Show the house of the three ganders by IRVING BACHELLER R copyright by bir irvi irvcng n x Bk Bac cheller bellor sor service vice SYNOPSIS exhausted ragged and a boy of 0 about sixteen in 1 found ln in dihe th woods wood by a camping party ile he has ha fled from his hie brutal rather bat morry marry non on fed and in clean clothes clothe the boy who given elvea his name ra shad sheridan la in tent sent on hs his way to canton with a letter to colonel blake the c colonel 1 ht wife and their young dt daughter a r huth uth are impressed by the boys manner lie ito a situation Itu atlon in the village of amity aam da and becomes become friendly friend with a youth h of f his hi ese age dony mn and 13 bumpy 11 ampy brown tinker on 1 or by the th strait straitlaced laced an ai a drunkard because of hla his periodic perlo dlo lapses from strict sobriety hat bat morry son non cornea comes to amity dam determined to take his hl son on back to hla his own dla die solute I 1 life fe ile ie Is in overawed over awed by colonel Bi beaks akS who la in the district attorney and bis father passes out ot of shada shad 8 life with bony he h p pays ays a v isit to brown CHAPTER IV continued 6 ono day mr smithers sent shad down clown to cyrus DoolIttl elm with a package of medicine which had bad come up on the stage for old oscar perry the father in law of cyrus here was the ill fated house which shad was never to forget the old gentleman was sitting in a wheelchair wheel chair ile iio had the worried sorrowful look of the strong man who has had bad his warning ile he had been partly paralyzed by a stroke ills ilia daughter mrs doolittle opened the door for shad she was an erect handsome woman with a face somewhat careworn but still comely the house bouse had a gloomy and depressing atmosphere there was a solemn note in the ticking of the old family clock after all houses have a kind of character cyrus doolittle and his son moses a boy of shads chads age were cleaning a pair of colts tethered on the barn floor ills er rand accomplished shad went out for a look at the colts the boy turned from his work to speak to shad ills his i father rebuked him saying come boy im in a hurry to get away bring the harness turning to the young clerk he asked young man are you loafing today no sir air well you dont seem to be very busy the tall brown bearded gray eyed man had bad spoken in his hustling mannor manner w without stopping hla his work late in the afternoon of the memorable tenth of november shad had gone down the road some two miles to collect a bill darkness overtook him on his hl way back he was hungry and hurrying with a bicycle la lantern n in hla his hand so as an not to be t too 0 0 late for his supper when about a quarter of a mile from the store he dimly saw a man approaching him at t a rapid pace ue he could hear his to footsteps ta on the rough frozen road shad stopped the man had turned suddenly some sixty paces from where shad was standing got over the fence and hurried away in tho the darkness As shad came near the store he saw a crowd of people in the street men were shouting hysterical women were crying shad phad ran toward the crowd in front of the store bony was there the matter shad asked the matter 1 wily why some man just bust into cy house not ten minutes ago an shot up the hull camly murdered lem cm right aa an left the ol 01 man la Is killed trial mis doolittle an the teacher Is over to silas Merl mos dead are an bleeden bleed ln awful it was like a battle in the war A singular paralysis of fear and distress had fallen upon the good people of that village A few men had ha 4 rushed out in the roads and fields in a vain quest for the criminal come coma out on I 1 I 1 saw him shad said bald to bony and the two ran at top speed down the road toward the fence where shad had seen the man mail climb over the fence and vanish in the darkness kness it was near the doty place the man must have gone around the barns and then whither it was impossible it to a say the boys were in deadly fear of finding the criminal but saw nobody were daru darn fools said bony a aa they were wearily walking back what would we have done with him nn an what would he have done to they say ol oil bumpy brown Is the murderer lord no not I 1 shad exclaimed it cant be less leas hes gone crazy two men have run down the river to see if hes hea to home so began the wildest night in III the history of amity dam divested of all the excitement and wild rumor of that night this Is 18 the problem one of the most remark remarkable ablo in the criminal records of our country mrs doolittle her In invalid vallI father her son soa moses tt boy of twelve and henry pierson Pl erson a handsome well dressed young man of nineteen from ashfield Aeh fielA who was teaching in the school at amity dam were sitting around the evening lamp about seven the work of the day being finished cyrus doolittle had bad gone gon to griggsby tome some fifteen miles away suddenly this family group heard a rap attebe at the front door the boy moses ran and opened it A man masked in a peculiar way stood before him ile ho wore a small light colored slouch hat tan overalls and a coat of the samo ame material ills his face was covered with a red end and white handkerchief the man advanced into the room holding a revolver in ills his right land hand the boy led fled before him through a door at the back of the house the intruder walked with the limp of clumpy brown henry pierson bravely took a step toward him the first bullet was fired at the young man breaking bis big left arm at the elbow shocked and frightened the latter partly fell on a lounge then ran out of tho the open door calling for help tile the masked man fired at mrs doolittle who had risen from her chair the ball struck her breast above her heart and glanced penetrating the flesh of her shoulder she did not fall she stood appalled th the man approached her then came a curious factor in the problem lie he stood for a second close to her the revolver reviver pointed at her face ue ile did not fire this gave bulor to the theory that she was not the one that he be had rome come to kill ile he dealt her something between a blow and a