The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1910-11-19


"a matter o. four days"
"Who did y leave in charge o. yer
storeT
wilkins boy"
''Y' find it kind O. lonesome cavortin'
around here without any o. yer fam
bly,. don't w
"You bet. l been tryin' to make
enough to bring my wife n boy out.
but bad debts beat me-"
Hard lines"
'T'm goin' to start out on a new
principle. I'm not goin' to trust any
one"
The other cast a melancholy look at
Jim Murphy. but didn't say anything.
Ben Hicks was a short, thickset man
or, rather. boy. No one was quite sure
whether he was man or boy. He wore
a vest and pair of trousers much too
large for him and no coat. No one
had ever seen him smile.
"Yer too late, JIM" he said at last.
''What dye meanY asked Jim eager
ly.
"Yer stores been entered"
Entered"
Eyes, the day after you left there
was two Of 'em come down on wilkins
boy, turned him out n tux possession"
Jim was heartbroken. He cursed
the day he had come west to a coun-
try where there was neither law nor
order; he lamented having separated
from his wife and child, for fate
seemed to decree that he should re-
main separated from them. Now, since
robbers had come down on his stock
Of goods he could not get back to
them nor bring them to him.
"Have they carted the stuff awayY
he asked.
Dunno; reckon not"
Suppose they Jiist Quilted II, carryin'
or what they wanted and ruined the
rest. That's the way these jayhawk.
ers do"
Ben Hicks made no reply to this.
He looked as II he was going to cry.
Indeed. be seemed so melancholy that
Jim didn't like to show any more de-
spondency at the less Of his stock, it
seemed to have so lugubrious an effect
on his sympathetic friend.
ooh, well,r said Jim, "sich things
can't be helped. What we have to do
in this world when we get knocked
down is to get up ag'in and so ahead
g II nuthin' had happened. Cheer up.
Ben. I'll bring It all around right In
time"
what y goin' to do with emp
with the robbers?"
"Yes."
you don't mean they're there yitY'
"Yes. / do. They're maxim their
selves at home
"In my house. with my thingsf"
Eyes"
"And not neighbor has raised fin
ger to turn 'em OUT"
Mary finger"
4 ~ ySo otPpcSO wv oA0 bSbteASA
could tackle emf"
Reckon l could fix the smaller OF
the two"
And the other?"
"You kin manage tother. reckon"
What was they dom when you
ieft?"
Reckon they war flghtin'."
1on't y known
well, I'd got quite ways from 'em
when l heered a yell. l looked back
and the little man was a kickin' and
a hollerin' n t'other one was hittin
OF him"
what thenT
II come away then"
Jim Speers carried on this dialogue
with his friend while he walked along
homeward, the other walking beside
him. When they came in sight Of the
house Jims eye lighted q little.
AT any rate" he remarked. "they'y,
not burned 1t. Whar y goln'"
Reckon you kin tackle 'em alone"
"'FraidT
But Ben made no reply to this i'm
putation on his courage. Jim went on
A three-year-old boy playing on thu
premises was all that appeared. A
woman came out Of the house and wal
about TO take the boy In when sh,
espied Jim. Shading her eyes will
her hand, she gazed on him for a mo
ment. then ran to meet him.
why, Moll. how did you git hereT
Made the money SEWN"
And the kid?"
There he is"
She pointed to the boy before tn
house. Jim sprang away from he
and. running to the boy, took'him VI
In his arms and covered him witt
kisses. When the wife came up jim
turned to her, took both her and tn
boy In one embrace and said;
by thunder" never had such
change from trouble to happiness Il
my life. 1t was all that Ben Hicks
doln's. He tole me the store had bee
entered, the boy left In charge fire.
and let me believe robbers had don
It."
Later when the speers family wer
celebrating their reunion with goo
| amman n neIphbor came along.