THEIR FORTUNATE ESCAPE 115 



garden vanishing before an equally imaginary chorus 

 of clucks and crows. 



Mr. Hale himself, the stable keeper, appeared at the 

 house corner at the same moment that Bart and The 

 Man reached it. Consternation sat upon his features, 

 and his voice was fairly husky as he jerked out, 

 "They've gone, clean gone, Mr. Penrose, all three 

 crates ! and the dust is so kicked up about that depot 

 that you can't read out no tracks. Some loafers must 

 hev seen them come and laid to get in ahead o' you, as 

 hevin' signed the company ain't liable ! What ! don't 

 you want to drive down to the sheriff's?" and Mr. 

 Hale's lips hung loose with dismay at Bart's apparent 

 apathy. 



"Mr. Hale," said Bart, in mock heroic tones, "I 

 thank you for your sympathy, but because some troubles 

 fall upon us unawares, it does not follow that we should 

 set bait for others 1" 



Whereupon Mr. Hale the next day remarked that he 

 didn't know whether or not Penrose was taking action 

 in the matter, because you could never judge a good 

 lawyer's meanings by his speech. 



However, if the hens escaped, so did we, and the next 

 morning Bart forgot his paper until afternoon, so eager 

 was he to test the depth of soil in the knoll. 



