"Say, Maw," Lark leaned over her shoulder to shout, "that coon's goin' to spend the rest of his days at the Meddalark and help you cook. Darn his black hide--and Butch too. He ast me fer a job and I turned him down cold. Lemme past, will yuh, Bonnie? I want to ketch him b'fore he gits outside. My Jonah, about the worst thing can happen a feller is to be accused of somethin' he ain't guilty of. Hey, Butch! Butch! Bud! You 'n' Butch come awn over here! These wimmin has got me penned up here like a pet calf!" "Moses, what a jam!" quaked Maw, when a dozen persons in her immediate vicinity began milling aimlessly in the aisle. "Larkie, I just hope Palmer gits let out. I don't believe any man on earth would lie like that under oath and all, and if he was tellin' the truth, he ain't no more guilty than I be." "I don't think he is guilty at all," Marge complained. "I came clear up here to see a man sentenced to be hanged by the neck--oh, where? That handsome fellow over there? Lynched! Was he really? I wonder if some one can introduce him to me. Lark, will you--" "Oh, Maw," cried Lark into the babel, "we got a new lark to set and chirp on our bough. Butch is goin' to start in quick as we git back." "I'm real glad," said Maw, grinning vacantly with her teeth comfortably reposing in her pocket. "I wisht, Larkie, you could find somethin' for that poor old Blinker to do. Seems a shame--they say Palmer's bargainin' already t' sell out an' leave the country quick as they let him go--" "Well," young Bud's voice rose cheerfully above the clamor, "Butch, you and I will have to go swimming first chance we get. How about it?" "Gosh, let's _all_ go," cried Gelle exuberantly. "Me, I'll take mine in good ole Metropole," Bob pushed up and confided in Gelle's ear. "They say it's a cinch, now, that Palmer'll be cleared. Guess the old coot's got it comin'." "Well, I'm real glad," Maw repeated. "It would be awful, wouldn't it, to think little Skookum's grandpa was a murderer? I guess they's good in all of us if it only gets a chance." "Come on, girls--and that means you, too, Maw. It's all over now but the shouting, and I'm too dry to shout. Let's round up Lightfoot, and all go hunt that drug store. What do you say?" "I say that means you want to get Bonnie out of here," Marge retorted. "I'd rather go with the other boys and Maw. I want to ask Butch a lot of questions, anyway." "Ask me, little pilgress, why don't you? I could answer more questions a minute--if you asked 'em--than you could ask Butch in a year." "Oh, all right. I don't think Butch heard me, anyway. Come on, Maw." At the steps, Bud and Bonnie looked back and saw them coming; smiled and nodded, caught a warning scowl from Gelle and decided they would not wait. * * * * * _"The Books You Like to Read at the Price You Like to Pay"_ _There Are Two Sides to Everything--_