Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1884-12-13

''6l6 SnOOk me aDOub q y car az
wered Bobbitts, rubbing away az the
gamblers boot harder than ever
"Ran away, did she?"
eyes; left one day when [ was do va
town selling some papers, an When i
went to our house her trunk was gone
and a letter was on a cheer fer me- i
! knoWd it was fer me, an took II over 70
a neighbor what had been kind to me,
an got him to read it"
The last boot was finished now, and
BObbitts carefully rolled down the
Counts pant leg, and brushed from 1t
the yellow splOtches Of mud.
"What did the letter say2" inquired
low, hOarse voice from the eqge
of the crowd. Bobbitts peered be-
tween the forms of two men, and then,
after having carefully looked the stran-
ger over, addressed himself to the crowd
generally:
It said, Dear Bobbitts,' an the letter
was wet an dirty, as If ma had cried
over it a good deal, 4 am going away for
time, but / will come back 10 you
within a year. Be a good boy, an 1 will
pray for yer I hain't been the best
kind of a Sunday school kid, but I'll bet
high ma has prayed for me, all the
same"
"What makes you think SOP" inquired
the man with the hOarse voice on the
edge of the crowd. Several other per
sons, including BObbitts, now regarded
the stranger more attentivelY. He was
a tall, sallOW cOnplexiOned man, well
dressed, in a style approaching the eZ-
IRENE of fashion. His age might have
been anywhere between thirty-eight and
fOrty-fve. Bobbitts now exhibited evil
dent signs of uneasiness.
eyes" continued Bobbitts, turning his
rrAr a.
dressing him through the medium Of the
crowd; "she allus prayed for me an
fader every night. But don't want to
talk to you any more"
Instantly the attention of the crowd
was divided between BObbitts and the
stranger. Intuition is one of the keen
est senses of the gambler, and, gambler
like, the crowd, by different individual
mental processes. began to connect Bob
bits and the stranger. The Count now
addressed the former:
do you know that man?"
"What man?" said BObbitts, sullenly.
"The man who just spoke to you"
"NO, nor L don't want to know him"
''Why?"
'''Pears ter me he is one of the blOkes
what come to mas house an raised
ructiOn, that night I was tellin' about. I
don't say as twas him, but only that it
pears like it"
eyes, you little devil, you're right p
exclaimed the dark complexiOned
stranger, pushing his way through the
crowd, and viciOusly kicking the little
bOOt-black, who fell with low moan to
the floor.
In another instant the man lay stretch
ed on the sanded, grimy floor of the
saloon, stricken down by a blow square
from the shoulder Of another stranger, a
braWny Hercules in a shaggy Petersham
Overcoat, and who tenderly raised Bob
bits on his knee and called for a glass Of
water. BObbitts was insensible.
"Shame! shame" rolled savagely
from the Threats Of a dozen indignant
men, and the well-dressed stranger had
barely risen to his elbows, trying in a
dazed manner to comprehend the situa-
ton, before he was seized by the
shoulders, dragged to the door, and
thrown bodily on to the sidewalk.
Another instant, and a ball from the
outside crashed through the saloon win
dow. The Count sank to the floor, dark
purple stream trickling from his mouth.
Intended for another man, the bullet
had reached his heart.
THAT might have been any one of
usl' shouted peg" Motif, Deputy Sheriff,
and followed by half the crowd as a
valiant posse, he bOlted out into the
night after the stranger.
A physician, hastily summoned, let
fall the hand of the Count and turned
to Bobbitts, who still rested upon the
friendly knee of his protector.
The count had "COppered" his last bet,
and passed over to the great majority, in
the silent, unmapped country of the
dead.
"Has this boy a homer" inquired the
doctor.
"He will go to the hotel with me, j." an
swered the stranger
And your name -"
"Is John Morley. His mother is with
me at the Crandall House."
"That is good" said the physician;
"fOr am afraid the little fellows spine |
is injured, and that he may become a !
cripple for life. What internal injuries |
he may have sustained 1 cannot now de- !
termine"
John Morley bent down and kissed |
the thin, white lips of BObbitts.
Call hack" he said huskily-
The little, elfsh features of Bobbitts /
looked up from a background Of snowy 4
pillows, scarcely whittier than his face. 4
Over those pillows tenderly bent hand /
some woman, still on the sunny side Of /
thirty, John Morley and the doctor. The /
tears which dimmed the eyes of the lady
but heightened her beauty beauty .
by past care and patient waiting /
and watching.
"He will live" said the doctor, and the
mother Of Bobbitts murmured, "Thank
Sod"
'But viii always use a crutch."
BObbltts closed his eyes YEARLY when
be heard this, and then opened them
again, with the shadow there of the old
time twinkle.
can the kids viii all call me a limp
ng jigger from JigtoWn, % he said.
mo, no, daElingl" ansW cred the
mother, burying her sweet face In the
pillows beside his own "yOu shall
know no more of this worlds rudeness,
is Wickedness, its poverty; its woe"