Show 1 0 ah huse the 4 raves aws by BACHELLER IRVING GI copyright bj by irving bacheller Bachell tr service SYNOPSIS ragged and starving a boy of about sixteen Is befriended by a camping party arty P he has fled from his brutal 1 fa a ther bat morrison Mor ryson the boy shad I 1 S sheridan her idan Is sent to canton with a letter t ter to colonel blake the colonel his wife aid ai d their daughter ruth ar are a impressed by the boy s in manner ne he KI goes to work in the village 0 f amity dam M a and n d meets a youth of his age bony and bumpy brown tinker co cons n a dered a drunkard because of his pa periodic lapses from strict sobriety 1 bat at kerryson Mer ryson comes determined to t take ake his son back to his own dissolute life he is ove awed wed by colonel blake the district attorney and his father passes out of shad s life A girl young and pretty comes to brown a shack inquiring for or him shad applies him I 1 belt elf dil gently to his neglected educe t ion love for ruth blake takes a trong strong hold on his heart in an attack made on the perry family oscar perry the father and his daughter mrs doo little w fe of cyrus doolittle kroml nent citizen are shot ani ant seriously wounded circumstantial evidence points to bumpy brown as the assa I 1 ant he ile Is arrested CHAPTER V Cont Contin mud wd S when cyrus doolittle came to my chop shop about five clock on november tenth I 1 was chatting with a man who had been telling about the scandalous talk of the old tinker after mr doo little lay down I 1 locked the shop and vent went upstairs to my room and got me a bite to eat then I 1 lit a lamp an lay down on a bed an read some story papers I 1 didn t have a telephone so when mr doolittle woke up and asked me to let him out of the shop about half past eight I 1 t know of the shooting I 1 told him then that bed he d better look out tor for the tinker or be bed d be done up I 1 was at doolittle s the day that cyrus put him off his place the old man acted dreadful vicious the doctors and other witnesses were sworn motive was proved to the satisfaction of 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 as to the find ng of the cartridges and the revolver the district attorney presented his theory it was conclusive the only d ss enters in the courtroom were nvere the boys bony and shad old bumpy brown was held for the grand jury which promptly indicted him for murder in the first degree lue prisoner limped out of court v alth ath 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 don t think he hes s guilty said shad what are your reasons lie Is not mean enough was shad shads s answer it its s the same old reason that has been since cain killed abel the colonel laughed I 1 dont don t 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 I 1 d like to bat I 1 must get back to night could we go and see bumpy a few minutes certainly ill go with you bumpy vas as glad to see them he smi ed reaching through the bars and shaking their hands cheerfully as he had been wont to do in browns cove we wanted you to know that you ve got at least two friends said shad friends 1 I 1 used to have more friends than you could shake a stick at al 11 they hey re all gone but you an the woman I 1 miss her dreadful I 1 guess you aint scared seared this from bony scared 1 by bumpy ex claimed A man who has shook hands with death as often as I 1 have ain aint t apt to be nervous assuming that you are innocent have you IL any ny theory about the crime colonel blake asked well sir I 1 have hane an idee but I 1 may be wrong I 1 can be putty mean but I 1 ain aln t a coln to say that a man done murder less I 1 know what I 1 im in about it aint manners dumpy bumpy reached through the bars and shook their hands were going to find the guilty man said shad coys boys I 1 like you by I 1 do I 1 bumpy exclaimed but you stick to your jobs I 1 im in nigh the end 0 the road anyhow that ended the interview it was supper time colonel blake went with the boys to the railroad station the boss rode to ashfield got their suppers at a restaurant and walked home they were talking falling of the event events of the day bony said it looks awful bad for bumpy do ye suppose be he could have hane gone an done it in a kind of crazy fit no I 1 tion L ile Is not that kind of a man seems as if he t care much whether they hang him or not bony added mabe malbe hell bell fool em yet that ol 01 man Is smart sl ad spent the night w th bony the people ere almost unanimous in the conviction that bumpy brown N was as gi guilty alty of ta tie e mui der cn even en those AN who ho had I 1 atle kno knowledge cledge of the damn IP ir ev erce in spite of their fa i I 1 rity encin detail detill of it tie tle b i kt st I 1 finly t fi t tier friend their voices were the only ones that had a word to say in favor of the suspected man they were openly cariti cited for being the friends of a mur derer it was nearing nine 0 clock of a chilly november night the usual band of murder goss pers had left the store of smithers he an ani I 1 his young clerk were getting ready to close suddenly bony squares en he ile had been running and was breathing hard shaa shau was in the front end of the store sta king some tools bony was excited he whis wills to his young friend by he exclaimed quoting the favorite oath of old bumpy brown I 1 ive ve run a mile fraid I 1 id d be too late I 1 ve learnt a lot 0 things an I 1 ve got to have a talk with you ask ol 01 fur face if you can come and stay all night with me always bony had been wont to speak of the bearded smithers as old fur face shad knew flat tl at the