Jasper Weekly Courier, Volume 60, Number 38, Jasper, Dubois County, 31 May 1918 — Page 2

The Empty House

Penrod Encounters All Kinds of Hair -Raising Experiences By BOOTH TARKINGTON

O NE July afternoon, when the world outdoors was empty of everything except hot sunshine, Penrod Sohofleld, in the sawdust box of his father's stable, was as silently busy as a diligent young worm in the heart of a nut. Favoring this comparison, the sawdust box was naturally almost as dark as the inside of a nut is believed to be ; but Penrod worked by the light of a lantern, which raised the temperature of the box to a degree that would have frightened a stoker, but subtracted nothing from the fever of composition. I Penrod was writing. He was writing CHAPITER TENTH of his secret novel, HARokl RAMOItEZ THE IiOAD-AGENT oR WELD LIFE AMONG THE ROCKY MTS. "Soon it was Mr. Wilsons turn to be scared and he started bogging to be let off and said it was not his fault and how he had never done anything. Oh no, sneered Harold, you did not do anything to this poor old man Oh no but I guess the time has come now when you will have to be exsposed so just look here a minute I have the papers to prove you committed theforegy your own self 10 long years ago that this poor old man got put in the penltenatriy for and been 10 long years in a dirty cell with nothing but bread and water and a little rice "Yes said our hero and I have papers that prove he murdered your children iind little baby daughter also "I didnt either and you better look X)Ut how you talk said Mr. Wilson and jjmjered his soul before his Maker No jsir cried he it was some irshman that ,murdered the old man's children and little baby daughter also I "Soon they atempted to put some hankuffs on Mr. Wilson but ho pulled out his ottomatick and roched over Harolds soldher where they were struglllng and began shooting away at the old man but Harold roched up and caught hoia of his hand with his hand antl took the ottomatick away and held him until the old man could get the hankuffs on him. "There sneered the old man when he was all tied up tight I guess you are In a nice fix now just like the way I tuscd to be for 10 long years. Ha Ha "Ho do you like it and went on tanting Jilm with his heploss condition Yes .sneered the old man I think you are lone of the worst people I ever know In ;my whole life and I am going to tell ,that you wore the real foger that put everything off on me and then he got so mad he began steping on Mr. Wilson where he was lying on the floor "Soon Mr. Wilson started crying at this and our hero and the old man tanted him some more for a wile then went on out with a smile. Mr. Wilson quit crying because it did not hurt any jnore where the old man had kept steping on him and soon managed to shake off his bonds with his teeth You Harold Hamorez sneered he now I will hunt you down like dog and he hunted around until he found his whistle on the floor somewhere and soon sumoned his detectives again and began reviln them you are nice ones you are sneered die leaving mo here alone with those Iwo men it wTas Harold Ramorez and (heJias turned the old man lose and we will have to hurry up or we will probly not catch them I wonder where they have gone "I bet I know said the detectives he has gone to his lair on the steepest cllft in the Rocky Mts and takln the old man with him we can easly catch xip.with them because it is dark outside and probly it is going to rain too so after talking some more they soon . went on out and started after our hero and the old man "Soon a storm came up and Mr. Wilson and the detectives got close on the trail of the fugitives in the storm bocause they could see them by the light of the flashes of lightning first would come a flash of lightning and then would come some thunder. "CHAPITER EYELENTH This kept up for a long wile for it was a terrible night and the lighting would scared anybody it kept lighting and thundering all the time and the old man could not run fast and Mr. Wilson and the detectives would shoot at them by the light of the lighting and the lighting would strike rocks that would fall ofl: the clifts and almost hit them and the wind blowing trees down too and it got frezing cold and the old man got hit with one of the rocks and broke ,his leg so our hero had to carry him on his back and more rocks began falling because an earthquake had started flow besides the lighting and thunder (and our hero could not find his way jamong the clifts and then it started Gaining too "Bing hing went the ottomatick bulets bing bing blng hing hing hing bing fblng bing Oh cried the old man I urn iwonded again and probly I will die unless we can find some place to get under Bing Bing Bing bing Bing bing Mr. Wilson and the detectives kept on ibjng bing blng bing bing bing bing blng blng Oh cried the old man because illr. Wilson and the detectives got close up and the ottomatick bullets hit the jold man every time I "Everything kept getting worse but aoon Harold saw a terrible looking cav.rta and went Inside of it and put the iOlfl man down from earring him The

