The Holly chieftain., 1919-02-27
In the TINE of SILAS WRI,

knew tnat ne was dead. The dust
around him was wet. ran down the
hill few steps and stopped and
whistled to my filly. could hear her
answering whinny far down the dusty
road and then her hoofs as she gal
loped toward me. She came within q
few feet of me and stood snorting. /
caught and mounted her and rode to
the nearest house for help. On the
way l saw why she had stopped. A
number of horses We're feeding on the
roadside near the log house where An
drew Champion lived. Andrew had
just unlOaded some hay and was back
ing out Of his barn. I hitched my
filly and jumped on the rack saying:
"Drive up the road as quick MS you
can. A man has been murdered"
What fearful word It was that
! mad spoken! What u panic 1t made IN
the little dooryard! The man gasped
and jerked the reins and shouted to
his horses and began swearing. The
woman uttered little scream and the
| children ran crying to her side.
The physical facts which are further
related to this tragedy are Of little
moment to me now. The stranger was
dead and we took his 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 to
the scene of the tragedy with lanterns
and fenced 1t off and put some men
on guard there.
In the morning they found the rob-
| ber's footprints in the damp dirt of
the road and measured them. The
whole countryside was afire with ex-
citement and searching the woods and
fields for the highwayman.
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.
had told of the gun with piece Of
wood broken out of its stock, but no
one knew of any such weapon in or
near Lickitysplit.
One day Uncle Peabody and drove
up to Grfmshaw's to make payment
of money. remember 1t was gold
and silver which we carried In little
sack. / asked where Amos was and
Mrs. Grimshaw-a timid, tired-looking,
bony little woman who was never seen
outside of her own hOuse-said that
he was working out on the farm Of .
Mr.. Beekman near Plattsburg. He had
gone over on the stage late in June
to hire out for the haying. observed
that my uncle looked very thoughtful
as we rode back home and had little
to say.
"You never had any idee who that
robber was, did ye?" he asked by and
by.
"No-I could not see plain-it was
so DUSK" said.
The swift words, "Your money or
your life," came out Of my memory
and rang in it. I felt It's likeness to
the scolding demands of Mr.. Grim
shaw, who was forever saying in ef-
feet:
"Your money or your home"
That was like demanding our lives,
because we couldn't live without our
home. Our all was in 1t. Mr.. Grim
shaw's gun was the power he had over
us, and what terrible weapon 1t
wasl l credit him with never realts-
ing how terrible.
We came to the sandhills and then
Uncle Peabody broke the silence by
saying:
II wouldn't give fifty cents for as
much O. this land as bird could fly
around in day."
Then for long time I heard only
the sound of feet and wheels muffled
in the sand, while my uncle sat look
ing thoughtfully at the siding. When
l spoke to him he seemed not to hear
me.
Before we reached home I knew
what was in his mind. but neither
dared speak of 1t.
People came from Canton and all
the neighboring villages to see and talk
with me, and among them were the
Dunkelbergs. Unfounded tales Of my
bravery had gone abroad.
Sally seemed to be very glad to see
me. We walked down to the brook
and up into the maple grove and back
through the meadows.