The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-11-08

Nellie came together to the shed to
call and feed the chickens. The young
man hurriedly babe them good-by,
quickly saddled his horse and rode
away Mother Dietrich was his pet
aversion.
Scarcely had the sounds of Saunders
horses hoofs ceased ringing back from
his gallop over the hill, then careful
Cousin Fritz came hurrying in to fin1
his coat, his pocket book and it's gold
en- contents, which he had momentarily
forgotten. Fastening to assure himself
ms money was safe, he opened the
pocketbook and found--nothing. Then
he uttered a cry and looked again,
searching with trembling fingers for
the invisible. Canny Cousin Fritz was
a bit misery, for man so young. His
loss smote him like a stab with a
knife. Sweat bathed his face, and his
bands shook, while his teeth chartered.
Then he cried out again, and the two
women came running to him. Nellie
hoped and Mrs. Dietrich feared that
Cousin Fritz had been suddenly strick-
en- with ague, which grows profusely
on the banks of the Wabash, and is
easily gathered by the unwary.
What is it, Fritz?" they painted, to-
gether.
MY money! he gasped.
Your money!"
Yes; my $40 gold-piece 1t is gone
Somebody has stolen it. Who has been
here in the last five minutes?"
Mrs. Dietrich looked pointedly at-poor
Nellie. Nellie flushed holly and then
turned very pale as she answered that
look. Both of them knew very well
who had been there. Only a moment
before they had seen Jess in the shed.
with that very coat in his guilty
hands: The elder woman spoke first,
and quickly:
Why. Jess, he was here, a minute
ago, after his saddle 1 suppose. I
saw him holding your coat. Perhaps
he was brushing it off, she concIud-
ed. maliciously.
20, mother the idea that Jess would
steal" cried Miss Nellie, impetuously.
Ihen she began to cry Even in her
eyes, SO strong glamour does circum-
stantlal evidence cast, the facts were
too strong for convincing denial.
Fritz hardly knew whether most to
give his soul to joy or sorrow. On
the one hand he would be rid of a
mated rival. Upon the other his money
was gone. All, but stay! Perhaps ne
could lose rival and find his money
100. He picked up the coat and empty
pocketbook and grimly stalked away
TO tell old man Dietrich all about II.
wen. what could that good man and
able boss carpenter do? He pooh
poohed the idea that Jess was a. thief.
put when that young man was accused
by Fritz, openly. on the Monday fol-
rowing, when the carpenters hands
went to work, the foreman promptly
knocked the Junior partner down and
would have worse treated him if Diet
rich had not interfered. Jess was dis
charged. He narrowly missed indict-
ment for larceny. Then he sued Fritz
Tor SANDER and lost his case. Half the
township believed Jess guilty. He was
forbidden the Dietrich house, and even
Nellie refused to meet him privately
1t wasn't right to disobey her parents
THEME grew morose, and he start.
ed for the bad-at a downhill gait. and
20 help the pace left the banks of the
WABASH far away and went up to Chi
cago.
AS for Nellie, between the urging ot
Fritz, and the opportunities of her
mother, and the acquiescence of her
Iather, and the absence of Jess. she
grew thin and pale, and was pretty
Nellie" no longer. And, at last, one
day, she said she didn't care ANYHOW
tnat peace was worth something and
~that-if Fritz really thought a poor girl
like her was worth anything as a. wife.
he might take her, and be-blessed
And Fritz, he was overjoyed There
might be some lack of bloom in Mel
lies fair cheek, but the bank account
waxed apace and the black loan acres
were still fattening.
So a wedding day was set, and the
; bells were hidden ready to ring. Poor
Nellie.
When that notable housewife, Mann
| ma Dietrich, finally determined that
yellow-leged chicken pie should grace
the board at the wedding dinner, Papa
| Dietrich went to select and behead the
victims. He stopped at the woodshed
to get his AK. Although a boss carpen-
ter, he lost his hold of the handle as
he seized 1T, and it fell, glancingly
casting up dirt and chips from the
earthen floor as its blade descended
sharply. Then. where the ak had
fallen and raised this woodshed COM
motion, Papa Dietrich saw something
shining which was not steel: some
thing yellow which was not moonlight.
He stopped and picked. up-Fritz's lost
| $40 gold-piece.
Then he shouted for Nellie.
Jess is back again. The down-h
gait has been reversed. Another
chicken-pie is proposed at the Dietrich
homestead, and half the population
along the banks of the Wabash, far
] away, has been hidden to partake.