cavren was all black and itsmelled terrible Well said the old man this is the worst looking place I have ever been and I bet there is something terrible in here and then some animal jumped out from back in there and bit him where the ottomatick bullets had wonded him and he said Oh some animal Is bitting me right in my wonds Oh now it is bitting me where my leg got broken "Soon the old man died and went to meet his Maker Well said Harold I wonder what I better do So he went back in the cavren and there was some kind of something green back in there and he was afraid probly It was the old mans gohst and he saw something that looked like some eyes looking right at him" "Musther Penrod !" This was a hail from the house. Della, the cook, emerged from the kitchen door and stood upon the back-porch in the sunset light. She addressed the silent stable. "Musther Penrod ! Y' rout there simwheres, why can't y'answer me? Yer father an' mother's away for dinner an' so's Miss Marg'rut an' I'm not goin' to wait ahl night, so if ye want annythlng feat ye bettor c'min an' eat it. 'Ts the last I'll cahl ye!" However, she came to the door five times during the gradual dusk to shout "Musther Penrod" and various warn

ings; but the stable remained stolidly unresponsive. Finally she delivered a real ultimatum, and when it proved ineffectual, retired permanently. Certainly her voice had reached the physical ear of Penrod, but It conveyed no meaning; his mind had not heard it Penrod's self was in a horrible cavern in the Rocky mountains with Harold Ramorez. Like many another good soul moved to attempt the transmutation of vision into manuscript, this author was not aware how frail and treacherous are the processes of the alchemy. The fact that words are fixed symbols of things concerned Penrod little; he thought that the words he set upon the paper meant all the things he heard and felt and saw, In his mind's eye, as he wrote things which so stirred and thrilled him that his hand had begun to tremble as It sped, faster and faster, across tho pages. He shook with horror of the awful refuge discovered by Harold Ramorez ; he saw a green vapor shimmering in its sinister hollows; he heard the shrieking of the canon wind across the cavern's mouth, saw it lifting and tossk i"-- wjiilu iiair anu oeara or a i dreadful figure which lay there, naked, ( torn and drenched. He fled toward the green vapor in the depths, only to turn back, shuddering with ghastly suspicions, while out of the darkness hundreds of eyes eyes without bodies, eyes without faces looked at him and i began to come closer, and closer, and closer. When such a situation is thus conceived and developed in such an author, it seldom proceeds toward convalescence; but rather the symptoms become more and more malignant indefinitely, relief being obtained only after the author has had a night's sloop. So it was but natural that Harold Raraorez's suspicions concerning tho groen vapor turned out to be well founded. The vapor proved, indeed, to be the ghost of the unfortunate Old Man who had suffered so greatly after arriving at the cavern, and on the journey thereto, and also, owing to the maehi nations of Mr. Wilson, for sixteen long, previous years. And, with the typical inconsistency of all ghosts, this one had undergone a complete change of character since passing. Forgetting every former tie and all gratitude, it seemed wholly inimical to its former benefactor, and assuming the position of terror-in-chief of a place upon which, in life, it had pronounced an unfavorable opinion and for which it had shown no attach ment whatever, it now appeared to have no affairs to call it elsewhere, nor any purpose in existence save to unsettle the reason of one who had shown it nothing but kindness. For, In truth, Harold Eamorez feared he might go mad and Penrod's mouth opened and his eyes bulged fearsomely as he wrote. And that very iustant the flame of his depleted lantern died absolutely. Harold Ramorez himself was not left in more complete eclipse. Instinct brought Penrod to his feet at a bound ; and, as he looked out over the side of the sawdust box toward the open door, his state of mind was one that needed the immediate reassurance of sunshine. And bright, warm, July afternoon sun: shine was what Penrod fully expected to see. Instead, he looked into Egyptian night. Therefore It is not surprising that when Penrod emerged from the stable, a very few seconds later, breathing somewhat disconcertedly, ho bore in both hands, ready for all emergencies, an ovcrweighty but certainly formidable weapon, which had come to his hand as he slid down from the sawdust box. It was an ax. There was no moon ; there were no stars ; there was no light in heaven ; there was no light in a neighbor's house. The air was thick snd black;

