The broad ax. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1895-19??, 1902-04-05

2NNEM AA@8AN AAaAa-Au 80 -
not been out Of her husbands presence
since the disappearanee Of the OLD
maid. and therefore could not have
made away with Aunt Lou, no natter
what had been her eYil wishes
The town marshal, who tagged after
Mcknight in evident admiration Of the
"city" sleuth. was fun Of suspicious
against Henry. the boy. he had caught
him once with a wagon wrench, known
to have been stolen from Jones' black
smith shop. The rest OF the plumber
had been found buried under pile or
manure. Mcknight considered this
a trivial argument against the lad, and
It increased his contempt for the mar
shall.
"And did you ever land the Jones
robber?" grinned Mcknight one even
ing as he and the local officer sat IN
the back room Of the town saloon.
Nope, "drawled the wOOZy marshal;
chats one Of the town mysteries-the
second. The murder Of old man Kiss
ner was the first. We never ketched
them felIers. The Jones robbery was
the second, and now comes the BOvet
case. One more and my rep win be
gone for Shore" and the bafied guar
dian OF the law drank deeply.
about the Kissner caseF suggested
Mcknight, prieking up his ears; how
about thatr'
@An old miser, supposed" said the
marshal, 'liVed over on the north edge;
disappeared last fall, a year comm;
found him in a wen, and his house,
old ehack. ransacked. blood all over
everything; found the weapon that
killed old Kissner myself-a black
smiths hammer"
"Was It one OF JonesesY the detec|
tive was erowdlng the slow stOry-teller.
by ging. never thought o that.
Lessee. Nope. The Jones robbery
come after'ards"
"And you found The body IN wenr'
@Yep. HE"
The Pittsburg detective was at Louis
Bovet's farm early the next Cay. He
had two strangers with him, and his
coming seemed 70 surprise the farmer
and displease his wife and son.
sHoW many wells and cisterns have
you on the placer asked Mcknight
The farmer said he had only one well
left" thSt be had filed up the old
one IN the cow lot, and that the new
one and the eisteFn was just alongside
the house in the aide yard.
Mcknight set his men to work drain
ing the cistsrn with hand-p1mp they.
had brought out he expected some
objections from the wife. but she,
seemed so pleased to lend a helping
hand that he quit the task and attacked
the well She babe Henry take turns
and watched them with a furtive twin
kle in her queer eye.
Perhaps we'd better step this" said
Mcknight, watching the woman, land
begin on the OLD wen"
Her skinny hand dew to her mouth.
her face flushed rcd as she almost
shrieked:
They amt no old wen, you idjitr'
'AIlrandyF' cautoned old BoVet
what ais you? Don't sass him, he's
only tending to his"
A gunshOt from the window inter
rupted him. BE looked up In time TO
see Henry, the boy, peering along the
barrels Of an old shotgun Mcknight,
peppered with bird shot, jumped for
the house door. the woman tried to
stop him, but he brushed her aside
like wasp, and leaped up the back
stairs.
"He never done H." the mother was
screaming. when Henry was dragged
out, kicking and scratching his eaptor.
II done It myself-leave my baby gog'
But the handouts were on her baby
In a trice, and In ten minutes she was
fast to the seat Of the surrey which
bore her and her son to Brevador.
The found Aunt Lou In the well with
100 pounds OF smithy junk, old horse
shoes and anvil scraps tied to her body.
Poor old BOvet couldn't believe the
boy had done 1t all alone, nor under
stand how his old sister was lured
back to the farm after riding all the
way to town to SAY Us good-by." The |
boy explained everything to save his
mother, who persisted IN claiming all /
guilt BE had shot his aunt as she sat |
beside him At a deserted place IN the |
road to town, and had not only sat |
calmly beside the corpse all the way |
to Huggins' house, but had driven back |
IN the dark to the old wen into which |
he tossed II At 10 O'Clock be was |
back At the BreVador stable. and within |
q fortnight Farmer BoTet had lnno-
Gently covered up al trace Of the crime |
By filing the well which had long stood
unguarded. a menace TO his cattle
John q. Raftery, In the Chicago Rec
ord-Herald