Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-04-28

out at the wagon bridge that spanned
'Hs was right up there. half way
after him e a as 1.:t s as they could run:
Murphy firing his revolver. He did not
hit him, but Sims Tudd began TO run
then. II was q hard chase. At frst
Sims Tudd had the downssads OF ne I.
but they gained a little on him: I un.
derstand. because he had the bag OF
when was the bursiary~ asked
Might before last" said Allie. when
the three mon reached the downsrade
they gained still more. There n
raised road across the bottom land.
They expected Sims Tudd to leave the
and make for the thick brush: but he
didn't. He kept right on up the road.
and they after him: They were gain
ing on him right along: Then suddenly
h t sa. Of IL t.. tns iefs ana
How high Is the road above the
bottom land there?" asked shagbark.
about six feet" Alice answered. ut
slants down into = sort Of ditch. and
because the river was just falling. SO
Sims Tudd ran down into the ditch
and wAded through tho mud. and then
the trees along tho road shut on their
view Of him for minute-not longer
than q minute" she emphasized. The
three men were standing where Sims
Tudd left the road in less. than =
minute .fter he ran down the side OF
'' and. dog whilli1 it." said shaxbark.
di.ap ep. rsa; "a SAID Aiies. "of course.
they supposed. at first. he had gone
into the hog shelter he used a: .
house. and they talked about whether
fight Of IL. But Murphy had his re-
volver and 10 no coward-1 could tell
that by his Iook-and they plunged
down the side Of the road ana through
the mud. And now listen to what has
appeared off the face Of the earth"
THAT the mystery asked shay
bark. Don't seem like 1t ought to
keep them guessing much II they set
their minds to il"
wait until I tell you" urged Alice.
"Just beyond where Sims Tudd turned
of the road was a bridge small
bridge-and slough runs under it
a deep slough. On the left of the road.
this side Of the bridge, where Sims
Tudd turned of. there Is a triangle of
land. higher than most OF the bottom,
and the slough makes another side. and
the third side Is an arm Of the slough.
deep and full Of water. Tho brush is
cleared away all around, and the trees
cut down. only the stumps standing"
And he wasn't in sight? Wasn't he
in the hog shelter? Wasn't there a
tree he could hide behind. or q bush,
or anythinE"
Not a bush. There was one tree.
but he wasn't behind that" said Alice.
the road and onto the triangle Of land.
There was only one opening into the
hog shelter, and that faced the big
tree. and Murphy, with his revolver.
ran behind the tree. He thought it
might be some shelter in case Sims
wasn't behind the tree. He wasn't In
sight anywhere. The milkman and the
laborer looked through the cracks in
the hog shelter"
mo, he wasn't. The two men called
to Murphy and told him, and Murphy
came from behind tho tree. Some
thing else caught his eye-a skiff made
of planks-a flat-bottomed skiff-was
floating away from the snoore. ready
it down stream. The first thing MUIR
ply thought was that Sims Tudd was
under that skiff. He jumped into the
slough and took hold Of the skin and
under it. The bank Of the slough was
river always leaves when It begins to
falkland there were plenty of foot
prints in it leading down to the
slough. There were too many. There
were hundreds of them-where Sims
Judd had gone down and come back.
There was no way Of telling whether
he had just made fresh ones or not.
But he wasn't in the slough. The milk
man went UP on the bridge and watched
and Sims Tudd didn't como to the sur
face. II no had, the milkman would
have seen him."
Might have drowned himself" sug-
gested Shagbark.
We'll, they thought that, but It don't
seem likely. somehow-does it?'
grin.
And they dragged the slough and
the arm that is on the other side of
the triangle" said Alice. land they
couldn't find Sims Judd or the bag of