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diff --git a/old/14818.txt b/old/14818.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..84ab644 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/14818.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9671 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Daughter of Anderson Crow, by George Barr +McCutcheon, Illustrated by B. Martin Justice + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Daughter of Anderson Crow + +Author: George Barr McCutcheon + +Release Date: January 27, 2005 [eBook #14818] +[Last updated: December 28, 2020] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DAUGHTER OF ANDERSON CROW*** + + +E-text prepared by Rick Niles, Charlie Kirschner, and the Project +Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 14818-h.htm or 14818-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/8/1/14818/14818-h/14818-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/8/1/14818/14818-h.zip) + + + + + +THE DAUGHTER OF ANDERSON CROW + +by + +GEORGE BARR MCCUTCHEON + +Author of _Beverly of Graustark_, _Jane Cable_, etc. + +With Illustrations by B. Martin Justice + +New York +Dodd, Mead and Company + +1907 + + + + + + + +[Illustration: Anderson Crow] + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER + I. ANDERSON CROW, DETECTIVE + II. THE PURSUIT BEGINS + III. THE CULPRITS + IV. ANDERSON RECTIFIES AN ERROR + V. THE BABE ON THE DOORSTEP + VI. REFLECTION AND DEDUCTION + VII. THE MYSTERIOUS VISITOR + VIII. SOME YEARS GO BY + IX. THE VILLAGE QUEEN + X. ROSALIE HAS PLANS OF HER OWN + XI. ELSIE BANKS + XII. THE SPELLING-BEE + XIII. A TINKLETOWN SENSATION + XIV. A CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY + XV. ROSALIE DISAPPEARS + XVI. THE HAUNTED HOUSE + XVII. WICKER BONNER, HARVARD + XVIII. THE MEN IN THE SLEIGH + XIX. WITH THE KIDNAPERS + XX. IN THE CAVE + XXI. THE TRAP-DOOR + XXII. JACK, THE GIANT KILLER + XXIII. TINKLETOWN'S CONVULSION + XXIV. THE FLIGHT OF THE KIDNAPERS + XXV. AS THE HEART GROWS OLDER + XXVI. THE LEFT VENTRICLE + XXVII. THE GRIN DERISIVE +XXVIII. THE BLIND MAN'S EYES + XXIX. THE MYSTERIOUS QUESTIONER + XXX. THE HEMISPHERE TRAIN ROBBERY + XXXI. "AS YOU LIKE IT" + XXXII. THE LUCK OF ANDERSON CROW +XXXIII. BILL BRIGGS TELLS A TALE + XXXIV. ELSIE BANKS RETURNS + XXXV. THE STORY IS TOLD + XXXVI. ANDERSON CROW'S RESIGNATION + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + Anderson Crow (Frontispiece) + + "'Safe for a minute or two at least,' he whispered" + + "A baby, alive and warm, lay packed in the blankets" + + "September brought Elsie Banks" + + "The teacher was amazingly pretty on this eventful night" + + "'What is the meaning of all this?'" + + The haunted house + + Wicker Bonner + + "Rosalie was no match for the huge woman" + + "She shrank back from another blow which seemed impending" + + "Left the young man to the care of an excellent nurse" + + "'I think I understand, Rosalie'" + + "'I beg your pardon,' he said humbly'" + + "It was a wise, discreet old oak" + + "The huge automobile had struck the washout" + + + + + +CHAPTER I + +Anderson Crow, Detective + + +He was imposing, even in his pensiveness. There was no denying the fact +that he was an important personage in Tinkletown, and to the residents +of Tinkletown that meant a great deal, for was not their village a +perpetual monument to the American Revolution? Even the most +generalising of historians were compelled to devote at least a paragraph +to the battle of Tinkletown, while some of the more enlightened gave a +whole page and a picture of the conflict that brought glory to the +sleepy inhabitants whose ancestors were enterprising enough to +annihilate a whole company of British redcoats, once on a time. + +Notwithstanding all this, a particularly disagreeable visitor from the +city once remarked, in the presence of half a dozen descendants (after +waiting twenty minutes at the post-office for a dime's worth of stamps), +that Tinkletown was indeed a monument, but he could not understand why +the dead had been left unburied. There was excellent cause for +resentment, but the young man and his stamps were far away before the +full force of the slander penetrated the brains of the listeners. + +Anderson Crow was as imposing and as rugged as the tallest shaft of +marble in the little cemetery on the edge of the town. No one questioned +his power and authority, no one misjudged his altitude, and no one +overlooked his dignity. For twenty-eight years he had served Tinkletown +and himself in the triple capacity of town marshal, fire chief and +street commissioner. He had a system of government peculiarly his own; +and no one possessed the heart or temerity to upset it, no matter what +may have been the political inducements. It would have been like trying +to improve the laws of nature to put a new man in his place. He had +become a fixture that only dissolution could remove. Be it said, +however, that dissolution did not have its common and accepted meaning +when applied to Anderson Crow. For instance, in discoursing upon the +obnoxious habits of the town's most dissolute rake--Alf +Reesling--Anderson had more than once ventured the opinion that "he was +carrying his dissolution entirely too far." + +And had not Anderson Crow risen to more than local distinction? Had not +his fame gone abroad throughout the land? Not only was he the Marshal of +Tinkletown at a salary of $200 a year, but he was president of the +County Horse-thief Detectives' Association and also a life-long delegate +to the State Convention of the Sons of the Revolution. Along that line, +let it be added, every parent in Tinkletown bemoaned the birth of a +daughter, because that simple circumstance of origin robbed the +society's roster of a new name. + +Anderson Crow, at the age of forty-nine, had a proud official record +behind him and a guaranteed future ahead. Doubtless it was of this that +he was thinking, as he leaned pensively against the town hitching-rack +and gingerly chewed the blade of wire-grass which dangled even below the +chin whiskers that had been with him for twenty years. The faraway +expression in his watery-blue eyes gave evidence that he was as great +reminiscently as he was personally. So successful had been his career as +a law preserver, that of late years no evil-doer had had the courage to +ply his nefarious games in the community. The town drunkard, Alf +Reesling, seldom appeared on the streets in his habitual condition, +because, as he dolefully remarked, he would deserve arrest and +confinement for "criminal negligence," if for nothing else. The +marshal's fame as a detective had long since escaped from the narrow +confines of Tinkletown. He was well known at the county seat, and on no +less than three occasions had his name mentioned in the "big city" +papers in connection with the arrest of notorious horse-thieves. + +And now the whole town was trembling with a new excitement, due to the +recognition accorded her triple official. On Monday morning he had +ventured forth from his office in the long-deserted "calaboose," +resplendent in a brand-new nickel-plated star. By noon everybody in town +knew that he was a genuine "detective," a member of the great +organisation known as the New York Imperial Detective Association; and +that fresh honour had come to Tinkletown through the agency of a +post-revolution generation. The beauty of it all was that Anderson never +lost a shred of his serenity in explaining how the association had +implored him to join its forces, even going so far as to urge him to +come to New York City, where he could assist and advise in all of its +large operations. And, moreover, he had been obliged to pay but ten +dollars membership fee, besides buying the blazing star for the paltry +sum of three dollars and a quarter. + +Every passer-by on this bright spring morning offered a respectful +"Howdy" to Anderson Crow, whose only recognition was a slow and +imposing nod of the head. Once only was he driven to relinquish his +pensive attitude, and that was when an impertinent blue-bottle fly +undertook to rest for a brief spell upon the nickel-plated star. Never +was blue-bottle more energetically put to flight. + +But even as the Tinkletown Pooh-Bah posed in restful supremacy there +were rushing down upon him affairs of the epoch-making kind. Up in the +clear, lazy sky a thunderbolt was preparing to hurl itself into the very +heart of Tinkletown, and at the very head of Anderson Crow. + +Afterward it was recalled by observing citizens that just before +noon--seven minutes to twelve, in fact--a small cloud no bigger than the +proverbial hand crossed the sun hurriedly as if afraid to tarry. At that +very instant a stranger drove up to the hitching-rack, bringing his +sweat-covered horse to a standstill so abruptly in front of the +marshal's nose that that dignitary's hat fell off backward. + +"Whoa!" came clearly and unmistakably from the lips of the stranger who +held the reins. Half a dozen loafers on the post-office steps were +positive that he said nothing more, a fact that was afterward worth +remembering. + +"Here!" exclaimed Anderson Crow wrathfully. "Do you know what you're +doin', consarn you?" + +"I beg pardon," everybody within hearing heard the young man say. "Is +this the city of Tinkletown?" He said "city," they could swear, every +man's son of them. + +"Yes, it is," answered the marshal severely. "What of it?" + +"That's all. I just wanted to know. Where's the store?" + +"Which store?" quite crossly. The stranger seemed nonplussed at this. + +"Have you more than--oh, to be sure. I should say, where is the +_nearest_ store?" apologised the stranger. + +"Well, this is a good one, I reckon," said Mr. Crow laconically, +indicating the post-office and general store. + +"Will you be good enough to hold my horse while I run in there for a +minute?" calmly asked the new arrival in town, springing lightly from +the mud-spattered buggy. Anderson Crow almost staggered beneath this +indignity. The crowd gasped, and then waited breathlessly for the +withering process. + +"Why--why, dod-gast you, sir, what do you think I am--a hitchin'-post?" +exploded on the lips of the new detective. His face was flaming red. + +"You'll have to excuse me, my good man, but I thought I saw a +hitching-rack as I drove up. Ah, here it is. How careless of me. But +say, I won't be in the store more than a second, and it doesn't seem +worth while to tie the old crow-bait. If you'll just watch him--or +her--for a minute I'll be greatly obliged, and--" + +"Watch your own horse," roared the marshal thunderously. + +"Don't get huffy," cried the young man cheerily. "It will be worth a +quarter to you." + +"Do you know who I am?" demanded Anderson Crow, purple to the roots of +his goatee. + +"Yes, sir; I know perfectly well, but I refuse to give it away. Here, +take the bit, old chap, and hold Dobbin for about a minute and half," +went on the stranger ruthlessly; and before Anderson Crow knew what had +happened he was actually holding the panting nag by the bit. The young +man went up the steps three at a time, almost upsetting Uncle Gideon +Luce, who had not been so spry as the others in clearing the way for +him. The crowd had ample time in which to study the face, apparel and +manner of