People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1900-03-08
CHAPTER XII

US in the way Of his steps.
The bishop was not in the habit Of
ING much money with him, an6
the man with the stake, who was
searching him, uttered an oath at the
small amount of change he found As
he uttered it the man with the pistol
savagely said: Jerk out his watch
We might as well get all we can out Of
the job. "
The man with the stake was on the
point of laying hold of the chain when
there was the sound of footsteps coming
toward them.
"Get behind the fencel We haven't
half searched him yet Mind you keep
shut now if you don't wan" t.
The man with the pistol made a sig
nifcant gesture with it, and his com
paniOn pulled and pushed the bishop
down the alley and through a ragged
broken opening in the fence. The three
stood still there in the shadow until the
footsteps passed.
"Now, then, have you got the
watch ?" asked the man with the pistol
mo; the chain is caught some
whereI" And the other man swore
again
"Break it. them
mo; don't break it," the bishop
said and it was the first time he had
spoken. 1.-THE chain is the gift of
very dear friend | should be sorry to
have it broken.
At the sound of the bishops voice
the man with the pistol started as if he
had been suddenly shot by his own
weapon With quick movement of MS
other hand he turned the bishops head
toward what little light was shining
from the alleyway, at the same time
taking step nearer. Then. to the evil
dent amazement of his companion. he
said roughly:
leave the watch alone. We've got
the money. That's enough.
"Enoughl Fifty centsl You don't
reckon
Before the man with the stake could
say another word he was confronted
with the muzzle of the pistol. turned
from the bishops head toward his own.
Leave that watch be and put back
the money too. This is the bishop we've
held up-the BISHOP Do you hearH"
"And what Of it The president of
the United States wouldn't be too good
to hold up if
81 say, you put the money back, or
in five minutes I'll blow hole through
your head that'll let in more sense than
you have to spare now" said the other
For second the man with the stake
seemed to hesitate at this strange turn
in events, as if measuring his compan-
ions intention. Then he hastily drop
ped the money back into the bishops
pocket
"You can take your hands down,
sir" The man with the weapon low
cred it slowly, still keeping an eye on
the other man and speaking with rough
respect The bishop slowly brought his
arms to his side and looked earnestly at
the two men. In the dim light it was
difficult to distinguish features He was
evidently free to go his way now, but
he stood there, making no movement.
"You can go on You needn't stay
any longer on our account. The man
who had acted as spokesman turned and
sat down on a stone The other man
stood viciously digging his stake into
the ground
THAT'S just what I'm staying for,
replied the bishop. He sat down on a
board that projected from the broken
fence
"You must like our company It is
hard sometimes for people to tear them
selves away from US, " the man stand
ing up said. laughing coarsely.
"Shut up" exclaimed the other.
Were on the road to hell, though;
that's sure enough. We need better
company than ourselves and the devil. I"
IF you would only allow me to be
of any help The bishop spoke gen.
tly, even lovingly. The man OIL the
stone stared at the bishop through the
darkness After moment of silence he
spoke slowly. like one who had finally
decided upon q course he had at first
rejected.
do you remember ever seeing me
beforeS"
"No," said the bishop 1.-THE light is
not very good, and / have really not
mad 5000 look at you.
''Do you know me nowr' The man
suddenly took of his hat and. getting
up from the stone, walked over to the
bishop until they were near enough to
touch each other.
The mans hair was coal black. ex-
cept one spot on the top of his head
about as large as the palm of the hand.
which was white
The minute the bishop saw that he
started The memory of 10 years ago
began to stir in him. The man helped
him.
Don't you remember one day back
s~xt