Show ru e himfy HiM 0 aa fe of the ae otsiree AM grander ga clex do V aay Jl rvin Copy copyright richt by irvint na cheller ami borvice Br sor vice vic SYNOPSIS exhausted ragged and starving arvine st a boy bey of about sixteen Is found in the woods by a camping party lie ile has haa tied from his brutal father bat morr morry Y ison ion fed and in alaan clothes tile HIB boy who gives his name as an shad blind sheridan la in sent cent on his hl way to canton canto n with a letter to colons colonel I 1 ninke blake the T ie colonel eolo nol his wife and their young daughter aluth are impressed by tile the boyr boya manner I 1 lie le locorea a elgua ti on I 1 in n the 0 village of amity dam and becomes friendly with a youth of his lire go dony and and bumpy abrown brown tinker allons ld reu DY by t the lie strai ta iced as a drunk drunkard ard because acau as of his periodic lapses from strict sobriety nat dat morry I 1 son aon comes to amity amit uain dam determined to take his fo BOH 0 n back y to hla his own dig dl solute life lie la is overawed over awed by colonel blake who la in t tho he district attorney and nil hl his father passes out of shada shad a life with rony bony he pays paya a visit to bumpy drown A girl young and pretty comes to browns shack In fr for him shad applies himself di diligently giring agent t to 0 hla his neglected education love tor for nuth huth blake takes taken it a strong irons hold on hla his heart the community Is convulsed by an attack mada on an the perry family famil in which osiar oscar perry the father hr his daughter mrs doolittle wife of cyru run doolittle Pro prominent citizen are shot hot and wounded circum tant lal evidence points claim to bumpy brown an a the assailant assal fant CHAPTER IV Contin continued tied 7 well he be was kind hind 0 high an mighty an I 1 told him that I 1 thought oscar perry had one moro more dog doe than he really needed colonel blake smiled with amuse mont as he said 1 I think that I 1 have no further questions to ask at present ile iio turned to hla his associates theres ono one other matter sat said the county judge this man has on a pair of now new rubbers mr brown I 1 presume that you will not inot object to my taking the measure of your loot foot said eald the judge no mr you can do anything to iny bay feet but step on the good one judge swift began the measurements ments with a pocket rule while bumpy rested his feet on a chair bottom announcing them to colonel blake who noted them on hla his pad as ag follows s width of heel two and fifteen six length of heel three and mcvan width of ball three and three quarters width of toe two and one halt half length ten and three quarters au arters 11 colonel blake turned to smithers and mid eald will you retire to the rear room with sheriff colewell calowell Oo Co lewell lowell and mr brown and emo close the door if you please we shall not detain you long the three promptly retired leaving shad the colonel and the judge together iliew how do the measurements corn com pare the judge inquired they are identical with the rubber tracks we measured this evening evenin 9 leading down through tho the fields back of the doolittle house my Q G d dl I 1 I 1 guess we must have the roan man we want well we elwill have to hold him the colonel remarked with a puzzled look ire ha was a foolish man not to get rid of those rubbers perhaps its curious he act like a guilty man yet here are the facts no alibi the tracks and a 4 degree of motive it to la likely that right after he bo had bad landed from his boat in the darkness those me men n caught him he take lem em oft off then ills his mistake was that ho he dump them into the river said the judge but of course he was in a hurry burry and not expecting to be grabbed as soon as he got ashore this confer conference encil was interrupted by a singular event the boy shad who had bad been sitting on the counter listening with deep interest to tho the talk of the two men t having covered his face in his big elbow waa vas silently sobbing the abo colonel t touched alu hed by ills his outbreak of Ws emotion put his hand on the boys shoulder aud and spoke to him like a gentle father dont worry lad ad the man shall have every chance to prove his innocence youre very tired please go home now and to bev bed shad went home hoine and to bed saying baying before lie he went to sleep the first real pr prayer ayer of hla his life for old bumpy brown the sheriff smithers and the tinker wre re summoned from the tha rear room colonel blake addressed these words to the suspected man mr brown tracks leading rm cyrus Doo doolittles littles house were either made by your rubbers or it a pair exactly like them tho the evidence against you Is strong have you anything further