shrubberies In the yard took curious, changing shapes, and Penrod kept a wary eye upon them as he threaded his way to the kitchen door. It opened to his hand, revealing nothing save by reminiscent odor ; but there was a dim light in the dining room. Thither he proceeded, his unnerved condition being at once improved by the sight of viands and vegetables, for there was a plate upon the table at his accustomed place, and food plenteous, though grown cold. A conjunction of suggestions, occurring as he ate, recalled something like an echo of Delia's voice; gradually he became susceptible to an im

pression that his father and. mother and sister had not dined at home. Then abruptly it struck him that he might be alone in the house. "All alone in an empty house !" As the words formed in Penrod's mind, it was as if a husky voice had uttered them somewhere overhead. He was grievously startled. "An empty house!" At the upper end of the table was a part of a cold ham, beside which lay a largo, horn-handled carving-knife; and Penrod, after swallowing dryly once or twice, lunged suddenly at tills implement, grasped it, and stood upon the defensive. He remained in a tense attitude, listening; and there was no sound either within the house or without; nothing could have been more ominous. Finally, carving knife in hand, he went back to the kitchen, where ho had left the ax, and returned to the dining room doubly armed. Again he stood to listen. Suddenly Penrod whirled straight about, with ax and carving knife both lifted to strike at something behind him. Nothing was there except the sideboard, so he 'bout-faced suspiciously again. Then, laying tho ax upon the table, but keeping the knife in his right hand, he stepped upon a chair and extended his left hand to the gas fixture, meaning to turn the jet on full. But he pressed the key in the Penrod's Mouth Opened and His Eyes wrong direction, and for the second time within that half-hour Penrod's light wont out. To a person in his .condition it was a disaster, and, uttering an exclamation of horrorr, he stumbled and fell from the chair with a light crash. He was up again in an instant, cutting the air in all directions with the carving knife; then he groped for the ax, found it, and stood still once more, on the defensive, listening intently, expecting the worst and panting, with an effect, upon that stillness, almost uproarious. He moved about, and cautiously felt his way round the table and debauched to the mantelpiece, where matches were sometimes to be found in a small porcelain slipper, madly believed to be decorative. A chill struck to his sr)ine at a veritable sound behind him. This one was a faint croak, the result of some capillary action in the wooden floor, but so far as Penrod's nerves were concerned it might have been a shot Wheeling, he struck a frantic blow with the ax, which, completing a fine curve, miraculously failed to amputate the wielder's left foot at the ankle, but, as an Incident, permanently relieved all members of the house hold from troubling to put any more matches in the porcelain slipper. Thereupon Penrod decided to go outdoors. The decision itself was a simple matter ; action upon It was de ferred because of extreme hesitation to move at all. But after a gruesome period of inertia he began to tiptoe backward in the direction of the door, keeping his eyes, ax and carving knife warily toward where the villainous creak had sounded. Thus retrogressing, he presently found himself in the side hall, which separated all the front part of the roomy, old-fashioned house jrora the dining room and kitchen. The doors leading to the forward rooms were closed, and the thought of opening them filled him with horror; in his mind's eye ho saw them, gaunt, huge, full of black shapes of furniture, lurking places that might conceal anything! An empty house in the night-time has few attractions for a boy. In closed darkness sickens his soul and likewise has a discouracrinir physical effect; climaxing in the pit of his tomicb which is the seat of courage.

