The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1919-06-20

who fell as had seen peer Iall un-
der the az, Another man stopped be-
yond the reach of my fail and. after
seconds hesitation, turned and ran
away In the darkness.
/ could hear or see no other motion
In the field. I turned and ran on
down the slope toward the village. In
a moment saw someone coming out
OF the maple grove at the fields end.
lust ahead, with a lantern.
Then heard the voice OF the school
master saying:
sIs 1t you, my iadT
"Yes," answered. as came up to
him and Mary. in a condition OF
breathless excitement.
1 told them of the curious adventure
had had.
"Come quick" said the schoolmas-
ter. Lets go back and find the man
In the stuhble."
1 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 wagon rat
Ting at wild pace down the road
toward the river.
ssThere he goes" said Mr.. Hacket.
"His companions have carried him
away. Ye'd be riding in that wagon
now, yerself. my brave lad, If We hadn't
"a, made a lucky hit with the fail
God bless vel"
"What would they "a done with
me?" / asked.
"Oh, reckon they'd "a took ye off,
lad, and KEEP ye for a year or SO until
Amos was out o. danger said Mr..
Hacket. Maybe they'd drowned ye 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 ye now. every day until the
trial Is oyer-sure we will. Come. wen
20 up to the barn and see II Kate is
there"
Just then we heard the receding
wagon go roaring over the bridge on
Little river. Mary shuddered with
fright. The schoolmaster reassured us
by saying:
"Don't be afraid. I 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 1t 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
u.s. When we came into the edge of
the village began to reflect upon the
strange peril out of which / 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. I could feel my flesh tingle
when 1 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 it cheated of its prey. For
some reason she hated the Grimshaws.
l had seen the hate in her eyes the
day she dogged 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. He has put these rags upon
my back, this fire in my heart, this
wild look in my eyes. Wait and you
will see what 1 will put upon him.
l knew that old Kate was not the
irresponsible, witless creature that
people thought her to be. I had begun
to think OF her with kind of awe as
one gifted above all others. One by
one the things she had said of the
future seemed to be coming true.
As we were going into the house the
schoolmaster said:
Now, Mary. you take this lantern
and go across the street to the house
o Deacon Binks, the constable. You'll
find him asleep by the kitchen stove.
Arrest his slumbers, but not rudely,
and, when he has come to, tell him
that / have news o. the devil"
Deacon Binks arrived, fat man
with big, round body and a very
wise and serious countenance between
side whiskers bending from his temple
to his neck and suggesting parentheses
of hair. as If his head and It's acces-
sories were in the nature of a side
issue. He and the schoolmaster went
out of doors and must have talked to-
gether while 1 was eating a bowl of
bread and milk which Mrs. Hacket had
brought to me.
When went to bed, by and by, I
heard somebody snoring on the little
porch under my window. The first
sound that reached my ear at the
break of dawn was the snoring of
some sleeper. 1 dressed and went be-
low and found the constable in his
coonskin overcoat asleep on the porch
with a long-barrcled gun at his side
While l stood there the schoolmaster
came around the corner of the house