vigorous push with his left hand it appeared that he was trying to get her out of tho the scene acene she fell quickly recovered her feet and ran through the open door from which her son and young pierson had fled into the darkness beyond As she fell old oscar perry her invalid father threw himself forward from his chair and seized the skirts of the intruders coat and clung to them with tho the masked man clubbed him with his revolver but still ho he clung his strong hands bands the masked man clubbed him with his revolver but still he clung two shots with the muzzle of the weapon close to the invalids neck loosened his bla hold the old man slumped to the floor the murderer ran out into the darkness and away firing a shot as he be went all this had been accomplished in less than a minute tire mrs doolittle her son and the teacher had fled to a neighbors house and help had been sent to oscar perry news of the crime sped through the village like n wind driven fire in dead grass within five minutes the wires were flashing it through the county doctors the district attorney the sheriff the county judge were presently speeding toward the little village of amity dam I 1 the lights were burning most of the night in ephraim smithers store for a time it was filled with excited residents most of them agreed that bumpy brown was waa the guilty man with these shad and bony openly took issue lie he have done it even if he was drunk they said iles hes the most harmless critter in the world when lies hes drunk what was he always knocking knock ln in the Doo doolittles littles for the doubters asked the boys had to acknowledge that they did not know that it was probably some crazy notion he be had got in his head about nine a ahn man entered the store with important news cy doolittle had just got home with lathered horses ile he had arrived at ashield and heard of the crime about eight thirty and driven like mad to his house ile he was over to merl where his wife lay dying lie he had said that bumpy brown was the only man he knew who had a grud grudge go against him ue ile had put brown oft off his hie place one day ard the old man had sworn that he would get evou even moreover the newcomer announced that the doctors had come and were then working over sirs mrs doolittle young pierson alerson and the old man perry who was nearly dead the no sheriff the district attorney and the abo county judge were at the doolittle house honsa looking over the ground soon these ministers of justice came to the store colonel blake gave shad a hearty greeting the colonel was calm and dignified he said to th the e boy my wife and I 1 have done a lot of talking about you we haye have enjoyed your letters shad told of 0 the man who approached pro ached him in the road and took to the fields when he saw the boy and his bicycle lantern that la Is curious said the colonel we way may hear more about him first well have some crackers and cheese and ginger ale while the officials were eating the two men who had bad gone down the river arrived with old bumpy brown A silence fell as aa they entered the tinker who preceded the men looked pale and serious A A voice from a huddled group near the door clearly audible to all in tho the room said JIBS iles a d n murderer murder erl 1 colonel blake turned quickly and said look here my friends it la Is for me to say may who Is the murderer not you I 1 request you all to go to your homes and beware of hasty judgments in the excitement of 0 this hour it Is easy to be wrong ile he turned to mr smithers and said if you will ask these good people to go home and lock your door I 1 shall perhaps be able to arrive at some conclusion of my own the villagers slowly filed out of the store the door was locked bumpy brown the two men who had found him the officials mr smithers and shad were now present colonel blake turned to the tinker asking Is this mr brown yes sir 11 1 I am the district attorney of this county and here Is sheriff colewell and this Is judge swift you know I 1 presume that a crime was committed about seven this evening at the home of cyrus doolittle these men has haa told me 11 bumpy answered you perhaps do not know that mr doolittle and others suspect you yoa of being the criminal they tell mo me what cy doolittle said but they told me what other folks was sayin they said the murderer had a limp like mine well mister I 1 cant help hell it it if he did I 1 aint hurt nobody when I 1 come in here every one had a knife in his eye for fer oll ol bumpy brown im all lona ilona in the world I 1 aint got no friends but I 1 tell ye I 1 aint hurt nobody since I 1 was a an it was waa my business to hurt folks there was a touch of pathos in the tha voice of the man as he be spoke these thesa words shad was tempted to say 1 I am your friend but he hold bold his bla peace in the presence of these great men the district attorney directed sheriff colewell to search the man for weapons this was done only a key and a jackknife were found in his clothing colonel blake took out his pencil and writing pad as he said mr brown I 1 am going to ask you some questions and take down what you say in reply first it Is my duty to 1 inform n you that it la Is your tour privilege to refuse to answer any question I 1 may ask my advice Is that you ought not to answer any question which would tend to prove your guilt where were you at seven this evening out on the river bishin fer bull pout was anyone with you no did anyone see you fishing 1 guess not mos dark when I 1 started did no boat pass you none did you get any fish no what did you do today the old man told of going to piermont to fix a leaky roof ile he had returned to his shack aback about five had lain down for a nap and gone out to fish an hour or so later do you own a revolver no I 1 have never owned EL a revolver 11 what was your opinion of cyrus I 1 doolittle 1 I have never liked him why why does a man hate skunks was there alier bad blood between you did you have any quarrel with him oh he shoved me off lite his place one day did you threaten him 1 11 I wonder I 1 dunno what I 1 said nobody does when hes hem as mad as a hornet 11 why did he shove you oft off his place TO BB CONTINUED |