The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-01-03

horseback and others on foot, who alter
nately conferred with the landlord and
glanced in our direction.
Each OF us carried a brace of revolv-
ers, and these we looked to, and awaited
developments. l stood by the door. while
my friend watched from the window.
The noise died away down the street, AMI
simultaneously jenkins appeared.
" Begin yer pardon said he. we
won't git none o. that ticker ter-night, an
-Wot's Their natter he broke off, as his
eye took in the reVolvers. Say, We didn't
thinkg-then he burst into hearty gut
raw. Why, strangers he exclaimed heart-
lily. when Hank Jenkins says ye're all
right thar amt no galoot in the county
es' II dare raise his hand ag'in We
Ev."Qf course, we questioned him. and, ac-
cording to his story, some fellow had dis
graced the town by appropriating the bill
my friend had put on the stump, but had
left the empty jug. The. thief had been
discovered. we presumed, By the man who
had been given due notice that the Jug
was waiting to be filed. Now party
of natives was on the track of the thief.
hat are they going to do II they
host with a sniff. When. We mean. WAL,
he continued. putting his finger to the
right side of his nose and closing one
way to the other town es'H jes be con-
venient on Their way back, If Their boys
takes er fancy to it,
=" You certainly don't propose to hang
in an expostulatory tone. 'Tain't so
much Their mount replied jenkins, 'es It's
Their circumstances. When er man pays
fer Ticker, no matter if tbs mountain dew,
he naturally 'Xpects tel git 1t, an it's er
mighty onery critter es IL play trick
like O that on another. specially er
stranger, an addin' on ter tibet, he's aim
in ter destroy Their repertation o. ther
town. Sir continued he. confidence air
Their soul of business. an Their man wot
II kick the props outen from under IT
air an enemy ter Their community. Thets
jes' Their way Their game stands; HAY
ing delivered himself thus our friend be-
took himself below.
we NAV risk our own necks by fool
ing with this thing, said my companion,
but l consider that, Notwithstanding the
noble principles so eloquently expounded
by our worthy friend, the wretch that style
that 81 Ought not to hang. lie must De
saved.
After putting our heads together for
awhile we saw we could do nothing unless
we got the landlord on our side. SO we
called him up and argued with him; t1n-
ally he reluctantly consented to aid US IN
presenting our side of the cases to the
pursuing party If they returned with the
thief.
ut was morning when they came back.
They had their man. He was none other
than the dwarf lamplighter. who cast ma
levolent glances at us, and whose shitty
eyes continually seemed to seek an avenue
o 4 ESCAPE But he was firmly bound ana
attached by the rope to the saddle or one
There was no doubling the intention of
the men who had taught him AS soon
as they had interviewed the landlord they
started off down the road to the signpost
near the stump of the tree Whereon the
our host. A good sized crowd gathered
from within the village and the surround
ing neighborhood rough looking men,
though honest appearing withal When
one burly fellow knotted the rope we
thought it time to speak.
Boys, said the landlord, 'hyah's Their
gents es lost ther two, an they low es
how they would like ter speak word for
Their culprit'
"Then we began. First my friend then
7. and lastly, the landlord, tried to con-
vince these citizens that there was no oc-
casion for hanging: The dwarf began
to beg for his life. The crowd watched
the proceedings with restlessness. We
could see that one or two of the men had
begun to waver, but the leader held out,
and there were cries from the crowd, now
and then, that did not favor the thief.
LAS we stood there palavering, of sud
den, rabbit startled from clump OF
bushes near the outskirts of the crowd,
jumped out. and ran away for life away
down the hillside. 1t was a most oppor-
tune distraction. Stop him! yelled some
youngster. In a moment the crowd that
was gathered in anticipation of a hanging
was rushing pell nell down the slope after
the fleeing rabbit. They tumbled over
each other, they fell down, they scrambled
in wild pursuit, laughing and shouting.
Taking advantage of the situation, and
the TACT tldL Dul one man DeSiutS Nne ledu-
er was left with the dwarf, we began to
hustle him along toward the woods in the
opposite direction. The leader demurred,
but the landlord persuaded him to let the
wretch go.
WAL he said, I reckons es how Their
boyd ruther git tibet rabbit than see this
galoot stretched 1t did not take us five
minutes to get the dwarf out of sight.
Now said the landlord as we halted,
we won't light no more sawed-off lamp
posts in this town. An yen git out of it
lisrlaf = IL T., 1T,1
yer from his clothes, but the dwarf had al
ready disappeared in the underground.
we did not have any trouble when we
got back, but l hunted up the boy that
caught the rabbits and gave him S. for the
feet. My friend has one, the landlord kept
one, / gave the third back to the boy, and
the fourth had silver mounted, and keep
In my pocket"