This fnhlArl nnJnt- tn -fV

iu uic mac vx. xrcurod, was becoming more and more sen- """' cijr uiuuieuu ne suuerea irom an unpleasant conviction that he was surrounüeü by vital dangers which became the deadlier for each slightest luuveuieiiL mat ne maoe. These üangers were ail the more deadlier be-

cause they were undefined ; the inscru- murous with the whispers and rustjl? t i . Jt --. .1..

uuie uurKness neia secrets and, putuus uul ajiö uuuu iu ieei tne waii near the kitchen door, he encountered one of them. His fingers very, very briefly closed upon something that felt iiKe a head of wet, cold hair. It sank irom nis toucn, and mere was a thicksounding thud upon the floor. vvL . uiuuueu x-eurou, uie question of going out through the kitchen thus rJ 4 1 X im 1 m m v - X- A.1 -1 . ..- . - - L . . . ueuuimiy fceiuuu, uuu wnen ne ue.came again conscious or nis wnereaoouts ne was on the second floor at the top of tne back stairs. uinuu öiia umu Urftn Z lie was sorely shaken, but not disposed to linger in the vicinity of stairs that led toward a kitchen inhabited by surprises or this Kind. He fled into his father's bed chamber, bruising himseu variously in the passage thereto, anu, aounuoning nis weapons tor tne moment, sua nis nana along tne wall , " U'"C 'St"er.,., XL ttua mi iiuuuiu nuu, it muzzieloading relic, last put to use by Penrod's grandfather on a day in the year 1SG3, antl it was truly unloaded. Pen rod got it down, pointed the muzzle wuvfiiugjy in tne general direction or the door by which he had entered, and whispered feebly and tremulously: "Now let's see whu-what you were goin' to do so mum-much !" He maintained this attitude until the weight of the extended rifle became insupportable ; then he grounded arms and leaned against a bureau, breathS nuL ? 7h10,no1ntIJ1 tllll,u bore: J-IlS Plnnw tnuohnrl n hnfMn li or.r,l His elbow touched a bottle; he seized upon it and smelled the contents spirits of camphor. Suggestion was immediately roused by the memory of an Bulged Fearsomely as He Wrote. unpleasant experience in the past. He recorked the bottle, placed it under his arm, and muttered : Tou betcha ! Guess they won't like this so much ! Sprinkle it in their ole eyes !" It now became his purpose to make his way cautiously to the front stair way, descend to the front hall, and thence, by the front door, reach the outer air. So, with slow and noiseless motions, he put himself once more in possession of his ax and carving knife, thrust the latter in the breast of his jacket, and, though encumbered to the point of difficulty by the ax, the gun and the camphor bottle, returned to the upper hall and began an advance In force. He went forward a dozen steps with some confidence, then halted ahruptly. Whflt RfnnrtPfl him trrio c.ni.fhtn - . virl w a nug ! Liilii I O- Q I . together inside himself. In the dark ui ness a green vanor annearod fthonsrh

not at the other end of the hall, where side the caPItal- Approximately 15,he thought It did nnd tho nmArrrod 000 tons of materials are now being

from it the shocking flmire of an old man lying in the rain at the mouth of a wind-swept cavern. The vision of the sawdust bos spiteful, like all other visions chose this particular moment to recur to the author of He was standing by the portal of his ntrn hn. Ifrinm I '- r-nl T, . 1-. -. .7 I j u UVUIUU-U. uujyiu;, lit; iiui-ptiu I across the threshold, kicked the door shut, and maintained possession of his armory, though, perhaps, not of his fnrniHPs. hnddimi himcnif nnnn the bed and buried his face in tho nillow. It is not altogether discreditable to a boy In the dark that he sometimes imitates an ostrich. But it is unfor tunate, because, when one is already In the dark, very little relief can be obtained by closing the eyes.

