His hand moved slowly across his chin.
"Sho!" he drawled. "Sho! Has that sign been hangin' there all
this forenoon?"
"Don't ask me. I guess it has from what I've heard. Anyhow it's
there now. And WHAT'S it there for? That's what I want to know."
Jed's face was very solemn, but there was a faint twinkle in his
eye. "That explains about Seth Wingate," he mused. "Yes, and Gab
Bearse too. . . . Hum. . . . The Lord was better to me than I
deserved. They say He takes care of children and drunken men and--
er--the critters that most folks think belong to my lodge. . . .
Hum. . . . To think I forgot to take that sign down! Sho!"
"Forgot to take it down! What in everlastin' blazes did you ever
put it up for?"
Jed explained why the placard had been prepared and affixed to the
door. "I only meant it for yesterday, though," he added. "I'd
intended takin' it down this mornin'."
Captain Sam put back his head and laughed until the shop echoed.
"Ho, ho, ho!" he roared. "And you mean to tell me that you put it
up there because you was goin' cruisin' to the aviation camp and
you didn't want callers disturbin' Mrs. Armstrong?"
His friend nodded. "Um-hm," he admitted. "I sent 'em to 'Bije's
because he was as far off as anybody I could think of. Pretty good
idea, wasn't it?"
The captain grinned.
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