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/ -- WINNETKA WEEKLY TALK, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1918 it Bonded Prisoner Penrod and Sam's Thrilling Exploits in the Neighborhood War Game By BOOTH TARKINGTON [| (Copyright, 1917, Wheeler Syndicate, Inc.) fe mss» er he CA READ THIS FIRST. ENROD SCHOFIELD and Sam Wil- liams having captured Verman, one of their playmates in a game of "Bonded Prisoner," were leading him to the Schofield home for safe keeping at the suggestion of Penrod, who ex- plained he thought this was the proper thing to do "Just for the main and simple reason." The expression Penrod used was annoying Sam Williams to the amusement of Verman. Penrod ordered Verman to stop giggling and march quietly to his prison. Now to our story-- "Well," said Sam impatiently, "I guess I'm not goin' to stand around here all day, I guess! You got any- thing you want to do, why'n't you go on and do it?" Penrods brow was already con- torted to present the appearance of detached and lofty concentration--a histrionic failure, since it did not deceive the audience. He raised a hushing hand. "Sh!" he murmured. think." "Bugs!" said the impolite Mr. Wil- liams again. Verman bent double, squealing and sputtering; indeed, he was ultimately forced to sit upon the ground, so exhausting was the mirth to which he now gave way. Penrod's com- posure was somewhat affected, and he showed annoyance. "Oh, I guess you won't laugh quite so much about a minute from now, ole Mister Verman!" he said severely. "You get up from there and do like I tell you." "Well, why"n't you tell him why he won't laugh so much, then?" Sam demanded, as Verman rose. "Why'n't you do something and quit talkin' so much about it?" Penrod haughtily led the way into the yard. "You follow me," he said, "and I guess you'll learn a little sense!" Then, abandoning his hauteur for an air of mystery equally irritating to Sam, he stole up the steps of the porch, and after a moment's manipu- 1% =» of the knob of the big front dr contrived to operate the fasten- iirgs, and pushed the door open. "Come on," he whispered, beckon- ing. And the three boys mounted the stairs to the floor above in silence-- save for a belated giggle on the part of Verman, which was restrained upon a terrible gesture from Penrod. Verman buried his mouth as deeply as possible in a ragged sleeve, and confined his demonstrations to a heaving of the stomach and dia- phragm. Penrod led the way into the dainty room of his nineteen-year-old sister, Margaret, and closed the door. "There," he said, in a low and husky voice, "I expect you'll see what I'm goin' to do now!" "Well, what?" asked the skeptical Sam. "If we stay here very long your mother'll come and send us down- stairs. What's the good of--" "Wait, can't you?" Penrod wailed, in a whisper. "My goodness!" And going to an inner door, he threw it pen, disclosing a clothes-closet hung ith pretty garments of many kinds, hile upon its floor were two rows of oes and slippers of great variety d charm. "TI got to 7 A significant thing is to be re- marked concerning the door of this somewhat intimate treasury; there was no knob or latch upon the inner side, so that, when the door was closed, it could be opened only from the outside. "There!" said Penrod. "You get in there, Verman, and I'll bet they won't get to touch you back out o' bein' our pris'ner very soon, now! Oh, I guess not!" "Pshaw!" said Sam. "Is that all you were goin' to do? Why, your mother'll come and make him get out the first--" "No, she won't. She and Margaret have gone to my aunt's in the coun- try, and aren't goin' to be back till dark. And even if he made a lot o' noise, it's kind of hard to hear any- thing from in there. anyway,.when the door's shut. Besides, he's got to keep quiet--that's the rule, Verman, You're a pris'ner, and it's the rule you can't holler or nothin'. You un- nerstand that, Verman?" "Aw wi," said Verman. "Then go on in there. Hurry!"- The obedient Verman marched into the closet and sat down among the shoes and slippers, where he pre- sented an interesting effect of con- trast. He was still subject to hilarity --though endeavoring to suppress it rr T= LE ee a = | man am ---- Ld i ently trodden underfoot as the two Caitlin -- A A tt peta re. fori ho pr) by means of a patent-leather slipper --when Penrod closed the door. "There!" said Penrod, leading the way from the room. "I guess now you see!" Sam said nothing, and they came out in the open air, and reached their retreat in the Williams' yard again, without his having acknowledged Penrod's service to their mutual cause. "I thought of that just as easy!" Penrod remarked, probably prompted to this odious bit of complacency by Sam's withholding the praise which might naturally have been expected. And he was moved to add, "I guess we'd had to wait for you to think of sumpthing as good as that, Sam." "Why would it?" Sam asked. "Why would it of been such a long while?" "Oh," responded Penrod, airily, "just for the main and simple rea- son!" UA YR vi \F UA NY 3 NAD Sa 3 d "Oh, You Will, Will You?" Sam could bear it no longer. "Oh, hush up!" he shouted. Penrod