The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-12-14

raised objections, discussed various
were eating at the same table and
ended by eXclaiming;
"Nonsense 1t can't be so intricate
as all that. ] have had some expe-
were on the premises ~
"That's easily arranged, said the
nn.kccper. 81 know Farmer Goussot.
He won't object ~
The request was soon made and
granted Old Goussot was in one of
those frames of mind when we are less
disposed to protest against outside in
reference. His wife, at any rate, was
HLet the gentleman come, if he
wants to.
The gentleman paid his bill and in
structed mis- driver to try the car on
the high road as soon as the repairs
were finished:
"I shall want an hour he said,
"no more Be ready in an hour
time ~
Then he went to Farmer Goussot's.
He did not say much at the farm.
Old Goussot, hoping against hope, was
| lavish with information, took his ,vlsl-
| tor along the walls down TO the little
! door opening on the fields, produced the
| key and gave minute details Of all the
searches that had been made so far,
Oddly enough, the stranger, who
hardly spoke. seemed not to listen
either He merely looked, with rath-
err vacant gaze When they had been
round the estate, old Goussot asked,
| anXously;
"Weli9"
''Wcll wbatf''
sEDo You think you bnow7' -,
The visitor stood for a moment with
out answering. Then he said,
- No, nothing"
"Why. of course not!' cried the
farmer, throwing up his arms. How
should YOU know It's all hanky-
! Well, that old Trainard has been so
! jolly clever that IS lying dead in his
hole and the bank notes are
rotting with him. Do you hearq You
can take my word for it,
The gentleman said very calmly:
"There's only ono thing that inter
ests me. The tramp, all said and done,
what he could pick up, But how about
drinkingl''
Out of the question:" shouted the
farmer. "Quite out OF the question:
| There s no water except this; and we
have kept watch beside it every night,
"It's a spring. Where does 1T rlseG''
"Here, where we stand.
"Is there enough pressure to bring
it into the pool Of itself''
eyes
"And where does the water go when
it runs out OF the pool3'
"lnto this pipe here, which goes un-
der ground and carrleS IT to the house,
for use in the kitchen. SO there s no
way of drinking, seeing that we were
there and that the sprng is twenty
yards from the house
"Hasn' L it rained during the last
four weeks2'
'Not once: I've told you that al
ready"
Tue stranger went to the spring and
examined it. The trough was formed OF
d few boards of wood joined together
lust above the ground; and the water
ran through IT, slow and clear
"Tbe water Is not more than foot
deep, is it?" he asked.
In order to measure it, be picked up
from the grass a straw which he dipped
into the pool But as he was stopping,
he suddenly broke off and looked
around him.
"Ob, how funnyl" he said, bursting
into a peal OF laughter,
EWhY, what IS the matterY' splut-
tered old Goussot, rushing toward the
pool, as though man could have lain
hidden between those narrow boards.
And Mother Goussot clasped her
hands
"What is it2 Have you seen him9
Where is ho?' :.
s'Neither in it nor under it, replied
the. stranger, who was still laughing.
He made for the house, eagerly fol
lowed by the farmer, the old woman
and the four sons The inn.keeper
was there also, as were the people from
the inn who had been watching the
stranger movements, And there was
a dead silence, while they waited Tor
the extraordinary disclosure.
Its as I thought. ..Tho he sad; I'D STa Wl'n h
had TO quench his thirst somewhere,
and as there was only the spring. -
''Oh, but look here growled Farm
or Goussot, 'we should have seen
himl'
''It was at night
"sWe should have heard HIM
and seen him too, As we were close
by >,
"And he drank the water from the
pooll"
eyes
''How2'
'EFrom little way off,
"With what9'
"With this, -
And the stranger showed the straw
tThere, here's the straw for the
customers long drink. You will see,
there g more of it than usual: in fact,
it is made of three straws stuck into
one another. That was the first thing
! noticed; those three. strawss fastened
together. The proof is conclusive"
7'But, hang it all, the proof of
what'" cried Farmer Goussot, irritably'
The stranger took a shotgun from
the rack. ,,,
eyes, said the youngest OF the
brothers. "I use it to kill the spar
rows with. for fun. II IS small shot, >,
.'Capitall \ popperng where 1t
won t hurt him will do the trick -
His face suddenly assumed master
full look He gripped the farmer by the
arm and raped out, in an imperIous
tone;
.Iisten to me. Farmer Goussot. m
not here TO do policeman s work; and !
won I have the poor beggar locked up
at any price Four weeks of starva-
tion and fright is good enough for any
body. So you We got to swear to me,
Won and Your SONS, that YOU II let him