Show house of thae 94 1101 wa LN th IL T all AM 4 by irvin irving bacheller Baci Bael eller teller copyright by irving bacheller service SYNOPSIS R ragged and starving a boy of about sixteen is befriended by a can ping party a r t Y he ile has fled from his brutal fa a fh aher r bat morrison Mor ryson th the boy shad sherl sheridan dan Is 1 sent to cant canton on w with ith a I 1 letter ater to colonel blake the colonel his wife and their daughter huth ruth are impressed by the boy boys a manner he to work in the village of amity edes am and meets a youth of his age bony and bumpy brown tinker considered a drunkard because of his periodic 1 lapses from strict sobriety kr bat t morrison Mor ryson comes ned to take hig his son back to his 0 di dissolute isolate life he Is overawed by colonel blake the district attorney and his father pases passes out of shad a life A girl young and pretty comes to brown browns s shack inquiring for him shad applies him self elf diligently to his neg neglected acted aduca uon love tor for ruth blake takes a stronghold trong hold on his heart in an attack mado on the perry family oscar perry the father and h a daughter mrs doo little wife of cyrus doolittle kroml nent citizen are shot and seriously wounded circumstantial evidence points to bumpy brown as the assail ant he Is arrested shad loses his job and goes to live with bony at miss a the two hoys boys seek and find dig disguises aises the murderer had worn col onel one blake Is almost convinced brown Is I 1 not the murderer CHAPTER V continued 9 there theres s the greatest man I 1 ever knew said bony ile lies s so gol burned smart an kind 0 solemn I 1 im in always a little when he talks falls to me if it its s possible to love a man I 1 love him shad answered but bony never praised so lavishly in the morning the boys set out on the familiar road to ashfield they went behind doty a barn and back to the highway they searched the thick ets and culverts along that thorough fare they came to a stone wall on the east side of the highway shad took one side of the wall and bony the other they looked into every hole bole and crevice they had surveyed a long iong stretch of wall when bony on the side toward the fields shouted here it Is I 1 he ile leaped over the wall with the colored handkerchief and a small light colored slouch hat in his hand he held them up before him there were the eye holes in the chandker chief there was a touch of awe in the excitement of the two boys shad looked off at the river this don dont t do bumpy any good he rt rc marked his place Is below here lie ile might have hid the hat and the handkerchief and then cut across to the river and got into his boat but he didn dian t you forgit the man in the broad brimmed hat he was been seen away below here I 1 know it aint the best place fer these things to be hid but we can cant t help that facts Is facts the murderer went on down the road I 1 tell ye bony put the hat and handl in his coat pocket they went on down the road bony suggested supposing Sup they thought I 1 had killed oscar perry an they come an took tool us up an found that hat an ban kei chief in my pocket I 1 couldn coulden t prove no allerby I 1 was down settin on the ol 01 dam all lone shudyin astronomy an a smoke I 1 heard tl tte e shots I 1 didn t stir cause I 1 thought deacon Merl meriwether wether was out at a coon in the his chicken yard I 1 didn t come up to the store till I 1 heard the women bawlin I 1 couldn coulden r t prove no allerby well it washes my hands I 1 left the gaytons at just five minutes of even seven by their clock then I 1 guess you better keep these things said bony as he passed them to shad they passed the benson mansions on their way into town they were just outside the village of ashfield youre you re better dressed than I 1 be said bony go up an aul see if you can find that hired girl tell em you re a friend of ol 01 bumpy brown the tinker an that you re bryin to help him III bet they know the ol 01 man mail an his bird shad dreaded the task but did not hesitate such grandeur as loomed before him when he neared the lawns he be had never seen shad considered what he would say to those grand people he decided first to speak of his ills friends 2 C converse and col onel blake he ile went to the nearest of the big houses and rang the bell at its front door A servant opened it the boy asked for mr air benson he ile explained that he wished to see him about bumpy brown he was shown to the library where sat bat one of the distinguished benson brothers shad trembled with awe alen the man arose and asked boy what can I 1 do tor for you the tone of the man mans s vo ce was reassuring shad had learned that a gentleman was welcome anywhere my name Is shad morrison Mor ryson he eald said as be jae stood bend ng the visor of his cap in his nervous hands bands I 1 am a friend of E 0 converse sir and of colonel blake good I 1 I 1 know them both that establishes your standing shad was getting Z better control of his breath he made a new start I 1 have been working in the store tip up at amity dam I 1 know bumpy bron brown n he ile has been arrested tor for the murder of oscar I 1 lerry erry he ile Is not guilty sir good I 1 I 1 id d like to agree with you ghe me your reasons mr air cenon was now deeply inter asted 1 I met the guilty man in the road that night two men saw him he ile wore a broad brimmed hat he was walking fast on the road to ashfield he ile hid this hat an ban kerchief in the stone wall beside the road mr benson spread out the hand kerchief and carefully examined it when did you find them he asked today sir you must give them to colonel blike I 1 im in going to until you see him don t show them to anyone shad was vias now at the point he sought I 1 hear that your hired girl met the man down in the road beyond bour our gate mr benson smiled as he rang a bell on the table near him the but ler came his ills master spoke tell the maid celestia more to come here A cheery faced young irish woman came from the kitchen she had been visiting down near the bridge in the edge of the village the