this energetic young man. + +That he was from the city, good-looking and well dressed, there was no +doubt. He was tall and his face was beardless; that much could be seen +at a glance. Somehow, he seemed to be laughing all the time--a fact that +was afterward recalled with some surprise and no little horror. At the +time, the loungers thought his smile was a merry one, but afterward they +stoutly maintained there was downright villainy in the leer. His coat +was very dusty, proving that he had driven far and swiftly. Three or +four of the loungers followed him into the store. He was standing before +the counter over which Mr. Lamson served his soda-water. In one hand he +held an envelope and in the other his straw hat. George Ray, more +observant than the rest, took note of the fact that it was with the hat +that he was fanning himself vigorously. + +"A plain vanilla--please rush it along," commanded the stranger. Mr. +Lamson, if possible slower than the town itself, actually showed +unmistakable signs of acceleration. Tossing off the soda, the stranger +dried his lips with a blue-hemmed white handkerchief. "Is this the +post-office?" he asked. + +"Yep," said Mr. Lamson, who was too penurious to waste words. + +"Anything here for me?" demanded the newcomer. + +"I'll see," said the postmaster, and from force of habit began looking +through the pile of letters without asking the man's name. Mr. Lamson +knew everybody in the county. + +"Nothing here," taking off his spectacles conclusively. + +"I didn't think there was," said the other complacently. "Give me a +bottle of witch hazel, a package of invisible hair-pins and a box of +parlor matches. Quick; I'm in a hurry!" + +"Did you say hat-pins?" + +"No, sir; I said hair-pins." + +"We haven't any that ain't visible. How would safety-pins do?" + +"Never mind; give me the bottle and the matches," said the other, +glancing at a very handsome gold watch. "Is the old man still holding my +horse?" he called to a citizen near the door. Seven necks stretched +simultaneously to accommodate him, and seven voices answered in the +affirmative. The stranger calmly opened the box of matches, filled his +silver match-safe, and then threw the box back on the counter, an +unheard-of piece of profligacy in those parts. "Needn't mind wrapping +up the bottle," he said. + +"Don't you care for these matches?" asked Mr. Lamson in mild surprise. + +"I'll donate them to the church," said the other, tossing a coin upon +the counter and dashing from the store. The crowd ebbed along behind +him. "Gentle as a lamb, isn't he?" he called to Anderson Crow, who still +clutched the bit. "Much obliged, sir; I'll do as much for you some day. +If you're ever in New York, hunt me up and I'll see that you have a good +time. What road do I take to Crow's Cliff?" + +"Turn to your left here," said Anderson Crow before he thought. Then he +called himself a fool for being so obliging to the fellow. + +"How far is it from here?" + +"Mile and a half," again answered Mr. Crow helplessly. This time he +almost swore under his breath. + +"But he can't get there," volunteered one of the bystanders. + +"Why can't he?" demanded the marshal. + +"Bridge over Turnip Creek is washed out. Did you forget that?" + +"Of course not," promptly replied Mr. Crow, who _had_ forgotten it; +"But, dang it, he c'n swim, can't he?" + +"You say the bridge is gone?" asked the stranger, visibly excited. + +"Yes, and the crick's too high to ford, too." + +"Well, how in thunder am I to get to Crow's Cliff?" + +"There's another bridge four miles upstream. It's still there," said +George Ray. Anderson Crow had scornfully washed his hands of the affair. + +"Confound the luck! I haven't time to drive that far. I have to be there +at half-past twelve. I'm late now! Is there no way to get across this +miserable creek?" He was in the buggy now, whip in hand, and his eyes +wore an anxious expression. Some of the men vowed later that he +positively looked frightened. + +"There's a foot-log high and dry, and you can walk across, but you can't +get the horse and buggy over," said one of the men. + +"Well, that's just what I'll have to do. Say, Mr. Officer, suppose you +drive me down to the creek and then bring the horse back here to a +livery stable. I'll pay you well for it. I must get to Crow's Cliff in +fifteen minutes." + +"I'm no errant-boy!" cried Anderson Crow so wrathfully that two or three +boys snickered. + +"You're a darned old crank, that's what you are!" exclaimed the stranger +angrily. Everybody gasped, and Mr. Crow staggered back against the +hitching-rail. + +"See here, young man, none o' that!" he sputtered. "You can't talk that +way to an officer of the law. I'll--" + +"You won't do anything, do you hear that? But if you knew who I am you'd +be doing something blamed quick." A dozen men heard him say it, and they +remembered it word for word. + +"You go scratch yourself!" retorted Anderson Crow scornfully. That was +supposed to be a terrible challenge, but the stranger took no notice of +it. + +"What am I to do with this horse and buggy?" he growled, half to +himself. "I bought the darned thing outright up in Boggs City, just +because the liveryman didn't know me and wouldn't let me a rig. Now I +suppose I'll have to take the old plug down to the creek and drown him +in order to get rid of him." + +Nobody remonstrated. He looked a bit dangerous with his broad shoulders +and square jaw. + +"What will you give me for the outfit, horse, buggy, harness and all? +I'll sell cheap if some one makes a quick offer." The bystanders looked +at one another blankly, and at last the concentrated gaze fell upon the +Pooh-Bah of the town. The case seemed to be one that called for his +attention; truly, it did not look like public property, this astounding +proposition. + +"What you so derned anxious to sell for?" demanded Anderson Crow, +listening from a distance to see if he could detect a blemish in the +horse's breathing gear. At a glance, the buggy looked safe enough. + +"I'm anxious to sell for cash," replied the stranger; and Anderson was +floored. The boy who snickered this time had cause to regret it, for Mr. +Crow arrested him half an hour later for carrying a bean-shooter. "I +paid a hundred dollars for the outfit in Boggs City," went on the +stranger nervously. "Some one make an offer--and quick! I'm in a rush!" + +"I'll give five dollars!" said one of the onlookers with an apologetic +laugh. This was the match that started fire in the thrifty noddles of +Tinkletown's best citizens. Before they knew it they were bidding +against each other with the true "horse-swapping" instinct, and the +offers had reached $21.25 when the stranger unceremoniously closed the +sale by crying out, "Sold!" There is no telling how high the bids might +have gone if he could have waited half an hour or so. Uncle Gideon Luce +afterward said that he could have had twenty-four dollars "just as well +as not." They were bidding up a quarter at a time, and no one seemed +willing to drop out. The successful bidder was Anderson Crow. + +"You can pay me as we drive along. Jump in!" cried the stranger, looking +at his watch with considerable agitation. "All I ask is that you drive +me to the foot-log that crosses the creek." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +The Pursuit Begins + + +Fifteen minutes later Anderson Crow was parading proudly about the town. +He had taken the stranger to the creek and had seen him scurry across +the log to the opposite side, supplied with directions that would lead +him to the nearest route through the swamps and timberland to Crow's +Cliff. The stranger had Anderson's money in his pocket; but Anderson had +a very respectable sort of driving outfit to show for it. His wife kept +dinner for him until two o'clock, and then sent the youngest Crow out to +tell her father that he'd have to go hungry until supper-time. + +It is no wonder that Anderson failed to reach home in time for the +midday meal. He started home properly enough, but what progress could he +make when everybody in town stopped him to inquire about the remarkable +deal and to have a look at the purchase. Without a single dissenting +voice, Tinkletown said Anderson had very much the "best of the bargain." +George Ray meant all right when he said, "A fool for luck," but he was +obliged to explain thoroughly the witticism before the proud Mr. Crow +could consider himself appeased. + +It was not until he pulled up in front of the _Weekly Banner_ +establishment to tell the reporter "the news" that his equanimity +received its first jar. He was quite proud of the deal, and, moreover, +he enjoyed seeing his name in the paper. In the meantime almost +everybody in Tinkletown was discussing the awful profligacy of the +stranger. It had not occurred to anybody to wonder why he had been in +such a hurry to reach Crow's Cliff, a wild, desolate spot down the +river. + +"The hoss alone is worth fifty dollars easy," volunteered Mr. Crow +triumphantly. The detective's badge on his inflated chest seemed to +sparkle with glee. + +"Say, Anderson, isn't it a little queer that he should sell out so +cheap?" asked Harry Squires, the local reporter and pressfeeder. + +"What's that?" demanded Anderson Crow sharply. + +"Do you think it's really true that he bought the nag up at Boggs City?" +asked the sceptic. Mr. Crow wallowed his quid of tobacco helplessly for +a minute or two. He could feel himself turning pale. + +"He said so; ain't that enough?" he managed to bluster. + +"It seems to have been," replied Harry, who had gone to night school in +Albany for two years. + +"Well, what in thunder are you talking about then?" exclaimed Anderson +Crow, whipping up. + +"I'll bet three dollars it's a stolen outfit!" + +"You go to Halifax!" shouted Anderson, but his heart was cold. Something +told him that Harry Squires was right. He drove home in a state of dire +uncertainty and distress. Somehow, his enthusiasm was gone. + +"Dang it!" he said, without reason, as he was unhitching the horse in +the barn lot. + +"Hey, Mr. Crow!" cried a shrill voice from the street. He looked up and +saw a small boy coming on the run. + +"What's up, Toby?" asked Mr. Crow, all a-tremble. He knew! + +"They just got a telephone from Boggs City," panted the boy, "down to +the _Banner_ office. Harry Squires says for you to hurry down--buggy and +all. It's been stole." + +"Good Lord!" gasped Anderson. His badge danced before his eyes and then +seemed to shrivel. + +Quite a crowd had collected at the _Banner_ office. There was a sudden +hush when the marshal drove up. Even the horse felt the intensity of the +moment. He shied at a dog and then kicked over the dashboard, upsetting +Anderson Crow's meagre dignity and almost doing the same to the vehicle. + +"You're a fine detective!" jeered Harry Squires; and poor old Anderson +hated him ever afterward. + +"What have you heerd?" demanded the marshal. + +"There's been a terrible murder at Boggs City, that's all. The chief of +police just telephoned to us that a farmer named Grover was found dead +in a ditch just outside of town--shot through the head, his pockets +rifled. It is known that he started to town to deposit four hundred +dollars hog-money in the bank. The money is missing, and so are his +horse and buggy. A