The Valentine Democrat. [volume] (Valentine, Cherry Co., Neb.) 1896-1898, 1898-05-26
IN the breast pocket Of the coat there

lOOheu DIT IL, UuC I'd tell Tie truth Qe WAS
a little afraid of it, SO he put it back
again. He felt something heavy in the
tails of his coat, and when, after some
difficulty, he had found his coat tail
pockets, he discovered in one of them a
pair of handouts. With a billy, the re-
volver, the book Of rules and the hand
cuffs he felt himself a match for a
whole gang Of thieves.
His high spirits, however, did not last
long. 1t was very lonely in the streets
IF a city at 1 o'clock in the morning,
more lonely and sometimes more silent
than it is in the country. AT any rate,
it seems more silent, for you feel that
the city ought to be noisy. Peter grew
nervous. He was not used to being out
alone after midnight. His great shoes
seemed to make a tremendous noise on
the sidewalk. He began to remember
stories in the newspapers about how
policemen had been assaulted by par
ties Of roughs.
He wondered if there we're any par
ties of roughs lying in wait for him. He
tried to gather courage by flourishing
his billy, but somehow that didn't seem
to make him much drawer. The moon
kept coming out from one cloud and go
ing behind another; the clouds seemed
to be rushing across the sky in a very
unnatural way. At last the moon went
behind q large cloud and did not come
out again. Peter wished it had stayed.
Even the moon was some company.
He would have run if he could, but his
shoes and clothes were so clumsy that
it was out of the question. He kept
thinking about parties of roughs so
much that he felt that he must have
something to distract attention. He
stopped under another lamp post and
opened the book of rules again. This
time he lighted on the following pas
sage:
article p. No member of the force
shall receive a pecuniary compensation
for doing his duty"
Peter kept repeating this until he
knew it by heart. Unfortunately he
found he was thinking of the roughs,
too. He recollected that he had seen
Fitzgerald trying the doors Of shops to
see if they were all locked. So he be-
gan to try them without any definite
idea of what he should do if he found
n open. He tried ten Of them and
they were all locked. Then he remem-
bered that Fitzgerald must have tried
them already, so he did not try any
more. Oh, if he could only run! 1t was
so lonely, and he had not gone more
than half way. He found a little kitten
asleep on a doorstep. He picked it up
and stood for some time stroking it.,
while it purred softly. Then he would
have liked to carry it to the station
house for company, but the poor little
thing might get lost, and, besides, it
was hardly dignified for a policeman to
carry a kitten S % as not to be afraid!
All, what was that noise? He put the
kitten down and listened.
He could hear a stealthy footstep
coming along the other side of the
street. He stole into the dark hallway
Of the shop and looked with all his eyes |
while his heart beat as if it would
break his ribs. The steps came zeal a
lamp post and then he could see that |
there were two men instead Of one-as
he had supposed. One of them hid him
self in a shadow on one side of a shop
that was still lighted and the other
crawled across the front Of the shop on
his hands and knees, and concealed
himself in a doorway on the other side.
Then they both waited perfectly still, |
and Peter waited, too.
The shop was rather a large one. A
great sign hung ove it, with the in
scription, "Phineas Gould, Jewelry |
and Silverware;" and Money to Loan
was painted across the windows. Meth
er Peter nor the men had long to wait.
In less than ten minutes the light was |
put out. Then Peter could heal a faint
footstep inside the shop, and a moment
later a man came out, locked the door
and started down the street. The fell
low behind him left his place of con
cealment and crept after him. The
shopkeeper heard him and turned
around. At the same instant the sec
ond man also left his hiding place, and
both sprang upon their victim and
threw him down. Evidently one of
them covered his mouth in some way. |
for, though he struggled violently, he |
did not cry out for help.
Peter was not especially brave, but he
could not allow Il man to be assaulted
and possibly murdered before his eyes
without trying to prevent it. The our
age of desperation seized him, and he
sprang across the street to the rescue, |
crying:
Let alone of him.
AS he ran he drew his revolver from !
his pocket and fired it several times In
the air, feeling that he might as we'll
die now as any time. One of the men ;
turned and ran when he saw what he
not un~reasonably supposed to be an
officer OF the law who was full of
fight.
The other tried to follow his comrade,
but Gould, who felt that help was at
hand, held him till Peter arrived. 1t
was rather hard for Peter to ascertain
which was the jeweler and which was
the thief: but iudginp with mich Sa- |