Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-11-28

and while they was a-tryin him for the
chickens 1t come out that he was mixed up
in some horse stealtn over In Bourbon, an
he was tried on both counts, an got the
limit Of the law. 1t seems he Just got
through a-settlin' the bill for the 'squjre's
chickens and the other feller's horse, ana
when they turned him loose up there IN
Frankfort he makes Decline for the old
squire a-meanin' mischief beyond any
doubt. He passed your house on the way,
and, seein' the open window of your room,
slipped in and helped himself to anything
he could find loose, an he took your coat
off the bed where you flung it, which they
said was the chiefest thing agn you. The
he come on to Their squire's and lay arc
until he saw light in the old mans r. IN,
and seed he was a-settlin' down for the
night, when he ups and gets the ladder
and puts it to the window. The old squire,
bein' deaf never saw him a-looSin' at him.
To go back bit, Mandy, that yaller Niger
what cleans up the house, has owned up
that she forgot and left the window up
that day, and said she was scared to tell 1t
when they laid SO much weight on Miss
Dorothy openin' it. Wen, the gypsy saw
the old squire a-settin on the side of the
bed, cOuntin' some money out of leather
bag. That settled the question Cor the
squire. He put up pretty good fight for
an old man, and tried to holler, but the
gypsy got him by the wndpipe. They
struggled pretty nearly all over the room.
That was how it come tore up, and the
coat so bloody; but 1t didn't take the gypsy
Iciiei ioilS 10 Tx MIN. men he tl1eQ TO
ma where it was the squire got them
money bags, but he couldn't do it, and the
old man was too far gone to be made tell
SO after searchin' around until he most
tore things wrong side out, he put the old
man back in the bed crept down the lad
der, took off the coat and buried 1t, and
made tracks for the next county. But he
came back in a few days when lie heard
that you was arrested for the murder and
he's been layin' around here ever since,
Twin on the old squire's money. Last week
ne Tell In with a gang of tramps what was
comm down below the trestle. an fust
thlng he knowd he came down with the
smallpox. There wouldn't nobody go near
him, but old Nanny Cynth, and the Lord
only knows why she did. Since Miss Doro-
thy got into this trouble, that old Niger
has been nOsin' around every hole and cor
ner tryin' to find out somethin' about the
murder. She took the gypsy Teller to her
cabin. an l reckon she nuSsed him as well
as he deserved: but he soon got to where he
saw he was goin' to peg out; so this mornin'
old Cynthy come In town wantin' doctor
and notary. l Smelled a rat as soon as /
heard the fust word. an me an a half
dozen more went out there and hung around
as close as We dared. until the doctor and
the notary-it was Jim Maskin who had had
the smallpox and waant afeard-come out
and tole US. He'll be dead by sundown-
that's no motter-but there's fifty people out
there now a waitin' to go bail for you and
Wonderin' why I'm SO burned long a
bringin' you out. l reckon Wen have the
PARDON all regular as soon as we can get
the facts before the governor.
Come on, you two" and he half dragged
them out to where half the county were
lined up in an excited mob At the sight
OF the tall well-set figure, and the slight
dropping one at his side, a mighty cheer
rent the air. A sea of faces surged for
ward and q hundred hands shot out to
grasp and welcome John Derwent back to
his own.
Out into the free sunlight, and back to
the stately old home, where the tall oaks
kept watch and ward over the rolling
reaches of blue grass, Dorothy Holmes
came back, and late that evening. in the
prim old parlor Dorothy Holmes and John
Derwent were married.
The old 'sQuire's room had been closed
ever since the body of It's owner had been
carried out of it, and for time they
shrank from even the thought Of entering
it; but one day the question of the mys-
terious hiding place that the gypsy lad
sought In vain occurred to BOTH and they
searched every inch of the walls and
wainscOt. Just behind the head of the
bed Dorothy noticed a small bright spot
in the dull wood. a nail head that on pres
sure revealed the fatal hiding place that
had tempted the gypsy to murder. Behind
a sliding panel of the wainscot lay the
darlings of the old squire's heart, for
whom he had given his life-shining eagles
and half eagles, rustling bonds and stock
certificates, the accumulation of lifetime.