| Show ahe huse am 9 4 h a by v IRVING R v 1 N BACHELLER A CH E L L E R copyright by irving 11 B schaller SYNOPSIS ragged and starving a boy of about sixteen li Is found in the woods by a a camping party he has fled from his brutal father bat Mor ryon ryson fed and in n clean clothe clothes the boy shad sher I 1 idan dan Is gent sent to canton with a letter to colonel blake the colonel his wife and young daughter ruth are impre impressed d by the boy a 8 manner he roes goes to work in the village of amity dam and becomes friendly with a youth of his age bony and bumpy brown tinker and village character bat Vor morrison Mor ryson tries to take his son back to his own di dissolute solute life but is overawed by colonel blake the dis die brict attorney and his father passes out of shad a life shad applies him self elf a diligently to his neglected aduca alon to n love for ruth R u th blake takes a strong hold on his heart in an at tack made on the perry family oscar perry the father is fatally shot and his daughter mrs doolittle wife e of 0 f I 1 cyrus doolittle prominent citizen shot sh ot and seriously wounded circumstantial evidence points to bumpy brown as the assailant and he Is arrested shad loses his job and goes to live with bony the two boys seek and a nd find disguises the murderer had worn colonel C lonel blake is almost convinced bumpy bomay brown Is not the murderer CHAPTER VI continued 12 new clothes shirts collars neck ties underclothing a derby hat and a leather suitcase were carefully select ed when they left the store the colonel surveyed eur veed the boy with aamir atlon it Is a perfect job he said send the bill to me they got new shoes at another tore store and went to a barber shop there the colonel insisted that shad have a trimming and a bath and fresh underclothing when they entered the colonel colonels s house about seven thirty that evening shad was stepping proudly mrs blake embraced him and said that he wag was handsomer than ever the girl ruth shook his hand 1 I am to be kind but dignified to you ehe she said with a smile when I 1 come again I 1 think that I 1 will wear green glasses the boy an why they will give you a kind of a sickly look and make it easy for me to behave the colonel and mrs airs blake laughed betraying a note of awareness the girl sat down and began to sur vey the boy she was impressed by his grandeur he thought that she was more beautiful than ever and he was right this boy has done important work in the case of the people against brown the colonel said to his wife he and a young friend have found the hat and handkerchief that covered the head and face of tha the murderer he has discovered other convincing evidence I 1 am to try to make a lawyer of him it ought to be easy this young chap has almost convinced me that his friend bumpy brown is not the man we ne want he told his wife of shad s finds and adventures mrs brake embraced the boy and congratulated him you really are getting along she bald said the colonel was weary he arose presently and suggested to his young friend that they go to bed shad arose and said good night the girl gave him a pleasant smile as she an he thought that he saw a note of d sap in her eyes the girl went with him to the foot of the stairs and whispered with sweet encouragement in her eyes how grand you look he ile went upstairs with the colon coloni I who showed him to his room he ile came downstairs at eight 0 clock in the morning and ruth met him in the hall and looked into his eyes with a sweet smile as she said how lazy you are I 1 I 1 ive ve been up an hour waiting for you he ile was v as happy as he stammered rather awkwardly if if I 1 had known that I 1 would have been up at daylight ruth blushed saying I 1 have got to hurry away to school now it was not quite true but it was a part of the old strategy she knew that it would pain him to see her go and there was a kind of joy in the thought of his bitter and devastating disappointment so she left him before she had gone a it block she pretended to have forgotten something and came back and shook hands again shaa went with the colonel to his office that day the boy was corn com fort ably settled in a furnished room his wages were to be twenty five do dol lars a month he was to get his meals at a small restaurant it was a speculation on the part of the gener ous lawyer like that of putting a colt in a training stable the boy was quick to learn moreover he had a mind of bis his own and agreeable man ners ne S the country was now at war with spain A messenger came one day from the war department to consult the t he col nel it was then that shad learned earned that colonel blake was an acknowledged authority in devising and reading cipher messages used in war facts of vital interest were dincov ered regarding the cha weapon used in the killing of oscar perry the brief of colonni blake submitted to the ap division of the supreme court recites the testimony of sergt william E 10 petty of new york an expert on revolvers and ammunition who ex the weapon he weighed its bullets and counted their grooves he ile said this revolver was called in its time the american bulldog thirty eight it was manufactured by the winchester repeating arms corn com pany they ceased to make and sell it in 1890 the weapon has this peculiarity culi arity when it is fired the trig ger must be released the trigger fin ger must cease to pros press it before it Is cocked for another discharge while the sergeant examined the bullets colonel blake made a note of this illuminating fact these cartridges were undoubtedly made for the winchester colt ver the sergeant resumed they are thirty eight caliber long central fire cartridges with a square base bam the weight the shape of the point the form and faces of the canne lures lares leave no room for doubt colonel blake learned that the trade in northern