Cnuaan.
(Continued next week.)
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