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Show K FROM "SERVING." : Souls make their ovn surroundings, moving on H, JfDi Through lights and shadows by their presence cast; jOTn, LH ff? And pa,is' w,n the,e a" Bone ,eem enanBed ann' flX When seen by those who trod them In the past. tDI George Lansing Raymond. m, I HP THE MAN UNDER T I. J - THE TREE - - 8 H I I By DON MARK LEMON JL fl IMBBWIIWIi1 I WWIi1 II 1 1 i'I 1 I "i ,JitWliMh"WWI'fl-'JIMrlln,J"gErW Wli (Copyright, by Shortstory l'ub. Co.) Hr It would bo a grim, unpleasant piece H" of work, to bo Huro; hut what else WKt could they do? Thu most valuable B) horned of tlio settlement had been fl't, stolon, ono nftcr nnothor, with con- flj) Bunimalo daring und cunning, and, fl& now thnt they line Iho guilty party In Ifl- their power, wore they to let him go fl becnuso to hang him would bo an un- H- plcnnant duty? fl "Hoys, all of you that liavo n horse H' you wouldn't Ilka to loso. Just men PH' over here." H,' Nine of tho ten enmo from under tho trco nnd gathered bosldo tliolr H.. leader In tho open, Tim tenth man flf the tnnn who remained In the shndow H' of thu tree was bound hand nnd foot fl and couldn't very well chnngo his HH' position. Ucsldc8, ho was thu "horse M) flif "Well, boys," demanded tho leader, ?,j "aro wo a quorum?" R." "Suro!" H. "Tlieii ho hangs?" Hl Thu nine men noddod their bends. JK' "flood !" Hf "Hold on, gontlcmcnl" cried tho fl Alan under tho Trco. "h wish again fl? to nsscrt thnt I bought this horse f which you nccuso mo of stealing, nnd paid $300 for her." HL Thcro was a loud guffaw. "You don't belluvo me, gentlemen?" H'' Tho, Mnn under thu Trco scorned H "llclievo you!" said tho leader. "Why, stranger, that's old Wllklns' Bfl Hess nnd he'd havo parted with lila BLi grandmother first." flv "Hut, gcntlomon," expostulated tho BB Man under tho Tree, "wouldn't It bo Bj' i wlso to look up Wllklns first nnd nsk M- him?" HK Tho leader smiling, said: "Stranger, HK woro you ever hnnged?" BK- Tho Man under tho Trco made n BBfc 1 deprecatory movement. "Only twice," Bk ho "I'd. BL' "Well, you're a cool un!" exclaimed BBp. the leader, when ho again got his BELf: breath. BBk' Tho members of tho quorum then BBhL ' gathered In a body around the Man BBV under tho Trco. Ono of them took a BBV, lariat from his arm nnd another ad- BBV'1 Justed It about tho prisoner's neck. BB This hut man was tho leader himself, BBBI' and ho could tlo n knot thnt Isn't BBH down nmong sntlor knoB nor In popu- BBW lar religious works. It was a hang. BBf man's knpt and It had novor been BBp known to full when given a fair trial. BBk Then tho lonso end of tho lartnt BB was thrown over a strong limb of tho BBr BBfr "Gently, boys!" cautioned tho lend' BBr or. "Oentlyt He comes of good tam- BBjL lly and perhaps If ho hadn't been a BB boss thief ho had been n honor to tho BBS' community. Gently!" BBk Tho body of tho prisoner was drawn BBff up, tho looso end of tho lariat bo- BBe curcly fixed, nnd the quorum stood on BBk and vlowed Its work. Tho Imngcd BBt man swung about six feet oft tho BBe ' ground, his face twisting towards tho BBP trco, so that tho men beneath could BBk. not well soo Its expression. How- BBS" ever, they did not wish to, BBf "Too bad," murmured tho leader. BBk ''that his education was neglected. BBb Hut It's too late now, boys, for moral BBV suasion!" BBk" Tho others silently nodded their BBki beads In confirmation of this quorum, BBK ' and mounting tholr horses rodo has- BBV, Illy away with tho bay of Wllklns BBT1 In tho lead. BBT-' Arriving nt tho settlement, abuut Bf halt a rollo distant, tho stern body BB ' gathered under tho root of tho Itcd BB Dog and began a gnmo of faro. Bf'L "Won't old Wllklns bo glad whon he BBln lots oyes on that bay of his ngnn? BBL Tho meetln' '11 bo Just Ilka n father BBW flmlln' a long lost daughtor." BBb Hut tho whisky being strong und the BB playing high, the men soon forgot BBV about Wllklns, the Man under tho BBV ' Tree nnd tho bay horse, and not until BBw Wllklns himself camo walking Into BBV the Ited Dog did tho Incidents of BBV tho earlier forenoon again' rocur to BBJt BBr "Hello, Wltklnst" cried the peak- BBr. or ot tho lato quorum. "How'h Hobs?" BB. "lloss? Oh, sho'a outBlde, buyln' BBbi canned goods." BBk "Buyln' conned goods, Is she?" qucs BBra tlonod tho cowman. "Whin did yo BHBJl, learn her tho (brick?'' BKi Wllklns looked about and suelng a BBJu'r-'. , grin on every fuco realized tho con BBJ-; fusion of terms. "Oh. you mean the BbmA;' "bay; not iny wlCiT' BJ "Surot" BM'1 "Woll," rojalncd WHkliiH. hitching BBE; Jv tinroslly, "1 uiught us WQlI