The herald., 1912-06-27
THE BOYS
1t Is Not Safe to Ignore
Them
By EDITH TUCKER

America was a crude country, with
the crude customs Of the mother coun
try, there lived a man named FISK.
His home was near the schoolhouse.
and since he was always kind and
good natured with the boys he be-
came a favorite with them.
Now, a boy, though his brain Is not
matured, knows great deal about
certain things upon which men know
nothing. The boy Is very observant
within his little field. He can tell you
the exact number of chickens Farmer
Cole has and the number Of cows In
Farmer Morgan's pasture. These
schoolboys knew that the horse was a
great favorite with Mr.. Fisk. He
was constantly coming home with a
new animal. and the stock on hand
was always disappearing. His alb
sences from home were frequent. but
not long, and on every return he
brought a hose with him. Older per-
sons were more interested In his
means Of livelihood. But as to that
matter he was unapproachable and al
together uncommunicative.
One morning there was great ex-
citement among the boys. News had
come that a band of horse thieves
which had Travelled those parts for
years had been captured and that
their friend Mr.. Fisk was leader of
the gang. The mystery Of Mr.. Fisk
was solved. He had turned out to be
horse thief.
Every one was interested and excit,
ed and absorbed In the denouement.
But the boys. since the culprit had
been their friend. were not quite GER
tain that they were pleased at 1t.
They preferred to wait to see what
was to be done with him. Some OF
them argued that horse stealing was
very sinful and Fisk should be pun
ished. Others contended that he
should be punished. but they hoped he
would get Off Altogether, there was
no settled opinion about the matter.
There was no jail In the village. and
the tavern, the doors being locked and
bolted. The same day at noon the court
convened In the parlor Of the tavern to
try the offenders. The judge, the law
yers and other officials assembled, and
the sheriff went for the prisoners, leav-
ing the crowd, In which the boys were
conspicuous, to await their coming.
But the sheriff did not return. and a
shout arose without that the prisoners
had escaped.
And why should they not have es-
capped? Not through the bolted door.
There was no necessity for escaping
that way when they had better. All
they had to do was to step out of
window on to the roof of a shed and
thence down to the ground. Having
been In a hurry, they had dropped GER
tain articles, which indicated their
route. They had fed to q wood behind
the tavern and were doubtless now hid
ing there. The wood was oak and
hickory, with an underground in which
the boys had chased squirrels and had
started partridges. Among the crowd
that went on the hunt for the horse
thieves were no such eager persons as
the boys. Had they been suffered to
lead there Is no doubt that the fugitves
would have soon been captured. but
the sheriff, whose stupidity had led to
their escape, oflcious, pompous, appre-
ciative Of his authority ordered the
boys back while he organized and sent
forth bodies Of men.
Boys are especially unsafe creatures
to ignore. No one likes to be relegated
to the rear when he aspires to 60 to the
front, and, after, all, boys are but min
iature men. The little fellows got to-
gether, and 1t was at once evident that
the treatment they had received had
turned their sympathies from pursuers
to pursued. Among them was a young
ster tall, 1.-the, with wiry muscles. He
was famous in the school athletics and
was champion runner. He conceived
the idea of hiding in the bush and as
soon as started up by those beating It
to personate their old friend Fisk and
attempt to outrun those who would
chase him.
From the articles dropped some OF
the thieves were known to be hall
dressed. So the boy threw OF his coat
and pulled his shirt out over his trous
ers- Then, circling around, he found
Q convenient place in which to hide
Suddenly a shout arose and the chase
commenced
There he goesr
stop, thiefr'
go for himr
"You, there; head him oftp'
These and babel Of other words
were shouted while the runner, like q
deer. lodged between trees, darted
around thickets. following a route ovel
which he had often chased or beer
chased by his companions. The white
tail Of his shirt preceded the pursuers
like guiding white cloud. Now they
saw 1t. Now 1t was hidden. But they
came no nearer to it The boy led
them beyond the wood, and there
across an opening, his white shirt was
seen vanishing into another forest.
What mattered 1t TO the young ath
lete that the next day when his trici
was discovered he must take a thrash
ing, A thrashing was nothing com
pared with the delightful excitement
Of that chase, to say nothing of the re