The trouble at Pinelands

I could not sleep. I am an old man now and of settled habit; a “confirmed bachelor,” the young folks call me. Even the smallest change of routine irks me; and so, on this night,...

I went back to bed, but not to sleep. The moon had set, and the pitch dark of the old house intensified all my foolish fancies. Over and over I went through the round of morbid...

The nurse wheeled Aunt Mary back to her room to rest, and we others rose. Our breakfast had been pretty effectually spoiled; none of us, except Aunt Mary, had managed to eat muc...

My nephew calmed down presently and apologized to the ladies for his outburst. It had been a distressing scene; but, whether it was Doctor Gaskell’s rude pronouncement, or excit...

The rest of that day passed uneventfully enough. When he returned from his rounds Lewis seemed quite himself again, and that afternoon he went off to Raleigh cheerfully enough,...

Without waiting to see whether he would obey, I turned from the window and groped excitedly for my trousers. From the look of him, I fancied that the constable would be glad of...

Sheriff Redden, at least, seemed quite untouched by the paralysis of thought which held us all. He cleared his throat briskly, ran a watery eye over our blank visages, and stoop...

Sheriff Redden scratched his head. “Funny how upset she seemed,” he remarked in his high, whining drawl. “I wonder, now, where I’ve seen that girl before? Christie, her name is?...

The jury’s deliberations were cruelly short. They conferred in whispers, while we waited in agony. Beside me, Dorothy gripped my hand so tightly that my old, rheumatic fingers a...

As we climbed back into the flivver, I suddenly became conscious of an aching internal void. I had had nothing to eat since morning; in the shock of that unimagined verdict I ha...

Doctor Somers arose slowly, his long, thin arms and legs looking more frail, more tenuous, than usual. One feared that they would snap, like pipe stems, under the slightest stra...

The night seemed interminable. The faint evening sounds from Main Street, a block away, faded gradually and ceased. One after another buggies and farm wagons creaked away; motor...

When Rufe had strolled pompously back, puffed with pride at his success in scattering the crowd, Somers surveyed him with distaste. Over one lank shoulder, he remarked acidly: “...

It must have been half past three when I stumbled up to my room at last, stripped off my clothes almost automatically, and fell into bed. I was asleep in two minutes.

Dorothy, Peter, and I set off at once for the lockup. “I’ve just got to see my poor boy,” said the girl tearfully. “Think what an awful time he must have had last night!”

“There’ll be a trial, yes,” said Somers; “that is, if the grand jury indicts. And I haven’t much doubt that it will; you see, your man Vanbrugh, your prosecuting attorney that p...

A big tear still undried on her cheek, Dorothy stared at the tall, lanky Somers. Her blank wonderment gradually merged into admiration, and a very becoming blush crept over her...

The news had run through all Pinelands; curious eyes followed our every movement, as we hurried through the streets, variously laden. I should have liked to hear the comment of...

Somers groaned, rubbed his aching head, and drank another cup of black coffee. He was collecting himself momently; save for a very pale face he was once more the coolly casual,...

Next morning Doctor Somers rose early. I heard him splashing in the bathroom, slapping his razor against its strop, whistling louder and shriller than the ubiquitous quail outsi...

“Maybe I am old,” I protested, “and I know I’m rheumatic; but I can keep up with you fellows yet. I’m just as much interested in getting Lewis out of jail as you possibly can be.”

“Long-legged, lazy beggar!” retorted Peter. He stooped his five feet four in front of the hood, set his hundred and twenty pounds against its crank, and stopped to grin. “And th...

We all turned upon the nurse. Beneath our wondering gaze the bright color rose high, flooding her fair face; then receded once more, leaving her very pale. But she faced us brav...

“Don’t interrupt,” ordered Dorothy peremptorily. Like the rest of us, she was eager for the end of the nurse’s tale. “You can talk about her good looks later; we want to hear wh...

Next morning at breakfast Doctor Somers set forth his plan. For once all the people of Fort House sat down together; even Aunt Mary appeared in time to be wheeled to her place b...

Somers shrugged. “Have it your own way, but it’s taking a long chance, fellows. This thing is serious; I hardly believed, myself, that they’d go so far, until that chap shot at...

“Doctor Major, down in the city, said you were the man to see,” replied Somers coolly. “My name is Winters, John Winters. I’ve got consumption, and they sent me into the mountai...

The mountain men whirled. Roaring Lafe ceased his advance to look over a burly shoulder. In the doorway of the cabin stood the quiet, gray man, the revenue agent. Beside and beh...

I woke with a start, in a strange room, staring about me in dull wonder. Oh, well, it was scarcely daylight, and I was still tired out. I would go back to sleep and save my ques...

We descended from the train at the Pinelands depot into a bright, sunny morning. And, even above the throbbing of the train, the sighing of released air brakes, I heard the stri...

I decided to accompany the physician, though my night on the sleeper had left me pretty tired. But I wanted to see Lewis; so we got out the faithful flivver and drove downtown.

Dorothy and Anne Christie, after the old lady had been safely tucked in, returned to the living room and sat with Peter and me for a while, trying dismally to make talk. But, af...

Aunt Mary McGregor lay quietly in her bed, propped with pillows. Her drawn face wore a look of sweet resignation; she was gazing absently out of the open window. The place was s...

We had my nephew home with us that very day. Somers and I went to the State solicitor, Toby Vanbrugh, with our tale, and he marked Lewis Parker’s indictment, “_nolle pros_,” wit...