, 1905-03-29
after

f Ga fOu II lCi1 lit ulJCh.
The man studied him a moment
through half closed eyes. 81 pass" he
said s%ullenly. Right inside coat pock-
ct"
Mabel said Dehus in commiserat.
ing tones, my hands are otherwise en-
gagged. Will you give this poor sinner
u hymn book-an'," he added, "at the
same time take that bundle out of his
pocket? Don't you move a hair, you
dog he Missed, cor I'll blow the top
Of your head off,
The girl tremblingly but skillfully
complied, and a minute later the trans
fer was effected.
Count it," commanded Dehus, still
keeping a watchful eye upon the men.
The eXhorter had passed them by for
the present and was talking to a group
upon the other side of the stage. The
auditors, even those directly in the
neighborhood, were ignorant of the lit
tie interlude enacted before their eyes,
so interested were they in the proceed
ings upon the platform and so quietly
had it been carried through.
Under the cover of her fan Mabel
was rustling the bills. Twice she
made the count; then she announced
the result in a tense whisper, ''Seven
thousand dollars"
Good enough" responded Dehus,
taking the roll from her and placing it
III his bosom. Now, gentlemen. when
ever you get through prayin'. you can
go; but" he warned, see that you are
well out of this country before sunup
tomorrow mornin'."
Almost ~incredulous of their good for
tune in getting off so easily, the two
scrambled to their feet and rushed tu-
~multuously from the scene. The ex-
horter gazed after them in stupeied
amazement. He had thought himself
secure in those two conversions.
Fifteen minutes later old Simon ar
rived at the grove. He strobe up to a
group where Dehus and his daughter
were gayly testing and, seizing the girl
by the arm, started to drag her away.
"You come along with me, MISS" he
said w%rathfully. "Ill show you that
you can't disobey your parents what
raised you in God fearin' fashion an
go tearin' off to monkey shows with
every worthless whelp that comes
along!"
Dehus hurried after them. "Oh, MI.
Unger," he painted, don't you think
you had better take your money along
with your He drew forth the pack
age of greenbacks and handed it to the
old man.
For the second time that night ST.
mon was dumfounded. He stood there
shaking and trembling, unable to real
ize this sudden reversal of fortunes
wheel.
"Why-what'- he stammered.
Dehus laughed. He was proud of his
achievement, and he showed it. "When
[ seen that letter from the thieves" he
began exultantly, 81 recognized right
away that the paper it was wrote on
come from Shriver'S inn, so | knowed
that they had been putin up there. 1t
stood to reason that they'd left some
traps there behind 'em an that they'd
go back there fur 'em, but likewise it
stood to reason that they wouldn't stay
long, fur they must "a knowed they
couldn't trust you not to open that box
not fur very long, anyway.
Now, where was the safest place fur
'em to go? They was aware that a
couple of strangers trayelin' along IN
the evenin' would be spotted OF the
road inside of half an hour an that
all the little towns fur thirty miles
around would be on the lookout fur
'em.
"But here was this camp meetin'
close at hand, where nobody would
think of searchin' fur ZEN an where
they could hide in the crowd until after
midnight, when they'd have a clear
road an could get away without trou-
BILE. AT least l Figured it out that
way. an | brought Mabel along to
pick the fellers out, cause l seen you
was so crazy you wouldn't be as much
use as nobody.
"As you see, my calculation was all
right. l only missed it on one point.
If it hadn't been fur Mabel, I'd never
"a thought o. lookin' fur 'em on the
mourners' bench. That was jest II
place where they was sharper n l
was"
But where are the rascals?" inquired
the old man. "Course you arrested
'em?"
Continued on Page 6.
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