Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1893-04-07

| nat you say ~ true, Kathleen.
Suppose we turn them off again; tell
them 10 go back to town and live or
die as best they cam said Mr.. Bar
bour. looking ut his wife with u quiz
zical CLEAN in his eyes.
You know very we'll would not
consent to any such thing any more
than you would, James; but. for all
that, | cannot help thinking bat what
Nose and Phyllis are imposing upon
Uncle Bob in some way, and that this
sheep stealing we were talking about
when Bob made his appearance just
now has something to do with IT,"
Just then they were interrupted In
their conversation by man coming
toward the house from the road.
"Goot efening, Mishter Barbour;
goot efening, Mishtess Barbour
hopes you vos all veil" chirruped the
newcomer.
"All well. thank you. Fritz. Come
in"
Fritz sidled up the steps and sat
down awkwardly on the corner Of
the chair Mr.. Barbour offered him.
II hear you shtole some Sleeps,
Mishter Barbour, eh2" said Fritz.
You mean you have heard have
had some sheep stolen from me-" cor
rected Mr.. Barbour.
Yes, yes. hear you haf shtolen
some Sleeps Oxcuse me, Mishter
Barbour. If ! lif 200 year, vos nod
dings but Won Deutschmens in Ang
lish nohow"
THAT is all right, Fritz. Yes, j
have lost some sheep lately"
''Vot you gif2"
What did give for the sheepw
mo. vot you gif for dat t'ieff"
"Oh, see you want me to. offer a
reward for the fellow who stole my
sheep. Well, seeing it is you, Fritz,
I'll give bits for him. said Mr.. Bar
bour, laughing.
Den l catch him, sure"
How are you going to do 1t, Fritz2'
II catch him, dot vos all, and den ]
pring him here for 4 bit. Goot efen
ing, Mishter Barbour; good efening.
Mishtess Barbour, and Fritz, bowling
and scraping, backed down from the
gallery and walked away. apparently
highly elated
Fritz was a German, small in stat
ure. with big woman for wife.
They had moved into the Pine bayou
neighborhood Il few years before, had
rented land and farmed for Mr.. Bar.
bour for several seasons and made
good crops, which enabled them to
buy the land finally and make home
of their own.
Fritz had always been Of steady,
slow going sort, never trusting to
chance or resorting to anything but
hard labor to earn dollar. The Bar
bours therefore were somewhat sur
prised when they found that he had
turned detective, and that too, for
no greater reward than half dollar.
What do you reckon has come
over Fritz" asked Mrs Barbour
wonderingly.
That, my dear. is more than can
answer" was Mr.. Barbours reply.
Fritz, however. as he wended his
way homeward. communed with him
self.
II fool dat toothache, sure. go
shtay by dat sheep pens an watch for
dat tief, an ] shleep maype. Maybe
! don't shleep, an den catch dat t'ief
and make 4 bit. II shtay at home, ]
don't shleep, an don't makes nod
ings nohOw. Dots so, by shimminyr
It was perhaps 10 o'clock that night
when two men crawled up toward
Mr.. Barbours sheep pen from oppo
site sides, but neither of the providers
was Fritz. Fritz was lying in fence
corner at right angles from the two
sleeping peacefully.
One Of the men rose from the
ground and peered cautiously over
the top rail toward the other side of
the pen through the darkness. For
some minutes he watched patiently.
Then he saw a dark form mount the
fence opposite to him and sit motion
less for a moment, his form clearly
outlined against the starlit sky.
Then the man on the fence slipped
down inside the pen, and there was
some commotion among the sheep
A few minutes passed while he was
hidden among the darker shadows
near the ground; then he made his
appearance again close to the fence
where he had come over it and threw
something to the ground outside.
just as he was about to Chamber
over the watcher on the other side
sprang into the pen also and rushed
across it. When he reached the 9th
or side. however, the first man in the
pen had long since left it and was
fast disappearing down the road. run
ming as if terror lent wings to his feet.
Huh huh, muttered the man left
behind Il think ! know you. I'll
take a short cut across the pasture