Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1890-04-17


| give him fortune and reputation, or he
has a startling imagination which, il
used in the production of works in the
vantage to his future. Looking upon il
even in this light and without any
| reference to his family and the possible
| effects on his own moral nature, we
| shall assume a great responsibility in
| deliberately subjecting such a person tC
| criminal prosecution, and perhaps con.
| yiction.''
| This was enough. 'Well," said l, ''wc
will release the young fellow and send
the two other rascals to Jail"
| That was not we'll expressed" said
| my wife. but we will not criticiSe words
at present"
We returned to the library and ] an
nounced my decision. When he heard
F.! it the stout burglar exhibited no emo
| ton. His expression indicated that,
| having been caught, he expected to be
sent to Jail, and that was the end of it.
| Perhaps he had been through this ex-
perience SO otter that he had become
| used to it. The tall man, however, took
the announcement in very different
| way. His face grew dark and his eyes
glittered. You are making a great
| mistake" he said to me, "a very great
mistake, and you will have to bear the
consequences"
every good" said I, 81 will remember
that remark when your trial comes on"
The behavior of the young man was
| unexceptional. He looked upon us
with face full of happy gratitude, and,
as he thanked us for the kind favor and
the justice which we had shown him,
| his eyes seemed dim with tears. Aunt
Martha was much affected.
Il wonder if his mother is livingr'
she whispered to me. "A wife is great
| deal, but Il mother is more. If had
thought of her sooner | would have
spoken more strongly in his favor.
And now you should unite him at once
and let him go home. His wife must BE
getting terribly an xious."
The young man overheard this last
remark.
You will confer very great favor on
| me, ST." he said, If you will let me
depart as soon as possible. l feel a great
| repugnance 10 being seen in company
with these men, as you may imagine,
| from wearing a mask on coming here.
| If | leave Immediately | think | can
catch the first train from your station"
l considered the situation. If | did
what | was asked there would be two
bound burglars to guard, three women
and 4 child to protect, an uncertain
stranger at liberty, and only David and
myself to attend to the whole business.
| No, SIR" said I, Il shall not unite you
until the officers | sent for are near at
hand; then | will release you, and you
can leave the house by the back way
without being seen by them. There
are other morning trains which will
take you into the city early enough
Il think you are a little hard on
him." remarked Aunt Martha, but the
young man made no complaint.
Il will trust myself entirely to you,
sir" he said.
The officers arrived much sooner than
l expected. There were five of them,
| including the chief of police, and they
| were accompanied by several volunteer
assistants, among whom was the milk
| man who had been my messenger. This
| morning his customers might wait for
their milk. fer all business must give
way before such an important piece of
sightseeing as this.
/ had barely time to unite the young
man and take him to the back of the
house before the officers and their fol-
lowers had entered the front door,
There was now great deal of question:
| ing. a great deal of explanation, d great
deal of discussion as to whether my way
of catching burglars was advisable or
not. and good deal of talk about the
best method of taking the men to town.
Some of the officers were in favor of re-
leasing the two men and then deciding
in what manner they should be taken to
town; and if this plan had been adopted
| believe that these two alert and prac-
teal rascals would have taken them-
selves out of my house. without the as
sistauce of the officers, or 81 least would
have caused great deal of trouble and
perhaps injury in endeavoring to do so.
But the chief of police was of my
mind, and before the men were entire
ly released from the ropes by which l
had tied them they were securely man
acled.
\ requisitlon made on David and my
self to appear as witnesses, the two
men were taken from the house TO the
wagons in which the officers and their
followers had come. My wife and Aunt
Martha had gone upstairs before the
arrival of the notice. and were doubt