Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1905-06-09
ole Doctors Trunk.
BY CHARLES ADAMS.

1t CHANGED that the woman with
whom he was trading stood at win
dow, watching him. Dingley glanced
furtively round, and then pushed the
trunk back under the goods; and he
said nothing about it to the woman or
to any one else.
He must have read the name on It.,
but he may have been startled or afraid
at finding the trunk in his cart. He
drove on, stopping at other houses, and
arrived at the Mills about noon, where
he stopped at the tavern for dinner.
Meanwhile the old doctor had
reached his patient and missed his
trunk. He supposed that it had fallen
out, and on his way back called at
every house, to ask If any one had
seen it or picked it up.
When he inquired of some children
at the house where the woman had
seen the pedler look at trunk in his
cart, the woman at once put this and
that together, and set the old doctor
on Dingley's track.
Acting on the hint thus obtained, the
doctor drove to the Mills and set the
law in motion. A trial justice and a
sheriff lived hard by; and in the course
of half an hour they made legal de-
scent on poor Dingley as he was eat
ing his dinner at the tavern.
First they searched his cart, found
the trunk hidden away in it. and then
took him into custody.
He declared, truthfully enough, that
he had found the trunk in his cart,
and also said that he was intending to
take it to the old doctors house as
soon as he finished his dinner. I'm
fortunately Dingley's record was not
wholly good, and it is not strange, per-
haps, that no one took charitable
view of his predicament.
There was some question as to the
value of the trunk and contents; and
so far from being vindictive, the old
doctor set the valuation so low as to
make the charge of the nature of petty
larceny. But at the trial the next day
the justice sentenced Dingley to pass
thirty days in Jail and to pay the costs
of trial.
Up at our farm nothing was heard
of this till the following evening.
Grandfather Adams had been trying
to have Uncle Jarye pile up the sea-
sons firewood in the shed that day.
He would never work ten minutes at
a time, being one of those boys who
are forever tinkering, or making fid-
dies, waterwheels. or something of the
sort.
Aunt Louisa, who was three years
older than Jarve, had been at the
Mills that afternoon, and had called
at the doctors to get some medicine
for grandmother. At the supper-table
that night she had the whole story to
tell, how Dingley, whom we all knew
well, had stolen the old doctors trunk,
and was in Jail for it.
She noticed that Uncle Jarve stopped
short and turned pale, and that he ate
hardly mouthful of supper afterward.
That set her to thinking. Aunt Louisa
was the brightest one in the whole
family. She understood Uncle Jarve,
and knew very we'll that he did not
care enough for Dingley to turn pale
or miss meal on his account. She at
once jumped to the conclusion that
he knew something more about it than
she had told at the table
Uncle Jarve slipped away and went
over to Skilling's place, to consult with
Alfred. But Alfred, it appeared, had
heard of the trial that morning. In
stead of coming to see Uncle Jarve
and deciding what they ought to do
about it, he went away very suddenly
on visit to an uncle's family in an
adjoining county.
Uncle Jarve came home and went to
bed. He did not know what to do, for
he did not like to expose Alfred He
slept but little that night, and looked
very uneasy the next morning and
all the next day. Aunt Louisa was
observing him. Toward night she
asked him what the matter was, but
Uncle Jarvis would tell her nothing.
That evening letter came to him
from Alfred, who was evidently afraid
that Uncle Jarvis would confess The
letter consisted merely of few words
scratched with lead pencil on a bit
of paper, namely:
The old doctors trunk has raised
Cain! They've got that pedler in Jail
for it. Keep STILL They can't hurt us
If you keep still. Nobody saw us.
Now you keep still, Jarvis Adams,
But l am glad to record that Uncle
Jarve was finding it hard to keep
STILL" He had some unpleasant traits
of character. Conscience, however,
was not wholly dead in him. He was
feeling badly, but could not make up
his mind what to do. Again he went
to bed early, but he couIa not go to
sleep; and at last he made up his
mind to go and tell the old doctor all
about it, and to go at once.
About half past ten Aunt Louisa
heard him get up and go quietly down
stairs. She had not gone to bed her
self; and after waiting a moment, she
followed him out to the stable, where
he had lantern lighted and was eau
tiously Harvesting old Nance to the
driving wagon-for Uncle Jarve never
would walk even for half mile if he
could avoid it.