Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1919-01-29

nand. II the gun had been loaded
suppose that this little history would
never have been written. Quickly I
hurled the stone at the robber. re.
member II was . smallish stone about
the size Of hens egg. saw It gra1e
the side Of his head. I saw his hand
touch the place which the stone had
graxed. He reeled and nearly fell and
recovered himself and ran on. but the
little stone had put the mark Of Cain
upon him.
The stranger lay still In the road.
lifted 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 20 scared me. for
knew that ne was dead. Tho dust
around him was wet. ran down the
hillS few steps and stopped and
whistled to my FLY. could hear her
answering whlnny far down the dusty
road and then her hoofs a. she gal
Hoped toward me. She came within .
few feet Of me and stood snorting. 1
caught and mounted her and rode to
the nearest house for help. 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. I hitched my
FLY and jumped on the rack saying:
"Drive up the road as quick as you
can. A man has been murdered"
What q fearful word 1t was that
had spoken! What 4 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 Ind the
children ran crying to her side.
The physical facts which are further
related to this tragedy are of little
moment to mo now. The stranger was
dead and We took his body to our home
and my uncle cot out for the constable.
Over ana over again that night told
the story Of the shooting. We went to
the scene Of the tragedy with lanterns
and fencsl - o6 and put some men
On Guard thefs. n
In the norniag thsy found the rob-
bsr's footprints IN the damp dirt of
the road and measured them. The
whole countryside was allre 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 ont OF Its stock, but no
one knew Of any such weapon in or
near Lickitysplit.
One day Uncle Peabody and I drove
up to Grimshaw's to make . payment
Of money. remember 1t was gold
and silver which We carried in a little
sack. I 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 4
Mr.. Beekman near Plattsburg. He had
gone over on the stage late In June
to hire ont for the haying. observed
that my uncle looked very thoughtful
a. we rode back homo and had little
to say.
''You never had any idee who that
robber was, did YER he asked by and
BY.
"No-I could not see plain-it was
% dusk" said. h
The swift words, "Your money or
your lifs." came out Of my memory
ana rang in It. I felt its likeness to
the scolding demands Of Mr.. Grim
shaw, who was forever saying In a.
eoct:
"Your money o. 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 q terrible weapon 1t
was! I credit him with never realiz-
ing how terrible.
(To be Continued.)