Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-04-21

Tnen- one day she ahad ulsappeareu anu
had run away with Grill Taggus and
that they had been married at Galen-
dale. up the river. Chris had loaded q
revolver and had gone to Galendale to
that Emily was all right enough and
seemed happy and that Grill had a job
on the Galendale bridge, then building.
He was doing ironwork ana quite
1ellow In the union; Ned also .d nao s zone
the same report, and then, year later,
Emily had come to the store at Hem.
rners Corners carrying her baby, and
had said Grill had beaten her and driven
smallpox, and her face was pitted and
SCARED. John and Ned had gone to
Galendale, and If they had found Grill
they would have murdered him then'
but they had not found him.
A year after this Ned had somehow
learned that Grill Taggus had been seen
in Hardentown and traced him to Buck =
grove Landing. There can be no douot
logged his steps after that: Probably
Grill Taggus had been quite unsuspl,
cious that he was being watched. And
then, one stormy night, his shanty had
burn boosted on the streets Of Harden
town that he had blown the wretch TO
atoms. The sequel indicated that IN
making this drunken confession Neo
Pangburn had not been as foolish as
might at first appear. There had been
no trace Of Grill Taggus to be found.
and without some proof that ne was
actually dead. there could be no PROOF
that Ned had killed him: for. day
later, Orley, Chris and John Pangburn
had come to Hardentown and sepa-
rately given themselves up Tor murder
ing Grill Taggus. The story each tolo
was the same. Each said that he alone,
without the knowledge Of his brothers,
had gone down to the lonely shack at
Buckgrove Landing and had blown the
shack and Grill Taggus to atoms.
And don't Ned know anything ABOUT
it?" each had been asked. =.
Nobody knows anything about It
but me-" each had said. almost word
let nobody treat our sister bad. Any
body that hurts a Pangburn gets his,
and we don't have to talk to one an
other about It. That's our rule so 1
dom come. I went alone. I didn't say
nothing to anybody. Nobody knew
was doing It."
"And what did you do It with?"
II took three quarter-kegs OF pow pow,
Each had said the same. Each had
confessed the deed and sworn no one
else had had any part in 1t or any
knowledge Of it.
The shanty at Buckgrove Landing
had been an ideal place for such a
deed. Some six miles above Harden
town, there was no lonelier place on the
river. Once the landing had been quite
a river station, but the Mississippi had
other side Of the valley. lenying BUCK
grove landing deserted The five OF
six acres of level sand. just too high
to be inundated by the annual foods
1t off from the rest Of the world. The
flat was overgrown with willows and
brush, which made a tangle hard to
work a way through. In the middle of
from the days when BuckgroFe Land,
ing had been a village. and here Grill
TaSgus had "squatted." The willows
along the river bank made a hiding
place for his boat. and here he might
have lived for years. unsuspected mao
he not ventured into Hardentown once
for supplies. That once had been SUI
ficient for the Pangburn boys to learn
that be was in the neighborhood. and
they had not rested until they found
him. All this Shagbark built together
from what Alice told him and from
what he knew. There was other infor-
nation that Alice brought. II it was
possible to convict Ned Pangburn. il
was meant that he should be convicted
II Safe in the Jail he had no rear OF IL
He did not believe any jury in his home
county would dare bring in verdict
Of guilty against Pangburn-revenges
were too sure and too merctless-but
Alice brought WOTu tHdI seCIetiS eiiu
in deadly earnest the farmers mad
formed a sworn organization to convict
Ned Pangburn If it could be done. They
had hired Winston Gage, the cleverest
lawyer In Hardentown. and Gage was
usng every effort to build up case.
Gage had traced the explosive OF
which the four Pangburns spoke and
had found it's source and that it was
missing from the Hemmers Corners
store Like every country store, this
one sold gunpowder, and the whole
saler from whom it had been purchased
readily admitted he had sold the Pang-
burns three rter-kegs-eighteen and
three auarter pounds in ala few days
before the murder. The powder was
not in the store. With the reason for
the murder evident enough and the
means thus made plain. it would be only
necessary to fix the murder on par
ticular Pangburn and prove that Grill
was dead. An atom or two of Grill
Taggus was needed. but no one knew
whether Gage had found one or not.
When Alice had finished this part of
her report. Shagbark sat putting his
pipe and thinking.
"You can sleep on the. couch here
the hotel and have a nice bed. just as
you like
'where'll you sleep?" she asked.
sTll snooze just as we'll on the floor.
reckon" he said. I'm a regular
snoozer. anywhere you put me, Allie