| Show the swava ANN ok of the ahree va WF me ins oft AID by BACHELLER IRVING I 1 copyright by irvins iraln servia servi 0 SYNOPSIS and starving a boy ot of about la Is befriended toy by a camping party ile he has tied from his brutal father faither bat morrison Mor ryson the boy shad 9 ha d ai S herldan la Is sent to canton with th a letter t ter to colonel blake the colonel his wife and their daughter ruth kuth ar are e am impressed d by the boys manner il he e goes to work in the village ot of amity dam a and n d meets a youth of h his age bony and bumpy brown tinker considered ed a drunkard because ot of hla his periodic lapses from A triet strict sobriety suat morrison Mor ryson comes determined to take his son back to hla his own dissolute lake life ife ile ho la Is overawed over awed by colonel BI blake 1 ke lh athe e district attorney and his fa father t her impasses 1 es out of chads shads life A g girl irl young tend pretty pretty comes to dr browns ow ns shack and ng for arhim him shad applies himself elt diligently diligent ll to his neglected education bovo for or ruth nu th blake takes a fl trone hold on his heart in a an n atta attack c k made ads on the Perry family oscar perry mie father and hla his daughter mrs airs doo blittle wife of cyrus doolittle prominent citizen are shot and se seriously au wounded ded circumstantial evidence points n ts to bumpy crown brown as the ass assailant all ile he la Is arrested I 1 CHAPT CHAPTER ER V continued i 8 when cyrus doolittle came to my shop about five on november tenth I 1 was chatting with a man who had chad been telling about the scandalous stalk talk odthe of the old tinker after mr doolittle lay down I 1 locked the shop and went ent upstairs to my room and sot got me T a bite to eat then I 1 lit a lamp an lay down on a bed an read some 11 tory story papers I 1 have a telephone so when mr doolittle woke jup up and asked me to let him out of the shop about halt half past eight I 1 janow know of the shooting I 1 told him then that hed better look out for the tinker or hed be done up I 1 was nt at IDoo littles the day that cyrus put bhim off his place the old man acted dreadful vicious the doctors and other witnesses witnessed ei 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 ithe the finding of tho the cartridges and the revolver the district attorney presented ahls theory it was conclusive cicche the only dissenters in the courtroom were the boys bony and shad old bumpy brown was held bold 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 guilty said shad what are your reasons he la Is not mean enough was shads chads answer its the same old reason that has been pleaded since cain killed abel the colonel laughed 1 I dont complain because a boys heart Is better than his head it ought to be come over to the house and spend the night wl with th us idline id like to but I 1 must get back tonight could we go und and see bumpy a few minutes certainly ill go with you 11 bumpy was glad to see them lie ile smiled reaching through the bars and shaking their hands cheerfully as he be had been wont to do in browns cove we wanted you to know that youve got at least two friends said shad friends Friend st I 1 I 1 used to have more friends than you could shake a stick at all gone but you an the woman I 1 miss her dreadful 1 I guess you aint scared 11 this from bony seared scared I 1 by jeadie I 1 bumpy ex malmid tal mid A man who has shook hands with death as often as I 1 have hava aint apt to be nervous assuming that you are innocent have you any theory about the crime colonel blake asked well sir I 1 have an idee but I 1 may be wrong I 1 can be mean but I 1 a coln to say that a man done murder less I 1 know what im about it aint manners bumpy reached through the bars and shook their hands 11 were IVere 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 your jobs im nigh the end a 0 the road anyhow that ended the interview it was supper time colonel blake went with the boyi boy to the railroad station them the boys rode to ashfield got their fil suppers sit at ii a restaurant and walked h horns oma they were talking of the events of ct the day bony said it looka awful badior bad for bumpy do ye y suppose he could have gone an done it in a kind of crazy fit no I 1 dont no he Is not that kind of a man seems as if he care much whether they hang him or not bony bon I 1 added maybe hell fool em cm yet that ol 01 man Is smart shad spent the night with bony the people were almost unanimous in the conviction that bumpy brown was guilty of the murder even those ghobad who had little knowledge of the damning evidence in spite of their familiarity mili arity with every detail of it the boys stood firmly for their friend their voices were the only ones that had a word to say in favor of the suspected man they were openly criticized for being the friends of a murderer it was nearing cine of a chill chilly y november night the usual band of murder gossipers had bad left the store of ephraim smithers he and F to A man who has shook hands hand with death as a often as an I 1 have aint apt to be nervous Nervo usO his young clerk were getting ready to close suddenly