Farmers' champion. (Elgin, Okla.) 1912-1922, 1913-06-26

Elam1ln'O heart oeemod to leap ihto
his throat and choke him: for an In
slant he felt faint, daxed. staring down
into the stili face ghastly under the
raye Of the lantern. 0askins! Then
che was concerned in the affair; he
really had seen her hiding there
against the wall. And the mans eyes
were open. were staring In bewilder-
ment at the faces. The Sergeant OF
the Guard thrust the lantern closer.
Lift his head, some O. yer. the
mans alive. Copley. get some water.
an two of yer run fer the stretcher
leg It now. Well have yer out o
here in q minute. Lieutenant What
happened, sir? Who shot yerf"
0askins' dulled eyes strayed from
the speakers face uEtil he saw Ham
lin. still firmly sripped by the sentry.
His lips drew back revealing his teeth.
his eyes narrowing.
That's the one." he said family.
You've got himl"
One hand went to his side In .
spasm Of pain. and no tainted. The
Sergeant laid him back limp on the
grass. and stood up.
where Is your gun. Hamlinr'
Il dropped It when fell over the
Lieutenant's body. It must be back OF
YOU"
Some one picked the weapon up.
and held It to the light. turning the
chambers.
1.-TWO shots gone, Sergeant"
4 lnse.
tenant got In one Of them. Sentry.
what do you know about thisf"
Mapes scratched his head. the I'm
gers OF his other hand gripping the
prisoners shoulder.
Not SO awful much," he replied.
haltingly. now come ter think bout
1t. IT was a mighty dark night. an
never saw. ner heard. nuthin' till the
shootin' begun. ! wus back O officers
row. an them pistols popped up yere.
by the corner o. the barracks.
jumped an yelled: thought l heerd
somebody runnin' an let drive. Then
Just as l got up yere. this feller come
tearin' long, an l naturally grabbed
him. That's the whole Of It."
What have you got to say. Ham
linz"
Nothing"
well, yer better. Yer in q mighty
bad box, let me tell YER" angered by
the Others Indifference. "What was
the row about?"
The cavalrynan stood straight. his
face showing white In the glow Of the
lantern.
II told you before I had nothing to
say. will talk tomorrow" he re-
turned quietly. Il submit to arrest"
Il reckon yer will talk tomorrow,
and be damn glad o. the chance. Cor
poral, take this fellow to the guard
house, an stay there with him. Here
comes the stretcher. an the doctor"
Hamlin marched on silently through
the black night. surrounded by de-
tail Of the guard. It had all occurred
SO suddenly that he was bewildered
yet, merely retaining sufficient con-
sciousness of the circumstances to
keep still. II they we're assured he
was guilty, then no effort would -
made to trace any others connected
with the affair. Why Gaskins should
have identified him as the assassin
was mystery-probably 1t was mere
| " the delirium Of a sorely wounded
man, although the fellow may have
disliked him sufficiently for that kind
Of revenge. or have mistaken him for
another In the poor light. At any rate
the unexpected Identification helped
him to play his part. and. II the Lieu
tenant lived. he would later acknowl-
edge his mistake. There was no occa-
sion to worry; he could clear himself
of the charge whenever the time
came; half his company would know
he was In barracks when the firing be-
gan. There were women out on the
walk. their skirts fluttering as they
waited anxiously to learn the news.
but he could not determine II she WAS
among them. Voices asked questions.
but the corporal hurried him along.
without making any reply. Then he
was thrust roughly into a stone.lined
cell, and left alone. Outside In the
corridor two guards were stationed.
Hamlin sat down on the iron bed.
dazed by the silence. endeavoring to
collect his thoughts. The nearest
guard. leaning on his gun. watched
carefully.