The daily Alaskan., 1919-03-11

the side of his head. I saw his hand touch tke place which the stone had grazed. He reeled and nearly fell and recovered himself and ran on, but the little stone had put the mark of Cain upon hiIn.
 The stranger lay still in the road. Tilted his head and dropped 1t quick ly with a strange sickness. The feel of it and the way 1t fell back upon the ground when let go scared me, for l knew that he was dead. The dust around him was wet. I ran down the hill a few steps and stopped and whIstled to my Ally. could hear her answering whinny far down the dusty road and then her hoofs as she gal loped toward me. She came within a few feet of me and stood snorting, I caught and mounted her and rode to the nearest house for telp. On the way I saw why she had stopped. A number of horses were 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. l hitched my Ally and jumped on the rack saying:
 "Drlye up the road as quick as you can. A man has been murdered"
 What a. fearful word 1t, was that I had spoken! What panic 1t made in the little dooryardl 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. 1 had told of the gun with a piece of wood broken out of its stock, but no one knew of any such weapon in or near Lickityspllt.
 One day Uncle Peabody and l drove up to GrimShaw's to make a payment of money. I remember 1t was gold and silver which we carried in little sack. l asked where Amos was and Mrs. Grlmshaw-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 Mir. Beekman near Plattsburg. He had gone over on the stage late in June to hire out for the having. I 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 yep 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 1t. I felt its likeness 70 the scolding demands of Mir. 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 It. Mir. Grim shaw's gun was the power he had over us, and what terrible weapon It was! credit him with never resliz' ing how terrible.
 We came to the sandhills and then Uncle Peabody broke the silence by saying:
 q wouldn't give fifty cents for as much O this land as a bird could fly around In a day"
 Then for a long time I heard only the sound of feet and wheels mufled In the sand, while my uncle sat look Ing thonghtfully at the siding. When spoke to him he seemed rot 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 nelghboring 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 aud back through the meadows.
 The beauty of that perfect day was upon her. I remember that her dress was like the color of It's fireweed blos- sons and that the blue of its sky was In her eyes and the yellow of the sun- light in her hair and the red of Its clover in her cheeks. Iremember how the August breeZes played with her