young fellow was seen in the neighbourhood early this +morning--a stranger. The chief's description corresponds with the man +who sold that rig to you. The murderer is known to have driven in this +direction. People saw him going almost at a gallop." + +It is not necessary to say that Tinkletown thoroughly turned inside out +with excitement. The whole population was soon at the post-office, and +everybody was trying to supply Anderson Crow with wits. He had lost his +own. + +"We've got to catch that fellow," finally resolved the marshal. There +was a dead silence. + +"He's got a pistol," ventured some one. + +"How do you know?" demanded Mr. Crow keenly. "Did y' see it?" + +"He couldn't ha' killed that feller 'thout a gun." + +"That's a fact," agreed Anderson Crow. "Well, we've got to get him, +anyhow. I call for volunteers! Who will join me in the search?" cried +the marshal bravely. + +"I hate to go to Crow's Cliff after him," said George Ray. "It's a +lonesome place, and as dark as night 'mong them trees and rocks." + +"It's our duty to catch him. He's a criminal, and besides, he's killed a +man," said Crow severely. + +"And he has twenty-one dollars of your money," added Harry Squires. +"I'll go with you, Anderson. I've got a revolver." + +"Look out there!" roared Anderson Crow. "The blamed thing might go off!" +he added as the reporter drew a shiny six-shooter from his pocket. + +The example set by one brave man had its influence on the crowd. A +score or more volunteered, despite the objections of their wives, and it +was not long before Anderson Crow was leading his motley band of sleuths +down the lane to the foot-log over which the desperado had gone an hour +before. + +It was at the beginning of the man-hunt that various citizens recalled +certain actions and certain characteristics of the stranger which had +made them suspicious from the start. His prodigal disposition of the box +of matches impressed most of them as reckless dare-devilism; his haste, +anxiety, and a single instance of mild profanity told others of his +viciousness. One man was sure he had seen the stranger's watch chain in +farmer Grover's possession; and another saw something black on his +thumb, which he now remembered was a powder stain. + +"I noticed all them things," averred Anderson Crow, supreme once more. + +"But what in thunder did he want with those hair-pins?" inquired George +Ray. + +"Never mind," said Anderson mysteriously. "You'll find out soon enough." + +"Do you know Anderson?" some one asked. + +"Of course I do," responded the marshal loftily. + +"Well, what were they for, then?" + +"I'm not givin' any clews away. You just wait a while and see if I'm not +right." + +And they were satisfied that the detective knew all about it. After +crossing the foot-log the party was divided as to which direction it +should take. The marshal said the man had run to the southeast, but for +some inexplicable reason quite a number of the pursuers wanted to hunt +for him in the northwest. Finally it was decided to separate into posses +of ten, all to converge at Crow's Cliff as soon as possible. There were +enough double-barrelled shotguns in the party to have conquered a pirate +crew. + +At the end of an hour Anderson Crow and his delegation came to the +narrow path which led to the summit of Crow's Cliff. They were very +brave by this time. A small boy was telling them he had seen the +fugitive about dinner-time "right where you fellers are standin' now." + +"Did he have any blood on him?" demanded Anderson Crow. + +"No, sir; not 'less it was under his clothes." + +"Did he say anythin' to you?" + +"He ast me where this path went to." + +"See that, gentlemen!" cried Anderson. "I knew I was right. He wanted--" + +"Well, where did he go?" demanded Harry Squires. + +"I said it went to the top of the clift. An' then he said, 'How do you +git to the river?' I tole him to go down this side path here an' 'round +the bottom of the hill." + +"Didn't he go up the cliff?" demanded the marshal. + +"No, sir." + +"Well, what in thunder did he ask me where the cliff was if he--" + +"So he went to the river, eh?" interrupted Squires. "Come on, men; he +went down through this brush and bottomland." + +"He got lost, I guess," volunteered the boy. + +"What!" + +"'Cause he yelled at me after he'd gone in a-ways an' ast--an' ast--" +The boy paused irresolutely. + +"Asked what?" + +"He ast me where in h---- the path was." + +"By ginger, that's him, right out an' out!" exclaimed Mr. Crow +excitedly. + +"'Nen he said he'd give me a quarter if I'd show him the way; so I--" + +"Did he give you the quarter?" questioned one of the men. + +"Yep. He'd a roll of bills as big as my leg." Everybody gasped and +thought of Grover's hog-money. + +"You went to the river with him?" interrogated the reporter. + +"I went as fur as the clearin', an' then he tole me to stop. He said he +could find the way from there. After that he run up the bank as if some +one was after him. There was a boat waitin' fer him under the clift." + +"Did he get into it?" cried Squires. + +"He tole me not to look or he'd break my neck," said the boy. The posse +nervously fingered its arsenal. + +"But you _did_ look?" + +"Yep. I seen 'em plain." + +"Them? Was there more than one?" + +"There was a woman in the skift." + +"You don't say so!" gasped Squires. + +"Dang it, ain't he tellin' you!" Anderson ejaculated scornfully. + +The boy was hurried off at the head of the posse, which by this time had +been reinforced. He led the way through the dismal thickets, telling his +story as he went. + +"She was mighty purty, too," he said. "The feller waved his hat when he +seen her, an' she waved back. He run down an' jumped in the boat, an' +'nen--'nen--" + +"Then what?" exploded Anderson Crow. + +"He kissed her!" + +"The d---- murderer!" roared Crow. + +"He grabbed up the oars and rowed 'cross an' downstream. An' he shuck +his fist at me when he see I'd been watchin'," said the youngster, ready +to whimper now that he realised what a desperate character he had been +dealing with. + +"Where did he land on the other side?" pursued the eager reporter. + +"Down by them willer trees, 'bout half a mile down. There's the skift +tied to a saplin'. Cain't you see it?" + +Sure enough, the stern of a small boat stuck out into the deep, broad +river, the bow being hidden by the bushes. + +"Both of 'em hurried up the hill over yender, an' that's the last I seen +of 'em," concluded the lad. + +Anderson Crow and his man-hunters stared helplessly at the broad, swift +river, and then looked at each other in despair. There was no boat in +sight except the murderer's, and there was no bridge within ten miles. + +While they were growling a belated detachment of hunters came up to the +river bank greatly agitated. + +"A telephone message has just come to town sayin' there would be a +thousand dollars reward," announced one of the late arrivals; and +instantly there was an imperative demand for boats. + +"There's an old raft upstream a-ways," said the boy, "but I don't know +how many it will kerry. They use it to pole corn over from Mr. +Knoblock's farm to them big summer places in the hills up yender." + +"Is it sound?" demanded Anderson Crow. + +"Must be or they wouldn't use it," said Squires sarcastically. "Where is +it, kid?" + +The boy led the way up the river bank, the whole company trailing +behind. + +"Sh! Not too loud," cautioned Anderson Crow. Fifteen minutes later a +wobbly craft put out to sea, manned by a picked crew of determined +citizens of Tinkletown. When they were in midstream a loud cry came from +the bank they had left behind. Looking back, Anderson Crow saw excited +men dashing about, most of them pointing excitedly up into the hills +across the river. After a diligent search the eyes of the men on the +raft saw what it was that had created such a stir at the base of Crow's +Cliff. + +"There he is!" cried Anderson Crow in awed tones. There was no mistaking +the identity of the coatless man on the hillside. A dozen men recognised +him as the man they were after. Putting his hands to his mouth, Anderson +Crow bellowed in tones that savoured more of fright than command: + +"Say!" + +There was no response. + +"Will you surrender peaceably?" called the captain of the craft. + +There was a moment of indecision on the part of the fugitive. He looked +at his companion, and she shook her head--they all saw her do it. + +Then he shouted back his reply. + +[Illustration: Then he shouted back his reply] + + + + +CHAPTER III + +The Culprits + + +"Ship ahoy!" shouted the coatless stranger between his palms. + +"Surrender or we'll fill you full of lead!" called Anderson Crow. + +"Who are you--pirates?" responded the fugitive with a laugh that chilled +the marrow of the men on the raft. + +"I'll show you who we are!" bellowed Anderson Crow. "Send her ashore, +boys, fast. The derned scamp sha'n't escape us. Dead er alive, we must +have him." + +As they poled toward the bank the woman grasped the man by the arm, +dragging him back among the trees. It was observed by all that she was +greatly terrified. Moreover, she was exceedingly fair to look +upon--young, beautiful, and a most incongruous companion for the bloody +rascal who had her in his power. The raft bumped against the reedy bank, +and Anderson Crow was the first man ashore. + +"Come on, boys; follow me! See that your guns are all right! Straight up +the hill now, an' spread out a bit so's we can surround him!" commanded +he in a high treble. + +"'But supposin' he surrounds us," panted a cautious pursuer, half way up +the hill. + +"That's what we've got to guard against," retorted Anderson Crow. The +posse bravely swept up to and across the greensward; but the fox was +gone: There was no sight or sound of him to be had. It is but just to +say that fatigue was responsible for the deep breath that came from each +member of the pursuing party. + +"Into the woods after him!" shouted Anderson Crow. "Hunt him down like a +rat!" + +In the meantime a coatless young man and a most enticing young woman +were scampering off among the oaks and underbrush, consumed by +excitement and no small degree of apprehension. + +"They really seem to be in earnest about it, Jack," urged the young +woman insistently, to offset his somewhat sarcastic comments. + +"How the dickens do you suppose they got onto me?" he groaned. "I +thought the tracks were beautifully covered. No one suspected, I'm +sure." + +"I told you, dear, how it would turn out," she cried in a panic-stricken +voice. + +"Good heavens, Marjory, don't turn against me! It all seemed so easy and +so sure, dear. There wasn't a breath of suspicion. What are we to do? +I'll stop and fight the whole bunch if you'll just let go my arm." + +"No, you won't, Jack Barnes!" she exclaimed resolutely, her pretty blue +eyes wide with alarm. "Didn't you hear them say they'd fill you full of +lead? They had guns and everything. Oh, dear! oh, dear! isn't it +horrid?" + +"The worst of it is they've cut us off from the river," he said +miserably. "If I could have reached the boat ahead of them they never +could have caught us. I could distance that old raft in a mile." + +"I know you could, dear," she cried, looking with frantic admiration +upon his broad shoulders and brawny bare arms. "But it is