to say no air where did you get the rubbers at hubbards hubbardd Hub bards store in south colton ial about a week ago we shall have to take you to canton there you will be ba held for examination the sheriff will go with you to your house you tou can take houi couf bird and ana some clothing with you the old man sat filling his pipe dont matter much he bald 1 I aint scared 0 dyl not a bit but youre VP up the wrong tree mister inister well I 1 way nay bo be barking up another treo tree tomorrow the colonel answered the sheriff went with his prisoner ta aba th lonale little aback on browns cove tho the bird shook himself as they entered and greeted them with joyous exclamations ralso tho the lordt lord I 1 he shouted its they wrapped an old shawl around tho enge thon then they looked locked the door rind and sot set out for canton in the 8 h 0 ra ars frs buggy the bird under tho the blankets between them mrs doolittle was weak from loss of blood but likely to recover her father still lingered dimly conscious but unable to speak tho the doctor had extracted one bullet from his nock neck one had gone so deop deep that it could not bo be reap readied lied another and that no doubt was tho the ono oco which had struck mrs doolittle hatt had been found on tho the floor the two bullets were delivered to colonel blake illace shad took tile tho judge and tho the district attorney to tile tho part of tho the road where the night before the unknown man had left it and taken to tile tho odd field at length they located the point with absolute precision they saw where he had turned and gone into the ditch beyond tile tho low fence in ili a fallow cornfield they could discern tho the familiar rubber tracks tho the judge measured th thorn orn the same tr tracks ackal 1 ho he exclaimed he ha went below crossed tile the rond road somewhere and got into hla his boat did you observe whether lie he limped or not shad could not say the night was too dark but ho he did not believe that tha t bumpy brown could travel so fast as aa that man was going ile ho thought that the roan man ho he saw wore a broad brimmed lint hat lie ile could not be suro sure of it they walked down the road a mile or so but saw no more rubber tracks the two men who had brought the tinker to smithers store etore were ellery anderson a carpenter of middle age and richard Ill chard berry a mason somewhat younger these cheso men were often working in ashfield and other villages they had families and were respected members of the community of amity dam they went with colonel blake and his associates and the boy shad Mor morrison Morry ryson aon to browns cove the colonel had requested smithers to allow shad to go eo with the party they had come to the rickety turnstile near which the men hitched their horses forsea and took the winding path the district attorney and the judge stood a moment surveying the curious little home of the tinker they descended to its door which the sheriff had unlocked and entered its ono one room an old clock was waa ticking on its shelf they surveyed the crayon portrait its a decent motherly face the colonel remarked iler her spirit Is here the place Is as neat as aa wax they searched the cupboard a small closet and every nook and corner and crevice in and around the house under the broad overhang of the eaves toward the river an old black knit jacket hung on a wooden peg in ono one of its pockets they made a really important discovery two loaded square based pistol cartridges the sheriff called to his associates what do you think of that he asked as he be displayed them the colonel examined them thunder and mars I 1 lie he exclaimed well the pistol must be here som somewhere a 00 ill bet he be threw it in the river sald gald the sheriff that may be the colonel answered but such a nian man Is n not t apt to throw away things that cost so much if ho he did ho he would do it carefully p he turned to anderson and berry and asked illow how long did it take you yon to got hero here berry answered not more than ten or twelve minutes we got in with tip beach a little below the corner ila bo ran his horse brown came three or four minutes after WO we arrived just where did lie he land right there near them bushes berry answered we heard him coming ile he was rowing fast did ho he see you before lie he landed 10 yes sir we sang out to him Is that you brown ile ho slowed up an says ay uh uhl I 1 its me I 1 held the ol 01 boat while he got out I 1 told him what had happened an that folks thought he was the murderer what did he bayl say god almighty 11 I 1 lie he says til 1111 go up an face lem cm I 1 knew h I 1 was galal to break loose somewhere I 1 been ceella it in my bones 1 did he go in or 11 near the housel housed no sir air we