THE UNEXPECTED VISITOR
A great barking of dogs broke the silence of the sleepy summer
afternoon. Elinor Pomeroy laid down her knitting and slowly
walked around the house. The barking of the three big dogs had
been on a joyous tone. A young man was racing up the long front
drive, the dogs leaping and bounding around him.
"Three rousing cheers, old dear," he cried. "Three cheers! I
have won out!"
"Do you really mean it, Lester?" she cried. "Do you really mean
that your invention is a success?"
"It certainly is, Elinor," he answered, a certain gravity coming
into his face and manner. "I know now that it is all right. We
have even tried it out, and I am sure of it."
Elinor took her excited brother by the arm and led him to the
wide, swinging hammock.
"Begin at the beginning," she ordered gently. "I want to hear
the whole thing."
"Well, then," he commenced obediently, "this morning, as soon as
I got to the plant, I asked for a meeting with the bureau of
management. Well, I went in and told them what I had done; how I
happened on a partial combination when I was analyzing something
for the office. I told them that I had worked it out further and
further, and that finally I found what I was hunting for--a gas
that was powerful enough to affect a large number of men and put
them out temporarily, without injuring them after the effects
wore off.
"Well, they listened, and when I told them my idea was to use it
along the battle front instead of the ghastly deadly gases used
by the Germans, they commenced to sit up and take notice. You
see, sis, my invention is far reaching than anything yet known.
It puts out thousands of men with the contents of one grenade, and
sinks them into such a deep sleep that they are absolutely helpless
for hours. During this time, our men can occupy their positions,
and send hundreds of trucks to the rear loaded with sleeping
prisoners. When they come to, they are all right.
"They listened, all right, and then they commenced to ask
questions. I offered to try it out right there, but they didn't
seem to want to. Then Mr. Leffingwell spoke up. You know what a
good sport he is. He said, 'Well, fellows, there may be a lot to
this. I have a couple of hundred cows out Marcellus way, and I'm
going to sacrifice them to my country. Let's take the car, and
try this thing out if this young man has enough on hand for a
man-sized bomb.'
"Some of the men said he was a fool to risk that herd. My own
opinion was that he thought the stuff wouldn't work at all in the
open. Anyway, we got into the cars, and went out to the dandiest
farm you ever saw.
"We drove the cows all into one end of a big lot because there
was no way to send the grenade with sufficient force to spread
the gas; but I went as close as I dared, and threw with all my
might. It struck a stone and broke and right quick a couple of
cows close to the grenade sort of crumpled up and laid down, and
some more, and then one on the outskirts of the group looked
around and said, 'Dear me suz, it gets late early now!' and she
put her head on her arm, and went sleepy sleepums--"
"It's too wonderful; too wonderful!" mused Elinor.
"Well, the best part is," said her brother, "that it is so simple
and so cheap. That is, it is simple to combine."
"Where is the formula?" asked the business-like Elinor. "In a
safe, I hope."
"No, not yet. The only formula in the world is here in my coat
pocket." He patted the coat lying, on the hammock beside him.
"There!" cried Elinor. "Why, Lester, I call that awfully
careless! I do truly think you ought to put it in a safe!"
"That's all right," said Lester, leaning back and playing with
one of the dogs. "I have it in my head anyhow. Come on, hon; I'm
dead tired. Let's forget about it for a little while; let's go
see how the grapes are ripening."
An hour later a well-grown boy came rapidly along the road and
turned in the lower drive which led directly to the carriage.
Putting his wheel on its rack, he hustled into the kitchen where
Elinor, prettier than ever in her long blue apron, her face
softly flushed from the fire, stood dishing up a delicious
supper.
"You are late, small boy," she cried. "Get your hands washed,
and go call Lester. I think I left him about an hour ago, and
he has been as still as a mouse ever since. He has something
fine to tell you."
She turned to the old woman who was helping her, and Wugs,
whistling loudly, went through the house and slammed the screen
door as he reached the porch. Elinor went on serving the supper.
Mr. Pomeroy, her father, was away on one of the long trips he was
accustomed to make. He was a breeder of fine cattle, and bought
and sold continually. His wife was dead, and Elinor was all in
all to the man who was lonely even when surrounded by his three
fine children. Elinor was thinking of the dear little mother who
had passed away, and wishing that she could be with them at a
time when Lester was to know the greatest pride of his life.
Supper was on, and she stood by the table thinking tenderly.
Then she frowned. She was conscious of the racket Colonel, the
big collie was making in his run. It occurred to her that the
dog had been raving for an hour past, but she had been so intent
on supper that she had laid the uproar to Lester who loved to
play with the bunch and get them excited.
She stepped toward the window to speak to Colonel, when she heard
a shout from Wugs. The shout wavered, and turned to a wild, high
scream of horror. Elinor stood motionless. Then shriek after
shriek split the air, and the girl sped to the front door, dashed
it open, snapping on the porch light as she passed the switch in
the hall. She gained the steps in her mad rush and paused.
Wugs's agonized voice guided her down to the side of the wide
veranda. She dashed to his side and looked down where he was
kneeling.
Poor, poor Elinor! Her brother--her darling Lester--lay there
limp and distorted, and from an ugly wound on his forehead the
blood oozed slowly. Beside him, her head on his breast, his
Beatrice, his special pet. She was dead; but with her last
strength she had crept to the side of her beloved master she
tried to defend.
