The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1900-12-20
CHAPTER VI.

CHAPTER VI.
One morning In the month OF July.
when Ronald returned from his to-
bacco field, he found a score or more
mountninecrs in the front yard. They
were discussing an awful crime that
had been committed about dawn that
day. Mrs. Telplay, widow who lived
alone In q cottage at the foot OF the
mountain, was found brutally muir
dcrcd. Ii had been generally known
that she kept quite a sum of money
in an old hair trunk under her bed,
having always refused to take the ad-
vice OF her friends to put her savings
in n more secure place. The trunk
was found to have been split open by
the bloody ax which had killed the
owner, and the money was gone.
Sydney Hart, u tall, raw.boncd
young man. with sharp black eyes and
n big mustachc dyed to match, sat
gstridc his fine horse and told what ne
knew OF the affair. As he talked he
famed his aquiline face with his
sombrcro.
AS soon as Jcfr, that's her niggcr
house boy, came In 10 make the fres,"
he was saying as Ronald approached,
"hc seed what had happened, an run
out tX,ive the alarm
nobody suspicion Jef?"
qug ga d Faushaw, who sat on the
ST M Is stockings.
u so blamed fast" snarled
a,o', with frown. He could
bt ab\ ,ntcrruption. He was n sort
leader OF moonshiners, though II
Hiad never been proven against him,
ana he was accustomed to more re-
srcct than he deserved.
well go on grunted Fanshnw'
you are ABOUT rs good at tciiin'
thing ns onc'legged man Is at
kickih bee. You no sooner make
start than YOU KICK the end o yore
spine up IN the ground an thaf you
are
The crowd laughed impulsivcly, but
the fierce glare OF sgd Harts eyes
soon put an end to the merriment.
You must a-had razor soup fur
breakfast, he gruntcd, letting his eyes
icst on Fnnshaw, and then he began 10
smile. Thar wasn't no use sas-
p'cionin' Jeff," he proceeded; fur ms
soon ns the news got out Thad Will
liams straddled his mare an notified
the sheriff. Ratclih is quick on trig.
ger, an he tuck Thad's mare an made
FUR the spot armed tn the teeth"
wei, did he kctch the one that
did it?' broke in Dave Fanshnw, i'm
patiently, ana anyone could have seen
from his fGce that he wns not one OF
Iiarfs followers.
sgd bent his eyes ON Dawes face and
snccred. "You arc like yorc daddy"
he observed, "you want yorc hog fore
MS bnrbecucd. Yes, you bet he
kctchcd i'm; that's what he was out
after. About half mile from the
widows house he run across n young
stranger a-hidin' In barn nigh the
tale mines. lie was too good n thing
TO be missed, so Rntclin arrested i'm
then an thar an made i'm turn is
pockets wrong side out. He had
fifty dollars in hard cash, an, more.
over, his hands was red in streaks, an
he had blood on his handkerchief an
shirt-sleovcs. He was u young fellow,
an cried like baby; he said he hadn't
killed nobody, nur stole nobody's
money, but RatcllT tuck i'm In tow.
lie was sech a little fellow that Rat
clll lowed folks ud get the laugh on
i'm II he roped or hnndcufred i'm, so
he started on with i'm jest SO. They
made II all right till they got bnck
hccr piece to the bcginniD' o. Col,
Iiasbrooke's swamp. Thar, ut Swifr's
cabin, Ratcliir stopped 10 git light
fur his cigar. Nobody ever hccrd tell
o. him takin' prisoner to Jail with
out he had a cigar stuck in his jaw,
He don spend n dollar n yeer fur ci.
gnrs, but he has 10 smoke one when he
jugs a man. IL makes him look i'm
portant He had jest called fur n
chunk o. fire, an Miz Swift was fctchin'
II out TO i'm, when 10 an behold, the
little stranger showed he was up TO
snuh. He lodged OF behind a hay