The Press., 1912-06-19


 the horse Its you that's gone daft or you're trying to save. his neck. [ don't know W nich. He's been caught in the act and Is playing ii on us.'' se
 Where did ne get the, talk about dinosaurs? asked one man, who. be- ing better educated than the rest, had read of extinct mammoths Horse thieves don't know, anything about fos- siis.''
 ''Come on. CIem." said the owner of the stolen horse. ''l call upon you as sheriff to arrest the man and take him in for trial
 "Y' won't have much trouble doin' that" remarked Kate, ''seein' he hain't- got no weapon. Does hoss thieves go about without guns?"
 This was a staggerer. and the sher- fir was debating in his mind what to do when Tipton finished his investiga- tions 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 extricating him if she failed to convince others of his Iunacy. As for the professor. he was unconscious of his danger. In any event, he never dreamed that the pen alty for horse stealing was the same as for murder, s..,.
 ''Now. see here." Kate said to him, ''when they get y back to the set clement they'll take y before Judge Lynch. Y mustn't be surprised at any evidence I may give in"
 TiptOn 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 num- Der of men. new to the case, were i'm, paneled as a jury. the sheriff regard ing those who were with him when heS 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 chase and had come upon the prisoner and the girl. the horse grazing near by. When they had giv- en- their testimony Kate took the stand.
 ''I was ridtn' along" she said. when l seen the little man ahead. From the way he talked 1 made up my mind from the first that he was weak in the upper story. just the kind of man to git on a hoss he seen in a stable or hitched to post without knowin what he was doin'. He talked about varmint lO.OOO years old that had fell into well. He didn't have sense enough not to go around without gun. thOrt it wouldn't do to let him go about alone. so went with him If he was on hoss he knowed he'd stolen he'd rid mighty hard Instead O that every now and then he'd git Offen his animal and down on his hands and knees. wOrkin, at the stones He brought out a hammer and kep' breakin em and putin the pieces in his pockets Y'Il find em there now"
 The prisoner was called upon to emp ty his pockets and produced some twenty pounds of stone fragments.
 "I reckoned." the witness proceeded. ''that ne suffered some disease. when child that kep' his brain from growin' 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 ain't,r givin to prayin'.. The poor feIler needs to be sent back home"
 'FWiIi you see that he is taken care of?'' said stha judge. .....- $,
 "Yes .. -g-, .'..- - s
 Discharged" was the Iaconic dis missaI of the ease. and Kate led the professor away as If he had been a child .r.e.
 Some months later the professor re. turnpU. Supe1ntended a gang of ia borers engaged III digging up the bones of the dinosaur and shipped them east. When they were mOiinted in the mu- scum Kate. at the professors invita- tion visited the institution and was surprised at the monster she saw there
 By this time the professor had be- rome cngnizant of the fact that by her adroitness in proving him before Judge Lynch to be lunatic she had saved his life. and be felt duly grate ful. He persuaded her to remain in the east. sent her to school. and she learned as much in three years as some girls would in half a dozen@ Then the professor married her She is now al most as enthusiastic over the bones of great monsters that lived in prehis torlr times as her husband and assists him 1n many of hIs duties. : Let every man. if possible. gather anna rnnd hnnkS undpr hiH roof