out of the +question now." + +"Never mind, sweetheart; don't let it fuss you so. It will turn out all +right, I know it will." + +"Oh, I can't run any farther," she gasped despairingly. + +"Poor little chap! Let me carry you?" + +"You big ninny!" + +"We are at least three miles from your house, dear, and surrounded by +deadly perils. Can you climb a tree?" + +"I can--but I won't!" she refused flatly, her cheeks very red. + +"Then I fancy we'll have to keep on in this manner. It's a confounded +shame--the whole business. Just as I thought everything was going so +smoothly, too. It was all arranged to a queen's taste--nothing was left +undone. Bracken was to meet us at his uncle's boathouse down there, +and--good heavens, there was a shot!" + +The sharp crack of a rifle broke upon the still, balmy air, as they say +in the "yellow-backs," and the fugitives looked at each other with +suddenly awakened dread. + +"The fools!" grated the man. + +"What do they mean?" cried the breathless girl, very white in the face. + +"They are trying to frighten us, that's all. Hang it! If I only knew the +lay of the land. I'm completely lost, Marjory. Do you know precisely +where we are?" + +"Our home is off to the north about three miles. We are almost opposite +Crow's Cliff--the wildest part of the country. There are no houses along +this part of the river. All of the summer houses are farther up or on +the other side. It is too hilly here. There is a railroad off there +about six miles. There isn't a boathouse or fisherman's hut nearer than +two miles. Mr. Bracken keeps his boat at the point--two miles south, at +least." + +"Yes; that's where we were to have gone--by boat. Hang it all! Why did +we ever leave the boat? You can never scramble through all this brush to +Bracken's place; it's all I can do. Look at my arms! They are scratched +to--" + +"Oh, dear! It's dreadful, Jack. You poor fellow, let me--" + +"We haven't time, dearest. By thunder, I wouldn't have those Rubes head +us off now for the whole county. The jays! How could they have found us +out?" + +"Some one must have told." + +"But no one knew except the Brackens, you and I." + +"I'll wager my head Bracken is saying hard things for fair down the river there." + +"He--he--doesn't swear, Jack," she panted. + +[Illustration: "'Safe for a minute or two at least,' he whispered"] + +"Why, you are ready to drop! Can't you go a step farther? Let's stop +here and face 'em. I'll bluff 'em out and we'll get to Bracken's some +way. But I _won't_ give up the game! Not for a million!" + +"Then we can't stop. You forget I go in for gymnasium work. I'm as +strong as anything, only I'm--I'm a bit nervous. Oh, I knew something +would go wrong!" she wailed. They were now standing like trapped deer in +a little thicket, listening for sounds of the hounds. + +"Are you sorry, dear?" + +"No, no! I love you, Jack, and I'll go through everything with you and +for you. Really," she cried with a fine show of enthusiasm, "this is +jolly good fun, isn't it? Being chased like regular bandits--" + +"Sh! Drop down, dear! There's somebody passing above us--hear him?" + +They crawled into a maze of hazel bushes with much less dignity than +haste. Two men sped by an instant later, panting and growling. + +"Safe for a minute or two at least," he whispered as the crunching +footsteps were lost to the ear. "They won't come back this way, dear." + +"They had guns, Jack!" she whispered, terrified. + +"I don't understand it, hanged if I do," he said, pulling his brows into +a mighty scowl. "They are after us like a pack of hounds. It must mean +something. Lord, but we seem to have stirred up a hornet's nest!" + +"Oh, dear, I wish we were safely at--" she paused. + +"At home?" he asked quickly. + +"At Bracken's," she finished; and if any of the pursuers had been near +enough he might have heard the unmistakable suggestion of a kiss. + +"I feel better," he said, squaring his shoulders. "Now, let me think. We +must outwit these fellows, whoever they are. By George, I remember one +of them! That old fellow who bought the horse is with them. That's it! +The horse is mixed up in this, I'll bet my head." They sat upon the +ground for several minutes, he thinking deeply, she listening with her +pretty ears intent. + +"I wonder if they've left anybody to guard our boat?" he said suddenly. +"Come on, Marjory; let's investigate! By George, it would be just like +them to leave it unprotected!" + +Once more they were moving cautiously through the brush, headed for the +river. Mr. Jack Barnes, whoever he was and whatever his crime, was a +resourceful, clever young man. He had gauged the intelligence of the +pursuers correctly. When he peered through the brush along the river +bank he saw the skiff in the reeds below, just as they had left it. +There was the lunch basket, the wee bit of a steamer trunk with all its +labels, a parasol and a small handbag. + +"Goody, goody!" Marjory cried like a happy child. + +"Don't show yourself yet, dearie. I'll make sure. They may have an +ambuscade. Wait here for me." + +He crept down the bank and back again before she could fully subdue the +tremendous thumping his temerity had started in her left side. + +"It's safe and sound," he whispered joyously. "The idiots have forgotten +the boat. Quick, dear; let's make a dash for it! Their raft is upstream +a hundred yards, and it is also deserted. If we can once get well across +the river we can give them the laugh." + +"But they may shoot us from the bank," she protested as they plunged +through the weeds. + +"They surely wouldn't shoot a woman!" he cried gayly. + +"But you are not a woman!" + +"And I'm not afraid of mice or men. Jump in!" + +Off from the weeds shot the light skiff. The water splashed for a moment +under the spasmodic strokes of the oarsman, and then the little boat +streaked out into the river like a thing of life. Marjory sat in the +stern and kept her eyes upon the bank they were leaving. Jack Barnes +drove every vestige of his strength into the stroke; somehow he pulled +like a man who had learned how on a college crew. They were half way +across the broad river before they were seen from the hills. The half +dozen men who lingered at the base of Crow's Cliff had shouted the alarm +to their friends on the other side, and the fugitives were sighted once +more. But it was too late. The boat was well out of gunshot range and +making rapid progress downstream in the shelter of the high bluffs below +Crow's Cliff. Jack Barnes was dripping with perspiration, but his stroke +was none the feebler. + +"They see us!" she cried. + +"Don't wriggle so, Marjory--trim boat!" he panted. "They can't hit us, +and we can go two miles to their one." + +"And we can get to Bracken's!" she cried triumphantly. A deep flush +overspread her pretty face. + +"Hooray!" he shouted with a grin of pure delight. Far away on the +opposite bank Anderson Crow and his sleuths were congregating, their +baffled gaze upon the man who had slipped out of their grasp. The men +of the posse were pointing at the boat and arguing frantically; there +were decided signs of dispute among them. Finally two guns flew up, and +then came the puffs of smoke, the reports and little splashes of water +near the flying skiff. + +"Oh, they are shooting!" she cried in a panic. + +"And rifles, too," he grated, redoubling his pull on the oars. Other +shots followed, all falling short. "Get down in the bottom of the boat, +Marjory. Don't sit up there and be--" + +"I'll sit right where I am," she cried defiantly. + +Anderson Crow waved to the men under Crow's Cliff, and they began to +make their arduous way along the bank in the trail of the skiff. Part of +the armed posse hurried down and boarded the raft, while others followed +the chase by land. + +"We'll beat them to Bracken's by a mile," cried Jack Barnes. + +"If they don't shoot us," she responded. "Why, oh, why are they so +intent upon killing us?" + +"They don't want you to be a widow and--break a--lot of hearts," he +said. "If they--hit me now you--won't be--dangerous as a--widow." + +"Oh, you heartless thing! How can you jest about it? I'd--I'd go into +mourning, anyway, Jack," she concluded, on second thought. "We are just +as good as married, you see." + +"It's nice--of you to say it, dear--but we're a long--way +from--Bracken's. Gee! That was close!" + +A bullet splashed in the water not ten feet from the boat. "The cowards! +They're actually trying to kill us!" For the first time his face took +on a look of alarm and his eyes grew desperate. "I can't let them shoot +at you, Marjory, dear! What the dickens they want I don't know, but I'm +going to surrender." He had stopped rowing and was making ready to wave +his white handkerchief on high. + +"Never!" she cried with blazing eyes. "Give me the oars!" She slid into +the other rowing seat and tried to snatch the oars from the rowlocks. + +"Bravo! I could kiss you a thousand times for that. Come on, you +Indians! You're a darling, Marjory." Again the oars caught the water, +and Jack Barnes's white handkerchief lay in the bottom of the boat. He +was rowing for dear life, and there was a smile on his face. + +The raft was left far behind and the marksmen were put out of range with +surprising ease. Fifteen minutes later the skiff shot across the river +and up to the landing of Bracken's boathouse, while a mile back in the +brush Anderson Crow and his men were wrathfully scrambling in pursuit. + +"Hey, Bracken! Jimmy!" shouted Jack Barnes, jumping out upon the little +wharf. Marjory gave him her hands and was whisked ashore and into his +arms. "Run into the boathouse, dear. I'll yank this stuff ashore. Where +the dickens is Bracken?" + +The boathouse door opened slowly and a sleepy young man looked forth. + +"I thought you'd never come," he yawned. + +"Wake up, you old loafer! We're here and we are pursued! Where are +George and Amy?" cried Mr. Barnes, doing herculean duty as a baggage +smasher. + +"Pursued?" cried the sleepy young man, suddenly awake. + +"Yes, and shot at!" cried Marjory, running past him and into the arms of +a handsome young woman who was emerging from the house. + +"We've no time to lose, Jimmy! They are on to us, Heaven knows how. They +are not more than ten minutes behind us. Get it over with, Jimmy, for +Heaven's sake! Here, George, grab this trunk!" + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +Anderson Rectifies an Error + + +In a jiffy the fugitives and their property were transferred to the +interior of the roomy boathouse, the doors bolted, and George Crosby +stationed at a window to act as lookout. + +"Is it your father?" demanded the Rev. James Bracken, turning to +Marjory. Young Mrs. Crosby was looking on eagerly. + +"Mr. Brewster is at home and totally oblivious to all this," cried Jack +Barnes. "I don't know what it means. Here's the license, Jimmy. Are you +ready, Marjory?" + +"This is rather a squeamish business, Jack--" began the young minister +in the negligee shirt. He was pulling on his coat as he made the remark. + +"Oh, hurry, Jimmy; please hurry!" cried Marjory Brewster. + +"Don't wait a second, Jimmy Bracken!" cried Amy Crosby, dancing with +excitement. "You can't go back on them now!" + +Three minutes later there was no Marjory Brewster, but there was a Mrs. +John Ethelbert