Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1918-06-20
CHAPTER VII.
(Continued.)

The stranger lay still in the ROAD
lifted his head and dropped u
ouickIv with a strange sickness.
The feel of it and the way 1t iell
back upon the ground when let
go scared me, for I knew that ne
was dead. The dust around nun
was wet. I ran down the NH re"
steps and stopped and whistled :"
nv filly. / could hear her ahs"ei
ing whinny far down the dusty
road and then her hoofs as she ga
Toned toward me. She came within
q few feet of me and stood ana
snorted. | caught and mounted heF
and rode to the nearest house 10.
helm. On the way / saw why she
had stopped. A number OF horses
we're feeding on the roadside near
the log house where Andre"
CramptOn lived. Andrew had Just
unIoaded some hay and was back
ing out of his barn. | hitched ny
FLY and jumped on the rack say
ing:
"Drive up the road as quickly as
you can. A. man has been muir
dered."
What a fearful word it was that
had spoken! What a panic it
made in the little doOryard! The
man gasped and jerked the relns
and shouted to his horses and be-
gan swearing. The woman uttered
a little scream and the children
ran CRYING to her side. Now Tor
the first time / felt the dread sig
nificance of word and deed. l mad
had no time to think of it before. l
thought of the rObber fleeing, ter
ror-stricken, in the growing dark
ness.
The physical facts which are fur
ther related to this tragedy are OF
little moment to me now. Iae
stranger was dead and we took hie
body to our home and my uncle set
out for the constable. Over and
over again that night / told the
story of the shooting. We went %
the scene of the tragedy with IAN
terms and fenced it off and put
some men on guard there.
How the event itself and all that
hurrying about in the dark had
shocked and excited me. The whole
theater of life had changed. It's
audience had suddenly enlarged
and was rushing over the stage and
q kind of terror was in every face
and voice. There was a red-haircd
william behind the scenes, now, and
how many others, wondered. Men
were no longer as they had been.
Even The God to whom l prayed
i
sounds and shadows of that night
are in my soul aagin. | see its gath.
ering gloom. / hear its rife shot
which started all the gallOping
boots and swinging lanterns and
fitting shadows and historical pro
family. In the morning they found
the robbers footprints in the damp
dirt of the road and measured
them. The whole countryside was
afire with excitement and searching
the woods and fields for the high
wayman.
Mr.. Purvis." who had lost con-
fidence suddenly in the whole
world, had been found, soon after
daylight next morning, under Il
kaycock in the field of a farmer
who was getting in his hay. Our
hired man rose up and reported in
fearful tones. A band of robbers
not one, or two, even. but a band
of them-had chased him up the
road and one of their bullets had
torn the side of his trousers. in
support of which assertion he
showed the tear. With his able as
sistance we see at a glance both
the quality and the state of mind
prevailing among the humber citi-
Zens of the countryside. They
were, in a way, children whose
cows had never recovered from the
habit of Jumping over the moon and
who still worshiped at the secret
shrine of Jack the Giant Killer.
The stranger was buried There
was nothing upon him to indicate
his name or residence. Weeks
passed with no news of the man
who had slain him. I had told of
the gun with piece of wood broB-
er out of its stock, but no one knew
of any such weapon in or near
Lickitysplit.
One day Uncle Peabody and