Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1919-11-21
CHAPTER XIII.
Kirbv and I Meet.


.nodding, and so soon as felt reason
ably assured that she was without in
terest in my movements, l leaned for
ward and endeavored to arouse Ken
nedy. This was by no means easy Of
accomplishment, and I was compelled
to pinch the fellow rather severely
before he sat up angrily, hurting out
the first words which came to his lips:
'What the devil"
His half-opened eyes caught my ges-
ture for silence, and he stopped in
stantly. his lips widely parted.
Meet me outside" l whispered,
warningly. "But be careful about it."
The slight noise had failed to dis
turb the woman, and / succeeded ID
slipping through the unlatched door
without noting any change in her pos
ture. Tim, now thoroughly awake,
and aware of something serious in the
air, was not long in joining me with
out, and drew him aside into spot
of deeper blackness under the trees.
He was still indignant over the pinch
ing, and remained drunk enough to be
quarrelsome. / cut his muffied pro-
family short.
"That's quite enough of that, Tim,"
l said sharply, and was aware that he
stared back at me, plainly perplexed
by the change in my tone and manner.
"You are an officer of the law; so am
/, and it is about time we were work
ing together"
He managed to release gruff laugh.
"You-you d. bum; h, that's a
good joke-what'r yer givin' me now"
"The exact truth; and it will be
worth your while, my man, to brace up
and listen. am going to give you a
chance to redeem yourself-a last
chance. 1t will be nice story to tell
back in st. Louis that you helped to
kidnap wealthy young white woman,
using your Office as a cloak for the
crime. and, besides that, killing two
men to serve a river gambler. Sup
pose 1 was to tell that sort of tale to
Governor Clark, and give him the
proofs-where would you land?
He breathed hard, scarcely able to
articulate, but decidedly sober.
"What-what's that? Amt you the
fellar thet wus on the boat? Who
who the devil are yer"
Il am an officer in the army" 1 said
gravely, determined to impress him
| first of all, land / worked on that
steamer merely to learn the facts in
this case. know the whole truth now,
| ox,or 70 uo,,r Iota UrorraI x.,;tl, L-;ul-
1 do not believe you realized before
what you were doing-but you do now.
You are guilty of assisting that con-
temptible gambler to abduct Eloise
Beaucaire. and are shielding him now
in his cowardly scheme to compel her
to marry him by threats and force"
1.-THE d, low-lived pup-I told
him whut he wus."
''Yes, but that doesn't prevent the
crime. He's all you said, and more
But calling the man names isn't going
to frighten him, nor get that girl out
of his clutches. What want to know
Is, are you ready to help me fight the
fellow? Block his gamer
"How7 What do We want done?"
"Give me a pledge first, and I'll tel
you"
Did you say ye wus an army offer
cer?"
"Yes, a lieutenant; my name is
Knox"
II never know'd yer"
Probably not, but Joe Kirby does
l was on the steamer Warrior comm,
down when he robbed old Judge Beau
caire. That was what got me mixed
up In this affair. Later I was in tina
sxiff you fellows rammed and sunk OF
the Illinois. / know the whole dirt,
story. Kennedy, from the very begin
ming. And now it is up to you wheth
er or not I tell it to Governor Clark"
81 reckon yer must be right" he ad
mitted helplessly. "Only 1 quit col,
the minute caught on ter whut wu
+. up. / never know'd she want no mig
ger till after. we got yere. Sures We
r live that's true. Only then 1 didn'
know whut else ter do, so I got bilin
drunk"
:. you are willing to work with me
] thenT
"Yer kin bet l am; I amt n
gurl-stealer."
r Then listen, Kennedy. Jack Raj
d told me exactly what their plans were
r because he needed me to help hin
] When you jumped the reservation, h
had to find someone else, and pickle
:. me. They mean to pull off the affal
tonight. Here's the story"
r l told it to him, exactly in the forr
1t had come to me, interrupted only /
r the recital by an occasional profan
q ejaculation, or some interjected que.
tion. The deputy appeared sobe
d enough before had finished, and full