Evening star., 1921-10-09
bled with excitement as he read the
accommodating letter:

bled with excitement as he read the
accompanying letter:
November 10, 1919.
My Dear Sheriff: Enclosed please
find my personal check for five thou
sand dollars. 1t is made out to Mrs.
Mcbride. I am sending 1t to you for
proper delivery. 1 feel. from your en-
thusiastic account of her recent ex-
perience, that it will give you pleas
ure to present it to her.
Under the circumstances do NOT
begrudge the money. When first ad-
vised of Ruggam's escape, 1t was not
headed impulse which prompted me to
offer a reward so large. The old clan
blood of the wileys must have made
me murder-mad that Ruggam should
regain his freedom permanently after
the hellish thing he did to my brother.
II this money is going to woman
heaven-to use your wordsi am sat;
isfied. Convey to her my personal
congratulations, gratitude and best
wishes. Cordially yours.
Good old old chris| I, muttsred psaasre the the
white" He thrust both check and
letter back into the long envelope
and headed for the local livery-stab!e.
He ordered a rig in which he might
drive at once to the Mcbride house In
the northern part of town.
y
1.-TWO weeks ago-on Monday, the
- twenty-seventh of the past Octo-
berthe telephone-bel rang sharply
in our newspaper-ofnce a few mo-
ments before the paper went to press.
The connection was made, and over
tho wire came the voice Of young
Stewart, crisp as lettuce:
Special dispatch Wyndgate,
Vermont, October 27 Ready?"
Stewart proceeded:
"Hapwe1l Ruggam, serving a life
bsntence for the murder of Deputy
Sheriff Martin Wiley at Lost Nation
kitchen-dance two years ago, killed
Jacob Lambwell, his guard, and es-
capped from prison at noon today.
"Ruggam had been given some re-
pair work to do near the outer prison
gate. 1t was opened to admit a
tradesmans automobile. AS Guard
1ambwell turned to close the gate,
Ruggam felled him with his shovel.
He escaped to the adjacent railroad
yards, stole a corduroy coat and pair
Of blue overalls hanging in a SWITCH
mans shanty and caught the twelve
forty freight up Green River; 49,
telegraph near Norwall. The fugi-
tive. assuming correctly that 1t was
slowing down for search, was seen by
q brakeman fleeing across a pasture
between the tracks and the eastern
edge Of Haystack mountain. Several
posses have already started after him
and sheriffs through northern New Eng
land are being notified.
christopher Wiley, lumber mag
nate and brother Of Ruggam's for
~vf@ hos 1.l -
$4,000 for Ruggam's capture, dead or
alive. Guard Lambwel1 was removed
to q hospital, where he died at $780,
All right?"
When the big Duplex was grind
shook the building the boys and girls
gathered around to discuss the thing
which had happened.
"Ruggam." the editor explained. els
a poor unfortunate, who should have
penitentiary. He killed Mart Wiley.
p deputy sheriff, at Lost Nation
Kitchen dance two years ago"
where's the Lost Nation?
Its term applied to most OF the
town of Partridgeville in the north
sible district back in the mountains
peopled with gone-to-seed stock and
half-civilized i1literates. Ruggam was
the local blacksmith"
"nato k1tcnen dancer
Ordinarily q kitchen dance is
harmless enough. But the Lost Ma
tion folks use 1t as an excuse for q
hebauch. They gather In some sizabie
shack, set the stove out into the yard,
soak themselves in aromatic spirits
Of deviltry, and dance from Saturday
hight until Monday noon
"And this Ruggam killed a sheriff
kt ono Of them?"
"He got into a brawl with another
chap. Some one passing saw the fight
lind sent for an officer. Mart Wiley
was deputy, afraid Of neither man,
God nor devil. Hap Ruggam must
have had help, because he first got
Mart tied to a tree in the yard. Then
Ruggam caught up a billet of wood
knd-and killed him with that"