evening of the murder she started for home a little after eight it was dark and she was timid her friend came with her they entered the road beyond the turn that leads to the village A man approached pro ached them in the darkness he was walking fast he ile passed them on the opposite side of the road he ile was tall he wore a cap she and her friend both agreed that he wore a cap A cap I 1 shad exclaimed I 1 see he was getting near the village he had the cap in his pocket up the G he passed them on the opposite appos te side of the road road within half a in ie le were we re going to find the broad brimmed hat he hid it somewhere mr benson laughed youre you re a good hearted boy and rather level headed I 1 wish you luck 1 I have not been able to bel eve that the old tinker was guilty shad rejoined bony who was wait ing for him on the road within an hour the boys had found the broad brimmed hat it had been crowded into a hollow stump beside the road and was covered with rotten wood elated they hastened into the village well go over to canton and see colonel blake shad proposed pio posed they went to the westminster hotel and learned that the next train going west left at six forty they decided to telephone and learn if the colonel were at home they learned that he had gone to kildare pond hunting the pond nas mas about five miles back in the woods they went to a store stord shad got some paper and twine and wrapped the hats and handkerchief in a snug pack age and tied it to h s belt I 1 in hungry said shad lets I 1 et s get our suppers and walk home and have a talk with the doctor when they came out of the supper u room a number of men eat at around the fireplace they were talking of the murder at mity dam among thim were robert royce ellery anderson james aarts a commercial traveler the proprietor of the hotel and a stranger of about thirty rather shab ally dressed the stranger had red hair a freckled face any and abnormally large ears anderson had spoken of the excellent work of the d strict actor ney in promptly solving the problem the problem aln aint t solved yet said bony I 1 happen to know that they re barking up the wrong tree huhl huh I 1 I 1 ion on must be e a rather smart boy said the hotel man no but where there a so many that do all their work with their tongues a feller that ases uses his brain once in a while kind lind 0 stands out the game was put up on bumpy brown he was a drunken ol 01 pup of a man nobody supposed that he had any friends he ile hated the Doo littles he lived all alone a mile aiom anybody else it would be hard fer him to piove giove an allerby the man that done the put on that limp he ile wore a slouch hat in sir air doolittle Doolittl ea 8 house and a broad brimmed hat when he was away with the rashness of youth bony told of the different po ants in the road where the man with the broad brimmed hat had been seen in the darkness escaping toward ashfield A mile below amity dam he had hidden the colored handkerchief which had masked his face and the slouch ha hat t in a stone N wall all half a mile out of ashfield he shoved the broad brimmed hat in the hollow of an old stump and put a cap on his head in the edge of the village he was wearing earing the cap tense with interest every one was leaning forward in his chair gazing at the boy the landlord was first to speak asking how do you know he hid the hand kerchief and the hats we found them today where are they we ve got em let us have a look at them no sir ee we ain aln t goin to show em to nobody till we see the district attorney ile hes s up at kildare pond huntin deer one of us is goin up there tomorrow to find him they went out of doors and hast ened toward the bridge the tavern gossips of of ashfield hid something new to talk about mr evarts said that he thought that the boy had told the truth the drum mer was also of that opinion hes a notorious young liar ilar said robert royce there isn t a lazier an more harum chap la in this county in a few minutes he and ellery an derson and the stranger arose and put on their overcoats and went over to the kensington barroom when the boys arrived in amity dam they saw a light in the study windows of the doctor they ran rang his doorbell the doctor gave them a hearty welcome they told him of their success we have made quite a step toward the truth said the doctor shad will go into the woods to take these things to colonel blake tomorrow yes sir was shad shads s answer I 1 suggest that you leave those things in mv my care said the doctor I 1 want to take tale them with me shad answered I 1 advise against it but you are entitled to have your way it occurs to me that hubbard hubbards Hub bards s store has become a point of some interest there you will remember bumpy bought his rubbers I 1 wonder if somebody had learned carneal of the exact shape and size of the rubbers bumpy had bought you know rubbers are rather accod mo dating they stretch suggest to the di district attorney that he go to hubbard s store and find out it if he can who bought rubbers of that size and shape on or before the tenth of november people do not forget bumpy s cills calls they 11 be sure to remember all about the rubbers they sold him the doctor walked with the boys to miss s house and left them at the door miss atas NN as a lady of un doubted ty her notion was that the flesh and the devil deol were con the world the wildness of the quiet ellla e of amity dam wor ried tied her she was an active local worker for the home for the friend less in ashfield she served on a committee of the home w th one of the benson sisters ahe home and the ivings of miss penson was the main topic of her conversation miss was the only lady in the hillige oho took boar boarder dera she had agreed to take shad at four dol lars lar a week if he would sleep with bony dony and promise to be a good boy she rather enjoyed the mothering and correcting correct in and bullying of these two boys she was often threatening to send them away but would have wept if tl ti ey had left her she had a curl ous interest in their talk and per hersity TO BE CONTINUED |