let tbn cat J,. out n' tho bag before Its got kltlpiin. BBT. & I sold.iresa thla mornln' to" BBmh' The sqntqnpp wuh never Mulshed, BBvF or Us lind fairly drowned In i ehurus BSBl of "Hell!" BBnlp "Can't a man noil his own hors?" BBV demanded Wllklns. BBF' A e'aa of r"W l'lr" vlilztod over BB , h homl and omshed against the ap- BBf" poslto wall. K "Why, you loiHiared coyote, ain't BBar ye got no more judgmlnt than to noil BBVj ' a liorao wldout first tollln' Ivory man BBB wld a ropo fur twlnty miles aroun'! BBVJI Ain't ught" broko off tho speaker, BBVc reaching for another glaxs to throw BBM nt AVllklns. "You clam wld tho lock- H ... " Jw you Ash wldout the light av In- BJBJkK t;lllgoncol" KMT ' "What's thu matter?" dumaudod BJBwjKv ' Wllklns, keeping a sharp eyo on tho BBBtP' RlMSCS. PBVjBr ' "Why, you oV i1rate. we've hanged BJRlf lbe roan yv eol' to, fur a hoss BBb'1'1 IBBB'BBKilMBlVMiiMiiiiiiiHMiiaBMi thlcfl Quick, boys, let's cut him down and Rlvo him rcsplctful burial 'fore hc'.s had tho tltno to bo Insulted!" Then) was n wild break for tho door and Wllklns went down and was walked all over; but, mad as a hornet, ho was not the last to reach the locality lo-cality of tho hanging. "You're a pack of fools!" ho shouted shout-ed to his companions. "And tho next mother's son of you I catch with a shirt on, I'll hang for stcalln' tho shirt!" Tho Irishman nlmost wept. "Iloys, 'twas nn error av Judsmlnt nnd not nv heart. Cut him down nnd toll him so," Tho face of tho Man under tho Treo had swung around to tho west, nnd, us tho llttlo body of remorseful settlers set-tlers drew near, n peaceful Hmllo gathered upon tho hanged man's Hps und suddenly his oyes opened wide nnd looked down nt thoso beneath. "Holy saints In hlvlnl" cried tho Irishman, kneeling In his saddlo. "Ijok at him!" Ono of tho eyelids of tho Mnn undor tho Trco trembled nnd for n moment closed over tho eyeball. Tho spectators specta-tors could scarcely believe their own oyes. Tho Man undor the Trco was winking. "Cut him down!" thundered Wllklns. Wll-klns. "Cut him down yoursllf," groaned tho Irishman. "Tho dlvll I'll touch It. It's a ghost I" At theso words n shudder went amongst tho men nnd each seemed without tho power of motion. Wllklns braced himself In his scat, took steady, dollbcrnto aim nt the lariat Just abovo tho head of tho hanged man. nnd fired. Tho hair thong parted as clean as from a knife cut, and tho Man undor tho Trco landed In tho soft earth, upright and rigid on his feet. Instead of falling prono, as a decont corpse would havo dona It was with tho greatest doubt and trepidation that the others wntchec Wllklns nu hu freed tho Man undor th "You Clam Wld the Lockjaw, You Fish Wldout the "Light Av Intelligence." Troo of tho nooso about bis nock and severed his bonds;' hut, Instead of fall lng down, n corpse, or vanishing like n ghost, ho grntofully stretched his limbs, cleared his throat, licked his congested ,llps, nnd, singling out the Irishman, nddrcssed him pleasantly If somewhat hoarsely: "Good afternoon, sir." At these wonts the superstitious 111-bernlun-collnpscd, looking for all tho world, with his great, lank arms and legs, like somo queer kind of gamo, all tentacles, thrown across his horse's saddle Wllklns. not having seen tho man hangod, was less affected than the others, oth-ers, and ho was the ilrst to find speech. "Wo owe you nn apology, sir," ho bp gan, rather lamely. -JdSr Tho Man undor thtt Treo hehlRup his hnnds doprccatlngly. "No apology, apolo-gy, no apology, sir; no occasion to apologize. I llko u pleasant Joko now nnd then ns well as any man." At theso reassuring words all tho renmlndor of the company, saving thu Irishman, found speech, nnd many wore tfiolr ejaculations 6fvomitF nnCT delight ns thoy dismounted nnd crowded crowd-ed around tho Man undor tho Treu. "Why. you or'nnry cuss," cried the former speaker of tho quorum, "you'll hold whisky yotl" "Whisky," wild tho Mnn undor tho Tree, meditatively. "Whisky! II seems to mo I havo limm! that word before, Ah!" Ho took ono of the several tlMkti hastily prnffored him, and holding It high over his head, crtod: "Gentlemen, a toast! Hero's to the man who likes whisky wlion It's good and men when thuy'ro n llttlo had Myself!" This toast wnB drunk with tho highest high-est approval, and the Man under tho Treo proposed a second. "Hero's to tho mnn you can't hang, for his wlndplpo Is sllvor, nnd tho rope only tickles him and makes him laughMyself!" Thcro was a crash of broken glass, and tho Man under tho Treo drank tho tonst alone, for those about him had let drop their flasks In sheer surprise, sur-prise, n |