A BAD OUTLOOK FOR BROTHER LU
"Now that you've told me such an interesting thing about this queer
tramp we ran across the other day, and who turns out to be Mrs. Hosmer's
only brother," Hugh was saying, "I want to return the compliment, and
explain that I've been doing a little missionary work or scouting on
my own hook."
Thad showed signs of intense interest.
"I sort of thought you'd be wanting to cultivate his acquaintance so
as to study the chap at closer range, Hugh," he hastened to say. "Well,
did he entertain you with some accounts of his adventures in different
parts of the world, as he promised he'd do if we'd drop around at his
new home and see him?"
"He certainly can talk a blue streak, once he gets started," admitted
Hugh, with a little whistle. "Why, that man would have made a splendid
lawyer, if he'd ever had the ambition to try; and as a promoter for
land schemes he'd take the cake. But he says he was born with the
wanderlust in his veins that would not let him rest anywhere for a
decent length of time. No sooner would he get settled nicely, and
perhaps own some big piece of land, down in Brazil once, or it may
have been out in our own West, than along would come that awful
yearning to be on the move again; and so, unable to resist, he would
sacrifice his property, and get on the jump again."
"If you could only rely on all he says, Hugh," admitted the deeply
interested Thad, "he'd be a mighty interesting character; but for one,
I firmly believe it's a great big lie; he's never been anywhere but
around this country, and that traveling on freight-car beams, and
walking the ties."
"Well," Hugh went on, "he certainly has a mighty intimate acquaintance
with all sorts of countries, for he can describe things in the most
minute way you ever heard. He kept me fairly chained while he was
talking of Borneo, Sumatra, Hong Kong, China, Japan, the Philippines,
and all those far-away countries in the South Seas. If he's only read
about them, the man has the most astonishing memory I ever
ran across."
"Oh! he's no doubt a character," admitted the skeptical Thad, as
though he begrudged acknowledging even this much; "but I still believe
him to be a fake. Keep right on telling me what you did, Hugh."
"For that matter, I didn't do much of anything except listen to his
stories, for he kept up a steady stream of talk for a whole hour or
more, and covered a wide territory in that time."
"I sort of think Brother Lu has conceived a liking for me which is
hardly returned in the same ratio; though I confess there's something
almost fascinating about the fellow."
Thad acted as though alarmed.
"Be careful, and keep on your guard, Hugh, or else he'll be hypnotizing
you just like he seems to have done with poor Matilda and her husband.
That slick tongue of his can do all sorts of stunts. Why if you don't
look out we'll have you going around taking up a subscription to fit
Brother Lu out with a brand new suit of togs; and perhaps buying the
poor chap a bully meerschaum pipe; for it must be dreadful that he
is now compelled to use one of Mr. Hosmer's old corncob affairs."
His sarcasm was lost upon his chum, for Hugh laughed merrily at the
gruesome picture Thad drew of his complete subjugation to the wiles
of the schemer.
"Of course," he continued, calmly, "I didn't forget what I was there
for principally, and all the while he was talking so fluently and
holding my interest, I kept watching him and trying to study his real
character. Thad, I own up to failure. Once I thought I was a pretty
clever hand at that sort of thing, but now I'm mixer-up, and have
lost considerable confidence.
"I kept changing my mind again and again. When he'd tell some of
the most astonishing stories of the strange lands he'd roved through,
I'd begin to say to myself that he must surely be just lying. Then
the fellow'd mention some little happening that he'd describe so
vividly, would you believe it, I felt the tears in my eyes, for
it would be sort of pathetic. So during that whole hour I sat there
and changed my mind every ten minutes, now blowing hot, and again
cold. I came away in as muddled a state as I went there. His actions
seem to stamp him a rogue if ever there was one; and yet, Thad, I
seemed to see something different in the depths of his twinkling
blue eyes."
"Oh! thunder! however are we going to get rid of such a sticker?"
groaned Thad, as though at a loss to know what next to do.
"Listen," resumed Hugh. "Among other things he mentioned was an
account of his adventures down in Texas in the big oil field there,
where he said men make fortunes one day and lose them the next in
speculation. He went into some details to tell me of a strange thing
he had witnessed there, and among other names mentioned, he chanced
to speak of a Marshal Hastings, who, it seems, is much feared by the
bad men of that community. Somehow, I thought I could detect a little
quaver in Brother Lu's voice whenever he spoke of this party; and,
Thad, do you know, the idea flashed through my brain that perhaps he'd
had an unpleasant half hour with that same Marshal Hastings himself."
"I take it that you mean the officer may have warned Lu to shake the
dust of that region off his brogans, and make himself scarce, if he
didn't want to pull hemp; is that your idea, Hugh?"
"Something along that order," came the steady reply. "At least he
could not think of Marshal Hastings without some memory that was
unpleasant, making him shiver."
