The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1906-10-05

in that atmosphere Of lawlessness
where youths develop early, and they
not only led the younger Ones In a sort
Of general rebellion against law and
order, but they were personally guilty
Of many troublesome and occasionally
costly depreiatlons. Naturally, they
made life a burden to Policeman Flynn.
They played tricks on him, they got up
mock fights to fool him. they jeeIed
at him, and finally they began to
amuse themselves by throwing stones
at him whenever they could do so with
reasonable safety. He knew that they
were responsible for the minor crimes
of which complaint was frequently
made, but he lacked evidence, ard it
was not until he had narrowly es-
capped being Drained by half a brick
that he finally took two of the ring
leaders to the station.
Whats the CHARGE" asked the po-
lice magistrate the next morning.
"M-m-m, well, they s a bad lot, an
they was heavin' r~roClis At me-" ar
swered Policeman Flynn.
Did they hit you?' demanded the
magistrate, And when the policeman
admitted that he had succeeded in
lodging the missile, the magistrate
added: "Oh, well, boys will be boys,
and we mustn't be too hard on them.
If they d hit you it would be different.
Discharged"
LUX at that, now" commented Po-
liceman Flynn. "A big chunk iy a
brick come r-right FIR me head, an |
duck, an that let's thin go free. II
was fr me, | suppose, to ha-ave me
head shplit open fr to ma-ake a case.
Ono! t is a fine thing, is tn la-aw iv
tn magistrates. .'Ha-ave ye ye-er
head with ye?' says his honor. I
ha-aye,' says |. 'Ye ha-ave no business
to- says he; an thin he says, This
day-indent is discharged FIR tn rea-
son that Officer Flynn comes into coort
with his head on, thereby vi'latin' tn
la-aw.' Id like to ha-ave a ton iv
that la-aw FIR to thrown in tn river.
we've got to ha-aye tn Evidence. a
ca-art load " it. II is like this: A fell
ly comes ~Cr-reepin' up behind a ma-an
with a knife in his ha-and. IT is me
juty,' says / to mesilf, 'fr to artist
him Wait says tn la-aw to me, 'f'r
he'll Kill tn ma-an, an thin yen
ha-ave a good case Ohio! t Ia a
gr-reat thing to know tn law"
Fortunately, however, these remarks
were not made in the hearing Of the
court, and Policeman Flynn returned
&c his beat. Naturally, his troubles
were not lessened by his failure to Sc
cure a conviction, for the gang became
bolder and more demonstrative than
ever. But the policeman patiently
awaited his opportunity, and before
long he had the same two in custody
again, with what he believed to be a
good case against them.
"'T was like this" he explained in
court the following days. TIL door iv
tn grocery is open, an tn two pris'-
ners is %r-runnin' awa-ay. | follies
thin an shtumbles over a ham, which
they dropped"
Did you see them drop it?" asked
The boys lawyer.
"Iv coorse not" answered Policeman
Flynn, but t is not to be suppressed
tn ham wa-alked down tn alley be it.
silf, They s a lot iv fruit, too, leadin'
all tn wa-ay to where tn Dyes is
grounded up, an they ha-ave a pocket
full iv cha-ange taken from tn TILL"
How do you know it was taken
from tn TIM" demanded the lawyer.
Because It's not in tn till Low"
replied Policeman Flynn.
'Oh, WELL said the judge, at the
conclusion of the hearing, there is
nothing to show that they are the ones
who dropped the ham and the fruit,
and they give a very plausible expla-
nation of the possession OF so much
small change. The evidence is purely
circumstantial, and to send them up
would be only to start them on the
downward path. I'll give them another
chance"
"Sta-art thin down be sindin' thin
up" muttered Policeman Flynn to him
self, as he left the courtroom. Ono!
t is a luminous ma-an tn Judge is.
T is a Shame he s not edith a COM
ic pa-aper. 1t is that. Sta-art thin!
Why, t Is MIN same la-ads that's
r-ridin' a tandim bi-sickle on tn
downward pa-sth now with tn br-rake
br-roks."