AUNT JANE'S NIECES AT MILLVILLE
BY
EDITH VAN DYNE (one of L. Frank Baum's pen names)
1908
Continued....
CHAPTER XV.
THE MAN IN HIDING.
Cautiously the Major approached the cabin, which
seemed to have been
built as a place for the berry pickers to assemble
and pack their fruit.
It was constructed of rough boards and had a little
window in the side
nearest the dwelling house and a door on the
opposite side.
Creeping near to the window the Major obtained a
clear view of the
interior. Upon a dilapidated wicker settee, which
had one end propped
with a box, partially reclined the form of a man
whose right arm was in
splints and supported by a sling, while his head was
covered with
plasters and bandages. The man's back was toward the
window, but from
his slender form and its graceful poise the Major
imagined him young.
Old Nora held the left hand of this mysterious
person in a warm clasp,
bending now and then to press a kiss upon it, while
Hucks busied himself
opening the parcel he had brought and arranging
various articles of food
on a rickety stand at the head of the couch. The old
man's smile was
more benevolent and cheery than ever, and his
actions denoted that
strange, suppressed eagerness the Major had marked
when he had taken
the money.
The three spoke little, and in tones so low that the
spy outside the
window failed to catch them. Soon the injured man
began to eat, feeding
himself laboriously with his left hand. But his
hunger was quickly
satisfied, and then he lay back wearily upon his
pillows, while Nora
tenderly spread a coverlet over him.
After this the old couple did not linger long. Hucks
poured some water
from a jug into a tumbler, glanced around the little
room to see that
everything was in order, and then--after he and Nora
had both kissed the
bandaged forehead--blew out the candle and retired.
The Major crouched low in the berry bushes until the
couple had passed
by; then he rose and thoughtfully followed after
them.
Whatever Patsy's father might have thought of the
Wegg farm mystery
before, this adventure convinced him that the girls
were not altogether
foolish in imagining a romance connected with the
place. And,
notwithstanding Patsy's loyal defense of Old Hucks,
he was evidently
tangled up in the affair to a large extent, and
could explain if he
chose much that was now puzzling the girl
detectives.
After careful thought the Major decided to confide
in Uncle John, at
this juncture, rather than in the nieces; since the
latest developments
were more fitted for a man's interference.
By good fortune the girls had an engagement the next
day, and set out
together in the surrey to visit Ethel Thompson and
lunch with her in the
rose bower, which was the pride of the little school
teacher's garden.
As soon as they were gone the Major hunted up Uncle
John and said:
"Come with me, sir."
"I won't," was the brisk reply; "I'm going fishing,
and whoever wishes
my society must come with me."
"You'll not catch anything fishing, but you're very
liable to catch
something if you follow my lead," said the Major,
meaningly.
"What's up, Gregory?"
"I'm not sure what it is, John." And then he
carefully explained his
discovery that an injured man was occupying the
cabin in the berry
patch, and seemed to be the object of the Hucks'
tender care.
"It's the secrecy of the thing that astounds me
most, sir," he added.
"If all was open and above board, I'd think little
enough of it."
Uncle John's kindly interest was at once aroused,
and he proposed that
they go directly to the cabin and interview the man
in hiding. Hucks
being at the time busy in the barn, the two men
sauntered into the berry
patch without being observed, and then walked
briskly along the winding
paths until they sighted the building.
Pausing at the window, they saw the man still
reclining upon his cot,
and holding in his left hand a book--one of Patsy's,
the Major
observed--which he was quietly engaged in reading.
Then they moved
around to the door, which Uncle John pushed open.
Without hesitation, the two men entered and stood
gazing down upon the
strange occupant of the place.
"Good morning," said Mr. Merrick, while the Major
nodded a greeting.
The man half arose, moving stiffly.
"Pardon me, sirs," he said, rather startled at the
interruption; "I
regret that I am physically unable to receive you
with more courtesy."
The Major gazed into the partially bandaged face
with a glimmer of
awakening recognition.
"H-m! Ha! If I'm not mistaken," said he, "it's
Joseph Wegg."
"Oh; is it?" asked Uncle John, looking upon the
young man curiously.
"What's happened to you, Joseph?"
"Just an automobile accident, sir. The steering gear
broke, and we went
over an embankment."
"I see."
"Are you Mr. Merrick, sir."
"Yes."
"I owe you an apology for intruding upon your
premises in this way, and
beg you to forgive the seeming impertinence. But
I've been rather
unlucky of late, sir, and without this refuge I
don't know what would
have become of me. I will explain, if you will
permit me."
Uncle John nodded.
"After I had squandered the money you paid me,
through Major Doyle, for
this farm, in a vain endeavor to protect a patent I
had secured, I was
forced to become a chauffeur to earn my livelihood.