started right off they dismissed the two men who went away the colonel said eald now nov ju judge dge if my iny theory la is correct r well find that pistol on the tha river bottom near tho shore chore lie he was wa not expecting company whon when he got here ila ho had cast away tho the over sult ile iio thought that ho he would have time to hido hide tho the revolver ila ho had hurried hurr lod they sang bang out to liliu hini ile ho slowed up and dropped ills his deap weapon 1 on ile ho had forgotten about those cartridges in tho old jacket or else ho he intended to dds poso of them when lio lie came i in shad went out in ili the bont boat with with tho colonel ile iio lay over tile alio how bow of the tha boat face downward while tho the colonel in the stern paddled cd 1 I 1 see eno something shiny said tho the boy after a few minutes its over my head I 1 guess ill diva alvo to for r it if hold the boat shad throw threw off ills his clothes and when tho the shiny object was waa again in lie ho dovo dove out of the boat and swam to tho the bott bottom oin quickly lie he came up with a revolver in ills hands its barrel gloaming gleaming in tho the sunlight they went ashore with a heavy heart shad dressed himself ile iio knew not what to think of all this ila ho stood confused and sorrowful in the midst of the ruins of his faith what could he say now both ho be and bony had suspected that bumpy brown would not spoil a story for the need of a lie ile but why had find lie he lied about the revolver and put ills his life in danger dancer by br doing it unless lie were really guilty the colonel stood examining tho the weapon there Is no rust he said it has been only a few hours in ili tho water thero there are five exploded shells in its magaz magazine lne ono one for pierson ono one for mrs doolittle two for the old genela man ono one that was fired outside th the house to frighten possible pursuers this la Is tho the revolver that did tho the work turning to shad lie he remarked well boy im afraid that you have been in rather bad company shad did not answer him CHAPTER V A turn in the tide the colonel and the judge returned to the homo home ot of cyrus doolittle oscar perry was near his fits end but he had bad rallied xo BO far that lie ho was able to recognize them and to speak in a whisper they took his ante mortem statement it was to this effect lie he did not know who had shot him the intruder had his face covered with a colored handkerchief which fell bo ba low his chin there were holes in it opposite his eyes ile he walked with a limp he could not say that it was waa the man known as all bumpy brown I 1 mrs doolittle was able to talk to them sho she agreed with her father as to tho the mask and tho the limp of her assailant sa ilant llant she could not bo be sure but thought that ho he was bumpy brown because of his height and carriage and well known hatred of her husband she knew of no reason for tho the hatred save that her husband had once put him oft off the i jacc the statements of the boy moses and tho the teacher agreed with hers the officials metals returned to their homes the flame of life in oscar perry grow grew dim and flickered out within a week bumpy crown brown had his bis examination at tho the county seat beat cyrus doolittle was an important witness ile he had driven to griggsby on tho the day of the murder to attend to some business in that village the business done he be had driven to ash fieh field arriving there about four ills his colts were tired ile do put them in the tha stable of tho the westminster hotel he did some errands on the street he was suffering from indigestion he felt cold and rather dizzy ile he went into the barroom of the kensington hotel for a drink and met some friends there they drank with him lie ho lay down on a lounge in the shop of his stepson robert royce hoyce on the tha island and fell asleep in a straight forward candid manner lie ho accounted for every hour of his time that at afternoon ter until about eight thirty when ho he was going to get his team near the bridge lie ho met james evarts evarta who told him what had bapp happened ened in lis hla home all this was coo corroborated borated by good wit nesses lie he showed depth of feeling for his wife landfather ln in law when ho he told of hla his arrival at his bis desolated home ile he swore to bumpy browns ill feeling for him ho he knew of no cause causa for far it save a scuffle in which he had bad put the tinker oft off his place brown had then vowed that he would get even robert royce was called to the tha stand ho he was asked to tell what he knew of the ill feeling between hla his stepfather cyrus doolittle and the tha man bumpy brown this reputable witness averred TO DM BH CONTINUED |