The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1892-10-21

was hanged in mountain town by
mob of cowboys.
ut mus be orfe to be strung up all
in minute like that" he said, looking
over the top of the paper with bigeyes.
Pm glad it want me nor-nor none
O. my folks"
AS time passed he watched the papers
with visible anxiety. He seemed to be
waiting for something.
ut orter be over by this time"
/ Mrs. Stone once heard him mutter to
himself.
The season waned to autumn. At
MONDAY the air in the valley was mel.
low, pouring a heavy languor into
the blood and filing one with
the pulseless joy of utter rest. But
at evening a chill, nipping wind
stirred abroad. The cottonwoods
along the higher slopes became
gray and wind-tattered; the frost chung
to the pines in the morning. making
them look like pale smoke.
ut is time" Peter muttered more
than once, and he watched the newspa-
At last one day he came in from
Eden City with newspaper in his
hand, quivering with Joy from head to
foot.
II can tell We all bout it nowg' he
cried.
But he could not. at once. He was
quite beside himself. 'NOh, it's the
best thingw he repeated again and
again; but at last he was able to ex-
plain.
"Ye See" he began, my nameain't
Peter Pond at all. jes' nachellsnade
that up out o my head, don't y see?
M I'm RELY Bob Wharton Bob's
short, for convenience, savey 1
come from western Lowry, aIng the
river Oh, I can't seem to git at it to
tell it straight, nohow!"
"Do tryr' gasped Mrs. Stone, eagerly.
well, / viii. Ye see, nv daddy
owns farm mex to Abram Brooks,
N they had quart bout thebound'ry
line n took it into the cour, m dad
won, N oh! it 'ud a-done We good to see
how mad Brooks wasw
81 don't doubt it!' cried hrs. Stone,
with breathless interest.
But they never made u Daddy
tried to, but Brooks wouldn't N it
went on that way for sevGal years,
only it got wuss m wuss. IN when
ever they met, Brooks javed daddy
and called i'm names"
mo good ever comes O. the like o
that" declared Mrs. Stone, who had
already made mental sletch of prob
able conclusions
mo, nor never will" declared Peter.
"Oh, the way they went on! N one
day daddy talked back awful, N
heerd him, though he was jes' mad at
the time, m didn't mean half he said.
N the very mex day Abram Brooks
was found murdered by the roadside N
daddy was rested"
81 seen twas comm to THAR cried
the ranchman's wife, in fatal tone.
But he never done it?"
Daddy? Never! My daddy wouldn't
hurt fly, though he's awful big m
strong. But everybody accused him O
it, the first thing, cause they knowed
him N Brooks was bad friends. Now,
nobody'd seen the quar'l the day afore
but me. 'That'll go hard agin me,
says daddy, If it come out 1T
needn't come out says NANNY
Wen sent Bob away. They'll be sure
to have us all up in court, says she,
m he'll have to tell if he stays here.
We wouldn't mind runnin' away, would
ye, Bobby? says she.
Mind runnin' away! | should ruther
think not. I'd been wantin' to do it fer
a couple o years, to be like the BOYS
Id read about, m I'd a-done it, too,
if it hadn't a-been fer daddy an man.
my n the kids. SO they gimme the
money n skipped S joyful S We
please"
Eye didn't look so joyful that morn.
in when l fust seen ye," remarked
Mrs. Stone.
mo, that's fack, didn't. But I'm
joyful 'nough now. What dye think?
It's al. in the newspaper here. A man
in Omaha S jes' died N owned up tho
huh thing He killed Brooks for his
watch chain, N daddy's repytation's
cleared, N | could jump clean over N.Y.
self. Hi! I'm goin' to write to i'm to-
day, N we'll have i'm n the hull fam
lily out ere in the spring a-ranehin' it
over there in Egypt. Whatd ye,thinlz
o that, Adeha?" And he gave the baby
a rousing kiss.
Peter showed the newspaper confess
sion to Mrs. Stone, and she stood gaoinr
over it long time.
Won are a good boy" she suddenly
cried, with conviction. And in these
words Peter felt her long-standinc sus-
picion lifted from him like load.
He renamed at the ranch all winter.
It'll save car fare home N back" he
said. For daddy'n come, sure, in the
spring, N I'm going to have i'm buy
the place over the foothills there m
call it Egypt. N then we'll all be
neighbors."
He kept his word in everything ex.
cept the naming of the ranch. The
elder Wharton insisted that it should
be called Peters ranch; and the boy
did not object seriously, especially
after he saw how monumental the
name looked painted on the red gate
which led up to the dwelling house. 1t
is natural for hero to want his brave
deeds remembered. Hercules himself
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