Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1909-07-10
CHAPTER XVI.
THE MOB AT HELLER's GAP.

| Squire Hartswick was first of al
man of action. He struck when th'
iron was hot and he struck hard. HI
formed his theory instantly and acteC
! instantly. Rose was i'll: the shock a
the fire had unbalanced her; she wal
not responsible for her behavior. DR.
Kuack, the family physician, who wa!
consulted within an hour after thu
scene at the store, confirmed the
theory. BY no means must she stay
for the funeral; 1t might upset hel
completely. She must have change Of
scene, and above all, expert treatment
and care. Therefore on the very mex
morning her father took her to Pitts
burg, where her mothers sister resid-
ed, and secured for her a trained
nurse, and the best medical counse
In the city. 1t was useless for her tC
protest or resist; 1t was her fathers
will.
Thus moved the tragedy, and in the
interludes the chorus on egg crate and
biscuit box commented and conjec-
tured and philosophical. The squire
strangely enough, sided now with Lem
Fisher. Rose clearly had been SPELL
bound; she had been hacked by the
FarthingS: and II was driving her to
physical ruin and madness. 1t was like
hypnotism, he aVerred; she was at the
mercy of the Farthings, and was not
in the least responsible for her words
The squire, however, talked very lit
tie: yet all took note that the black
look on his face deepened with every
day. He studied absorbedly the de-
tails of the Keichlne murder and OF
every one of the robberies. He was
absent for days at time. To those
who knew him there could be only
one result; if the Farthings were even
remotely guilty they would suffer and
to the full extent of the law. The
elimination was bound to come and
soon. There was tragedy In the air:
1t haunted the valley all through the
June days like a premOnition of war.
But before the squire had his case
complete something took place utterly
unlocked for and unprecedented. On
the night Of the second of July the
squire's own store was entered. The
audacity OF II was beyond belief:
while the hunter was securing the
woods, the hunted was in his cabin
making free with his possessions.
1t was cooE carefully engineered
job. done by some one familiar with
local conditions. It had come on the
one night in three months when the
store had not been guarded. In a
benevolent moment the squire had con-
sented to let his clerk, who usually
slept In the office, go home to see his
sick mother. That this time of all 9TH
ers had been chosen showed clearly that
the gang had been long in the near
vicinity, watching night after night
for their chance.
Furthermore, one. at least, OF the
breakers had previously been inside
the store and knew the geography
OF the place-that was evident from
the way in which they had proceeded.
Ihey had known too what few in all
the valley suspected, that the squire
kept In his back store a large mastiff,
which at night was allowed to roam
about the office room. Tom Farthing
had seen this dog, so the squire al
legged, one rainy day when at the store
for coal oil. Failing to find anv one
ne had sought the clerk in the back
room and had remarked on the dog,
That was clue No |.
The thieves, 1t seemed, had thrown
to this dog piece Of meat, undoubt-
edly drugged. The remains of this
piece were still on the back room floor,
and the evidence of the drugging was
the behavior of the dog. The squire
declared that he had never known him
TO act so numb and lstless. The
thieves had entered by a small win
low which the clerk admitted had been
EFT unhasped. Clue No. was a pocket
handkerchief found near the safe.
In one corner were the initials 81.
There We're other startling details
The gang had evidently started to blow
open the safe. They had rolled II into
position. had covered the top with
horse blankets and had left behind
chilled steel bit and brace of ne
,uliar mechanism. Evidently some
hing had scared them at the critical
moment. They had taken an old book
n which the squire had kept his
stamps; they had rifled the money
1rawer; and had carried away. as far
Is could be ascertained a suit Of ready
made clothes, a woolen blanket 10
ans or salmon, two boxes of cigars
lnd pair OF shoes-a curious assort-
nent. but one in keeping with the
in other places.
As the news spread through the VAL
ey, the farmers once again dropped
heir work and flocked into the CEN
er store. An excited crowd had
gathered on the front porch, discuss
ng the news in low voices as IL the
hieves were still near at hand. SQUIRE
iartswick was dangerously cool. The
,ostoffice inspector could not come un-
ii late In the week, and the old man
vas conducting the case himself He
with utmost care every trace
eft by the robbers, and he made ar
angements with cold precision.
BE careful, men," he counselled |
almly. mo mistake this time. We've
'ot him now dead sure, and there'll |
'e no bluffing. The sheriff's out of |
own and can't get here until 5 this
afternoon, and we must be mighty |
areful not to let Farthing know
what's coming. We must catch him
ed handed with the plunder right on |
lim."
Il doubt If you can do it, squire"
rotested Ulie. It's hid up in that old |
abin still, I'll bet yeh anything, and |
We don't dast to go there"
You wait and see. If it's hid with |
n 10 miles We'll find 1t. Well begin |
With his house and barn and the cabin |
nd keep up the search till we've run
yer his whole property. l tell you
7e've got 'em this time" The squire's
unnatural calm was more exciting to
he men who knew him than any mo-
nent of bluster would have been. II |
vas the hush before the typhoon.
Amos alone seemed to be un-
impressed. He sat and smoked slow
y but there was a little knot be-
ween his eyes that no one had ever
cen there before.
AS i said before, squire" he said |
t length, hadn't you better kinder
o slow? You say this job is jest like
ne Sugar Valley job and done by the
anne gang. but the Farthings cleared |
of that"
Who says they did? What's your
hAN ~