Penrod, burrowing Into his pillow, "Not in my particular field of accould see the old man rather mnro tivity ," replied Senator Sorghum. "If

plainly than if he had allowed his eves to remain open. He saw him through the pillow and through the wall ; it seemed that the old man was lying on the hall rug just outside the dosed, door, and that before long he would get up and come into the bedroom and bond over the bed and But the imagination balked in ultimate horror. Without lifting or turning his face t Penrod managed to squirm inside the j

i t. , i .i .

ueuciuuies ana to mvir nininif nnm pletely, as far as the top of his head, tor tne old man was but one of the monsters that threatened. Burglars ! Burglars were creeping through the halls upstairs and downstairs; the air of the whole house became murlings. Penrod, still not movinsr his head. pulled the ax and the camphor bottle beneath the sheet ; slid the gun off the coverlet, and pushed it as far under the bed as he could. Bunrlars mi cht be more merciful If thov believed him but a little lonely sleeping child intending no resistance. He gulped lamentably, and a poig - I nant bitterness began to form no inconsiderable nart of his condition. What kind of parents wer(rthev (he asked himself), who could go blithely off and lcave ft mtle lon(?1 chnd tQ I . - De founa by burglarsand other things In a great, horrible, hollow empty house? Probablv his father nnd mother were somewhere with a whole crowd of people, in brightly lighted rooms; no doubt at this very moment they were both talking and laughing. Laughing ! xiis indignation extended to cover the ensos of his nincteon.ycnw.ld sister Margaret, and of Delia, the cook, and Katie, the housemaid. Most likely all three of these marble hearts were also somewhere, talkinir and inll:hincr t ' Vf Big, strong, old grown peopl every one of them well, maybe they would be sorry to-morrow! Besides, he would get even with them if he lived. He was making up his mind in what manner a general revenge should bo accomplished upon the household wlinn ihn linnrlln nP lilo lnr. .iIInL-nl faintly, nnd yet distinctly: was softly '. turned, and the door opened a little way. Penrod's heart did not stop, but his breath did. He lay motionless. The door was closed again, gently. Then heart and breath both bound ed. There was no doubt about it; something had certainly opened his door and had looked at him. He had felt it. It was too much for closed eyes! Penrose lifted himself on his elbow and stared whirlingly about him until his gaze became fixed In utter hor ror upon tho threshold of the door. A thread of light glimmered wanly along that threshold. Shaking to the verge of spasms, Penrod gathered his weapons again. Then the light disappeared, and there was darkness and silence, and silence, and silence! And whatever the color of the gleam beneath tho door, the thread that re mained upon tho fixed retina of Penrod's eye, after the actual light had gone, was green. Now, indeed, out of the darkness - over the irenzied boy did unimera peer and monster hover! The green thread broke and twisted into shapes, bodiless, faceless eyes came closer and closer and closer, while animals breathed hot upon his cheek. The silence grew tensor with noises just about to burst forth; the dark ness became charged with unthinkable visions just ready to make themselves visible; raw heads and bloody bones, blenching phantasm and ravening vampire, bugbear, bugaboo, mummy and nightmare, ghastly tiling that had ever got into Penrod's head was issued forth and now hung over him. And outside the door were the burSlars- There were burglars 'rampaging all through the house by this time, in IMMENSE RED CROSS DEPOTS Sixteen Large Warehouses Established in France to Serve Needs of American Troops and Hospitals. To serve the American troops and the hundreds of war hospitals behind the French firing line and to reach the thousands of French refugees the Red Cross commission to France has established a system of 1G large warehouses tmuuguuut Six of the new warehouses have been located in Paris, which serves as the, center of the distribution system. Ten other warehouses are located outdistributed monthly from these ware houses b' tlie Rcd Cross commission. Every kind of medical supplies, drugs and surgical instruments is carried in stock for the use of hospital staffs. Foodstuffs, clothing, building materials, plowing implements and 10018 aJS0 "?eins ,mPrted 5. laT w uuuiinv.o iui .j-v. . w v. . - v-a ILJ-ubLt;ö' American college men, many of whom formerly served as drivers in tne American amDuiance, are direct' im 1 : m ln tne worn, wane tne lorce or worn men is recruited from veteran French soldiers and Belgian men no longer fit for military duty. Exercise. "Don't you think every man should devote some time to physical culture?" all legislators went in for physical cul ture as well as intellectual develop mG"t some of these debates might end in a personal encounter that really hurt somebody." "ad Marksman. "What is the chief aim of Jobllng,g existence?" "Making money." 'But he's always hard up." "Quite true. His aim is poor