new york bought their supplies of winchester arms and am from a store of the corn com pany piny in utica on his return the colonel stopped at this store its record of sales for some years prior to ISDO 1890 were still on file life A bookkeeper was paid to make an immediate survey of those records and ascertain to what tradesmen in st lawrence county the american bulldog revolver qa had been sold his 4 A how grand you looks report was that only one revolver of that type had been sold in st law recce rence county it had been shipped in september 1889 with three boxes of thirty eight caliber long central fire cartridges to fit it to E D J bonfield a hardware dealer of the village of massena A little later shad went with col onel blake to Al massena assena they learned that mr bonfield had sold his stock and gone out of business in 1890 his goods had gone to some merchant in norwalk shad and the district at torney drove to that small town which was five miles from ashfield in the general store run by cobb and max well they found the long resting place of the antiquated weapon which had killed oscar perry mr cobb had bought the revolver and its boxes of cartridges from bonfield in 1889 to whom and when nhen did you sell it the colonel asked mr cobb answered we sold it cheap to old bumpy brown the tinker he said that he was getting it for an other man who wanted to shoot some cats this Is important evidence why didn t you report it to me was the query of the district attorney well I 1 was in california when bumpy was arrested I 1 dian didn t get back until a week ago I 1 thought that I 1 d wait and see what happened have you any idea or suspicion as to the last owner of thia this weapon no sir but I 1 think that brown told me the truth As colonel blake and his young clerk went to the hotel for supper the former said this Is a curious case again it comes up to bumpy brown well know more of this matter before we sleep they returned to canton by the evening train and drove directly to the jall bumpy wae was brought out to the sheriffs office to talk with them he put bis his hands on shad a shoulders and looked in his eyes and exclaimed my boy I 1 dont don t you lose faith in In me eNever never shad answered the colonel spoke this boy had bad almost convinced me of your innocence until I 1 learned today that a part of your testimony Is false you once owned a revolver bumpy answered no I 1 didn t I 1 bought a revolver one day at cobb and maxwell maxwells Max wells s in norwalk but I 1 bought it for another man I 1 never owned it a minute I 1 took it to robert royce that day he said that in tr travel avelin ln around I 1 might see a chance to buy a good revolver cheap if I 1 did I 1 was to git it for him the island was overrun with cats he wanted to shoot some of ein he give me exactly what the revolver an ca bridges cost it was a five dollar bill he give me it had been tore in the middle an pasted together he ile said he had got it from henry lockwood that day an that he bed d guarantee it was good I 1 was anyone present when you delivered the revolver not as a I 1 remember of no sir he was alone in the shop he went upstairs an got a present for me it was a knit muffler with his hi initial initials wove into it he said that he never used it what did you do with that five dollar bill that was torn in the mid die colonel blake asked bumpy brown thought a moment well sir I 1 might as well tell you I 1 give it to my wife to keep for me your wifel the colonel exclaimed I 1 thought that your wife had been dead tor for years 1 I don dont t blame ye fer chinkin so the old man went on 1 I put her in her grave years ago but she ain aln t dead no sir she s up there in that little shack 0 mine an lookin at me an to me just as she used to every day im ira to home I 1 miss her awful when I 1 im in away the old man paused and wiped his eyes with his handkerchief and con linued ye see I 1 albus used to give her the money to keep we lived camf table I 1 never got drunk them days never I 1 done well there on the wall she shea s argued with me bout my foolishness an I 1 promised her that I 1 wouldn t do it no more an I 1 agreed that I 1 id d give her the money to save just as I 1 used to now what I 1 say Is private I 1 took down her off the wall an mort iced the back 0 the frame an put a sl de over the mortice so neat ye couldn t see it every week I 1 slipped some money into that hole in the frame it was like givin it to her to keep for me take you to brown s cove tomor rowand we well 11 see if we can find that five dollar bill well sir find out that I 1 ain aln t no liar said bumpy if I 1 do any murdering mur derin it must be that I 1 do it in my sleep I 1 aint ain t never fetched myself in the act not yet As shad and colonel blake were leaving the jail the latter said I 1 it la Is almost clear to me that the old man has been the victim of a plot I 1 think that we shall soon be done with him save as a witness the sheriff drove out to browns cove next day with the district actor ney bey and the tinker they found the mended bill with other money in the hiding place bumpy had described henry lockwood was at his farm near the cove he identified the five dollar bill in question he gave it to royce in paying a bill and guaranteed its validity in doing so he had made a note in his memorandum book of ita its number the identification was perfect As they left lockwood a house the district attorney said to the old man it does look as it if your wife wag was still alive I 1 think that she Is going to get you out of this scrape oh she ashes she s a wonderful worn wom an 1 I 1 said the tinker I 1 I 1 could always count on her in the day ca need colonel blake blakes s mind was nearing its decision the tan suit the motive the possession of the revolver and the rubbers seemed clearly to indicate the guilt of royce TO BB BE CONTINUED |