Thad's eagerness increased by jumps, and showed itself on his face,
which was now lighted up with anticipation.
"I'm beginning to sense something coming, Hugh," he hastened to say.
"What you saw gave you a sort of idea, didn't it? You reckon right
now that there may be a way to frighten this lazy loafer, so that of
his own free will he'll cut stick and clear out. Well, perhaps
after all something like that would be the best way to get rid of
him. I don't believe the people in this civilized section of country
would stand for any night-riding business like they did in the
Kentucky tobacco district; or such a thing as that tar and feather
picnic. So go on and tell me your scheme."
"Well," Hugh continued, "you could hardly call it by such a name as
yet, because the idea is hardly more than half hatched. But when
he told me about the way the bad men used to shake at mention of
that brave marshal's very name, and I saw him doing something along
the same order, why, I began to figure out that if only Brother Lu
could be made to believe Marshal Hastings was here from Texas,
looking for _somebody_ he meant to take back with him, why, he might
get such a bad scare he'd skip by the light of the moon between days,
and never, never come back again."
Thad gave his chum a vigorous pound on the back that made the other
wince; but then he was accustomed to taking things of this nature
from expressive Thad.
"Oh! that sounds good to me, Hugh!" he burst out with. "I honestly
believe you are getting close to a bully scheme that may pan out
firstclass. Argument and all kinds of pleading wouldn't influence
that man a bit, because he's selfish, I know he must be, or else he
wouldn't burden his poor sister, and see her working for his
miserable comfort every day, and all day long. But, Hugh, he could
be moved by fear. If so be he has ever done anything down there
in Texas that he could be arrested for, why, just the mere knowledge
that this marshal, who always gets those he goes after, has come
north, and is looking for some one, ought to start Brother Lu on a
gallop for another distant section of country."
"It might," said Hugh, reflectively, as though the exuberance of his
comrade was having an effect on his mind.
"It surely would," repeated Thad, pounding a fist into his other palm
to express his convictions. "And, believe me, he wouldn't dare show
his smiling face in these parts in a hurry again, because he'd feel
pretty sure the marshal would have arranged it with the local police
to notify him in case Brother Lu ever turned up. Why, Hugh, we've
got the scheme right now; and it ought to work to beat the band. I
can see that hobo trailing along over the ties again at a hot pace;
and while poor Matilda may grieve for her brother, she'll heave a sigh
of relief to know it's all over, and the ladies are her friends again."
"Let's go a step further, then," insinuated Hugh, "and if we decide
to try out this little plan, which you're good enough to call a
scheme, how can we fix it so that the reformed hobo will take the
alarm?"
"That's where the hitch may come in," agreed the other boy, as he
allowed three separate lines of wrinkles to gather across his forehead,
which was always reckoned a sure sign that Thad Stevens was concentrating
his brain power upon the solution of a knotty problem. "One thing sure,
we can't very well up and inform him of the fact ourselves, or he'd
understand the motive right away."
"And even if a letter could be sent," continued Hugh, "how would we
be able to get the right post-mark on the envelope, unless we asked
the postmaster down in a town of Texas close to the oil fields to
mail it for us?"
Suddenly Thad started to smile. The said smile rapidly broadened
into a positive grin that spread all over his face, while his eyes
fairly sparkled with delight.
"Hugh, I've just grabbed a bright idea!" he said, explosively.
"Let's hear about it before the same gets away from you, then," his
chum advised.
"Listen. Perhaps you may know that I used to go some with little
Jim Pettigrew more or less before you and I became such chums. Jim
is considerably older than me, but his stature always made folks
think he was a kid. Well, of course you also know Jim he's graduated
into a regular cub reporter, as he's so fond of calling it, because
that word _cub_ is used so often in the movies, when they show up
a big newspaper office in New York or Chicago, and the latest greenhorn
on the staff is given an assignment that allows him to make the
greatest news scoop ever heard of. Jim, to tell the truth, works
on our local weekly here, the _Scranton Courier_. He rakes the
entire country for news, writes things up that have never occurred,
so as to fill space, and draw his weekly pay, attends weddings,
funerals, and all sorts of events, not forgetting baseball games
and such things.
"Well, Jim is still a good friend of mine, although he now feels
himself so mighty important that even the mayor sends for him to
communicate something he wants to appear in the next issue of the
paper. The idea that flashed into my brain, you must know, Hugh, is
to tell Jim of our great trouble with this pesky hobo, and enlist his
aid in scaring Brother Lu off."
"Suppose now, in the issue of the _Courier_ that is due tomorrow
morning there appeared an interesting write-up about a certain Marshal
Hastings who was visiting Scranton, having come all the way from Texas
to find and take back a certain party who was badly wanted there for
some serious offense; the story could give little hints that would
point to Brother Lu as the man, without actually saying so. Hugh,
tell me, what do you think of that for a scheme; and might it do the
work, would you say?"