Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1907-06-01

son before. ana he hau remembered
nothing when soap and water were pat
before him by the black fellow, fol
lowed Immediately by supply of
lukewarm mutton, which kept him ST.
lent for some time.
Meanwhile his entertainers kept 81
lence. too. but replenished the fire and
lit their pipes with the burning brands
and rested their. eyes on Tom in
meditative fashion while he ate. 1t
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 ia the least surprised or
perturbed, but De Gruchy showed
teeth as white as those of the corpse
and ground them horribly, and Hockey
Simpson fixed his spectacles upon De
Gruchy, leaning forward with the tip
of his hook between finger and thumb.
"The fact is" said Tom, II thought
1t must be the work of that Italian
brigand fellow"
All but De Gruchy burst out laugh
ing.
land when first saw you" fire." he
added, Il thought you must be his
band"'
All but De Gruchy laughed louder
than before. De Gruchy hid his sullen,
| foreign face in his hands, and the little
| gray man held up his hook for silence.
I'VE are"' said he
"What? Bushrangers after all?'
"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 Il 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-
Giles of the little gray man.
THAT was your leader!' he stammer-
ed out.
$50 he fattered himself"
"And l thought it was his handi-
work.
ut was NINE said Hockey Simpson
cOolly. Indeed, n 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 twinkling
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 a screen of trem
bling leaveS-all these were as pieces
of mosaic inlaid at this instant in
Tom Erichsen's brain, for him to carry
there to his grave.
80 you killed him yourself?" be
found himself saying at last in stout
er voice.
81 did" said Hockey. 81 was under
that painful necessity this very after
noon. 1t wasn't done for the fun Of
the thing, you understand, but onl!
when it became evident that one of u:
must go. l naturally preferred TO stay
At the same time. l must admit l wa
wearying of being hectored and bulliet
by confounded foreigner. and ther'
were three of us Englshmen of tn
same mind. So you perceive how /
all fitted in. Last night we had words
Now, house divided against itsel
cannot stand. Neither can a band o
bushrangers. much less when tn
mounted police are on their track"
Are theyf' cried Tom.
maybe within fifteen miles," replied
Hockey Simpson. Maybe within five
An ensign, two sergeants and eighteen
troopers, as l understand. But neve
mind them. We two had words. The
had been coming on for weeks. We'll
there were three on my side and onl
two on his. So we made it up. but la
and watched each other with one ey
open all night. This afternoon at hi
suggestion we rode behind together t
come to some understanding. but l say
him looking at me Qneerly," said tn
little gray man, land that was enoug
for me. When l galloped after thes
good fellows our number was reduce
by one, but the little question of lead
ership was at an end"
"a good job toor' cried Slipper. an
Wall-eye nodded grave assent.
"You see, the change is not unpopr
lar" continued Hockey modestl!
though I'm bound to add that l don
see how it could be-among English
men. What was he before they kicke
him out of his own country? The wor
that described our friend Barabbn
was already applicable to the LAT
lamented. But what was / before CT
! cumstances compelled me to leav
mine? What do you suppose? Conn
e give guess" said Hockey Simpson.