all the empty rooms and vacant halls and passages. Burglars had opened the door and looked at him. Stop! Had they only looked at him? Had one of them come in the room when the door opened? Was he there now? Or was It the old man? That finished Penrod. With a shattering yell of terror he sprang from the bed, clutching all his armory somehow and anyhow; got the door open, plunged blindly through tho hall and down tho front stairs to the landing, where ho tripped over the stock of his gun and fell all the rest of j the way, bellowing outrageously and ; neonmnnniod hv the rifle, the camnhor 1 bottle and the carving knife and thoax. It sounded like the Eiffel tower falling downstairs. He came to n pause in a sitting posture at the foot of the newel. The hall was brightly lighted. So were the rooms opening from it, and out of these rooms issued sounds of sudden confusion and disturbance. His mother rushed to him through the nearest door. "Penrod! What on earth " Then through tho open front door came Margaret and fouc young mon who had been spending the evening with her on the front porch. Then, following Penrod's mother, came throe of Penrod's aunts, one j uncle, and eleven other alarmed ladies and gentlemen, most of them holding I nofdo irt f 1 1 r I r 1 1 1 1. I o VifcJ 111 lilV 11 llllllVIOi Then through the door of another room came Penrod's father, three of Penrod's uncles, one aunt and tho eleven remaining members of the Thursday Evening Bridge club, tho hospitable superintendence of which organization had occupied most of Mrs. Schofield's time that evening after her return, with her husband and daughter, from dining with an elderly relative. Over the banister above leaned Delia (in extreme negligee), and Delia likewise demanded to know, What on earth! Then, by moans of the back hall and the back stairs, Katie and an alleged cousin, who had been sitting quietly on tho back porch, joined Delia. Katie also wanted to know, What on earth ! "What Is the matter, Penrod?" his mother walled. Penrod coughed, gulped,- and answered feebly: Must -playing!" "But what made you get up?' Ills mother cried. "Get up where?" "Out of bed ! I slipped away nnd looked in your room awhile ago and you were sound asleep. What did you get up and dress for nnd "I was just pretending!" "Pretending what?" ".Tust pretending." Ho answered absently and In a preoccupied tone, his mind having somewhat centered upon the number of human beings in the circle about him. As his mother remarked afteward, there wore more people in the house that evening than she had entertained for years. Including the family and Margaret's callers there were 33, she said. At that she forgot to counts Penrod and Delia and Katie, and Katie's cousin. Altogether there were 37. "Mom-muli ?M Penrod began as he rose from tho floor. "You put those things away!" commanded his father. "Mom-muh?" "And then you go straight to bed!" his father concluded sternly. "Mom-muh, aren't you going to have Ice cream?" GIRL RUNS "SHINE PARLOR" Declares That She Has Lots of Customers, Likes the York, and Makes Good Money. As the man with the dust-covered shoes climbed into a chair in a shoeshining "parlor" in Ft. Wayne avenue, relates the Indianapolis News, a neat, trim-looking colored girl caine briskly out of a back room. "Good morning," replied the prospective customer. "Where's the shoe shiner?" "That's me. I'm the shiner." "Is that so? Well, you' are the first girl I ever saw shining shoes. Like the business?" "Indeed, I do. It pays me well and we are all looking for the money these days." "How did you happen to get into this kind of work?" "Well, it was like this. My cousin, who owns this place, runs a transfer wagon. He is away so much he had to have somebody stay here and answer the telephone and look after the business. He tried boys for a while, but they are all gone to war or talking about it and it was hard to keep them, so he gave me the job. This used to be a shining parlor and so many men came in asking for shines that I decided to get into the business myself. It didn't take me long to get onto it, and now I have lots of customers." War Economy. Sandy and Pat were discussing the economies of their respective landladies. "Indade," said Pat, "the other day I saw that wumman O'Grady countin the peas to put in the broth." "Och," replied Sandy, "where I am the landlady melts the margarine an' paints it on yer bread wi' a brush !" Very Much So. "That singer's voice has great carrying power, hasn't it?" "It ought to h-vye. He supports his own and his wife's family, too, on it."

i .1