Wugs looked up, his eyes wild with terror.
"He's dead! He's dead! Les is dead!" he kept saying.
Elinor knelt, put her ear on his heart, then sprang to her feet.
"Be a man, John," she, said quietly. "Les is living. We will
have to work fast to save him."
After that it was all a terrible 'nightmare'. Men came, and
tender, strong hands lifted the unconscious burden and gently
laid it on the bed where the little mother had lain so long
before she had passed away into rest. Other hands, just as
gentle, carried the dead body of little Beatrice around to the
garage where, while decently washing the blood from her poor
battered little head, they found a piece of rough, dark cloth
clenched in the dog's set jaws.
And the nightmare went on while some one telegraphed to Mr.
Pomeroy, and the doctors behind closed doors worked over Lester.
Nurses slipped silently into the house; detectives appeared,
roped the curious people out of the grounds, and raked the place
for clews. It was then that Elinor had a thought. She called
the chief of police, and took him into the library, shutting the
door.
"Lester was always teasing me, Chief, because I was so afraid of
spies, but we may as well consider anything now. My brother had
just perfected the most wonderful invention--a war device; and
the board of directors at the works tried it out this afternoon.
The formula was in Lester's coat pocket--the only formula there
is. I know it was there, because I told him I thought it was a
careless way to carry it. He laughed at the idea of any one
around here getting hold of it, and said anyway the formula was
in his head.
"I have looked in his coat pockets, all of them.
"The formula is gone."
"That's it, is it?" gritted the detective. "I am sure you are
right, Miss Pomeroy. We have a reason for the deed now, and one
clew to act on." He opened his hand and showed her the piece of
cloth that poor little Beatrice had torn from the intruder's
garment.
"Did you ever see anything like this before?" he asked. "That is
an unusual pattern. You have a lot of extra help here just now.
Did you ever notice a coat or a cap like this?"
Elinor shook her head. "Never," she said.
"Well, don't you fret, Miss Pomeroy. We'll have to find that
coat. The man who wears it has the formula. And it won't take
long to run down a man who owns a giddy plaid like that. If your
brother could only speak, he could help a lot."
"Is he no better?" asked the girl fearfully.
"It's a pretty bad affair, I'm afraid," said the Chief
regretfully. "He'll pull through all right after a while, I
think, but the doctors say there is a piece of bone pressing on
the brain; and they may have to operate. In the meantime, we
can't wait. You see this business of the formula puts things on
a different basis. I will have to get the government secret
service men here as soon as I possibly can. It is a national
affair now. Keep cool, Miss Pomeroy, and don't talk to any one.
I'm going now, but I will leave a half-dozen men on the place.
Don't talk; don't let your brother talk. Who is the old woman
crying in the sitting room?"
"It is Aunt Ann," Elinor explained. "She is really no relation.
Her husband used to work here, and after he was killed she stayed
on and took care of things for mother. Then when mother died,
why, of course she stayed. She is all alone in the world. She
has or had a son, but he disappeared a good while ago. He was a
very bad boy. The last she heard from him he was in South
America. We think he is dead. Poor Aunt Ann! She loves Lester
as thought he were her own child. I think she would die for
him."
"She is all right then," mused the detective. "Well, I'll get
along, Miss Pomeroy. Just keep cool."
Elinor followed him to the door and stood leaning against the big
porch pillar as the detective crunched briskly down the gravel
path. A group of men came hurrying up to meet him, and Elinor
listened eagerly.
"We got him, Chief!" she heard a voice say triumphantly.
"Walking along the road bold as brass."
"Why shouldn't I?" an angry tone answered. "The street is
public. Ain't I got a right to go long it? What you pinchin' me
for, anyhow? I ain't full and it ain't vagrancy to walk along the
road to Manlius. You leave me go!"
"Put him in the car." said the Chief. "And look here, young
fellow. I'll search you later; look here. Here is something for
you to chew on for a while. Hold the flash, Dennis. Look here,
you! See that piece of cloth? It just fits the torn place in
your collar. She nearly got you, didn't she, before you managed
to beat her brains out?"
Elinor heard a subdued struggle as the police loaded the prisoner
into the car. She rushed into the house to tell Aunt Ann that
the man had been caught. Wugs with a couple of smaller scouts
came up. Wugs followed his sister into the house, and the two
other boys sat down on the steps where they would not miss
anything going on.
Philip and Benjamin Potter, known to their intimate friends as
Pork and Beans Potter, were twins painfully alike in thought,
word and deed as well as size and looks. They sat side by side.
Each boy leaned his right elbow on his right knee and supported
his chin on his hand.
"Funny 'bout that coat," said Beans. "Did you see it?"
"Yes," said Porky. "I was lookin' all the time. You mean about
there bein' two just alike. Kind o'queer, loud pattern. And
funny buttons. You know that man in the road was right under the
big light, so we seen it plain, didn't we?"
"Sure!" said Beany. He shifted elbows, and in a minute Porky did
the same. "But the man we passed in the road didn't look like
the murderer, did he? Kind of square built. Looked worse than
the real one, I thought."
"I thought so too," agreed Porky. "But they got the real one all
right on account of the tear in the collar."
"Yes, of course," agreed Beany. "But suppose they was pals.
Think we ought to tell?"
"Naw!" decided Porky. "They bought 'em at the same store like as
not. Don't butt in with foolishness. Le's go home and tell mom
an pop."