was stung. "Do you mean me?" he demanded. "Yes, I do!" replied the goaded Sam. "Did you tell me to hush up?" "Yes, I did!" "I guess I just better show you who you're talkin' to like that. I guess you need a little sumpthing, for the main and simple--" Sam uttered an uncontrollable howl and sprang upon Penrod, catching him round the waist. Simultaneously with this impact, the wooden swords spun through the air, and were pres- boys wrestled to and fro. Penrod was not altogether sur-, prised by the onset of his friend. He had been aware of Sam's increasing! irritation (though neither boy could have clearly stated its cause), and; that very irritation produced a cor- responding emotion in the bosom of the irritator. Mentally, Penrod was quite ready for the conflict--nay, he welcomed it--though, for the first few moments, Sam had the physical ad- vantage. However, it is proper that a neat distinction be drawn here. This was a conflict, but neither technically nor in the intention of the contestants was it a fight. Penrod and Sam were both in a state of high exasperation, and there was great bitterness; but no blows fell and no tears. They strained, they wrenched, they twisted, and they panted, and muttered: "Oh, no. you don't!" "Oh, I guess I do!" "Oh, you will, will you?" "You'll see what you get in about a minute " "I '| guess you'll learn some sense this time!" Streaks and blotches began to ap- pear upon the two faces, where color had been heightened by the ardent application of a cloth sleeve or shoul- der, while ankles and insteps were scraped and toes were trampled. Turf and shrubberies suffered, also, as the struggle went on, until finally the wrestlers pitched headlong into a young lilac bush, and came to earth together, among its crushed and sprawling branches. "Ooch!" and "Wuf!" were the two exclamations which marked this epi- sode, and then, with no further com- ment, the struggle was energetically continued upon a horizontal plane. Now Penrod was on top, now Sam; they rolled, they squirmed, they suf- fered. And this contest endured. It went on and on, and it was impossible to imagine its coming to a definite termination. It went on so long that, to both the participants, it seemed to be a permanent thing, a condition which had always existed and which must always exist perpetually. And thus they were discovered by a foray of the hostile party, headed by Roddy Bitts and Herman (older brother to Verman) and followed by the bonded prisoners, Maurice Levy and George Bassett. These and others caught sight of the writhing figures, and charged down upon them with loud cries of triumph. "Pris'ner! Pris"ner! Bonded pris'- ner!" shrieked Roddy Bitts, and touched Penrod and Sam, each in turn, with his saber. Then, seeing that they paid no attention and that they were at his mercy, he recalled the fact that several times, during earlier stages of the game, both of them had been unnecessarily vigor- ous in "touching" his own rather plump person. Therefore, the oppotr- tunity being excellent, he raised his weapon again, and, repeating the words "bonded pris'ner" as ample ex- planation of his deed, brought into play the full strength of his good right arm. He used the flat of the saber. Whack! Whack! Roddy was per- fectly impartial. It was a cold- blooded performance and even more effective than he anticipated. For one thing, it ended the civil war in- stantly. Sam and Penrod leaped to their feet, shrieking and bloodthirsty, while Maurice Levy capered with joy, Herman was so overcome that he rolled upon the ground, and Georgie Bassett remarked virtuously: "It serves them right for fighting." But Roddy Bitts foresaw that some- thing not within the rules of the game was about to happen. "Here! You keep away from me!" he quavered, retreating. "I was just takin' you pris'ners. I guess I had a right to touch you, didn't 1?" Alas! Neither Sam nor Penrod was able to see the matter in that light. They had retrieved their own weapons, and they advanced upon Roddy, with a purposefulness that seemed horrible to him. "Here! You keep away from me!" he said, in great alarm. "I'm goin' to give up this ole game and go home." He did go home--but only subse- quently. What took place before his departure had the singular solidity and completeness of systematic vio- lence; also, it bore the moral beauty of all actions which lead to peace and friendship, for, when it was over, and the final vocalizations of Rod- erick Magsworth Bitts, Jr. were growing faint with increasing dis- tance, Sam and Penrod had forgotten their differences and felt well dis- posed toward each other once more. All their animosity was exhausted, and they were in a glow of good feeling, though probably they were not conscious of any direct gratitude to Roddy, whose thoughtful oppor- tunism was really the cause of this happy result. Painters & Decorator J. F. ECKART peo Phone 484 WINNETKA TRUST and SAVINGS BANK SLLLLLLLLLLLLSLSLLLLISISLSL ILIA SS SS ASSIS ASL SS SLIS ILS SLL ALIS SSIS ISSR 7 W 7/4 22% 7% be % a h J WW > 7 % % N % AH s H SHORE LINE The all-steel Limited 8:24 A. M. 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