bony squares entered lie he had bad been running and was breathing hard shad was in the front end of the store stacking some tools bony was excited he whispered to his young friend by he exclaimed quoting the favorite oath ot of old bumpy brown ive run a mile arald id be too late ive learnt a lot 0 things an ive got to have 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 s speak peak of the bearded smithers as old fur face shad knew that the request was full of danger but lie he felt that he must hear what bony had to say even if it involved his dismissal he asked for permission to spend the night with his friend mr smithers turned upon him with a vexed look lie ile never got angry do you want to lose your job he queried in a tender tone no sir shad answered cn 1 I am not so happy here as I 1 was but I 1 id hate to lose the job and your your friendship sir you and mrs smithers 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 ras rasslyn slin with spittoons spit an molasses ju jugs gsand and kerosene cans said bony BODY ive got six dollars saved up how much have you got twenty two dollars dollar sl I 1 shad answered proudly well just h hang ang on to it an make it go as fur as we can weve got a job to do for ol oil bumpy brown some one Is tryla to saddle this murder on him nie an 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 newa first read that ile he took from his bis pocket a poster which he bad torn from a telegraph pole in Ashil ashfield eld it said 1 11 I will pay 1000 for the con conviction vic of the criminal who wounded my wife and killed her father 11 CYRUS DOOLITTLE maybe mayba we can make maka a lot 0 money bony went on if we do well go shucks ill tell ye why it aint bumpy brown you remember that man you see down the road that thai got over the fence an went behind cotys barn that must a beer been about five minutes after seven you yoi thought but be sure that h he wore a broad brimmed hat forty minutes later jack labarge met a man two miles down the road in the th dark ho he had a broad brimmed hat hal on he was like sam hll hill towards ashfield Asb field he limped like bumpy brown it was so dark jacl jack see his face away down just above the road that goes into the village henry lockwood comeal home in a hay wagon met a man a broad brimmed hat ile he was walkin fast he had his hat tilted sideways so henry see his face the moon was out then this man limp theres a funny thing about it he limp henry la Is sure 0 that it was within half a mile of ashfield an most two mile below bumpas on the other side 0 the river henry says it was a little after eight they say that the bensons Den sons hired girl passed the same man almost in the edge 0 the village a little later but I 1 11 I 1 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 bat who left here right after the murder an dodged you because you yon had a lantern an went off the road why did he hide bide his head behind ills his hat brim when henry lockwood passed him I 1 say gay 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 a tall thin smooth shaved gray haired kindly man stood before them these two boys had interested the doctor because benallie Be callie they needed friendship an am good counsel the doctor had bad sought them out he had bad been like a wise father to shad he had told his friends that these boys had good stuff in them ile he came now and put his hand on chads shads head bead and gave it a friendly shake my young friend I 1 heard you were here he said 1 I came over to tell you not to worry come out all right ile he had called to see mrs smithers III with sick headache and had learned of shads chads dismissal were 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 hta his suspicion of the man with the broad brimmed hat and the circumstances on which it was founded im inclined to think you are right the doctor began it Is a curious case I 1 think that the officials have been misled by strong probabilities bili ties now in the case of an amateur crude bungling criminal probabilities bili bill ties may lead to the truth but wh when enyou you are dealing with an able offender it Is an axiom of the best procedure that you must distrust whatever Is probable it will lead you astray I 1 think that I 1 know the case of the district attorney it would seem to be strong enough to hang bang bumpy brown unless the doctor paused they waited but he be 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 worn by the criminal he probably hid the colored handkerchief and perhaps the hat somewhere on or near the road look in every hole bole and under 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 was it who passed her in the road that night did he limp how was he dressed did he wear a broad brimmed hat bat supposing we found the handkerchief 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 be has the revolver and the bullets discharged in committing the crime if I 1 this Is s true tell him that you would like to know where the tha revolver came from no doubt it camo cam efrom from some store stora in this part of the country who bought it and when the good man left them teem TO xin OB CONTINUED coul murm |
