Jerry Todd and the Bob-Tailed Elephant by Edwards Leo;

Author:Edwards, Leo; [Leo Edwards]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 6124358
Publisher: Ktoczyta.pl

CHAPTER XI. RED FINDS A REFUGE

We learned later on that Mrs. Bibbler’s “burglar alarm” was a bag of dried beans hung over a tin pan beside her bed. When either connected gate string was broken, the beans showered into the pan, thus awakening her.

The mysterious neighborhood thefts, of course, had ended with Uncle Jonah’s sudden disappearance. But having failed to associate the visiting seaman with the various local robberies, the farmers were still on their guard, Mrs. Bibbler among them, as her “burglar alarm” proved. Little did she dream, though, that the robber was her own brother-in-law. For Henny had sworn me to secrecy. And I, in turn, had done the same with Dad and Bill Hadley. Which isn’t saying, though, that Bill hadn’t put out a police net for the old seaman, whose description had been broadcasted throughout the state. If caught, he would have been thrown into jail and properly dealt with. But until he was caught, if ever, it was Bill’s intention to spare the Bibbler family further disgrace. Not that he had any respect or sympathy for the old farmer himself, known wife beater that he was. But everybody respected and sympathized with Mrs. Bibbler.

Naturally timid, and now left alone in the big farmhouse, the nighttime, no doubt, was a source of great terror to her. And though the doors and windows were securely bolted, she probably couldn’t dismiss the shaky feeling that some night she would awaken to find the feared robber in her room. So, as best she could, she had protected herself against possible surprises, the “bean-bag” alarm warning her the moment anybody entered the house yard.

It certainly was a shame, I thought, as I rapped on the kitchen door, that she and her husband couldn’t live together without quarreling. For they needed each other. And what a discredit to them that their final quarrel had occurred so soon after the death of Mrs. Bibbler’s sister. Still, in a way I couldn’t blame Henny’s mother. For there was something queer and unnatural about that hot-tempered husband of hers. He lacked reason. And while I couldn’t make myself believe that he had killed Henny outright, in some unknown way, I still had the feeling that he knew more about my chum’s disappearance than anybody else.

And why was it that Mrs. Bibbler, so talkative on all other subjects, refused to say one word about their final quarrel? It was her smooth story that instead of being beaten by her angry husband, she had fallen down the cellar stairs. And certainly, if she had suspected him of putting Henny out of the way, she would have turned on him like a wildcat. Instead, she tried to protect him, even lying about her bruises. Nor had she said a word against him in all the weeks since Henny had disappeared. The two of them worked together in the big strawberry patch. And when the berries were sold they split the money between them. It isn’t surprising that the observing neighbors watched and wondered.

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