The Irish standard., 1896-02-29

the 5ant1l
bac II Il III On

8, " b II iow si,ss a III sNno,y
who 'rs,yhat, he was. She done left him
stHnd1 din afore the mouth Of tle. u
An that ain't the mos curiousest part
10 hit; he sscralnb led into the hole over
the broken rocks, al Jest about min
9ssute afterwards he come pilin'sont o''88
thar like he seed a harint, an the last /
seed o. him he was n-noakin the longesr
kind O. tracks to'rdst tlicvalley." s5
\ What, d -ye reckon he: seed in'thar??''#
"I'll new tell ye; but that hain't the
B sneakin' round yere to hn'nout some
thin bout we-all,. an L reckon tAars
got to be sonethin done"
Bud glanced around into the ga tI1er-
Ing shadows in the room, and asked:
''Whar's Jule?"
81 e,n,ii,o,' replied JEFF; gone to
bald. / reckon" ''f's' + p i4'<'''
Bud stood his rife in the chimney
corner and went out, coming back i'll
moment tossay:s II reckon she has;
leastways, thar's no light y -
~ Anot her interval of Oppressive ST.
lence followed Buds assurance. The
three men sat around the heartn, each
knowing the Others thought, and each
hoping that one Of the others yyouIa
put the pitiless suggestion into words.
While they waited the first great drops
of rain battered Oh the roof, and the
souglaing of the wind through the tree
tops and the louder growing Of the
thunder, drowned the roar OF 'Ths
Chimney" The dusky interior OF the
= Kitchen grew more, shadowy as the
handful Of fire on the hearth died down.
and the darkness was intensified by an
occasional flash of lightning con tras1-
ing it's glare with the twilight OF the
room. The red glow FROM the Goals fell
upon the faces of the three brothers
grouped about the fireplace and sitting
ia silent judgment Upon a man whose
only offcnse was his resemblance to-
some other man. Each Of the three felt
that there was a. terrible margin Of
doubt. and yet each knew that it was
only doubt and not certainty. Ittheir
prisoner and the single witness of 5etf's
crime were IDENTICAL there could ba no
safety for at least one Of them while
Inc man llFeI, II nOl---it JSh "EIS lAiS'-
taken, after an the alternative was
sufficiently dreadful o make them hes
itate to gave it shape in speech.
The suggestion came finally from the
one who was most deeply concerned.
Jeff rose slowly and toois eovgn aisritle
from it's pegs OVER The n1anteI. Il reck-
on hits got to BE done, boys" he said,
buskily. "I hate hit mighty tad, fsut 4 &
cayn't affo'd 10 take.no chainces."
Bud joined him AT once, but Jed hes
itated. 81 Oh don't have to come, jed"
said the elder brother; two Of us is
enough, an know ye amt aieard.''
I'm goin' long with you-all, on1y
I hope we're pow'f1l shore. Jeff; seem
like hits. mighty tough to go an shoot
him like he's e. rat in a hole, less yere
1'jn!-plan.S certain We got to do hit"
They went ont noiselessly, SO as; not
to awaken julie, aud Jeff led the way to
the trail up which the woman Tad pi-
.n1oted Eingbrand two days before. The.
wind had risen to a gale, and it Was
wanging and twisting the trees above
their heads; but the rain delayed and
the storm seemed to be blowing over
When they reached the base OF The
cliff, they LEFT the path and turned
shortly to the right, following the