Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1877-12-01

shadow, | doubt, has unsettled YOUR
nerves. Comet"
He took me by the arm, not roughly.
but hastily, and hurried me up the road
at a breathless pace. Ii was not long
before we came to the great shadow Of
I the rock where had seen the figure
lying. But it was not on the spot where
| had left it. \ strange relief, the light
ness from a terrible load, came to nv
heart-it almost seemed rs if had really
been dreaming.
Jacob laughed. You fairly scared
me, little woman he said
AT that moment ! heard rustling in
the bushes fringing the foot of the rock,
and turning my strained eyes thither,
saw a figure sitting there. 1t made the
blood Jingle in my veins, that sight, for
the dropping recumbent shape was a liv-
ing man, at least.
1t was, indeed, Stephen Risdale, and
when Jacob awkwardly but determined
ly drew near, we saw that he was
stunned and bruised, that the frill of his
shirt was torn, and the splendid dia-
mond was gone from his breast.
Looking down from the rocks at that
moment | saw the broad warped face of
Jigger jim. He nodded to me know
ingly, I .,ting his finger to his lips, then
uttering one of his ear-splitting wells,
scrambled out of sight
"What sort of idiots are all You peo-
pie here" gasped the victim, rs the
ape-like figure disappeared, .'that you
let crazy dog like that prowl around
without a keeper?n
Jacob made some gentle answer. He
was thinking, perhaps, of the hard
words he had spoken that evening. He
touched the injured man tenderly with
his strong hands, and helped him to his
feet.
ave are all idiots, more or less, I
believe said Jacob.
Stephen looked about him warily.
" He was coming back to finish the job,
l suppose, if You had not come to the
rescue.''
We took Stephen Risdale to our own
house that night and cared for him ten
DERBY.
1t was long before he fully recovered,
but nursing him was a real pleasure to
me. was full of rejoicing. This man
who might have been vision Of terror
TO me all my life, this man we had so
strangely and unwittingiy rescued-this
was but man after all, and not Il fiend.
Sickness cleared away some fog from
his brain, and rendered his mental Wis
ion clearer. He had done wrong; he
was willing to make restitution. That
which is the normal con-
dition of a shrewd business man melts
like frost in the fever of illness.
Stephen swore he would have Jigger
shut up from further harm-doing, and
he did so. But the diamond which Jig
ger had secreted bafiied all search. 1t
was only by long maneuvering and
craitiness riv:ling his own that ii was
finally recovered.
One day, with secret trembling (al-
though | knew that Jacob and stephen
were following within calD, allured
him up among the crags overhanging
the wafer; and there, with frantic ges-
ticulations and inarticulate mouihings
and iaiotic shouts of laughter, the jewel
was delivered TO my keeping, and car
ried it home like princess, .jigger Jim
clapping his hands with satisfaction to
see ii flashing on my breast. He had
stolen the gem for me, poor .Jigger, and
| was sorry to reward him so treacher-
Dusly. He had stolen it for me, and
Stephen Risdale declared it should be
mine forever.
1t is mine. see it shining now in
harvest of plenty from our restored
acres. see it flashing in Jacobs glad
bright eyes. Stephen Risdale, when he
:ame up this fall, declared ours was the
brightest little place he ever was in.
And well it may be, for there is no
shadow nowhere never will be again
between Jacob and myself-Harper's
IVeeEIu