The Jasper news., 1907-04-18

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amt over anxious to work up to. the
place anyway, though they. was ailus
willin' to be obligin' an accommodate
ole Carney when they want nuthih'
else fur 'em to do; but naow, iGsseofn-
In on, haydn, time, an i ,s'poses they'd
ruther work atshayil'.|, (. ~
I. The man had turned his back on me
completely and was urging the horse
forward at a rapid gait.
Very generous of them to accom-
modate him when they had nothing
else to do, and then leave his daugh-
ter as they have, just because haying
time is here" commented. "But you
said there were two reasons. What is
the other?"
We rode on in silence for quite a
distance until, at length, the fellow re-
sponded In gruff voice and without
turning his head. , s
wal! 1t may be true an It may be
not! All know is what heerd up to
Hoskins'. don't take no great notice
O. ghosts an sich. But them men
knows what they seen the night after
the Widder Bruces boy died, an /
know that we couldn't git one of 'em
on the place again with team O.
steers! No, sir! KNOWN as they do,
the character O. man that ole Carney
was. an the way he as good as MUIR
dered that poor lad with his cussin'
an quarrelin an fallin' off his hoss,
stead o. goin' to the stable an sad
dim up himself, like any man would
that want too lazy to take off his
coat when he ct, it amt no wonder
they believed what the Wilder Bruce
tole 'em more'n year ago!"
He paused here and flicked fly
from the horses neck with dex.
ferrous cast of his whip.
What did the Widom Bruce tell
them?" asked anxiously, fearing that
his communicative mood would leave
him.
WAL she come over here from Eng.
land with her boy 'baout the time ole
Carney was a-buildin' his haouse, an
she sez, as soon as she seen 1t, that
1t was goin' to be jest like them places
over in England where them docks
an sech fellers live, that sooner or
later someone ud die vi'lent death
there, an then the place 'ud be ha'nt.
ed sames the docks places mostly is
90 course, we didn't pay no special
attention to her.
when her boy went up to the place
to work, 'baout year ago, she took
on terrible. an allus said no good 'ud
come of it, an that somethin' would
surely happen. But they want no
other way out of it. fur they didn't
have bite to eat nor rag to wear,
an If the boy hadn't decided to accom-.
modate Carney's folks | guess they'd
ha' starved.
"Ye see," he continued, in explana.
tion, "old Carney wouldn't never give
cent to anybody that was able to
earn it, an when the parson come to
him an asst him to help the widder, all
he sez was, Send that big hulk Of q
boy up here an I'll give him a Job an
good pay so'z he kin support his
mother like man. he sez, but |
won't give her damn penny so long
as he's able to work an earn IT, he
sez."
But you haven't explained yet why
the men left" persisted, for we were
nearing our destination and my time
was growing short.
I'm a-gittin' to that" he replied.
"Ye see, Carney was such a mean,
stingy cuss that, what with his drink.
in an gamblin an other vices, the
widder allus claimed he'd never rest
easy in his grave. When the boy was
killed she carried on like crazy WON.
an, an swore the place would allus be
ha'nted less the estate did the honest
thing by her an give her enough to
pay her fur the loss of her son. That
night, more fur fun than anything
else, lot of the fellers that was a.
settin' daown to Hoskins' went up by
the haouse 'raound midnight, but they
didn't see nuthin'. The mex night
that's after you come-they all went
up again, an tell you they all come
back a-flyin'."
What did they see?" l asked, with
renewed interest. as sudden idea en-.
tered my head.
(To BE CoNTINUED)