Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1912-07-19

| tnat 1om BeaFdSly came forward and
told OF having seen the schoolmaster
in secret conversation with man in
a livery stable. Jed did not deny the
conversation. He had been asked hy
a man from the North who was look.
ing up coal lands TO investigate Ger.
tain lands as far as he could and re-
| port. He had the mans address, but
as 1t was in his own handwriting 1t
condemned rather than cleared him.
1t couldn't be proved that ne was
guilty, but it was felt by all that he
had at least been indiscreet, and it
was determined to administer a prop
er punishment and send him from the
Cove.
Had the proofs been sufficient jed
Baker would have been put to death,
las 1t was, the punishment was TO be a
whipping and Punishment He had
been sized up for man without
sand" 1t was believed that he would
crlnge and weep like a woman. They
looked to see him go white and fall on
MS knees and beg for mercy even as
the punishment was announced. He
had astonished the Cove by his calm
demeanor during the examination. He
astonished it again by saying:
You can whip me and you can
drive me out, but you cannot make an
informer of me. The charge is false
Who could it have been If not
you?" was asked.
Jed shook his head and stared at the
blank wall and made no answer. At S
O'Clock that evening he was tied to a
tree and whipped and cast loose and
| told to disappear before sunrise. There
| We're those who felt sorry for him, but
/ all felt that the punishment was due.
After being cast loose he sat down
on log for an hour with his head in
his hands. While he was sitting there
| the widow Carson was going about in
her cabin with tears in her eyes. Tom
beardsly came in to tell her of the
whipping. and she detected the ex-
| ultation In his tones. Then she in
stantly remembered a thing or two.
| he had been in town during the two
days she was. She had noticed him
in company with man she believed to
be an official of some sort. In passing
the hotel she had caught q fleeting
glimpse OF him as he lodged out of
sight. Her woman's intuition helped
/ her to a conclusion In moment. aud
wheeling on the young man, she ex-
| claimed:
Tom Beardsly, you did it--you did
| III"
You must be crazy" he replied.
You did 1t. and | know you did
What did We have agin him? How has
he ever harmed your"
Don't talk nonsense, wilder I'm
tellin' you here and now that I've been
thinkin' heap of you for a right
/ smart '@hile back. and"
Tom Beardsly. who give the stIll
away?"
"Thinkin' a heap of you. wilder.
and right now I'm askin' you to be my
wife. You know how I'm fixed, and
The women of the Cumberland shoot
as well as the men. They dc net hunt
bears and wildcats, but they kill
squirrels and game birds. The widows
shotgun stood in a corner of the room
She walked over and kfted It up and
wheeled on Tom to say:
Not another word from you. Out
you go! You was jealous and you did
| it,"
He went without a word. Ten min
utes later she was kneeling beside the
man who lad been whipped and say
ing:
"Oh, Jed. but you never gave the
still away"
No" he whispered.
ut was Tom"
"Mebbe"
''And you knowed 1t all the time
"Mebbe"
But why didn't you say so? Why
did you take the whippin'?"
"Kase-kase / thought you loved
him and you two was gwine to
marry"
Then another woman knelt down
and. with tears running down her
cheeks, she said:
Jed, ! didn't hear that they was
gwine to whip you till it was all over.
If had heard / would have told the
men that / give the still away. |
would have lied to save you. I'm akin
your pardon. Jed. I'm sayin' that |
am the sorriest woman on all this yere
mounting"
Jed put a hand on the shoulder OF
each woman and rose up with painful
effort. He realized that both loved
him. One knew the truth-the other
would have lied for him.
"Goodby." he said, as he moved
off into the dark woods.
He had been whipped in public. He
had been disgraced forever In Laurel
Cove. And on the door of the humble
schoolhouse next morning Uncle Jim
| Hendersou affixed a padlaGkm len