Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-04-21
EXPL OITS OF SEIAGBBARK JONES y BY Ellis Parker Badet

stormy svanfnx-A thundsrstoem. fs>s
the shanty. see the explosion. II -
hundred feet in the air and tears Il %
spiintsrs r blows the willow trees Up
hDo you see who ala its' some one
Now I don't see nothing" said shaSs
bark. sadly. II can't see nothing ct
Here's q dollar laughed some one
In In ,as crowd. Orlando handed out the
been taken shagbark's eyes suddenly
improved. He stared down into the
tumbler Of water.
T see a man atartin' out on horse
gus. and he amt startia' out from the
shanty. And now ! see CRU Taegus.
He is climbln' in at a back window
somewhere. And now I see mighty
big iron bridget amt finished yof-
men are workin' on It. And now ses
who that is that rs starrin' out on
horseback. It is Ned Pangburn."
Here. I'll take five bottles. Go on"
said some one In the crowd.
You gilt six bottles for Eve dollars. :"
said Shagbark. And now sac a man
In a skir-he is rowing up the river. A
big black niger starts out from a
houseboat after him in another skin: :
the Niger runs him to shore, and thSy
black eye-but the niger downs him.
And now / see ono end Of tina. iron
bridge again. and II is wrecked-an
explosion has wrecked it. And now
man-money for gunpowder or for dy-
Mantle. can't make out which"
I'll take six bottles" cried some one
as Shagbark paused.
Thanks! And my eyes are 'gettin'
better all the time" said Hhagbnrk.
Because now I can see tight into u
mans mind, and I can see him think
In. I can see him thinkin' there
ought to be good money in havin' n
supply of gunpowder and dynamite to
sell to men who want to murder and
kill. I can see him thinkin' he knows
the very place. hid away below the
bluffs, where he could keep his gun
powder and dynamite hid. I see him
stealin' gunpowder and giant powder
and dynamite from the powder houses
Of the wholesale folks, and from stores.
and takin' 1t to his shanty to hide It I
see him sellin' 1t to evil-minded folks
now and again. I see a ton of it, may
be, in the cellar of his shanty.
Il see them four Pangburn boys
murderous mad over the way Grill
Taggus treated their sister" SAID
Shagbark. II see New Pangburn goin'
out on horseback to kill Grill Taggus.
I see Ned get OFF and hide in the
bushes for Grill Taggus to show UP.
and I see Grill Taggus hidin' in tine
wood lot back Of the Pangburn store.
waitfn' for night to come on SO he can
bust into the store and steal what
gunpowder may be in the store. see
Orley Pangburn shut UP the store and
start out after Ned with Chris and
John, and Grill Taggus busting into
the store. I see Grill Taggus climb out
of the back window with them three
quarter kegs of gunpow der that he Is
going to add to his stock down at his
shanty. And then I SEQ that explosion
again. I see 1t rip the shanty to bits
and tear up the earth and throw down
the willows in a way beside which all
the damage three quarter kegs could
do would be like nothing at all"
go on! Go on" a hundred voices
demanded.
1T see Grill Taggus, scared lest folks
know by the explosion what business
he had been in, drop the three quarter
kegs of powder in the wood lot back
of the Pangburn store and run. 7 see
Ned Pangburn. drunk, stare at the
hole where Cribs shanty had been and
get madden and madden because he
thought Grill had gone to death on
his own hook and escaped a Pang-
burn vengeance. 1 see him comm to
Hardtentown and braggin' he had
killed Grill Taggus. l see them three
other liar men, his brothers comm to
tell like lie to save Ned's neck. I
see folks huntin' the place around the
wrecked shanty to find more or less
atoms of Grill Taggus' corpse, andt I
See
what do you see. Shagbarkf" the
waiting crowd called to him.
We'll, I don't see nothin' just now"
the barly old medicine faker said.
Seems like I'd got to wait minute
until Pete comes out. Just about a
minute, and I amt got no watch, SO I
figure time by Shagbark oil. / fgger
minute Is about twenty bottles
three bottles to the second is about the
time it takes me and Orlando to hand
it out and take in the money Thank
you. And thank you. sir! And your"
He turned and dropped the money
into the box behind him. -
And now" he said, II see there afn't
no murder, and I see there amt no
corpse in atoms of more or less size.
and there amt no more mystery be-
cause / see-Pete, fetch him out, see
Bound and gagged. stiff from having
been tied down on Alice's he'd in her
little partitioned-Qf room, and wholly
supported by Black Pete. Grill Tasgus
was thrust out of the cabin upon the
deck.
Because 1 see this here Grill Tag
gusts still alive said Shagbark, be-
cause he was lucky enough to be out
tryin' to steal gunpowder when the
lightning struck his shack"
Copyright, 1918. By Mcclure syndicat.N