The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1919-04-04

Bring u Down Upon the Head OF
| tho Leader.
had time to raise my fail and bring It
down upon the head Of the leader,
who fell as ! had seen beef fall I'M
der the ak. Another man stopped be-
yond the reach of my fail and, after
a seconds hesitation, turned and ran
away In the darkness.
I could hear or see no other motion
In the field. turned and ran on
down the slope toward the village. In
q moment l saw someone coming out
of the maple grove at the fields end,
just ahead, with lantern.
Then heard the voice of the school
master saying:
"Is 1t you, my lad?"
"Yes," answered, as I came up to
him and Mary. in condition Of
GREATNESS excitement.
] told them Of the curious adventure
] had had.
"Come quick" said the schoolmas-
ter. Let's go back and find the man
in the STUMBLE"
remembered that had struck the
path in my flight just before stopping
to swing the fail. The man must have
fallen very near 1t. Soon we found
where he had been lying and drops Of
fresh blood on the stubble.
'Hush," said the schoolmaster.
We listened and heard a wagon rat
Ting at wild pace down the road
toward the river.
"There he goes" said Mr.. Racket.
His companions have carried him
away. Ye'd be, riding In that wagon
now. yerself, my brave lad, II We hadn't
a made q lucky hit with the fail
God bless vel"
"what would they "a done, with
me? asked.
"Oh, I reckon they'd "a took We off,
lad, and KEEP We for year or so until
Amos was out o. DANGER" said Mr..
Hacket. maybe they'd drowned We in
the river down there an left yer
clothes on the bank to make It look
like an honest drowning. The devil
knows what they'd "a done with We,
laddie buck. Well have to keep an
eye on we now, every day until the
trial Is over-sure we will. Come, we'll
60 up to the barn and see II Kate Is
there"
Just then we heard the receding
wagon 90 roaring over the bridge on
Little river. Mary shuddered with
fright. The schoolmaster treasured us
by saying:
'Don't be afraid. brought my gun
In case we'd meet a painter. But the
danger Is past"
He drew long pistol from his coat
pocket and held II In the light Of the
lantern.
The loaded cart stood in the middle
OF the barn floor, where had left 1t.
but old Kate had gone. We closed
the barn, drawing the cart along with
us. When we came into the edge OF
the village I began to reflect upon the
strange peril out Of which i had SO
luckily escaped. 1t gave me a heavy
sense of responsibility and OF the
wickedness of men.
thought of old Kate and her broken
silence. For once / had heard her
speak. / could feel my flesh tingle
when I thought of her quick words
and her hoarse, passionate whisper.
knew. or thought knew, why she
took such care Of me. She was In
league with the gallows and could not
bear to see 1t cheated of Its prey. For
some reason she hated the Grmshaws.
] had seen the hate in her eyes the
day she logged along behind the old
money lender through the streets of
the village when her pointing finger
had seemed to say to me: "There,
there Is the man who has brought me
to this. lie has put these rags upon
my back. this fire In my heart. this
wild look In my eyes. Wait and you
will see what l will put upon>hln."