The Red Cloud chief., 1911-03-16

Gu n anu IL iOUB DIOWu llutu
~ buster a little out of sea
son. A bundle tightly roll.
ed in black oilcloth was strapped to
his back. He stopped In the middle of
the road. Looking about. his eyes
rested upon a weather. beaten sign
board upon which had once been
painted the picture of a black bear
resting upon it's launches. For more
than a hundred years this sign board
had been swinging to and fro as II
reckoning and inviting passersby to
enter the little inn that was standing
some Is or 20 feet back from the
road. II took Mr.. Herman Weisgar-
Der several minutes to decipher the
inscription beneath the faded picture.
When he had succeeded, as he thought,
he muttered audibly, Dish ish de
blaze. Der black bear vas inn, und
! shust myself will walk in nit him"
Bracing up a little and stroking his
chin he stepped with a heightened
stride into the little front room that
served as an Office for the Black Bear
Inn. Here he found himself in the
presence of a pleasant.faced woman
who smiled coquettishly.
He greeted her in his own tongue,
In which she replied, and the onver
sation was now carried on briskly in
the German language. 1t was a bux.
ON widow on the one hand and a ras.
cally counterfeiter on the other. lie
was a longtime rogue, but she was
honest and unsuspicious. With her
the world was good, with him 1T was
dog eat dog and the devil take the
hindmost. The widow Hartz was al.
together too unsophisticated to pene-
trate the dark recesses Of the hollow.
hearted mar that had by chance come
suddenly into the affairs of her life.
She Judged him by her own heart
n little dreamed of the misery SO
soon to follow her chance acquaint.
ance with, Herman Weisgarber.
Her husband had died about two
years before. At this time her heart
was conferred on her son, a young man
nearly twenty years of age. n John
Hartz. thanks to the training of his
father, was honest and Industrious
The Black Bear Inn and the little
farm adjoining was a sacred inheri
lance from his paternal grandfather
The Inn was now somewhat out OF
date, but was still doing it's part to
wards furnishing tho mother and son
a living and a little to lay up for a
rainy day. Johns father had taught
him TO stand firmly for the right In
all things.
Mr.. Weisgarber's gray blue eyes
were shining brightly beneath his
overhanging brows as he stood ex
planning to the widow Hartz regarding
himself. The word tramp, now SO
aptly applied to the tie-path tourist,
had not been coined In that day and
men Of his like were little understood.
He said he was just out on a pleasure
tour and that he travelled on foot as
a matter of choice. He was moving
le~isurely along that he might better
enjoy tho lovely scenery and pure
mountain air. His words were well
chosen and deeply impressive as he
cautiously worked his way up to the
point Of offering to remain for a time
and assist In the work about the Inn
and farm. He had a smooth tongue
The turnpike, winding its way
along up and down the sides, over
and across the Allegheny mountains
vas then the popular highway fol
drovers and wagoners upon their way
to and fro between Eastern Pennsyl
yania and Pittsburg. The people
along this route were principally Ger
mans. Some of them, could neither
read nor speak English. They lived
mainly on what they produced ant
had ;lttle occasionCtpN y spend g,Ftheil
money. Almost anything that looked
like money would pass, In those
days much of the paper money
in .GiFculation2 was ,bpf the wilt
cat kind. Between the counterfeit
and genuine issue thore was but lit
tie choice, One passed from hand tc
hand almost as readily as the other
Herman Weisgarber, az he called
himself, had for many years been dodg
ing about from place to place ma
king a living by showing the queer
Under pretence Of his inability to un
derstand the English language he wal
able to deceive the officers and es
cape arrest. 1t was always "Nicht
verstehe" with him. "He shust didn'
know noting bout baper MONIES
To the widow Hartz no appeared
man of honor. She measured hi
character by her own and could SEE
no farther, Six months had scarcel!
passed from the time she met hin
until be became her husband =,
a When John Harts came In contac
with his stepfather he was honest
and had he followed in the footstepi
OF his own father he would have re
NAMED SO. 1t did not take long Il
prove that he was susceptible an,
easily drawn into ways that were darl
and %forbidding, Step by step he wa