Show the th e house H ausit of the e three ahree ganders anders G ls BACHELLER y N G by ining SYNOPSIS ragged r and at starving ft eving a boy of about sixteen to la bedri befriended ended bk by a cam pinic party arty lie ile has tied fled from nil Is brutal tather hat bat morrison Morry mor ryson aon the boy shad sheridan 1 bent to canton with a letter ett r to boloney colonel blake the colonel his hl wife and their daughter ruth bra are impressed by the boys manner lie ile foes KOOB to work in the village or of amity ham am I 1 and meets a youth of tile hla age bony and bumpy brown tinker nal dered a drunkard because of his hl ho periodic r 1 odle lapses from strict sobriety hat t Morr yeon aon comes d determined ned to take hla him so on back to h his a 0 own wn dissolute life lie is overawed over awed by colonel blake the district attorney and his father fassea out of shada life A girt young and pretty cornea comes to browns brown hack aback inquiring for ham shad applies him self belf d ligen to hla s neg neglected 1 acted education love ilive for nuth atut h diak blake I 1 takes a strong hold on lils ills heart in an attack mado on the perry family oscar perry the father and his daughter mrs airs doo little wi wife of cyrus doolittl doollittle 8 1 prominent citizen are shot anil and seriously wounded circumstantial evidence 1 1 once points to numpy bumpy brown an ai jbv the abfall baji ant ile iio to la arrested CHAPTER V continued a when cyrus doolittle carne came to my shop eliop about five on november tenth I 1 was chatting with a man who had bad been telling about the scandalous talk of the old tinker after mr doo bittle lay down I 1 locked the shop and went upstairs to my room and got nio me a bite to cut cat then I 1 lit a lamp an lay down on a bed an rend read some story atory papers I 1 have a telephone so when mr air doolittle woke up and asked mo me to let him out of tho the shop about half past eight I 1 know of tile the shooting I 1 told him then that hed better look out for the tinker or hed be done up I 1 was at Doo doolittles lIttles the day that cyrus put him olt off his place the diaman old man acted dreadful vicious 10 tho the doctors and other witnesses were sworn motive was proved to tho the satisfaction of tho the judge the tinker stood by the statements he had made on the night of the murder the rubbers were put in evidence shad and the sheriff testified stifled tc as to the finding of the cartridges and the revolver the district attorney presented his theory it was conclusive the only dissenters in the courtroom were the boys bony and shad old bumpy brown was held for the grand jury which promptly indicted him for murder in the first degree the prisoner limped out of court with the sheriff and his deputy the district attorney stood receiving the congratulations of friends when shad and bony approached colonel blake greeted them 1 I know it looks bad but I 1 dont think hes fies guilty said shad what are your reasons he Is not mean enough was shads chads answer its s the same old reason that has been pleaded since cain killed abel ot the colonel laughed 1 I dont complain complain because a boys heart Is better than his head it ought to be come over to the house and spend the night with us id like to but I 1 must get back tonight could we go and see eee bumpy a few minutes certainly ill go with you bumpy wits vaa glad to see them he smi lied reaching through the bars and stinking their hands cheerfully as he had been wont to do in browns cove we wanted you to know that youve got at least two frien fr lenda dx said eald shad friendel lendal Fr Fri endal I 1 used to have more friends than you could shako shake a stick at all gone but you an the woman I 1 miss her dreadful 11 1 I guess you aint beamed this from bony ISca scared redl I 1 by bumpy exclaimed A man who has shook hands with death as often an ag I 1 have aint apt to be nerv nervous Dus 11 assuming that you are innocent have you any theory about the crime colonel blake asked well air I 1 have an idee but I 1 may be wrong I 1 can be mean but I 1 aint a coln to say that a nan man done murder less I 1 know what im about it aint manners bumpy reached through the bars and shook their hands were going to find the guilty man said shad boys I 1 like you by I 1 do I 1 bumpy exclaimed but you stick to coobs y yoo ov 10 bs 9 im elgh the end ol 01 0 the road anyhow that ended vie ae interview it was aupper time colomb blake went with the boys to the rall roal station the b boya OY rode to got their suppers at a restaurant fand nd walked horns being they were talkad of tile tb events venoff of the day bony sald said ili it looks abul bad tor for bu bumpy capy do ye suppose lie could have gone an done dome it in V if kind of crazy fitt at ino no I 1 dont donl hj la Is not that kinti of a man seems as if he care much whether they huh hloros hlo or not bony added added maybe hell tuo le CM yet yel that oll ol panels smart K the wih tl aft bony the people were dereh almost imonti in the that bumpy brown 4 wata dulity of the murder even hose who ejai lulf knowledge know lede damn in ins A lt in 0 o their fa p ai 1 0 iv i clel anin hi 0 of fit it the L bi i war friend t their voices were tho the only ones that had a word to say bay in favor of tho the sus aus pecked anan they were openly criticized for being tho the frier arlenda ils of a murderer it was nearing nine of a chilly november night tho the usual band of murder gossipers gossl pers had left the tha store of ephraim smithers ho he and his 1118 young clerk were getting ready to close suddenly bony squares entered ile iio had been running and was breathing hard shad was in tile the front end of the store stacking somo tools toola bony was waa excited ile iio whispered to hla his young friend illy by ho he exclaimed quoting the favorite oath of old bumpy brown ivo ive run a mile fraid id be too late ivo ive learnt a lot 0 things nn an ive got to have havo a talk with you ask ol oil fur face if you can come and stay