Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1889-08-23
tfonted the astonished gentlemen with

the inquiry: en "i'n
NV, Where was the robbery9 Was it at
r osl 4hy Graves' ," Tommy Graves
was nv .he largest store in the village.)
LIN Inc gentleman was naturally of an
oollgng disposition, and, observing the
sIea1 interest taken in the case. he re-
Yes, at Tommy Graves. One hun
ofed thousand dollars worth of goods.
ana a. his beautiful grand daughter, Miss
1race, in the bargain
Inc youth trembled in his excite
m nn But remembering that the
roaring Ranger did not tremble. even
when covered by The weapons If his
! enemies, IL. made a desperate effort to
control his nerves.
The two gentlemen passed on their
way, talking and chuckling in know
ing manner.
The youth cleared the fence with a
pound which would have astonished
even the Roaring Ranger" and which
certainly would have struck terror to
the heart of his deadly enemy, "Bleary-
Eyed Bill" the tiend who abducted the
beautiful Esmeralda. Crouching like
tiger, he cautiously wendell his wav
homeward, for he we'll knew that the
redoubtable Maria Jane was ironing
clothes by the kitchen window, with a
freshly cut "gad" lying conveniently
;; by, and her eyes roaming over the out
lying premises for glimpse of his de-
voted head
He crept-almost crawled-around
the house to the apple tree which
grew under his bedroom window.
climbed the apple tree, and crept in
at the window.
Safely inside, he made straight for
the rag-bag, which lay in corner.
plunged into its capacious depths, and
succeeded, after some difficulty, in
bringing forth small wooden box
which contained motley assortment
OF goods. The first thing to attract
attention was a thirty-two- caliber re-
volver, in a very dilapidated condition,
minus both sides OF the handle and the
cylinder pin, and having, in place of
the latter useful appendage, a large
and very stiff wire, which protruded
an inch or two beyond the muzzle of
the weapon, ending in ring.
Among other things the box also
contained bowie-knife, small mag
nifying glass, false mustache and
whiskers and several wigs.
| For half an hour he busted himself
with the contents Of this box and some
old clothing, secured by stealthy trip
to the attic. Then, stealthily as be-
fore, he descended the tree, crept to
the barn, and assembled to the loft.
1t was a grotesque figure that
slipped down from the loft at the hour
OF nine, and, with cautious glance
around him, started up town. On his
head, covered by a wig Of gray hair,
was a SLOUGH hat with several holes in
the crown. The coat was cutaway,
and rather large for the wearer, while
the trousers and shoes We're the ones
worn throurh the day. On his face
was fierce, black mustache, and q
long, flowing gray beard, and as the
wind blew the loose vest slightly out
of place, it disclosed very bright
piece of tin, the bottom Of an oyster
can, on which had been laboriously
worked, in sprawling characters, the
following:
"Old Thunderbo1t, the Lightning
Detective"
AS he stepped into the street he did
not notice two dark forms in the door
way Of his fathers abode, that started
slightly at first, and then slyly follow
ed him. Their actions, however, would
not be hard to explain.
"A search had been instituted by his
parents, and, the father Of the family
CHANGING to question the gentleman
with whom our hero had had the con-
versation in the cemetery, they had
started in on the trail of the detect
i've, and, having spotted him, they pro-
posed to shadow him and get on to his
game.
Il must start in on the trail at the
point where the robbery and abduction
We're committed, muttered "Cld Thun-
derbolt, as we shall hereafter desig-
nate our hero. "Once started in on
the trail, 1 will not eat or sleep until I
have tracked the villains to their lair -
And as he spoke he had faint recol-
lection of "Old Electricity" OF some
other detective, having once used the
same words.
Gradually the store and residence of
Tommy Graves hove in sight, and, as
he came nearer, his eagle eye scanned
the premises with lightning like rapid