The Challis messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1912-current, 1922-01-11

-'s vi unpieiiilshed lineage.
but mere change of clotbas .rd
condition does not penetrate far ho
low the surface. A silken pown oan
NOT after the currents Of sbodav
SOUL and while externally the spur,ons
neir was all f. F. ", internally he was
negro. After few years never bav,
ing discovered the deception pract,caa
upon him by Roxana, Percy Driscoll
died' penniless, but his brother tho
Judge. his prayer for children q, hi,
own denied, adopted the suppos,t,tious
1om' and made the boy his heir Ha
sent MIN to college. He gave him ev.
cry advantage that an affectionate
rather could have given a bow Of his
own, but the raw material which was
the real Tom was poor, and the so,,
uhfrultful. The boy acquired taste
Tor dissipation for which the simple
lie OF Dawson's Landing offered no
assuagements. He plunged into tbe
gay whirl Of st. Louis garnering moth.
Ing but dlsgraceful gambling debt,
worst OF all he was at heart a snob
abused the real heir now become hi.
slave. and acquired a profound detes.
tatiOn for his ancient nurse. Roxans
OF whose real relation to him he was
unaware. until goaded to intense re.
sentiment by his contemptuous and
brutal treatment, she acquainted him
with the terrible facts Of his birth
and ancestry. and demanded that he
treat her as a mother on penalty of
exposure.
The revelation Frustrated the i'm
poster for brief period, but failed to
spur him on to better behavior. He
went from bad to worse. stopping even
to HOUSEKEEPING In order to obtain
funds to pay his gambling debts. In
his mothers power, and she not ct all
disinclined to blackmail, he was driv.
en- to all sorts Of expedients to satisfy
his own and her demands. But through
1t all he managed to maintain an out
ward appearance Of superiority that
enabled him to dazzle his inferior,
and deceive his equals. The judges
love for the boy blinded him to the
lads evil character but once he near
~ disinherited him on the score Of
cowardice. A pair of mysterious Ital
ian twins settled at Dawson's Land
ing. and at a public meeting. Tom
having provoked him to action by his
insolence, Luigi. the stronger Of the
two, had kicked the scion of the
House of Driscoll off the stage into the
audience, the stain of which insult e
real F. F. V. would have wiped out
upon the field OF honor. but for which
the cowardice of Tom found ample
satisfaction in the police court which
proceeding so outraged the good judge
that for the honor Of his family he
personally fought a duel with the Of
Tending italian, wounding him, and
thus laying the foundations for much
| future trouble.
Came now the supreme touches l.
the career Of the spurious Tom. For
the payment of newly acquired gam
| bling debts. with Roxana's consent
Tom sold his own mother back into
| the slavery from which at Driscoll's
death she had been freed. but In VIC
lation of his promises he sold her
| down the river" crime that reacted
upon his unfilial head when the re
sourceful Roxana escaped. and under
threat of exposure of his real status
in life, required him 20 indemnify her
new master lest she be apprehended
and returned to him. Having no otheE
| resources Tom resolved upon the ron
bery of his henefactor. the Judge, in
the fulfillment of which venture ne
| murdered him, his weapon being an
| oriental knife Of unusual design, which
he had stolen from Luigi, the Italian
| in one of his theft-raids.
The murder Of Judge Driscoll
brought great excitement to Dawson
Landing. and the italian twins narrow
" escaped lynching for the crime
The whole community adtudged them
gutlty-all but Pudd'nhead Wilson,
who volunteered to defend them
in court. a poor reliance since the
were his first and only clients. But
Pudd'nhead was unafraid. The evil
dence against them was most convinc'
ing. but
There were flnger-prints upon the
knife handle. and they were not the
finger-prints Of the accused!
whose finger-prints were they'
Tom, secure in his sense OF safet!
because OF the Overwhelming evidence
against the twins, ventured 70 faun'
Pudd'nhead upon his confidence IN
winning his case. He entered ms
s,udv. and seating himself at Puodn
heads side while ne studied the prints
in his collection, he picked up one VI
the records. =,
"why here's old Ro1y's label, ne
soid contemptuously. "Nisser-paws
eh9 There's line across her thuiho-
nr,nt Now how comes that?
Pudd'nhead taking the glass from
Toms hand held it up to the ia'nt''
The blood sank suddenly OUT OF las
face. He ga1ed at the peiiSneN Sun.
of n lOTtSt.