Barnes--and she was kissing her husband rapturously. + +"Now, tell us everything," cried Mrs. Crosby after the frantic +congratulations. The Reverend "Jimmy" Bracken, of the Eleventh +Presbyterian Church, was the only one who seemed uncertain as to his +position. In the first place, old Judge Brewster was a man of influence +in the metropolis, from which all had fled for a sojourn in the hills. +He and his daughter were Episcopalians, but that made them none the less +important in the eyes of "Jimmy" Bracken. In the second place, Jack +Barnes was a struggling lawyer, in the Year of our Lord 1880, and +possessed of objectionable poverty. The young men had been room-mates at +college. Friendship had overcome discretion in this instance, at least. +The deed being done, young Mr. Bracken was beginning to wonder if it had +not been overdone, so to speak. + +"I wish somebody would tell me!" exclaimed Jack Barnes, with a perplexed +frown. "The beastly jays shot at us and all that. You'd think I was an +outlaw. And they blazed away at Marjory, too, hang them!" + +Marjory, too excited to act like a blushing bride, took up the story and +told all that had happened. George Crosby became so interested that he +forgot to keep guard. + +"This is a funny mess!" he exclaimed. "There's something wrong--" + +"Hey, you!" came a shout from the outside. + +"There they are!" cried Marjory, flying to her husband's side. "What are +we to do?" + +"You mean, what are they to do? We're married, and they can't get around +that, you know. Let 'em come!" cried the groom exultantly. "You don't +regret it, do you, sweetheart?" quite anxiously. She smiled up into his +eyes, and he felt very secure. + +"What do you fellows want?" demanded Crosby from the window. Anderson +Crow was standing on the river bank like a true Napoleon, flanked by +three trusty riflemen. + +"Who air you?" asked Anderson in return. He was panting heavily, and his +legs trembled. + +"None of your business! Get off these grounds at once; they're private!" + +"None o' your sass, now, young man; I'm an officer of the law, an' a +detective to boot! We sha'n't stand any nonsense. The place is +surrounded and he can't escape! Where is he?" + +"That's for you to find out if you're such a good detective! This is +David Bracken's place, and you can find him at his home on the hilltop +yonder!" + +"Ask him what we've done, George," whispered Barnes. + +"We ain't after Mr. Bracken, young feller, but you know what we _do_ +want! He's in there--you're shielding him--we won't parley much longer! +Send him out!" said Anderson Crow. + +"If you come a foot nearer you'll get shot into the middle of kingdom +come!" shouted Crosby defiantly. + +The inmates gasped, for there was not a firearm on the place. + +"Be careful!" warned the Reverend "Jimmy" nervously. + +"Goin' to resist, eh? Well, we'll get him; don't you worry; an' that +ornery female o' hisn', too!" + +"Did you hear that?" exclaimed Jack Barnes. "Let me get at the old rat." +He was making for the door when the two women obstructed the way. Both +were frantic with fear. + +"But he called you a female!" roared he. + +"Well, I _am_!" she wailed miserably. + +"Who is it you want?" asked Crosby from the window. + +"That's all right," roared Anderson Crow; "purduce him at once!" + +"Is this the fellow?" and Crosby dragged the Reverend "Jimmy" into view. +There was a moment's inspection of the cadaverous face, and then the +sleuths shook their heads. + +"Not on your life!" said Mr. Crow. "But he's in there--Ike Smalley seen +him an' his paramount go up the steps from the landin'! 'Twon't do no +good to hide him, young feller; he's--" + +"Well, let me tell you something. You are too late--they're married!" +cried Crosby triumphantly. + +"I don't give a cuss if they're married and have sixteen children!" +shouted the exasperated Crow, his badge fairly dancing. "He's got to +surrender!" + +"Oh, he does, eh?" + +"Yes, sir-ee-o-bob; he's got to give up, dead or alive! Trot him out +lively, now!" + +"I don't mind telling you that Mr. Barnes is here; but I'd like to know +why you're hunting him down like a wild beast, shooting at him and +Miss--I mean Mrs. Barnes. It's an outrage!" + +"Oh, we ain't the on'y people that can kill and slaughter! She's just +as bad as he is, for that matter--an' so are you and that other +lantern-jawed outlaw in there." The Reverend "Jimmy" gasped and turned a +fiery red. + +"Did he call me a--say!" and he pushed Crosby aside. "I'd have you to +understand that I'm a minister of the gospel--I am the Reverend James +Bracken, of--" + +A roar of laughter greeted his attempt to explain; and there were a few +remarks so uncomplimentary that the man of cloth sank back in sheer +hopelessness. + +"Well, I'll give them reason to think that I'm something of a +desperado," grated the Reverend "Jimmy," squaring his shoulders. "If +they attempt to put foot inside my uncle's house I'll--I'll smash a few +heads." + +"Bravo!" cried Mrs. Crosby. She was his cousin, and up to that time had +had small regard for her mild-mannered relative. + +"He can preach the funeral!" shouted Ike Smalley. By this time there +were a dozen men on the bank below. + +"I give you fair warning," cried Anderson Crow impressively. "We're +goin' to surround the house, an' we'll take that rascal if we have to +shoot the boards into sawdust!" + +"But what has he done, except to get married?" called Crosby as the +posse began to spread out. + +"Do you s'pose I'm fool enough to tell you if you don't know?" said +Anderson Crow. "Just as like as not you'd be claimin' the thousand +dollars reward if you knowed it had been offered! Spread out, boys, an' +we'll show 'em dern quick!" + +There was dead silence inside the house for a full minute. Every eye was +wide and every mouth was open in surprise and consternation. + +"A thousand dollars reward!" gasped Jack Barnes. "Then, good Lord, I +_must_ have done something!" + +"What _have_ you been doing, Jack Barnes?" cried his bride, aghast. + +"I must have robbed a train," said he dejectedly. + +"Well, this is serious, after all," said Crosby. "It's not an eloper +they're after, but a desperado." + +"A kidnaper, perhaps," suggested his wife. + +"What are we to do?" demanded Jack Barnes. + +"First, old man, what have you actually done?" asked the Reverend +"Jimmy." + +"Nothing that's worth a thousand dollars, I'm dead sure," said Barnes +positively. "By George, Marjory, this is a nice mess I've led you into!" + +"It's all right, Jack; I'm happier than I ever was before in my life. We +ran away to get married, and I'll go to jail with you if they'll take +me." + +"This is no time for kissing," objected Crosby sourly. "We must find out +what it all means. Leave it to me." + +It was getting dark in the room, and the shadows were heavy on the +hills. While the remaining members of the besieged party sat silent and +depressed upon the casks and boxes, Crosby stood at the window calling +to the enemy. + +"Is he ready to surrender?" thundered Anderson Crow from the shadows. + +Then followed a brief and entirely unsatisfactory dialogue between the +two spokesmen. Anderson Crow was firm in his decision that the fugitive +did not have to be told what he had done; and George Crosby was equally +insistent that he had to be told before he could decide whether he was +guilty or innocent. + +"We'll starve him out!" said Anderson Crow. + +"But there are ladies here, my good man; you won't subject them to such +treatment!" + +"You're all of a kind--we're going to take the whole bunch!" + +"What do you think will happen to you if you are mistaken in your man?" + +"We're not mistaken, dang ye!" + +"He could sue you for every dollar you possess. I know, for I'm a +lawyer!" + +"Now, I'm sure you're in the job with him. I s'pose you'll try to work +in the insanity dodge! It's a nest of thieves and robbers! Say, I'll +give you five minutes to surrender; if you don't, we'll set fire to the +derned shanty!" + +"Look here, boys," said Jack Barnes suddenly, "I've done nothing and am +not afraid to be arrested. I'm going to give myself up." Of course there +was a storm of protest and a flow of tears, but the culprit was firm. +"Tell the old fossil that if he'll guarantee safety to me I'll give up!" + +Anderson was almost too quick in promising protection. + +"Ask him if he will surrender and make a confession to me--I am Anderson +Crow, sir!" was the marshal's tactful suggestion. + +"He'll do both, Mr. Crow!" replied Crosby. + +"We've got to take the whole bunch of you, young man. You're all guilty +of conspiracy, the whole caboodle!" + +"But the ladies, you darned old Rube--they can't--" + +"Looky here, young feller, you can't dictate to me. I'll have you to--" + +"We'll all go!" cried Mrs. Crosby warmly. + +"To the very end!" added the new Mrs. Barnes. + +"What will your father say?" demanded the groom. + +"He'll disown me anyway, dear, so what's the difference?" + +"It's rather annoying for a minister--" began the Reverend "Jimmy," +putting on his hat. + +"We'll beg off for you!" cried Mrs. Crosby ironically. + +"But I'm going to jail, too," finished he grimly. + +"All right," called Crosby from the window; "here we come!" + +And forth marched the desperate quintet, three strapping young men and +two very pretty and nervous young women. They were met by Anderson Crow +and a dozen armed men from Tinkletown, every one of them shaking in his +boots. The irrepressible Mrs. Crosby said "Boo!" suddenly, and half the +posse jumped as though some one had thrown a bomb at them. + +"Now, I demand an explanation of this outrage," said Jack Barnes +savagely. "What do you mean by shooting at me and my--my wife and +arresting us, and all that?" + +"You'll find out soon enough when you're strung up fer it," snarled +Anderson Crow. "An' you'll please hand over that money I paid fer the +hoss and buggy. I'll learn you how to sell stolen property to me." + +"Oh, I'm a horse-thief, am I? This is rich. And they'll string me up, +eh? Next thing you'll be accusing me of killing that farmer up near +Boggs City." + +"Well, by gosh! you're a cool one!" ejaculated Anderson Crow. "I s'pose +you're goin' ter try the insanity dodge." + +"It's lucky for me that they caught him," said Barnes as the herd of +prisoners moved off toward the string of boats tied to Mr. Bracken's +wharf. + +"Come off!" exclaimed Squires, the reporter, scornfully. "We're onto +you, all right, all right." + +"What! Do you think I'm the man who--well, holy mackerel! Say, you +gravestones, don't you ever hear any news out here? Wake up! They caught +the murderer at Billsport, not more than five miles from your jay burg. +I was driving through the town when they brought him in. That's what +made me late, dear," turning to Marjory. + +"Yes, and I'll bet my soul that here comes some one with the news," +cried George Crosby, who had heard nothing of the tragedy until this +instant. + +A rowboat containing three men was making for the landing. Somehow, +Anderson Crow and his posse felt the ground sinking beneath them. Not a +man uttered a sound until one of the newcomers called out from the boat: + +"Is Anderson Crow there?" + +"Yes, sir; what is it?" demanded Crow in a wobbly voice. + +"Your wife wants to know when in thunder you're comin' home." By this +time the skiff was bumping against the landing. + +"You tell her to go to Halifax!" retorted Anderson Crow. "Is that all +you want?" + +"They nabbed that murderer up to Billsport long 'bout 'leven o'clock," +said Alf Reesling, the town drunkard. "We thought we'd row down and tell +you so's you wouldn't be huntin' all night for the feller who--hello, +you got him, eh?" + +"Are you fellers lyin'?" cried poor Anderson Crow. + +"Not on your life. We knowed about the captcher over in town just about +half an hour after you started 'cross the river this afternoon." + +"You--four hours ago? You--you--" sputtered the marshal. "An' why didn't +you let us know afore this?" + +"There was a game o' baseball in Hasty's lot, an'--" began one of the +newcomers sheepishly. + +"Well, I'll be gosh-whizzled!" gasped Anderson Crow, sitting down +suddenly. + + * * * * * + +An hour and a half later Mr. and Mrs. John Ethelbert Barnes were driven +up to Judge Brewster's country place in Mr. David Bracken's brake. They +were accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. George Crosby, and were carrying out +the plans as outlined in the original programme. + +"Where's papa?" Marjory tremulously inquired of the footman in the +hallway. + +"He's waitin' for you in the library, miss--I should say Mrs. Barnes," +replied the man, a trace of excitement in his face. + +"Mrs. Barnes!" exclaimed four voices at once. + +"Who told you, William?" cried Marjory, leaning upon Jack for support. + +"A Mr. Anderson Crow was here not half an hour ago, ma'am, to assure Mr. +Brewster as to how his new son-in-law was in nowise connected with the +murder up the way. He said as how he had personally investigated the +case, miss--ma'am, and Mr. Brewster could rely on his word for it, Mr. +Jack was not the man. He told him as how you was married at the +boathouse." + +"Yes--and then?" cried Marjory eagerly. + +"Mr. Brewster said that Mr. Jack wasn't born to be hanged, and for me to +have an extry plate laid at the table for him to-night," concluded +William with an expressive grin. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +The Babe on the Doorstep + + +It was midnight in Tinkletown, many months after the events mentioned in +the foregoing chapters, and a blizzard was raging. The February wind +rasped through the bare trees, shrieked around the corners of lightless +houses and whipped its way through the scurrying snow with all the rage +of a lion. The snow, on account of the bitter cold in the air, did not +fly in big flakes, but whizzed like tiny bullets, cutting the flesh of +men and beasts like the sting of wasps. It was a good night to be +indoors over a roaring fire or in bed between extra blankets. No one, +unless commanded by emergency, had the temerity to be abroad that night. + +The Crow family snoozed comfortably in spite of the calliope shrieks of +the wind. The home of the town marshal was blanketed in peace and the +wind had no terrors for its occupants. They slept the sleep of the +toasted. The windows may have rattled a bit, perhaps, and the shutters +may have banged a trifle too remorselessly, but the Crows were not to be +disturbed. + +The big, old-fashioned clock in the hall downstairs was striking twelve +when Anderson Crow awoke with a start. He was amazed, for to awake in +the middle of the night was an unheard-of proceeding for him. He caught +the clang of the last five strokes from the clock, however, and was +comforting himself with the belief that it was five o'clock, after all, +when his wife stirred nervously. + +"Are you awake, Anderson?" she asked softly. + +"Yes, Eva, and it's about time to get up. It jest struck five. Doggone, +it's been blowin' cats and dogs outside, ain't it?" he yawned. + +"Five? It's twelve-now, don't tell me you counted the strokes, because I +did myself. Ain't it queer we should both git awake at this unearthly +hour?" + +"Well," murmured he sleepily now that it was not five o'clock, "it's a +mighty good hour to go back to sleep ag'in, I reckon." + +"I thought I heard a noise outside," she persisted. + +"I don't blame you," he said, chuckling. "It's been out there all +night." + +"I mean something besides the wind. Sounded like some one walkin' on the +front porch." + +"Now, look here, Eva, you ain't goin' to git me out there in this +blizzard--in my stockin' feet--lookin' fer robbers--" + +"Just the same, Anderson, I'm sure I heard some one. Mebby it's some +poor creature freezin' an' in distress. If I was you, I'd go and look +out there. Please do." + +"Doggone, Eva, if you was me you'd be asleep instid of huntin' up +trouble on a night like this. They ain't nothin' down there an' +you--but, by cracky! mebby you're right. Supposin' there is some poor +cuss out there huntin' a place to sleep. I'll go and look;" and Mr. +Crow, the most tender-hearted man in the world, crawled shiveringly but +quickly from the warm bed. In his stocking feet--Anderson slept in his +socks on those bitter nights--he made his way down the front stairs, +grumbling but determined. Mrs. Crow followed close behind, anxious to +verify the claim that routed him from his nest. + +"It may be a robber," she chattered, as he pulled aside a front window +curtain. Anderson drew back hastily. + +"Well, why in thunder didn't you say so before?" he gasped. "Doggone, +Eva, that's no way to do! He might 'a' fired through the winder at me." + +"But he's in the house by this time, if it was a robber," she +whispered. "He wouldn't stand out on the porch all night." + +"That's right," he whispered in reply. "You're a good deducer, after +all. I wish I had my dark lantern. Thunderation!" He stubbed his toe +against the sewing machine. There is nothing that hurts more than +unintentional contact with a sewing machine. "Why in sixty don't you +light a light, Eva? How can I--" + +"Listen!" she whispered shrilly. "Hear that? Anderson, there's some one +walkin' on the porch!" + +"'y gosh!" faltered he. "Sure as Christmas! You wait here, Eva, till I +go upstairs an' put on my badge and I'll--" + +"I'll do nothing of the kind. You don't ketch me stayin' down here +alone," and she grabbed the back of his nightshirt as he started for the +stairs. + +"Sho! What air you afeerd of? I'll get my revolver, too. I never did see +such a coward'y calf as--" + +Just then there was a tremendous pounding on the front door, followed by +the creaking of footsteps on the frozen porch, a clatter down the steps, +and then the same old howling of the wind. The Crows jumped almost out +of their scanty garments, and then settled down as if frozen to the +spot. It was a full minute before Anderson found his voice--in advance +of Mrs. Crow at that, which was more than marvellous. + +"What was that?" he chattered. + +"A knock!" she gasped. + +"Some neighbour's sick." + +"Old Mrs. Luce. Oh, goodness, how my heart's going!" + +"Why don't you open the door, Eva?" + +"Why don't you? It's your place." + +"But, doggone it, cain't you see--I mean feel--that I ain't got hardly +any clothes on? I'd ketch my death o' cold, an' besides--" + +"Well, I ain't got as much on as you have. You got socks on an'--" + +"But supposin' it's a woman," protested he. "You wouldn't want a woman +to see me lookin' like this, would you? Go ahead an'--" + +"I suppose you'd like to have a man see me like this. I ain't used to +receivin' men in--but, say, whoever it was, is gone. Didn't you hear the +steps? Open the door, Anderson. See what it is." + +And so, after much urging, Anderson Crow unbolted his front door and +turned the knob. The wind did the rest. It almost blew the door off its +hinges, carrying Mr. and Mrs. Crow back against the wall. A gale of snow +swept over them. + +"Gee!" gasped Anderson, crimping his toes. Mrs. Crow was peering under +his arm. + +"Look there!" she cried. Close to the door a large bundle was lying. + +"A present from some one!" speculated Mr. Crow; but some seconds passed +before he stooped to pick it up. "Funny time fer Santy to be callin' +'round. Wonder if he thinks it's next Christmas." + +"Be careful, Anderson; mebby it's an infernal machine!" cried his wife. + +"Well, it's loaded, 'y ginger," he grunted as straightened up in the +face of the gale. "Shut the door, Eva! Cain't you see it's snowin'?" + +"I'll bet it was Joe Ramsey leavin' a sack o' hickor' nuts fer us," she +said eagerly, slamming the door. + +"You better bolt the door. He might change his mind an' come back fer +'em," observed her husband. "It don't feel like hickor' nuts. Why, Eva, +it's a baskit--a reg'lar clothes baskit. What in thunder do--" + +"Let's get a light out by the kitchen fire. It's too cold in here." + +Together they sped to the kitchen with the mysterious offering from the +blizzard. There was a fire in the stove, which Anderson replenished, +while Eva began to remove the blankets and packing from the basket, +which she had placed on the hearth. Anderson looked on eagerly. + +"Lord!" fell from the lips of both as the contents of the basket were +exposed to their gaze. + +A baby, alive and warm, lay packed in the blankets, sound asleep and +happy. For an interminable length of time the Crows, _en dishabille_, +stood and gazed open-mouthed and awed at the little stranger. Ten +minutes later, after the ejaculations and surmises, after the tears and +expletives, after the whole house had been aroused, Anderson Crow was +plunging amiably but aimlessly through the snowstorm in search of the +heartless wretch who had deposited the infant on his doorstep. His top +boots scuttled up and down the street, through yards and barn lots for +an hour, but despite the fact that he carried his dark lantern and +trailed like an Indian bloodhound, he found no trace of the wanton +visitor. In the meantime, Mrs. Crow, assisted by the entire family, had +stowed the infant, a six-weeks-old girl, into a warm bed, ministering to +the best of her ability to its meagre but vociferous wants. There was no +more sleep in the Crow establishment that night. The head of the house +roused a half dozen neighbours from their beds to tell them of the +astounding occurrence, with the perfectly natural result that one and +all hurried over to see the baby and to hear the particulars. + +Early next morning Tinkletown wagged with an excitement so violent that +it threatened to end in a municipal convulsion. Anderson Crow's home was +besieged. The snow in his front yard was packed to an icy consistency by +the myriad of footprints that fell upon it; the interior of the house +was "tracked" with mud and slush and three window panes were broken by +the noses of curious but unwelcome spectators. Altogether, it was a +sensation unequalled in the history of the village. Through it all the +baby blinked and wept and cooed in perfect peace, guarded by Mrs. Crow +and the faithful progeny who had been left by the stork, and not by a +mysterious stranger. + +The missionary societies wanted to do something heroic, but Mrs. Crow +headed them off; the sewing circle got ready to take charge of affairs, +but Mrs. Crow punctured the project; figuratively, the churches ached +for a chance to handle the infant, but Mrs. Crow stood between. And all +Tinkletown called upon Anderson Crow to solve the mystery before it was +a day older. + +"It's purty hard to solve a mystery that's