The daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1904-1905, 1904-06-10
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Copyright, 1904, by c. B. Lewis.]

no fault of nay own, and one afternoon
as rested meath the shade OF a tree
close to farmhouse gate | saw a
young man of about tU cnty leave the
house by Il bedroom window ald matte
off, as if afraid of being observed.
| did not know at the time tha tie fan
lily were away, and though his man
ner was furtive l did not suspect him
of being thief, but two hours later l
| was picked up on the highWaJ- and
charged with having robbed the house.
They found nothing on me, of course,
but l was taken to Jail and held to
await examination. This examination
was delayed for Il week, and during
this time got sight of the shel IL 5 son
about the Jail and at once spotted him
as the person | had seen leave the
farmhouse by the window. l was not
only sure OF his identity, but | at once
| denounced him to his father and moth
! er, and for SO doing was threatened
| with AID sorts Of pains and penalties.
| The wife and mother came TO my cell
that evening. however, and. after eX-
cusing the harsh words of the morning,
she said
Il am going to tell you something
and ask you not to repeat it to any one.
You are Il poor and friendless boy, and
they mean to find you guilty OF this
robbery. l do not believe You took the
money, but Others do. am going to
help you to escape from Jail, and when
you get out you must hurry right away
and not be recaptureu.'
'Dut if l so they will surely say am
guilty." l protested.
But that will be better than to be
convicted. l am going to leave this
chsel with you. Tonight you can dig
through the brick walls at the end of
the cells. If you dig from No. i you
will come out in a StOrerOOm which
has window looking out on a side
street. Here is some money for you.
If l were you I'd stay in the woods
during the day and travel only at
night, and keep south for the Ohio riv-
err
She gave me ten silver half dollars
and a big chisel and hurried away
Boy that | was, l suspected why she
wanted to get rid of me. She had come
to believe her son guilty; but, mother
| like, she wanted to save him from pun
ishment. l thought the matter over
and then decided to 80.
! l was not locked in cell at night,
but had the range of the corridor. and
after the turnkey had gone home for
the night l began on the wall according
| to directions. 1t was only eight inches
thick, and at the end of two hours
had hole large enough to let me into
the storerOOm. This room was pretty
we'll filled with old furniture, chests
| and boxes but | could make out things
pretty plainly. 1t was too early to go
out on the street yet, as an occasional
pedestrian was passing, and l therefore
sat down to wait. | took a seat Oh a
large dry goods box, and on top of it,
with its open side to the wall, was a
smaller one.
Whatever induced me to move this
smaller box about | don't know, but
move it l did, and minute later | dis
| covered the missing tin box with the
| stolen money in it. The box had been
stolen from the farmhouse by the sher-
If S son and brought here to be secret
ed until the hue and cry bad passed
i
with me and hand it over to the loser.
but fortunately | remembered that it
had been charged against me that
had hidden the money before the con-
stable had had time to arrest me.
put it back where l found it and
opened the window and got out, and
an hour later knocked at the farmers
door and told him my story. While
Mr.. Davis, the loser, was OVerjOyed to
get his money back and believed with
me that he had been robbed by the
sheriffS son, he also wanted to spare
| the boys parents the shame and dis
grace that exposure would bring.
1t was finally decided that / should
return to the Jail for the box, and then
l was to remain hidden in the farm
| house until it was safe to go on. Later
on, when the matter had died out
| somewhat, Mr.. Davis was to clear my
! reputation by ''discovering' his box in
another hiding place l was about to
leave the house to carry out my part
| OF the scheme when the sheriff and a
deputy rode up. My escape from Jail
had been discovered by accident, and
they had come in pursuit. The sheriff
was so put out and indignant over my
Jail breaking that he seized me by the
collar and was about to make use Of
MS riding whip on my back when Mr.
Davis called halt and told him the
whole story.
The idea that his son was thief, al
though he knew him to be somewhat
tough, almost paralyzed the officer.
lie at first charged me with lying and
was impatient to prove his words, but
my demeanor soon convinced him that
] spoke only the truth. The four of US
rode to town and the Jail and entered
the storeroom. The box Of gold was
where 1 had left it, and no one uncon-
nected with the Jail could have found
opportunity to put it there The sher-
1f at once went to arouse his son and
demand an explanation, but the young