The Somerset reporter., 1900-06-21

A LUCKY assignment.
BY A. E. BELL

dentally met at the Pioneer Press CLUB
after separation of more than dec
ade. After the experiences of each
of them related the following story to
q coterie of newspaper men who were
present.:
ut was back in the eighties that
held a desk as city editor on the staff
of the Pottsville (Pa.) Democrat. l
had been working pretty hard. and my
health was failing, so one day the chief
advised me to take month or two of,
go into the country and recuperate. He
further advised me that If | wished to
take the vacation | would be placed on
full pay on the condition that write q
letter each week which might be of In
terest to patrons of The Democrat
81 had a friend located in little
town in Washington county who was
engaged In the publication of weekly
paper, and at once made up my mind
to go down and pay him visit
IL arrived at my destination in good
time and was effusively welcomed by
lily lIleuO anu LIS SStlbdDiC JOuhS
wife and made to feel at home imme-
diately.
II lounged about the town. which
had a population of about 1,500 souls
and struck up quite large acquaint-
ance within a short time.
Zone morning. after had been there
probably a week, | sauntered into the
office of my friend and found him in a
dreadful stew. His local man had TAX
en- suddenly i'll. and there was no one
else who could take an assignment that
had been mapped out for that days
work.
1T seems that a man named Barron
from town. and, as his father had been
a man of wealth and he had gained
considerable notoriety as a local char
acter. 1t was deemed a good idea to get
an extended obituary of the deceased
Barron The man owned property In
the mountains of a township that had
been named after his father and was
somewhat difficult of access.
a was feeling well that morning
and. thinking a trip in the country
would do me good offered myself as
sub on the occasion.
THE offer was eagerly accepted. and
within short time was en- route in
buggy for the scene. which was des-
tined to prove lucky assignment, al
though | was not aware of the fact.
by making numerous detours and
inquiries from each person i met was
able to reach the Barron home. 1t was
located between mountains which form
ed bowl shaped depression about the
house. which could be reached only by
a narrow pass.
"'What an excellent location for a
robbers rendezvous | thought as
passed along the narrow lane. Here n
handful of men could Withstand a regi-
ment of soldiers | drove up to the log
cabin. which was built against the side
of the mountain in the farthest corner
Of the depression and stopped. A half
dozen dirty looking children were play
ing about the doorway. and they all
dropped their play the instant they
caught sight Of me and ran inside the
hut.
81 walked leisurely to the door, which
stood wide open, and raped. sharp
featured woman made her appearance
after had waited few moments. and
| stated the purpose of my visit
II was invited in. and a chair was
pushed forward for my use.
1.-THE woman disappeared through a
low door at the rear of the hut and
took the opportunity of making a few
observations of my surroundings. The
hut was furnished with a couple of
beds a rusty cook stove and rickety
old table. and everything denoted pow
erty,
THE woman returned by the time
had taken a look around and was fol
lowed by a middle aged man with as
villanous a countenance as you would
care to see. He was q younger brother
of the deceased, and he began to give
me some facts regarding the life of the
man whose obituary was to obtain
while was taking notes another
man came In and when | was through
with the task In hand took look
around the hut. AS quickly as my eyes
fell upon the third person II struck me
that | had seen him somewhere. He
was of rather nice appearance, had a
sandy mustache and was well dressed
| had surely seen him al some previous
time and. with an object in view. in
quired II that was a son of the deceas-
ed. ! was gratified TO know that his
name was Barron also. for at that very
moment ii flashed upon me that ! had
seen him In police court in Pottsville
only a few weeks before under arrest
for passing bogus money.
IL began to make some inquiries of
him, and he told me that he was en-
ployed in Pottsville and was at home
for the funeral of his father and in
tended going back to his work the next
day.
Having nothing else to detain me.
took leave Of the people and started
back to town | drove slowly down the
road, and once l had an occasion to
turn and look back at the cabin. AS
did SO saw the form of man dodg-
ing along between the trees that skirt
ed the hillside along the road. My sus-
picions were aroused at his strange ae-
lions, and kept my weather eye in his
direction until got safely out upon the
highway, where | lost sight of him. A