The Dickinson press., 1916-12-09

hangs on"
Mr.. Wallis nodded.
"Finnerty will be wild wid rage
when he hears of tn poor sunday
school childer beat out of their tree,
and some of them goin' t. Sunday
school fer three weeks ahead for
nawthin' else but t. be on tn list whin
tn p~risints Is handed of the tree"
said Mr.. O'Leary. "Finnerty will act
anarchistical. Finnerty will say, IT.
tn dickens wild tn law; tn TRUST must
be bust, for I w'u'd rather be In jail
than OUT and then Finnerty will bust
into Tousley's store tonight and take
out all th' trees and hide thin conven.
lent fer t'morry night"
This Mr.. Wallis understood, for he
grinned at Mr.. O'Leary. Mr.. O'Leary
turned to go. Mr.. Wallis arose.
I'D would lie bad If dot Finnerty gets
up some riots" he laughed good ma.
turedly. where you go nowT
: Il am goin' t. thry t. calm tn pas.
sionate boosum Of ould man Ffnnerty,"
answered Mr.. O'Leary. II am goin' t
presint tn side Of law and order t
him." he added. land explain t. him
how Ih' Christmas trees come t be in
tn shop OF Misther ToCsley and tn in.
evitable results should some one be
tn name Of Finnerty steal tn trees
this evenin' whin Misther Tousley has
gone home t. bed. 'Tis me duty"
The snow vas falling lightly when
Mr.. O'Leary approached the jail, and
IN the front steps of the small one
story structure be saw old man Fin
nerty and Marshal Sullivan standing.
Old Finnerty was slight of figure and
bent Of shoulders. and Sullivan was
tall and stout, but the younger and
stronger man was using nearly his
entire strength in the struggle he was
making to push Finnerty down the
steps and away from the building. As
fast as he pushed Finnerty down the
steps the old man pushed back again.
He was making a valiant fight against
being evicted from the Jail.
"Finnerty," said Mr.. O'Leary, put
ting his hand on the old mans shout.
der. - w'u'd spake a word wild ye."
Finnerty looked up. When be saw
who was speaking to him be drew
back, O'Leary had Il team and did
teaming. and Finnerty thought he saw
a LOB of work." lurking in O'Leary's
eye. He did not want a job of work,
and be listened to what O'Leary had
to say with suspicion. 1t took O'Leary
quite an hour to explain that it was
merely a little Job of burglary that
was wanted Of him. When this was
made plain and O'Leary had agreed
to arrive Oh the scene Of the burglary
in time to catch Finnerty ut it and ill.,
ci~dentally to do all the heavy work Of
carrying away the trees. Finnerty
was more than pleased to fall in with
the idea Of busting a crust. There was
only n other stipulation he made.
and that was that as soon as possible
after the burglary he should be turned
over to Sullivan, for he wanted to get
back into the Jail as soon as he could.
When O'Leary told him that the sen.
tence for burglary was apt to be a long
n he almost insisted on kissing him
in the Gallo manner
It was about midnight when the
committee on tree of the Union Sunday
school, Marshal Sullivan of the town
of Lone Tree and old nan Finnerty
drove up the main street and stopped
before Mr.. Tousley's grocery.
O'Leary. Wallis and Sullivan sat in
the wagon, while Finnerty pushed open
the grocery door and entered. AS soon
as he was well inside they followed
him in. and Marshal Sullivan arrested
him.
"Oh. ho!" said Sullivan. exhibiting
great surprise. $50 it's you. is it, Pat
Finnerty, AMI you just u Of Jail.
IT'S fine I watched ye! But this tonne
I caught ye wild TIL goods on for sure.
What was ye afther stealth now?"
Old man Finnerty looked up at him
with wonder in his eyes.
why" he said. "'twas tn Christ.
mas trees, was it not? If twas not l
dunno what it was. | was tould twas
tn Christmas trees"
0luOp! CIleu SulllVdn. llat Will
do fer yez. O'Leary and you. Wallis.
I command ye in tn name of tn law t.
lend me a hand. This man has come
and bruck into this shop t. steal ivry
one of these Christmas trees. Here be
tn robber and there be tn ividince.
Lend a hand and take tn ividince out
t. tn wagon We have happened t. have
so handy by providential luck. Twill
niver do t risk TIL loss of tn ividince
in tn case"
While Sullivan held his willing pris.
oner by the shoulder Wallis and
O'Leary carried out the trees and piled
them in the wagon. and then all four
Of the men drove to the Jail. At the
door Finnerty jumped down and ran
into his cell. The trees the other men
carried in and stood in the largest
room.
The next morning when Mr.. Touslev
discovered his loss he was wild. #
did not take him long to discover
where the trees had been taken. for
O'Leary and Sullivan were quite ready
to give him a full account of the bnr.