The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1907-07-14

the relatives OF Squire Ruckalew and
ot Peter Bradbury began to hold up
their heads u llttlo aftW having made
home horrible for those gentlemen and
repgouchcd them with their conversion
as the last word OF scnlle shame, In
addition, the coloAcls grandson aud
MIR Bradhury's grandson had both
mystfylngly lent countenance to Joe,
consortlng with him openly. tho former
for his own purposes. the lattcr be-
cause hc had cunnlngly discovered thai
Il was Il way TO Miss Tnhor's regard,
which sluce her gentle rejection OF him
he had grown TO believe. good youth,
might DO the plcasantest thing that
could ever come 70 him In short. the
question had begun to thrive Was II
possible that Eskew Arp had not been
insane after allf
The best OF those who gathered on,.
nously about the courthouse aud it
purlleus were tho young farmers and
Geld hands. artisans md clerks, one ef
the latter beins plmply faced youna
man dately from the doctors handsl.
who limped and would limp for tho
rest OF his life. no who, Of all men.
held the memory OF Eskew Arp In
least respect and was burnIngly de,
sirous to revenge himself upon the lIv.
Ing.
The worst were OF that mystlfylns.
embryonic. seml.rowdy type, the Amer
lean voyou. In the production OF which
Canaan and her sister towns every.
where over the country are prolific
the young man, youth. boy perhaps.
creature Of namcless agc. whose
clothes are like those OF brakeman
out Of work, but who Is not n brake.
man In or out Of work; wearing the
black soft hat tilted forward TO shelter
--as q counter does the contempt OF
clerk-that expression which the face
does not dare wear quite In the open.
asserting the possession OF supreme en-,
pacity In wilt. strength, deSterity aud
amours; the dirty handkerchief under
the collar, the short black coat, al
ways double brcaeted; the cyclds
sooty. one cheek always bulgcd, the
forehead speckled. the lips cracked,
horrible teeth and the affectatIon OF
possessing secret Information upon nll
matters OF the universe, above all, tho
Instinct OF finding the shortest way 70
any scene OF official interest to the
policeman. fireman or ambulance sur
geon-a singular being. not profession
ally criminal, tough histrlonlcally
rather than really. full OF It's own
argot Of brag. hysterlcal when crossed,
tlmId through great ignorance aud
therefore dangerous, II furnishes not
the leaders, but the mass of mobs, aud
II springs up at times OF crisis from
heaven knows where You might have
driven through all the streets OF Ca,
naan a week before the trial and have
seen four or five such fellows, but
from the day OF Its beginning the
square was full Of them. dlngy shuttle.
cocks batted mp into view by the Toe
sin.
They kept the air whlrring with their
noise. The news Of that shtlng which
had caused the squire, F1teroft and
Peter Bradbury TO risk the courts dis
pleasure was greeted outside with loud
and vehement dlsfavor, and when, at
noon, the jurymen were marshalcd
out TO cross the yard TO the National
House for dinner hrge crowd fol.
lowed and surrounded them until they
reached the doors OF the hotel. Don't
let Lawyer Louden bnmboozle you"
Hang hlmw Tar aud feathers fer
ye ef ye don't hang hlmv These were
the mlldest threats, and Joe Louden.
watching from au upper window OF
the courthouse, observed with q trou-
bled eye how certain OF the Jury shrank (
from the pressure OF the throng, how
the cheeks OF others showed sudden
pallor. Sometimes public sentiment"
has done evil things TO those who have
not shared ii, and Joe knew how rare IL
thing Is jury which dares to stand
square against town like Canaan
aroused.
The end OF that afternoons session
saw another point marked FOR the dc.
fense Joe had put the defendant on
the st&nd, and the little man had prov.
ed an excellent witness. During his
life he had been many thlngs~many
things disreputable; high standards
were not brightly illumincd for him In
the beginning Of the night march
which his life had been. lie had been
a tramp, afterward n petty gambler
but his great motive had finally come
to be the Intention to do what Joe told
him to do--that, and to keep Claudlne
as straight as he could In a measure
these were the two Things that had
brought him to the pass in which he
now stood, his loyalty to Joe and his
resentment Of Whatever tampered with
Claudine's stralghtness He was sub.
missiye to the consequences he was
still loyal. And now Joe asked him
to tell "just what happened" and
Happy obeyed with crystal clearness,
Throughout the long, tricky cross eX.
animation he continued to tell lust