The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-03-01
CHAPTER xxx. Mir. Sanders Receives a Message.


 Mir. Sanders Receives a Message. The demeanor of Mir. Sanders about this time was a seven days wonder in Shady Dale As Mrs. Absaiom declared. he had tucked his good humor under the bed, and was now going about In a state of gloom This at least was the general | impression; but MT Sanders was not gloomy. He was filled to the brim with | impatience and was to be seen constantly walking the streets, or occupying his fa- vorite scat on the court house steps, the seat that had always attracted him when | he was communing with John Barieycorn. | But he and John Barieycorn were stran- gers now: they were not on speaking l terms He avoided the companionship of | those who were in the habit of seeking him out to enjoy his drolleries; and va- rious rumors flew about as to the cause of | his apparent troubles. He was on the | point of Joining the church, having had enough of the worlds siufuluess; he had lost the money he made by selling cotton directly after the war; he had been tilted
 by some buxom country girl.
 The tittle-tattle of the town ran in a | different direction when some one dlscov- cred that the Hacking Roan was tied | every day to the rack behind tho court house. Then the gossips were certain that the Yankees were after Mir. Sanders, and his horse was placed close at hand in order to give him an opportunity to es- | cape. MT. Sanders apparently confirmed this rumor when he told Cephas to take the horse to Clopton's should he find the animal standing at the rack after sun down.
 As MT. Sanders walked about, or sat on the court house steps. he wondered if he had made all the arrangements necessary I ko h. made visit to Malvern. and remained mayor of the city, the chief of police, and the latter had casually introduced him to the chief of the fire department.
 Mir. Sanders accounted himself very fortunate in making the acquaintance of the fire chief. who was what might be l termed one of the unreconstructed. This official took an eager interest in the scheme which Mir. Sanders had in view In fact, as he said to himself 1t was @ personal interest. He invited Mir. San- ders to the headquarters of the fire de- | pertinent.
 ''I'n tell you why want you to come."
 he said There is a man in my ofice,
 or he will be there when we arrive, who
 Is likely to take as much interest in this | thing as do. Have you ever heard of Captain Buck Sanford?"
 Mir. Sanders paused in the street, and stared at the. fire chief. Heard of him? Well. should say! He's the feIler that | fights duel before breakfast to git up an appetite. We'll well! How many men has Buck Sanford winged?"
 "Oh. quite a number, but not as many as he gets credit for. He comes in my private office every morning. and he's a great help to me He was rather down at the heels right after the war, and then happened to find out that he had a great talent for getting the truth out of criminals. We sometimes arrest a man against whom there is no direct evidence of guilt, and if we didn't have some one sxlful enough to make him own up, we could do nothing. Buck always knows whether a fellow Is guilty or not, and We | turn over the suspect to him. and what | ever he says goes. He sits in my office | like piece of furniture, and you'd think | he vas a wooden man. Now you go down l with me. and go over your scheme so that l Buck can hear you, and whatever he says | do will be the thing to do.'
 When MT. Sanders and the chief ar rived at the headquarters of the depart ment, and entered the private office they found pale and somewhat emaciated young man sitting in a chair, which was leaned against the wall at somewhat
  asleep; his eyes were closed, and he held between his teeth a short but handsome pipe. He made no movement whatever when the two entered the room. His hat l was on the floor at the side of the chair and had evidently fallen from his head. His hands were small and thin, and the skin of his face had the appearance of parchment.
 At the request of the chief, MT. Sam ders went over the details of his plan from beginning to end, and at the close the young man. who had apparently been asleep. remarked in a thin, smooth voice: Wont 1t be fine day for a pafadew
 His eyes remained closed; he had not even taken the pipe out of his mouth There was silence of many long seconds Evidently he had no more to say
 Buck is right" said the chief
 What does he mean7" MT. Sanders in- quired.
 Why. he means that 1t will be a fine day for general turnout of the depart ment," replied the chief.
 MT. Sanders reflected a moment, and then made one of his characteristic com ments: Be jigged ef he ain't saved my Iife!' Captain Sanford. this Is Mir. Sanders, of Shady Dale" said the chief. by way of introducing the two men, Both rose, I and MT. Sanders found himself looking { into the eyes of one of the most inter- { esting characters that Georgia ever pro- I iuced. Captain Buck Sanford was one of ( he last of the knights-errant. the self { constituted champions of all women, old ,r young. good or bad. No man in his ( nearing ever used the name of a woman ' loo freely without answering for 1t. Oth- ,rwise he was the friendliest and simplest I ,f men, as modest as a woman and en- ' irely unobtrusive. His duel with Colonel Conrad Asbury, one of the most ser.sa- ( ional events in the annals of duellng, ' ,wing to the fact that the weapons were hotguns at ten paces. was the result of i remark the Colonel had made about A ady whom Sanford had never seen. But 10 far as the general public knew, 1t grew ' ut of the fact that the Colonel had spill 1 d some water on Sanford's pantaloons. Well. sir.' said Mir. Sanders, "rye leard tell of you many time, an I'm a fight down glad to see you" You haven't heard much good of me. lt reckon" Captain Sanford remarked. t "Yes; not so very long ago heard a . Inc old lady say that if they was more s Buck santords the women would be bet CT off" I
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