all night with me always bony had been wont to speak of tho the bearded smithers as old fur face shad know that tho the request was waa full of danger but he be felt that ho he must hear what bony had to say even if it involved his dismissal ile ho asked for permission to spend tho the night with hla his friend mr smith ers era turned upon him with a vexed look no he never got angry do you want to lose your job he queried in a tender tone no sir shad answered 1 I am haa not so happy here as I 1 was but I 1 act 0 W A man who has ha shook hands with death as a often as a I 1 have hav aint apt to be nervous Ner voir id hate to lose the job and your your friendship sir dr you and mra 3 havo have been good to me 1 I guess wed better settle up tomorrow said the man theres a lot of talk about you an bony but I 1 anything against you I 1 wish you well shad went with bony to his little garret room im glad youve quit rus rasslyn slin with spittoons spit an molasses jugs and kerosene cans said cald bony ivo ive got six dollars saved up how much have you got cot twenty two dollars dollar sill I 1 shad answered proudly awell well just hang on to it an make it go as fur as we can weve got a job to do for ol oil bumpy brown somo some one la Is bryin to saddle this murder on him on nn ho he aint no more guilty than you an I 1 be not a bit I 1 ive been down to ashfield an ive got some soma news first read that he took from his pocket a poster which he had torn tora from a telegraph pole in ashfield it sold said REWARD I 1 sj 1 I will pay 1000 for the conviction of the criminal who wounded my wife and killed her father CYRUS DOOLITTLE maybe we can mabb a lot 0 money bony went ou if we do well go shucks ill tell ye ya why it aint bumpy brown you remember that man you see down the road that got over the fence an went behind cotys barn barm that must a been about live five minutes after seven you tb thought ought but be sure that he wore a broad brimmed hat forty minutes later jack labargo labarge met a man two miles down the road in the dark lie he had it a barord hat on lie he was walkin like sam hill towards he limped like bumpy drown brown it was so BO dark jack see hla his face away down just juat above tho the road that goes into the village henry lockwood comin home in a hay wagon met a man wearon 1 it a broad brimmed lint no ile was walk in fast he had his lint hat tilted side ways so henry see bee hla his face the moon was waa out then this man limp theres a funny thing about it he ilind henry to la turo sure 0 that it was within halt half a mile of ashfield an most two ml nillo IQ below bumpas on the other side 0 tile the river henry says enya it was a little after eight they say that the Be bensons Bona ons hired girl passed the same camo man almost in tile the edgo edge 01 0 the village a little later but I 1 have time to look her up today do yo ye seo see how it nil all jibes the time an tile tho broad brimmed hat bat an the fast wallan walk wall tn who was waa this roan man with the broad brimmed hat who left here right niter after the murder an dodged you because you haab had a lantern an went off the road why did ho he hide his head bead behind hla his lint hat brim when henry lockwood passed him I 1 say that was the murderer murdo shad was thrilled by the news that bony gave in a moment they heard some soma one coming up the stairs then a rap at the door dony bony opened it doctor gorse gorae a tall thin smooth shaved gray haired kindly man stood before them these two boys had interested tho the doctor because they needed friendship and good counsel the doctor had bad sought them out he had bad been like ilka a wise father to shad blind lie he had told his friends that these boys had good stuff in them lie he came now had put his hand band on blinds head and gave it it a friendly shako shake M Y young friend I 1 heard you were here he said 1 I came over to tell you not to worry come out all right lie he had called to see mrs smithe smathers rs III with sick headache and had bad learned of shads chads dismissal were going to see it if we can get dumpy bumpy drown brown out of his trouble said eald shad some one ODO to Is trying to pu put t this murder on him bony repeated to the doctor his BU aux biclon of tho the man with the broad brimmed hat bat and the circumstances on which it was founded im inclined to think you ars r right the doctor began it la in a curl ous case I 1 think that the have been misled by strong probabilities bili ties now in the case of an amateur crude bungling criminal probabilities bili ties may lead to the truth but bat whoa when you are dealing with an able offender it la is an axiom of the best procedure that you must distrust whatever la Is probable it will lead you yon astray I 1 think that I 1 know the case cas of the district attorney it would seem to be strong enough to hang bumpy brown unless il the doctor paused they waited but lie he sat looking downward gravely and said no more what are wo we to do shad asked ill tell you what I 1 would do I 1 would follow that broad brimmed hat bat down the road tomorrow morning it it was waa worn by the criminal ho he probably hid the colored handkerchief and perhaps the hat somewhere on or near the road look in every hole and under every culvert examine the fence corners and the crevices in the stone walls walla go cie and find that hired girl at the bensons what kind of a man was it who passed her in the road that night did he limp how was wa he be dressed did he wear a broad brimmed hat bat supposing we found the hand kerchief shad asked take it to the district attorney with all the information you have been able to gather you know colonel blake I 1 have heard that he has hai the revolver and the bullets bullet discharged in committing the i crime if toll this in true tell him that you woul loulu like lake to know where the came from no doubt it came from some come tore store in part of the country who bought it and when the good man left them TO BB 1111 CONTINUED |