request was full of danger but he felt that he must hear what bony had to say even if it involved his d he asked for permission to spend the night with his friend mr smith ers turned upon him with a vexed look he ile never got angry do you want to lose your job he queried in a tender tone no sir shad answered 1 I am not so happy here as I 1 was but I 1 to C C I 1 A man who has shook hands with death as often as I 1 have aint apt to be nervous I 1 I 1 id d hate to lose the job and your your friendship sir you and mrs smithers have been good to me 1 I I guess we wed d better settle up to morrow said the man there a s a lot of talk about you an bony but I 1 haven t anything against you I 1 wish you well shad NN went ent with bony to his little garret room I 1 im in glad you youve ve quit rasslyn with spittoons an molasses jugs and kero sene cans said bony I 1 ive ve got six dollars saved up how much have you got twenty two dollars I 1 shad an proudly well just hang on to it an make it go as fur as we can we weve ve got a job to do for ol 01 bumpy brown some one Is ayin to saddle this murder on him an he aln aint t no more guilty than you an I 1 be not a bit I 1 I 1 ve been down to ashfield an I 1 ive ve got some news first read that he took from his pocket a poster which he had torn from a teley aih pole in ashfield it said REWARD 1 I 1 will pay 1000 for the condic tion of the criminal who voun wounded ded my wife and killed her father CYRUS DOOLITTLE mabe we can make a lot 0 money bony anent ent on if we do we 11 go shucks ill tell ye why it ain aint t bumpy brown you remember t that hat man you see down the road that got over the fence an went behind doty a barn that must a been about five minutes after seven you thought but be sure that he wore a broad brimmed hat forty minutes later jack labarge met a man two miles down the road in the dark lie he had a broad brimmed hat on he was wallin like sam hill towards ashfield he limped like bumpy brown it was so dark jack couldn coulden t see his face away down just above the road that goes into the village henry lockwood comin home in a hay wagon met a man a broad brimmed hat he was walk in fast he had his hat tilted sideways so henry couldn coulden t see his face the moon was out then this man didn dian t limp there s a funny thing about it he didn dian t limp henry Is sure 0 that it was within half a mile 11 of ashfield an most two mile below bumpy s on the other side 0 the river henry says it was a little after eight 0 clock they say that the bensons hired girl passed the same man almost in the edge 0 the village a little later but I 1 t have time to look her up today do ye see how it all jibes the time an the broad brimmed hat an the fast walkin who was this man with the broad brimmed hat who left here right after the murder an dodged you because you had a lantern an went off the road why did he hide his head behind his hat brim when henry lockwood passed him I 1 say that was the murderer shad was thrilled by the news that bony gave in a moment they heard some one coming up the stairs then a rap at the door bony opened it doctor gorse gorbe a tall thin smooth shaved gray haired kindly man stood before them these two boys had interested the doctor because they needed friend ship and good counsel the doctor had sought them out he had been ilka like a wise father to shad he ile had told his friends that these boys had good stuff in them he came now and put his hand on shad shads s head and gave it a friendly shake my young friend I 1 heard you were here he said I 1 came over to tell you not to vi worry orry you 11 come out all right he ile had called to see mrs smithers ill with sick headache and had learned of shad shads s dismissal we were re going to see if we can get bumpy brown out of his trouble said shad some one Is trying to put this murder on him bony repeated to the doctor his sus biclon of the man with the broad brimmed hat and the circumstances on which it was founded I 1 im in inclined to think you are right the doctor began it Is a curl curt ous case I 1 think that the officials have been misled by strong proba now in the case of an ama beur crude bungling criminal proba bili ties may lead to the truth but when you are dealing with an able offender it Is an axiom of the best procedure that you must distrust what ever Is probable it will lead you astray I 1 think that I 1 know the case of the d strict attorney it would seem to be stron strong enough to hang bumpy brown unless the doctor paused they waited but he ile sat looking downward gravely and said no more what are we to do shad asked ill tell you what I 1 would do I 1 would follow that broad brimmed hat down the road tomorrow morning if it was ras worn by the criminal he ably hid the colored handkerchief and perhaps the hat somewhere on or near the road look in every hole and un der every culvert examine the fence corners and the crevices in the stone walls go and find that hired girl at the bensons what kind of a man vas was it who passed her in the road that n did he alm ilm limo how was he te dressed did he wear a broad brimmed hat supposing we found the hand kerchief shad asked take it to the district attorney w th all the information you have been able to gather lou know colonel blake I 1 have heard that he has the re revolt volNer er and the bullets di discharged charged in committing the crime if this is true tell him that aou ou would like to know where the revolver came from no doubt it came from some store in this part of the country who bou t it and when the good man left them TO BBS BE CONTINUED |