got six weeks' start o' me," +said Anderson despairingly, "but I'll try, you bet. The doggone thing's +got a parent or two somewhere in the universe, an' I'll locate 'em er +explode somethin'. I've got a private opinion about it myself." + +Whatever this private opinion might have been, it was not divulged. +Possibly something in connection with it might have accounted for the +temporary annoyance felt by nearly every respectable woman in +Tinkletown. The marshal eyed each and every one of them, irrespective of +position, condition or age, with a gleam so accusing that the Godliest +of them flushed and then turned cold. So knowing were these equitable +looks that before night every woman in the village was constrained to +believe the worst of her neighbour, and almost as ready to look with +suspicion upon herself. + +One thing was certain--business was at a standstill in Tinkletown. The +old men forgot their chess and checker games at the corner store; young +men neglected their love affairs; women forgot to talk about each other; +children froze their ears rather than miss any of the talk that went +about the wintry streets; everybody was asking the question, "Whose baby +is it?" + +But the greatest sensation of all came late in the day when Mrs. Crow, +in going over the garments worn by the babe, found a note addressed to +Anderson Crow. It was stitched to the baby's dress, and proved beyond +question that the strange visitor of the night before had selected not +only the house, but the individual. The note was to the point. It said: + + "February 18, 1883. + + "ANDERSON CROW: To your good and merciful care an unhappy creature + consigns this helpless though well-beloved babe. All the world + knows you to be a tender, loving, unselfish man and father. The + writer humbly, prayerfully implores you to care for this babe as + you would for one of your own. It is best that her origin be kept a + secret. Care for her, cherish her as your own, and at the end of + each year the sum of a thousand dollars will be paid to you as long + as she lives in your household as a member thereof. Do not seek to + find her parents. It would be a fool's errand. May God bless you + and yours, and may God care for and protect Rosalie--the name she + shall bear." + +Obviously, there was no signature and absolutely no clew to the identity +of the writer. Two telegraph line repairers who had been working near +Crow's house during the night, repairing damage done by the blizzard, +gave out the news that they had seen a cloaked and mysterious-looking +woman standing near the Methodist Church just before midnight, evidently +disregarding the rage of the storm. The sight was so unusual that the +men paused and gazed at her for several minutes. One of them was about +to approach her when she turned and fled down the side street near by. + +"Was she carryin' a big bundle?" asked Anderson Crow. + +The men replied in the negative. + +"Then she couldn't have been the party wanted. The one we're after +certainly had a big bundle." + +"But, Mr. Crow, isn't it possible that these men saw her after she left +the basket at--" began the Presbyterian minister. + +"That ain't the way I deduce it," observed the town detective tartly. +"In the first place, she wouldn't 'a' been standin' 'round like that if +the job was over, would she? Wouldn't she 'a' been streakin' out fer +home? 'Course she would." + +"She may have paused near the church to see whether you took the child +in," persisted the divine. + +"But she couldn't have saw my porch from the back end of the church." + +"Nobody said she was standing back of the church," said the lineman. + +"What's that? You don't mean it?" cried Anderson, pulling out of a +difficulty bravely. "That makes all the difference in the world. Why +didn't you say she was in front of the church? Cain't you see we've +wasted time here jest because you didn't have sense 'nough to--" + +"Anybody ought to know it 'thout being told, you old Rube," growled the +lineman, who was from Boggs City. + +"Here, now, sir, that will do you! I won't 'low no man to--" + +"Anderson, be quiet!" cautioned Mrs. Crow. "You'll wake the baby!" This +started a new train of thought in Anderson's perplexed mind. + +"Mebby she was waitin' there while some one--her husband, fer +instance--was leavin' the baskit," volunteered Isaac Porter humbly. + +"Don't bother me, Ike; I'm thinkin' of somethin' else," muttered +Anderson. "Husband nothin'! Do you s'pose she'd 'a' trusted that baby +with a fool husband on a terrible night like that? Ladies and gentlemen, +this here baby was left by a _female_ resident of this very town." His +hearers gasped and looked at him wide-eyed. "If she has a husband, he +don't know he's the father of this here baby. Don't you see that a woman +couldn't 'a' carried a heavy baskit any great distance? She couldn't 'a' +packed it from Boggs City er New York er Baltimore, could she? She +wouldn't 'a' been strong enough. No, siree; she didn't have far to come, +folks. An' she was a woman, 'cause ain't all typewritin' done by women? +You don't hear of men typewriters, do you? People wouldn't have 'em. +Now, the thing fer me to do first is to make a house-to-house search to +see if I c'n locate a typewritin' machine anywheres. Get out of the way, +Toby. Doggone you boys, anyhow, cain't you see I want ter get started on +this job?" + +"Say, Anderson," said Harry Squires, the reporter, "I'd like to ask if +there is any one in Tinkletown, male or female, who can afford to pay +you a thousand dollars a year for taking care of that kid?" + +"What's that?" slowly oozed from Anderson's lips. + +"You heard what I said. Say, don't you know you can bring up a kid in +this town for eleven or twelve dollars a year?" + +"You don't know what you're talkin' about," burst from Anderson's +indignant lips, but he found instant excuse to retire from the circle of +speculators. A few minutes later he and his wife were surreptitiously +re-reading the note, both filled with the fear that it said $10.00 +instead of $1000. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +Reflection and Deduction + + +"By gum, it does say a thousand," cried Anderson, mightily relieved. +"Harry Squires is a fool. He said jest now that it could be did fer +eleven or twelve dollars. Don't you suppose, Eva, that the mother of +this here child knows what it costs to bring 'em up? Of course she does. +When I find her I'll prove it by her own lips that she knows. But don't +bother me any more, Eva; I got to git out an' track her down. This is +the greatest job I've had in years." + +"See here, Anderson," said his wife thoughtfully and somewhat +stealthily, "let's go slow about this thing. What do you want to find +her for?" + +"Why--why, doggone it, Eva, what air you talkin' about?" began he in +amazement. + +"Well, it's just this way: I don't think we can earn a thousand dollars +a year easier than takin' care of this child. Don't you see? Suppose we +keep her fer twenty years. That means twenty thousand dollars, don't it? +It beats a pension all to pieces." + +"Well, by ginger!" gasped Anderson, vaguely comprehending. "Fifty years +would mean fifty thousand dollars, wouldn't it. Gee whiz, Eva!" + +"I don't imagine we can keep her that long." + +"No," reflectively; "the chances are she'd want ter git married inside +of that time. They always-- + +"'Tain't that, Anderson. You an' me'd have to live to be more'n a +hundred years old." + +"That's so. We ain't spring chickens, are we, deary?" + +She put her hard, bony hand in his and there was a suspicion of moisture +in the kindly old eyes. + +"I love to hear you call me 'deary,' Anderson. We never get too old for +that." + +He coughed and then patted her hand rather confusedly. Anderson had long +since forgotten the meaning of sentiment, but he was surprised to find +that he had not forgotten how to love his wife. + +"Shucks!" he muttered bravely. "We'll be kissin' like a couple of young +jay birds first thing we know. Doggone if it ain't funny how a baby, +even if it is some one else's, kinder makes a feller foolisher'n he +intends to be." Hand in hand they watched the sleeping innocent for +several minutes. Finally the detective shook himself and spoke: + +"Well, Eva, I got to make a bluff at findin' out whose baby it is, ain't +I? My reputation's at stake. I jest have to investigate." + +"I don't see that any harm can come from that, Anderson," she replied, +and neither appreciated the sarcasm unintentionally involved. + +"I won't waste another minute," he announced promptly. "I will stick to +my theory that the parents live in Tinkletown." + +"Fiddlesticks!" snorted Mrs. Crow disgustedly, and then left him to +cultivate the choleric anger her exclamation had inspired. + +"Doggone, I wish I hadn't patted her hand," he lamented. "She didn't +deserve it. Consarn it, a woman's always doin' something to spoil +things." + +And so he fared forth with his badges and stars, bent on duty, but not +accomplishment. All the town soon knew that he was following a clew, but +all the town was at sea concerning its character, origin, and +plausibility. A dozen persons saw him stop young Mrs. Perkins in front +of Lamson's store, and the same spectators saw his feathers droop as she +let loose her wrath upon his head and went away with her nose in the air +and her cheeks far more scarlet than when Boreas kissed them, and all in +response to a single remark volunteered by the faithful detective. He +entered Lamson's store a moment later, singularly abashed and red in the +face. + +"Doggone," he observed, seeing that an explanation was expected, "she +might 'a' knowed I was only foolin'." + +A few minutes later he had Alf Reesling, the town sot, in a far corner +of the store talking to him in a most peremptory fashion. It may be well +to mention that Alf had so far forgotten himself as to laugh at the +marshal's temporary discomfiture at the hands of Mrs. Perkins. + +"Alf, have you been havin' another baby up to your house without lettin' +me know?" demanded Anderson firmly. + +"Anderson," replied Alf, maudlin tears starting in his eyes, "it's not +kind of you to rake up my feelin's like this. You know I been a widower +fer three years." + +"I want you to understand one thing, Alf Reesling. A detective never +_knows_ anything till he proves it. Let me warn you, sir, you are under +suspicion. An' now, let me tell you one thing more. Doggone your ornery +hide, don't you ever laugh ag'in like you did jest now er I'll--" + +Just then the door flew open with a bang and Edna Crow, Anderson's +eldest, almost flopped into the store, her cap in her hand, eyes +starting from her head. She had run at top speed all the way from home. + +"Pop," she gasped. "Ma says fer you to hurry home! She says fer you to +_run_!" + +Anderson covered the distance between Lamson's store and his own home in +record time. Indeed, Edna, flying as fast as her slim legs could +twinkle, barely beat her father to the front porch. It was quite clear +to Mr. Crow that something unusual had happened or Mrs. Crow would not +have summoned him so peremptorily. + +She was in the hallway downstairs awaiting his arrival, visibly +agitated. Before uttering a word she dragged him into the little +sitting-room and closed the door. They were