I understand
automobiles, you know, and obtained employment with
a wealthy man who
considered me a mere part of his machine. When the
accident occurred,
through no fault of mine, I was, fortunately, the
only person injured;
but my employer was so incensed over the damage to
his automobile that
he never even sent to inquire whether I lived or
died. At a charity
hospital they tried to mend my breaks and tinker up
my anatomy. My
shoulder-blade was shattered, my arm broken in three
places, and four
ribs were crashed in. The wounds in my head are mere
abrasions of the
scalp, and not serious. But it has taken me a long
time to mend, and the
crowded, stuffy hospital got on my nerves and
worried me. Being
penniless and friendless, I wrote to Thomas and
asked him if he could
find a way to get me to the old farm, for I never
imagined you would
yourself take possession of the deserted place you
had bought.
"Thomas and Nora have cared for me since I was born,
you know, and the
old man was greatly distressed by the knowledge of
my sad condition. He
did not tell me you were here, for fear I would
hesitate to come, but he
sent me the money you had given him and Nora for
wages, together with
all that the young ladies had kindly given him. I
was thus enabled to
leave the hospital, which I had come to detest, and
journey to my old
home. I arrived at the Junction on a night train,
and Thomas met me with
your surrey, drove me here under cover of darkness,
and concealed me in
this out-of-the-way place, hoping you would not
discover me.
"I regret that I was thus foisted upon you, believe
me, sir; but, being
here, I have no means of getting away again. Thomas
Hucks has had little
worldly experience, and cannot realize the full
extent of the imposition
he has practiced. He feeds me from your table, and
is hoarding up his
money for me against the time I shall have recovered
sufficiently to
leave. I think that is the full explanation, Mr.
Merrick."
Again Uncle John nodded.
"How are you?" he asked.
"Doing finely, sir. I can walk a little, and my
appetite is improving.
The doctors said my shoulder would never be very
strong again, but I'm
beginning to hope they were mistaken. My ribs seem
all right, and in
another ten days I shall remove the splints from my
arm."
"You have no medical attendance?"
"Not since I left the hospital. But I imagine this
pure, bracing air is
better for me than a dozen doctors," was the
cheerful reply.
"And what are your future plans?"
The young man smiled. He was little more than a boy,
but his questioner
noticed that he had a fine manly face and his eye
was clear and
steadfast.
"Nothing further than to get to work again as soon
as I am able to
undertake it," he said.
Uncle John looked thoughtfully, and drummed with his
finger upon the
little table.
"Joseph," he remarked, presently, "I bought this
farm at a price
altogether too small, considering its value."
The boy flushed.
"Please do not say that!" he exclaimed, hastily. "I
am well aware that I
virtually robbed you, and my only excuse is that I
believed I would win
my fight and be able to redeem the place. But that
is over now, and you
must not think that because I am ill and helpless I
am an object
of charity."
"Phoo!" said the little man; "aren't you accepting
charity from Old
Hucks?"
"But he stands as a second father to me. He is an
old retainer of my
family, and one of my ambitions is to secure a home
for him and Nora in
their old age. No; I do not feel at all embarrassed
in accepting money
or assistance from Thomas."
"Young man," said Uncle John, sternly, "one of the
follies of youth is
the idea of being independent of the good-will of
your fellow-creatures.
Every person who lives is dependent on some other
person for something
or other, and I'll not allow you to make a fool of
yourself by refusing
to let me take you in hand. Your brain is
affected--"
"It is not!"
"You are mentally unbalanced, and need a guardian.
That's me. You are
helpless and cannot resist, so you're my prisoner.
Dare to defy me, dare
to oppose my wishes in any way, and I'll have you
put in a
straight-jacket and confined in a padded cell.
Understand me, sir?"
Joseph Wegg looked into the little man's round face
until the tears
filled his own eyes and blurred his vision.
"Won't you protect me, Major Doyle?" he asked,
weakly.
"Not I," said the Major, stoutly. "This
brother-in-law of mine, who
connected himself with me without asking permission,
is a perfect demon
when 'roused, and I'll not meddle with any
opposition to his desires. If
you value your life and happiness, Joseph Wegg,
you'll accept Mr.
Merrick as a guardian until he resigns of his own
accord, and then it's
likely you'll wish he hadn't."
"I don't deserve----" began the young man, brokenly;
but Uncle John
quickly interrupted him.
"No one deserves anything," said he; "but everyone
gets something or
other, nevertheless, in this vale of tears. If
you'll kindly remember
that you've no right to express an opinion in the
presence of your
guardian, we'll get along better together. Now,
then, you're going to
leave here, because the place is not comfortable. My
guests fill every
room in my house, so you can't go there. But the
hotel in Millville is a
cheerful-looking place, and I've noticed some
vine-covered windows that
indicate pleasant and sunny rooms. Major, go and
tell Hucks to hitch
that groaning, balky Daniel to the ancient buggy,
and then to drive this
young man over to the hotel. We'll walk."
The Major started at once, and Uncle John continued:
"I don't know
whether this arrangement suits you or not, Joseph,
but it suits me; and,
as a matter of fact, it's none of your business.
Feel able to take
a ride?"
The boy smiled, gratefully.
"Yes, indeed, Mr. Merrick," said he, and was shrewd
enough not to
venture a word of thanks.
AUNT JANE'S NIECES AT MILLVILLE
Continued....
 
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