Omaha daily bee., 1910-07-03
BY n. NJ. EGRERr.
BY n. NJ. EGBERT.
Copyright 1910. by the New York Evening
Telegram New York Herald Company.
All rights reserved

BY II. VI. tsGbhhl.
Copyright, 1919. by the New York Evening
Telegram New York Herald Company.
All rights reserved.
Policeman q Of station p. Great Pelican
Fla. his coat unbuttoned. his helmet tilted
back from his hot forehead, was flaming
himself with a palmetto leaf in front Of
Browns general store.
1t was a sweltering day and nothing was
so far from the policemar's mind as the
thought OF criminals. Station B was, IN
fact. the headquarters OF a large tract Of
pine and palmetto barrens upon the out
skirts OF a phosphate camp Inhabited by
a few score negro laboreTs. and. beyond
an occasional arrest for drunkenness Oh
pay nights the policemans duty wss a
sinecure
Policeman q took a gulp OF ice water
and looked. lszily along the struggling
street OF shacks. The only thing that
stirred was an old, stumbling figure that
moved unsteadily across some building lots
toward a cluster OF osks nearby.
who's that old Teller, Mr.. Brown
asked Policeman q, galvanized into sudden
activity. Stranger here?'
II reckon So" answered the storekeepef
lazily. Looking over those lots that |
gave Smith an option on. 7 guess"
Il seen him yesterday" said the police
man, buttoning up his coat. And now
come to think Of it, seen him the day
before, under them oaks. But l never
noticed his walk before.
oh, he's only some country cracker
answered the storekeeper whats the
matter with his wallt?"
Prison walk," answered Policeman u
/ Cant be mistook. They say 1t takes
three years to get it, and when you've got
/ it you've got it for keeps. Reckon II
hang around here tonight
THE place is yours" said the store
/ keeper But 1 reckon any crookd be 9
/ fool to look for anything round here"
Jim Cables actions, to one who con
stantly observed him. would certainly nav,
appeared peculiar. Three times, on thre,
successive days, he had gone stealthily Il
/ the spot under the oaks where he had
secIeted his pick aud shovel in palmetto
cluster. and, standing there, had looNet
round him helplessly, muttering and measur
ing. Now he was resolved to wait ii!
nightfall and prosecute his quest
Five days previously he had been dis
charged from the state penitentieTy afte
an Imprisonment that had lasted five sn'
forty years In the beginning of the yea
1865 Gable had been sent to prison for kill
ing a man. When the day Of his freedom
dawned he would not so penniless into tn
world.
Because pencil and paper were denies
him, he had carried the measurements Il
his head through all those five and fort
years, repeating them until they became, a
it were, ritual that he could never for
get.
Only one thing puzzled him now. Tn
= cleft sapling which was the central point Q
his mental diagram had disappeared, H
walked among the oaks muttering, as tn
sun gradually moved down the burning ex
E panse of the sky. The shadows gre'
2 longer. All at once Gable understood.
by gum What a fool I've been"' h
cried aloud. Even an oak puts on
; mighty deal Of growth in forty-five year.
Why, that sapllng must be a big tree b
: now. And thems it," he added, indicatin
twin oak tree that sprang from sing
: root.
, He coI%i hardly wait till dark but a
soon as the sun went down and the fu
: moon appeared in the west began plying HI
pick and shovel with nervous haste. Ate