The San Saba news. [volume] (San Saba, Tex.) 1873-1966, 1888-05-18

end flung a warm. soft blanket around
Der. you Just stay here and let me go
Bot she struggled cut Of his OBTAINING
hands
Maybe your father was jist lost in
/ the -noW, lass.
Il tell you he was murdered. !
struck d mas b. There's blood all over
I his hasom- shot shot, oh, who could
haze wished o. barn my pooFoid ia;heri
Her story was true; with great diiti-
Guilty wa be found nearly buried in the
sloE. and carried 10 his home "a .tarile
Z The terrified children half out Of their
senses
sai wa calm; afterward she wondered
~ her own control She quieted the
naiiiag children. coaKed the smaller ones
~ 10 bed and sat before the FIRE IN
dazed cold WAY that troubled two OF
I their kindly leighbors greatly, who sat
T back and talked in low tones Of the
I strange. uncailei-for crime.
An honcster better fellow never
lived. Poor Tom Who could have
wished ter Sill him
u was the boy. Joe. who suddenly
cred cut DO startling, convincing tones:
The stranger. Sal. the stranger that
wore O fur overcoat aud gloves.
Describe HIM, Joe r.
i don't know as ] kin, but he had
dark eyes aud a beard. and father seemed
much taken with him. They laughed
and talked d aogt some property back in
( the states. and the man had bottle and
I they drank several times, then went out
/ together"
Would you know him agin. my boyl'
AYes. % said Joe. .'he had a red scar
near the corner Of his eye, his left eye,
B ] remember.
"well fad him, if he's in the land
Of tie living"
The next day a party OF men set out
over and across country 10 search Of the
Z stranger. In the afternoon Others assist
/ cd at the quiet funeral and not until
uiehifail did Sal remember that letter.
She took il from her pocket aud tore
I q open and read:
70 THOMAS SHELDON OR HIS HEIRS -
I 3 80 are hereby notified that an estate awaits
/ you In Greenfield. holland County, State
I - - Yours.
smTH a Lose, Attorneys at Law.
Feb - u.s.
"Oh % said Sal, wonderingly, "what
T does IL meant An es;afer'
Il know, said twelye-y ear-old Joe,
..it's money land. oh, Sal, if father
had only lived, He hated being poor
/ worse q any Of US
i suppose I'd better write, said Sal,
and tel EN- there's no longer any
Thomas Sheldon, but there's some six
heirs
Sal wrote in a big. school girl hand, a
simple statement Of the facts, but she
knew an answer could not be expected
short q two weeks.
IN the meantime, the men who had
gone out looking for the strange man
I that Joe had described, IA led 10 find
{ him and returned disheariened. The
mystery Of the murder seemed impossible
E 10 unfayel.
Sal still clung 10 the rude shanty and
snxi0usly thought about her letter. while
the people in Deer Creek and the sur
rounding valley offered her plenty Of
! places 10 work.
'-she's proud, an she ought TO starve,
SAID more THAI one, .but do pity them
little children.
one day there came TO Deer Creek a
tall. handsome man who inquired for
! Miss Sheldon.
! Tie meh regarded each other blankly
I until some one aid
oh. the Dickens the fellow means
Sal III point you out where she's ter
be- found. -
The supper Of mush and milk was on
III ~
Al their door. Sal opened the door and
admitted him.
n came. - he began, courteously, ''in
replY 10 your letter Game to tell you
d the big fortune that Is yours, as next
OF Ain 10 an uncle who recently died,
add - take you all back home with me
Ii YOU will go-to such home as you
could hardly picture, that is all your
own
sal hesitaied. she knew the need Of
money she had long known pinching
want. but he loved the mountains and
the valleys where she had lived so long
- and there vas Pete.
She hesitated only an instant, the
faces Of the children, eagerly expectant,
decided her.
We can be ready anytime-to-mor-
row II you'd rather.
Tomorrow it is, then; We will stof
n the nearest town. and you can get any
thing you need for the long journey"
He did not linger. but joinei his guide
20 return 10 Deer Creek for the night
and learned for the first time the story Of
Ihe murder.
"Yoz don't say How strange, WhS
could have wished his death Poor fel
low. with a hundred thousand dollar
waiting for him. But Tom sheldon al
ways Wa an nnlucky dog
sai had hoped 10 see Pete before sh'
left, but be failed to put in an ap
peaanee.
ooh well. what's the oddsl Ireckol
he's found his other girl by this time
Coiae children are you all ready"
-Four years later.
Deer Creek was a big mining tow
nov. and even sal herself, walking it
handsome streets could barely recall o,'
landmarks.
II the town had changed. no less ha'
sal. IN her dress, her walk, seemingl,
her entire self She had been a hand
some lass with a strong. free step. Sh
was now very pretty LADY, elegantly