HE MAKES A DISCOVERY

His voice died down with recognition. Shaken, he limped over to Mary, followed by Brooks and Sally. "Didn't know him with a haircut and those clothes," he muttered. "Lord preserve me, how did he ever make it up to Rascal?"

"I'll try to tell you later," she whispered, but you won't believe it. Incidentally, I've decided that he's Jimmy O'Connor's boy. We- we've got to explain him somehow."

Thomas nodded slowly. "A good choice. People around here wouldn't be about to check up on it.

"Did you learn anything at church about a missing boy?"

"Not a thing. I was surprised to see Gilby and Emma there. They don't belong to our church."

"They must have come with the Macklins-they're related, you know."

"Well, the Macklins were all there. They sang as loud as anybody-and they looked well fed on Bean hams"

"Thomas! You don't know that they stole our hams."

"No, I certainly couldn't prove it. Anyway, I drove through town afterward, listened around a bit, and got all the papers I could find. Atlanta Journal, Asheville Times, and a couple others. There's bound to be something in one of them about a lost boy."

"Want to make a bet on it?"

"But, Mary, he had to come from somewhere!"

Jon called from the enclosure, "Please, may- may I take Rascal out? He- he hates the chain."

"Why, say, you're getting your voice back!" Thomas exclaimed. "You're really progressing, young fellow. Err, I don't know how you made up to Rascal, but I think you'd better leave him where he is."

"He- he promises to be good."

"Oh, he promises, does he?" Thomas chuckled. Well, some people do, maybe tomorrow. . ."

Jon turned away to hide his disappointment. "Well, some dogs can break promises just as some people do. Maybe tomorrow. . ."

Jon turned away to hide his full disappointment. "He doesn't understand," he silently told Rascal. "But he will. Be patient, and tomorrow we will play together."

He heard Thomas say to Mary, "Thank heaven he's able to talk to us. Seems like a pretty bright kid, so it shouldn't be too hard to find out a few facts about him."

"Thomas," Mary whispered, "I have something to tell you about his speech. Get a double grip on yourself and come into my house."

The next morning, as soon as Brooks and Sally had gone to meet the school bus, Thomas Bean said, "Let's all gets down to some facts and see what we can figure out."

A study of the papers had yielded not the slightest clue, and it had been decided to save all further questions until this time, when they would have the morning to themselves. Jon had looked forward hopefully to this moment, yet he approached it with misgivings. His memory still told him nothing. And the Beans, much as he was beginning to love them, were still as strange to him as he was to them.

"Let's start with your clothes," said Thomas, limping over to the table on which Mary had placed them. "They should tell us a lot. Is everything here?"

"All but my boots-and knife and belt," he said. "I'm still wearing them."

Mary Bean said, "His boots are woven of the same material as the rest of his clothes, only thicker. Even the soles."

"No leather?" said Thomas.

"Thomas," she said, "There isn't a scrap of leather in anything he owns."

Leather was a new word. Jon asked about it and was shocked when he learned. "But how-how can you kill another creature for its skin?" he exclaimed.

"At first to keep warm, young fellow," Thomas said.

"But now, Jon, some people are beginning to think the way you do about that." As he spoke, Thomas started jotting down all that they had discovered so far about Jon. "I learned in the marines," he said, "that if you get enough facts together, no matter how queer they may look alone, they'll always add up to something."\the pencil in Thomas Bean's hand moved swiftly as he intoned, "No leather. Doesn't believe in killing things. Will not eat meat. Seems to know how to-to communicate with animals. H'mm. Clothes, all hand-woven. Some material like linen…"

"It's a hundred times stronger than linen," Mary Bean hastened to say. "The soles of his boots hardly show any form of wear."

"Vegetable fiber," Thomas mumbled, writing. "Tougher than ramie. Dove gray. Designs on hem of jacket in tan and blue. Could be Indian or Siberian-"

"But they are not," said Mary, "and I see no sense in writing all that down when I know the answer."

"And what is the answer, Madame Bean?

"I-I'm not ready to tell you," she said. "You should be seeing it by yourself. I think Jon sees it. Do you, Jon?"

He was startled by her thought. "You could be right," he told her slowly. "I almost believe you are-but I'm not sure yet. You're better able to judge. You have your memory."

"Hey, what's all this?" Thomas asked curiously.

"Skip it," Mary told him. You're the fact finder (For crying out loud). Have you listed his English as one of the facts?"

"I'm listing it as a language that he knows."

"That's not what I mean, Thomas."

"Oh, come on. It takes years to learn English the way he speaks. Jon's picked it up somewhere-he'd forgotten it temporarily. That crack on the head-"

"No," said Jon. "Your language is new to me. I'm sure I never heard it until you spoke it. But I find it-easy."

"Oh, I don't doubt your word," said Thomas Bean, "But English just seems strange to you. There isn't a soul who can pick it up in a day or two. That's absolutely impossible. The thing is you're able to sort of know our thoughts before we speak them. That's an unusual ability-though I've heard of people who can do it. Anyway, it's an ability that's helping you to relearn English as fast as you hear it. Doesn't that sound right to you?"

Jon shook his head. "No, sir. I-I don't think in English. There's another language I-"

"We'll come to that in a minute. It's all adding up."

"What about cars and money?" Mary Bean asked quickly. "Can you add those up with the rest of it?"

"Certainly," said Thomas. He was pacing back and forth with his awkward step, on hand rubbing his deeply lined face while he frowned at his notes. "It's beginning to make sense. Even the fact that he knows about the radios and nothing about some other things like cows, Money etcetera .