The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1913-02-27

SO0egn6hs ~ -
a Rs6smptisa 10 crownsd-cs~tia-
ved.
You mean the-the Bible!"
Yes"
Dick. you don't really mean that.
You"
I've already got one." said the
prisoner simply. His eyes fell with
curious inconsistency. They saw his
cha and lower lip culver ever 20
shghtiy. He scraped the door With hts
toot . time or two. and his hngers
tightened on the bars- ITS . little
sae my mother gave me when was
hid. Yes. my ma gave 1t to me for
being . good boy once"
Where 10 1t now, nck:" asked Jen-
hoo.
"Why-vhy. Ernis's got 1t. He didn't
have anything else to read 10 he took
It . couple Of weeks ago. IL guess
Tn ask him for 1t some day. oh.
yes. there 10 something I want to
speak to you about, Joey. A couple o
yesrs ago took out . life insurance
policy in favor Of Ernie. Maybe l
won't have to pay on 1t again. It's
for dve thousand. want you to see
that he gets thu money if-if well.
yoa know. The policy IL in the safe
ever at old Isaac's pawnshop-you
'knov the place
Sure. Dick. I'll take charge Of 1t.
You're very good to Ernie and thought
ful. lad"
David from the first had been more
or less certain that Dick was not the
one who shot Grand. He said:
The police are now saying that you
did not do the shooting. Dick" He
watched the others face narrowly.
There was not 90 much as . flicker
of alarm.
They don't think the old boy COM
mitted suicide. do they?" asked Dick.
With q chuckle of scorn for the OBJ
tnseness Of he police.
NO They are working on some new
evidence. that's ALL
ITS grand to have q reputation
Nike mine." srinned the amiable
rogue. They won't even believe me
when they catch me red-handed Once
. liar, always q liar
The summer months wore away and
toward the middle of October the
case of the State versus Cronk and
Cronk came up. Two sets of friends
we're deeply interested. The Jeni-
sons and their friends formed one
contingent, while the other was made
up from that shifting, stealthy ele-
ment Of humanity known as the "un-
derworld" pickpockets. cracksmen
half whisper of anxiety known only
associates Cd Dick Cronk in one way
or another, of and on. for years.
The plea of self-defense was ably
presented by the great lawyer. but 1t
was shattered by the state quite as
easily as he had anticipated. The
verdict was an acquittal for Ernest
Cropk, a conviction for murder In the
the recommendation he be hanged by
the neck until dead.
At IL o'clock on the morning Of a
bitter cold Friday in January a grim.
sullen group of men, evil faced fel-
lows, whose eyes were heavy with
dread and whose lips hung limp with
detection. crowded around the stove In
a squalid, ill-smlling basement room.
They spoke but seldom: their voices
were rarely raised above the hoarse
half whisper of anxiety known only
to men who wait In patiencs for q
thing of horror to come to pass-an in
evitable, remorseless thing from
which there is no escape.
OF
the wall there was shivering. silent
figure, a Pariah even among these
underworld outcasts. He sat apart
from the others, denied a place in
the circle, despised and abhorred by
the men he once had scorned be-
cause they were the devil-may-care
companions and emulators of his
brother. His beady black eyes
never shifted from the low. padlocked
door in the opposite end of the
room. He. too. was waiting for the
dread news from the upper world. His
breathing was sharply audible, as OF
one drugged by sleep. His body had
not moved an inch in an hour or more.
% fierce was the suspense that held
him rigid. From time to time he swal.
lowed. although his mouth was dry
and empty. There was a rattling sound
accompanying the act that suggested
the hoarse croak of frog. Always
his gaze was on the door. never waver
ing. unblinking, fascinated by the hor.
ror that was creeping down to him as
surely ~ the sun crept up to the apex
Of the day.
Noon! Twelve o'clock, midday! The
hour they were dreading!
One Of the shivering thieves beside
the stove drew forth from a ragged
pocket the plutocratic timepiece of q
millionaire victim. The way his eyes