Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1907-12-06


lit their pipes with the burning brands
and rested their eyes on Tom In
meditative fashion while he ate. II
was he who became communicative
when he had finished. Suddenly think,
ing Of it, he told them Of the CHASTITY
discovery he had made among those
very trees about an hour before.
The effect was curious. Neither
Hockey Simpson nor Wall-eye nor Slip
per seemed in the least surprised OF
perturbed, but De Gruchy showed
teeth as white as those of the corpse
and ground them horribly, and Hockey
Simpson fixed his spectacles upon DC
Gruchy, leaning forward with the tiI
of his hook between finger and thumb
"The fact is" said Tom, 81 though,
II must be the work of that Italian
brigand fellow"
All but De Gruchy burst out laugh
ing.
"And when l first saw your fire." nc
added, 81 thought you must be his
bandr
All but De Gruchy laughed louder
than before. De Grucby hid his sullen
foreign face in his hands, and the little
gray man held up his hook for silence
"We arer' said he.
"What? Bushrangers after allp'
"The band you speak Of"
"Then where's the Italian?"
"You saw him for yourself about an
hour ago."
And the little mans eyes were twin
king through their horn trimmed lenses
as If he had made joke. But there
was no more laughing outright, though
Tom heard Slipper chuckle and De
Gruchy snarl. AS for himself, he was
shuddering in the most notifying
fashion under the fascinating specta'
cles of the little gray man.
THAT was your leader" he stammer'
ed out
$50 he fattered himself"
"And thought 1t was his handi-
work.
ut was mine" said Hockey Simpson
coolly. Indeed, benign smile accom-
panied the confession, as though II
were public service he had perform
ed. with the utmost mercy. But Tom
thought of the stripped body with the
torn ears, and those living faces, Lit up
by the cracking camp fire, lived ever
after in his mind in the yet more lurid
light of this dreadful revelation.
The high forehead, the twinkline
spectacles, the gray tufts and the pol
ished hook of the elderly man. the
broad. keen. flashing blade with which
Slipper sat pairing his finger nails, the
wall eyes hard, dead stare; the knot
| ted hands that hid De Gruchy's face
and the blue black hair in turn hiding
half his fingers, the harmless playing
cards upon the ground, the ruddy, gen
ial fire and the white, the watchfu
moon peering through screen OF trem
bling leaves-all these were as pieces
| of a mosaic inlaid at this instant In
| Tom Erichsen's brain, for him to carry
there to his grave.
$50 you killed him yourself| DC
found himself saying at last in a stout
er voice.
al did," said Hockey. II was undel
that painful necessity this very after
noon. 1t wasn't done for the fun OF
the thing, you understand, but only
when it became evident that one OF us
must go. | naturally preferred to stay
At the same time, I-must admit was
wearying of being hectored and bullied
by a COMPOUNDED foreigner, and there
were three of us Englishmen OF the
same mind. So you perceive how II
all fitted in. Last night we had words
Now, house divided against Itself
cannot stand. Neither can band OF
bushrangers, much less when the
mounted police are on their track"
"Are they?" cried Tom.
maybe within fifteen miles" replied
Hockey Simpson. maybe within five
An ensign, two sergeants and eighteen
troopers, as l understand. But never
mind them. We two had words. They
had been coming on for weeks. Well
there were three on my side and only
two on his. SO we made it up, but lay
and watched each other with one eye
open all night. This afternoon at his
suggestion we rode behind together tt
come to some understanding, but saw
him looking at me queerly," said the
little gray man, "and that was enough
for me. When I galloped after these
good fellows our number was reduced
by one, but the little question of lead
ership was at an end"
"a good job toow cried Slipper, ant
Wall-eye nodded a grave assent.
"You see, the change is not unpopu
lar" continued Hockey modestly
though Pm bound to add that dom
see how 1t could be-among English
men. What was he before they kicke!
him out of his own country? The wore
that described our friend Barabba'
was already applicable to the lat
lamented. But what was / before cir
cumstances compelled me to leave
mine? What do you supposeP Come
give a guess" said Hockey Simpson.
"You talk like a parson," suggested
Tom to compliment the wretch.
"And | was next door to one" criet
the little man, beaming benevo'ently
"A schoolmaster! A pedagogue! 4
pattern to the village and its mode
church warden until an accursed organ
fund brought trouble in its train! 81
here | am, and here was while ou
late friend was cutting threats In 1t
ally, yet he thinks I'm going to knuckl'
under to him forever. Likely, WASH
It? No, no; he was a bold enough
won b,,t ha'd mot another and / ven