Mechanic Arts High School - Artisan Yearbook (Boston, MA)

Page 15 text:

TIIE A RTISAN 13 Not as much as a dog, answered Blinky. I saw the house, though, and a bum-lookingplace it was-ugly and square, just like a big chunk of stone with windows in it. t'And as you failed to attract the notice of anybody in the house, you set otf to tell somebody else ot what you had heard ? 'That's it,', agreed the co11vict. f'And when you came tearing along the road I called to you-and got knocked oft? me pins for my trouble I 'Tm sorry about that, said XVeston. But tell me, Jones, are you quite sure that you haven't invented this story VVhy, I ain't got the brains to think up a yarn like that, protested Blinky. No, it's the truth I'm telling you-the whole truth and nothing but the truth! Them three Hindus, or they might have been Burmese XVallahsg I ain't sure of that, they means dirty workll' Ted paused for some moments. Obviously, his first duty was to capture Blinky Jones and see him placed safely under lock and key. Against this was his own natural impulse to tind out if there was any truth in the man's strange story, and having sized up Blinky, he was inclined to believe' that an early visit to Lonesome was quite desirable. Look here, Jones, he said suddenly. If I take you back with me to 'Lonesomej you'1l have to be on trust. If anything happens which causes me to take my eye otf you, you Won't beat it? Not me, answered the convict fervently. I've had enough playing 'cops and robbers' for the past day, and all I asks is to be set safely back in the 'big house to finish out me time in comfort. O. K. Now, show me the way to 'Lonesomej and if any good comes of your information tonight. I can promise that you Won't lose by it. They set ofli across the marshland, and the black mare, now as docile as qypet, walked behind them. For some time they con- tinued over thc 'rolling, wind-swept marshland, and then the moon, breaking through the racked clouds, revealed to them the tall, gray walls of t'Lonesome. That's the place, whispered the convict. Did you ever see anything like it? Looks as if the guy that owns it killed someone and is locking himself up i11 his own jail for it 977 77 177 Q

Page 14 text:

ia THE Alrris-AN Steady,', urged Ted. You're not back there yet, and Pm not a prison warden. I'm a mounted policeman, and a few main- utes ago my horse knocked you over. XVhat's your name? Pm Blinky Jones, otherwise Convict 1167, doing three years for getting mixed up with a gang of crooks, said the convict. I ain't complaining, either, 'cause I asked for trouble and got it I You've made your troubles worse by breaking prison, said Ted not unkindly, for there was something rather attractive about tl1e whimsical faee of the runaway. He looked in no sense a dangerous man, and gave the impression that bad luck, rather than had character, had got him into trouble. I VYait a second. said the little man, jumping to his feet. l've just remembered that l've got something to tell you-some thing important! There's going to be a murder near here to- night Z Unable to take this announcement seriously, Ted smiled. Oh ! he said. You'rc not thinking of killing me, I hope? Not likely, that's not my game, retorted Blinky. Listen! A while ago I was hiding among some bushes when some men stopped near and started talking. They was Hindus from India. Hindus from India ? asked Ted. W'ell, what about it? ' t'They talked in their native lingof, went on Blinky, but I understood them, ,cause I spent five years in the army out there. They said that tonight they was going to kill a man by the name of John Lane, who lives in a house called Lonesome, which is near the marsh. IVhen they l1ad gone I didnlt know what to do, so I set off in hopes of getting some help. While I was on my way I came to the house. Just where is this place? asked Ted. Not a quarter of a mile from here, answered the convict. It's a house surrounded by great, high, stone walls, and with great double gates of wood, just like a jail. I thought it was a jail until I saw the name 'Lonesome' on the gates. lVell, what did you do then ? asked Ted. I . I banged on the gates trying to make somebody hear, ex- plained Blinky. But nobody came, so l elimbed up a tree and looked over the walls, hoping to see somebody in the garden. 'tAnd you saw nobody?

Page 16 text:

14 THE ARTIS-AN They approached the great. iron-studded gates which bore the name of the place, and it was with some surprise that they found them slightly ajar. That's luck! whispered Blinky. Unless those Brownies have got here ahead of us! he added as an afterthought. They pushed open the gates and found themselves looking upon a stretch of grassland, surrounded by four tall Walls. It was as bare and open as a football field, and the sight brought a choking gasp of amazement to the throat of Blinky Jones. Lookit! he choked. The house ain't here. It's gone-it's vanished ! Trooper Ted VVeston turned suspiciously on his companion. You've been trying to fool me, he snapped. I ainlt-l swear I ain't! retorted Blinky hotly. There's the name on the gate, and just behind me is the tree I climbed up. lf you'll go up the tree you'll find a bit of my pants what was caught on a broken branch. The house was here then, I swear it was!', he went on vehemently. t'How it's vanished I don't knowg but it has gone, and that's a fact P' But houses can't vanish, insisted Ted. Ulf this one had been here when you looked over the wall, it would be here now ! No, it wouldn't. ,cause it ainitj' protested Blinky. I'm afraid that your yarn about stone houses and Hindu and Burmese won't go, Jones, said Ted. Still, while we're here, we may as well take a look aroundii 'flu what part of the grounds do you think that you BHW the house, Jones? asked Ted suddenly. Right bang in the center I declared Blinky emphatically. Ted Weston strode forward through the dim light, and Blinky went with him. Right in the center of the field Ted stopped. There's a large, square patch of turf in the center of this iield which is different from the other grass, he remarked. It looks as though it has been just freshly laid. I wonder-- He ceased speaking suddenly as his ears detected a sound. Instantly he dropped to the ground and pressed his ear to the grass. He could hear a strange, murinuring hum! And then like some enormous elevator, the ground beneath him rose so swiftly that by the time he had scrambled to his feet, he and Blinky were standing upon a large, grass-covered platform which was now some forty feet in the air.