Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1911-12-23

y
sheriff.
Didn't y hear what he said about
them stones? He's got an idee into his
head that 10000 years ago some var
mint or other, dragon mebbe, seven
ty feet long fell down a well. What
more do y want for to make him out
a crazy man"
''Oh, Katey' exclaimed the owner Of
the horse Its you that's gone daft
or you're trying to save his neck. I
don't know which. He's been caught
in the act and is playing it on u.s."
Where did he get the talk about
dinosaurs?' asked one man. who, be-
ing better educated than the rest, had
read of extinct maInmoths. Horse
thieves don't know anything about fos-
sils''
"Come on. Glenn" said the owner Of
the stolen horse. 81 call upon you as
sheriff to arrest the man and take him
In for trial"
'Y' won't have much trouble dom
that" remarked Kate, seem he hain't
got no weapon. Does boss thieves go
about without gunsr
This was staggerer, and the sher-
If was debating in his mind what to
do when Upton finished his investiga-
lions and said he was going back to
the settlement. So they all rode back
together, the supposed horse thief be-
ing forced to ride ahead. Kate rode
beside him. She seemed very much
troubled at the position he occupied
with reference to the stolen horse and
was revolving in her mind some des-
perate method Of exrricattng him II
she failed to convince others Of his
Mnacy. As for the professor, he was
unconscious of his danger. In any
event, he never dreamed that the pen
atty for horse stealing was the same
as for murder.
Now, see here" Kate said to him,
when they get y back to the set
Element they'll take y before Judge
Lynch. Y mustn't be surprised at
any evidence 1 may give IN"
Upton was SO wrapped up In the
dragon that had fallen down the
well" that her words made very little
impression on him. When they reach
ed the settlement, true enough, he was
taken before Judge Lynch, and a num-
Der of men, new to the case, were i'm
paneled as jury, the sheriff regard
ing those who were with him when
he made the arrest as witnesses. The
latter were examined In turn and told
the same story, which was simply that
the horse had been missed, they had
lit out on a chase and had come upon
the prisoner and the girl, the horse
grazing near by. When they had CIV
en- their testimony Kate took the
stand.
81 was ridin' along" she said, when
l seen the little man ahead. From
! the way he talked made up my mind
from the first that he was weak In the
upper story, Just the kind Of man TO
| git on boss he seen IN stable or
hitched to a post without KNOWN
what he was dom. He talked about
varmint 10000 years old that had
fell into a well. He didn't have sense
enough not to go around without
gun l thort it wouldn't do to let him
go about alone, so l went with him.
If he was on a boss he knowed he'd
stolen he'd rid mighty hard. Instead
O. that every now and then he'd git
often his animal and down on his
| hands and knees, workin' at the stones.
He brought out a hammer and KEEP
breakin' 'em and putin the pieces in
his pockets. VII find 'em there now"
The prisoner was called upon to emp
ty his pockets and produced some
twenty pounds of stone fragments.
81 reckoned" the witness proceeded.
'that he suffered some disease when
child that KEEP his brain from CROWN
Small boys pockets are always full O.
tops and things, and the mans is wus
yet. bein loaded down with nothin'
but stones. Then when we came to
the well where the dragon had fell in
he looked up and said pra'ar. HosS
thieves amt givin' TO prayin'. The
poor Teller needs to be sent back home Z"
"Wili you see that he is taken care
Off" said the judge.
Yes
discharged" was the laconic dis
missal of the case. and Kate led the
professor away as If he had been q
child.
Some months later the professor re-
: luIHtu. SupeIIuleuueu SuHS Oh Ia
, borers engaged in digging up the bones
Of the dinosaur and shipped them east.
When they were mounted in the mu-
, scum Kate. at the professors invita-
ton. visited the institution and was
surprised at the monster she saw
there.
, BY this time the professor had be-
, come cognizant of the fact that by
= her adroitness in proving him before
!. Judge Lynch to be a lunatic she had
r. saved his life, and be felt duly CRATE
4 full. He persuaded her TO remain in
. the east, sent her to school. and she
a learned as much in three years as some
girls would in half dozen. Then the
q professor married her. She is now al
), most as enthusiastic over the bones OF
great monsters that lived in prehis-
O toric times as her husband and assists
4 him in many of his duties.
z