Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1904-05-06
DAILY SHORT STORY
A Boy Tramp.


off. as if afraid of being observed l
did not know at the time that the fam
lily were away, and though his man
ner was furtive l did not suspect him
of being Il thief, but two hours later l
was picked up on the highway 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 week, and during
this time l got sight of the sheriH's son
about the Jail and at once spotted him
as the person L had seen leave the
farmhouse by the window. l was not
only sure of his identity, but l at once
denounced him to his father and moth
er, and for 50 doing was threatened
with all sorts of pains and penalties.
The wife and mother came 10 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 poor and friendless boy, and
they mean to find you guilty of this
robbery. LIDO not believe you took the
money. butt others do. / am going to
help you tOicscape from Jail, and when
you get outiyou must hurry right away
and not beirecaptured.'
But if | 90 they will surely say am
guilty" l protested.
but that will be better than to be
convicted. i am going to leave this
chiscl with you. Tonight you can dig
through the brick INHalls at the end of
n Al (
Will come out in Il storeroom which
has n window looking out on u side
street. Here is some money for YOU
If l were you III 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 Il big chiSel and hurried away.
Boy that | was. | suspected why she
wanted to get rid, of me. She had come
to believe Tier son guilty; but, mother
like. she wanted to save him from pun
ishment. l thought the matter over
and then decided togo.
| was not locked lin Il cell ut night.
but had the rangeIOf the corridor, and
after the turnkey thad gone home for
the night began Ol 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 storcrOom. ThiSlroOnl was pretty
well filed withl old furniture, chests
and boxes, but I.couiN make out things
pretty plainly. II was too early to go
out on the street yet. rs an occasional
pedestrian was passing, and>I therefore
cot Il -,
large dry goods box, and ,on top of it,
with its open side TO the wall, was u
smaller one.
Whatever induced me to, move this
smaller box about L don'tiknow, but
move it l did, and inmate later dis
covered the missing tin box with the
stolen money i'll it. The box had been
stolen from the farmhouSekby the sher-
ifs son and brought hereto be secret
ed until the hue and cryt had passed.
My first impulse was tot take it out
with me and hand 1t overtto the loser,
but fortunately l remembered that ii
had been charged against me that l
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 andl got out, and
an hour later 1 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
sherifT's son. he also wanted to spare
the boys parents the shame and dis
grace that exposure wOuldibring.
1t was finally decided that l should
-,
was to remain hidden in the farm
house until it was safe ito 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. N.Y. 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
his riding whip on my back when Mr..
Davis called n halt and told him the
whole story.
The idea that his son was Il thief, al
though he knew him to be somewhat
tough, almost paralyzed the officer.
He 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-
nectcd with the Jail could have found
TO put ii there. The sher
iff at once went TO arouse his son and
an explanation. but the young
man had got n hint Of the business
and fed.
As Mr. Davis had recovered his mon
ey and as the sheriff made n great mys-
terry over the case nothing was ever
done about ii. As no one appeared to
prosecute me / was set at liberty after |
n few days, but il was given me very |
l. 80 - 10