Ottumwa tri-weekly courier., 1909-11-23

galow. The ad1utantgeneral of South
Carolina was in merry mood and
began chatting Ardmore upon the
deadly character of apples found in his
orchard beyond the Raccoon.
Il deeply regret" said Ardmore,
rubbing his chin, that the adjutant
general of North Carolina is suffering
from a severe attack of paralysis agt-
tans and will be unable to meet with
U.s."
81 deplore the fact" replied the adj
jutant general Of South Carolina,
for one Of our scouts picked UP q
darky in the highway while ago who
had on uniform dress coat with the
initials r. G. sewed in the pocket"
If you will return that garment TO
me, General said Ardmore, 'I will
see taht 1t reaches Colonel Gilling-
water by special messenger, where,
upon his couch of pain he chafes over
his enforced absence from the field
Of danger"
Steps sounded upon the veranda and
all rose as Cooke appeared in the
doorway, leading his handcuffed pris-
the company in gloomy silence.
y,
clare to be. Bill Appleweight, alias
Poteet. / ask you, sir" he addressed
the prisoner-"to state whether you
are not known by one or both of these
names?"
The man nodded his head and
grumbled a reluctant affirmative.
Professor Griswold," Ardmore
went on, "the gentleman in charge of
the prisoner is Roger Cooke, for many
years in the secret service of the,
United States. He now conducts a
private agency and is in my employ.
Mr.. Cooke, will ask you whether
you identify this man as Apple
weight?"
There is no doubt of it, whatever.
have known him for years. l once
arrested him for moonshining and he
served a year in the penitentiary as
the result. Of that arrest. You will
pardon me, SIR Cooke continued, adj
dressing Griswold directly, "but this
is undoubtedly the man you captured
at Mount Nebo church two nights ago
but who was taken from you, as you
may not know, by Miss Geraldine
Dangerfield. She was lost in the woods
and came upon the captive much to
her own surprise"
Griswold lifted his brows in amaze
ment and turned toward Jerry.
"If that is the case, Miss Danger
field, salute you l am sorry to con-
fess, however, that did not myself
see the man who was captured by my
friends at the church, owing, it ap-
pears, to Miss Dangerfield's prompt
h1 10
cowardice of my men. want to say
to you, gentlemen, in all frankness
that | am greatly astonished at what
you tell me. Our prisoner is about the
same height as this man, has the
same slight stoop in the shoulders,
and the same short beard; but there
the resemblance ends"
Ardmore was trying not to show
too plainly his JOY at Griswolds dis
comfiture. None of the South Caro-
lima officers had ever seen Apple
weight, as they lived remote from the
scene of his exploits. Understands
men, who had SO signally failed in
the descent upon Mount Nebo church,
had taken to the woods on the ap-
proach of the state soldiery along the
border, and could not be found to iden-
tify the man seized at the house on
the creek. Habersham had discreetly
declined to support Griswold's venture
at the last moment; to do SO would,
he pleaded, ruin his chal-ces of politi
cal preferment in the future: or worse
things might, indeed, happen if he
countenanced and supported the arm
ed invasion of North Carolina by
South Carolina militia. The Jealous
young militiamen who had captured
the stranger in the house on the creek
had pronounced the man rpleweight,
and their statement had been accepted
and emphasized when the man was
taken before Griswold, to whom, he
had stubbornly refused to make any
statement whatever.
"Now that you can not deny that we
have the real Appleweight," began
Jerry, "who is, you must remember,
a prisoner of the state of South Caro-
lima, and must be returned to the
Mingo county Jail at once, think we
may as well look at your prisoner,
Professor Griswold. He may be one of
Mr.. Appleweights associates in busi-
ness; but as we are interested only
in the chief culprit, the identity of the
man sou iloiu 10 VI NSiS llttlC illSi COZ
to u.s."
If said Griswold, "he is not Ap-
pleweight, the original blown in the
bottle"
jug, if you please!" interposed
Ardmore very seriously
Then we don't care about him and
shall make you present of him"
Or" remarked Ardmore, 81 might
exchange him for ruffian l captured
myself down on the Raccoon. He
seemed quite insane, declaring him
self to be the governor of South Caro-
lima, and l locked him up in a corn
crib for safe keeping
"Any man." said Jerry, lifting her
chin slightly, "who would impersonata
the governor of South Carolina would,
beyond question, be utterly insane
and an object of compassion. Profes-
sor Griswold, will you please produce
your imaginary Appleweight, as at
this hour Mrs. Atchison usually serves
tea. Let us therefore make haste.s
| One of Griswold's retinue ran off
| ~ cup,p,op tho pricopor who uyac