alone. + +"Is it dead?" he panted. + +"No, but what do you think, Anderson?" she questioned excitedly. + +"I ain't had time to think. You don't mean to say it has begun to talk +an' c'n tell who it is," he faltered. + +"Heavens no--an' it only six weeks old." + +"Well, then, what in thunder _has_ happened?" + +"A _detective_ has been here." + +"Good gosh!" + +"Yes, a _real_ detective. He's out there in the kitchen gettin' his feet +warm by the bake-oven. He says he's lookin' for a six-weeks-old baby. +Anderson, we're goin' to lose that twenty thousand." + +"Don't cry, Eva; mebby we c'n find another baby some day. Has he seen +the--the--it?" Anderson was holding to the stair-post for support. + +"Not yet, but he says he understands we've got one here that ain't been +_tagged_--that's what he said--'tagged.' What does he mean by that?" + +"Why--why, don't you see? Just as soon as he tags it, it's _it_. +Doggone, I wonder if it would make any legal difference if I tagged it +first." + +"He's a queer-lookin' feller, Anderson. Says he's in disguise, and he +certainly looks like a regular scamp." + +"I'll take a look at him an' ast fer his badge." Marshal Crow paraded +boldly into the kitchen, where the strange man was regaling the younger +Crows with conversation the while he partook comfortably of pie and +other things more substantial. + +"Are you Mr. Crow?" he asked nonchalantly, as Anderson appeared before +him. + +"I am. Who are you?" + +"I am Hawkshaw, the detective," responded the man, his mouth full of +blackberry pie. + +"Gee whiz!" gasped Anderson. "Eva, it's the celebrated Hawkshaw." + +"Right you are, sir. I'm after the kid." + +"You'll have to identify it," something inspired Anderson to say. + +"Sure. That's easy. It's the one that was left on your doorstep last +night," said the man glibly. + +"Well, I guess you're right," began Anderson disconsolately. + +"Boy or girl?" demanded Mrs. Crow, shrewdly and very quickly. She had +been inspecting the man more closely than before, and woman's intuition +was telling her a truth that Anderson overlooked. Mr. Hawkshaw was not +only very seedy, but very drunk. + +"Madam," he responded loftily, "it is nothing but a mere child." + +"I'll give you jest one minute to get out of this house," said Mrs. Crow +sharply, to Anderson's consternation. "If you're not gone, I'll douse +you with this kettle of scalding water. Open the back door, Edna. He +sha'n't take his dirty self through my parlour again. _Open that door, +Edna!_" + +Edna, half paralysed with astonishment, opened the kitchen door just in +time. Mr. Hawkshaw was not so drunk but he could recognise disaster when +it hovered near. As she lifted the steaming kettle from the stove he +made a flying leap for the door. The rush of air that followed him as he +shot through the aperture almost swept Edna from her feet. In ten +seconds the tattered Hawkshaw was scrambling over the garden fence and +making lively if inaccurate tracks through last year's cabbage patch. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +The Mysterious Visitor + + +The entire Crow family watched him in stupefaction until he disappeared +down the lane that led to Hapgood's grove. It was then, and not until +then, that Anderson Crow took a breath. + +"Good Lord, Eva, what do you mean?" he gasped. + +"Mean?" she almost shrieked. "Anderson Crow, didn't you recognise that +feller? He ain't no more detective than you er me. He's the self-same +tramp that you put in the calaboose last week, and the week before, too. +I thought I'd seen his ugly face before. He's--" + +"Great jumpin' geeswax!" roared the town marshal. "I recollect him now. +He's the one that said he'd been exposed to smallpox an' wanted to be +kept where it was warm all winter. Well, I'll be--I'll be--" + +"Don't say it, pa. He said it fer you when he clumb over that barb-wire +fence out there," cried Edna gleefully. + +Several days of anxiety and energy followed this interesting episode. In +that time two tramps attempted to obtain food and shelter at Crow's +home, one on the plea that he was the father of the unfortunate child, +the other as an officer for the Foundlings' Home at Boggs City. Three +babies were left on the doorstep--two in one night--their fond mothers +confessing fessing by letters that they appreciated Anderson's +well-known charitable inclinations and implored him to care for their +offspring as if they were his own. The harassed marshal experienced some +difficulty in forcing the mothers to take back their children. + +In each instance he was reviled by the estimable ladies, all of whom +accused him of being utterly heartless. Mrs. Crow came to his rescue and +told the disappointed mothers that the scalding water was ready for +application if they did not take their baskets of babies away on short +order. It may be well for the reputation of Tinkletown to mention that +one of the donors was Mrs. Raspus, a negro washerwoman who did work for +the "dagoes" engaged in building the railroad hard by; another was the +wife of Antonio Galli, a member of the grading gang, and the third was +Mrs. Pool, the widow of a fisherman who had recently drowned himself in +drink. + +It is quite possible that Anderson might have had the three infants on +his hands permanently had not the mothers been so eager to know their +fate. They appeared in person early the next morning to see if the +babies had frozen to death on the doorstep. Mrs. Pool even went so far +as to fetch some extra baby clothes which she had neglected to drop with +her male. Mrs. Raspus came for her basket, claiming it was the only one +she had in which to "tote" the washing for the men. + +After these annoying but enlivening incidents Anderson was permitted to +recover from his daze and to throw off symptoms of nervous prostration. +Tinkletown resumed its tranquil attitude and the checker games began to +thrive once more. Little Rosalie was a week older than when she came, +but it was five weeks before anything happened to disturb the even tenor +of the foster-father's way. He had worked diligently in the effort to +discover the parents of the baby, but without result. Two or three +exasperated husbands in Tinkletown had threatened to blow his brains out +if he persisted in questioning their wives in his insinuating manner, +and one of the kitchen girls at the village inn threw a dishpan at him +on the occasion of his third visit of inquiry. A colored woman in the +employ of the Baptist minister denied that Rosalie was her child, but +when he insisted, agreed with fine sarcasm to "go over an' have a look +at it," after his assurance that it was perfectly white. + +"Eva, I've investigated the case thoroughly," he said at last, "an' +there is no solution to the mystery. The only thing I c'n deduce is that +the child is here an' we'll have to take keer of her. Now, I wonder if +that woman really meant it when she said we'd have a thousand dollars +at the end of each year. Doggone, I wish the year was up, jest to see." + +"We'll have to wait, Anderson, that's all," said Mrs. Crow. "I love the +baby so it can't matter much. I'm glad you're through investigatin'. +It's been most tryin' to me. Half the women in town don't speak to me." + +It was at the end of Rosalie's fifth week as a member of the family that +something happened. Late one night when Anderson opened the front door +to put out the cat a heavily veiled woman mounted the steps and accosted +him. In some trepidation he drew back and would have closed the door but +for her eager remonstrance. + +"I must see you, Mr. Crow," she cried in a low, agitated voice. + +"Who are you?" he demanded. She was dressed entirely in black. + +"I came to see you about the baby." + +"That won't do, madam. There's been three tramps here to hornswoggle us +an' I--" + +"I _must_ see her, Mr. Crow," pleaded the stranger, and he was struck by +the richness of her voice. + +"Mighty queer, it seems to me," he muttered hesitatingly. "Are you any +kin to it?" + +"I am very much interested." + +"By giminy, I believe you're the one who left her here," cried the +detective. "Are you a typewriter?" + +"I'll answer your questions if you'll allow me to step inside. It is +very cold out here." + +Anderson Crow stood aside and the tall, black figure entered the hall. +He led her to the warm sitting-room and gave her a chair before the +"base-burner." + +"Here, Mr. Crow, is an envelope containing two hundred and fifty +dollars. That proves my good faith. I cannot tell you who I am nor what +relation I bear to the baby. I am quite fully aware that you will not +undertake to detain me, for it is not an easy matter to earn a thousand +dollars a year in this part of the world. I am going abroad next week +and do not expect to return for a long, long time. Try as I would, I +could not go without seeing the child. I will not keep you out of bed +ten minutes, and you and your wife may be present while I hold Rosalie +in my arms. I know that she is in good hands, and I have no intention of +taking her away. Please call Mrs. Crow." + +Anderson was too amazed to act at once. He began to flounder +interrogatively, but the visitor abruptly checked him. + +"You are wasting time, Mr. Crow, in attempting to question my authority +or identity. No one need know that I have made this visit. You are +perfectly secure in the promise to have a thousand dollars a year; why +should you hesitate? As long as she lives with you the money is yours. I +am advancing the amount you now hold in order that her immediate wants +may be provided for. You are not required to keep an account of the +money paid to you. There are means of ascertaining at once whether she +is being well cared for and educated by you, and if it becomes apparent +that you are not doing your duty, she shall be removed from your +custody. From time to time you may expect written instructions +from--from one who loves her." + +"I jest want to ast if you live in Tinkletown?" Anderson managed to say. + +"I do not," she replied emphatically. + +"Well, then, lift your veil. If you don't live here I sha'n't know you." + +"I prefer to keep my face covered, Mr. Crow; believe me and trust me. +Please let me see her." The plea was so earnest that Anderson's heart +gave a great thump of understanding. + +"By ginger, you are her mother!" he gasped. Mrs. Crow came in at this +juncture, and she was much quicker at grasping the situation than her +husband. It was in her mind to openly denounce the woman for her +heartlessness, but her natural thriftiness interposed. She would do +nothing that might remove the golden spoon from the family mouth. + +The trio stole upstairs and into the warm bedchamber. There, with +Anderson Crow and his wife looking on from a remote corner of the room, +the tall woman in black knelt beside the crib that had housed a +generation of Crows. The sleeping Rosalie did not know of the soft +kisses that swept her little cheek. She did not feel the tears that fell +when the visitor lifted her veil, nor did she hear the whisperings that +rose to the woman's lips. + +"That is all," murmured the mysterious stranger at last, dropping her +veil as she arose. She staggered as she started for the door, but +recovered herself instantly. Without a word she left the room, the +Crows following her down the stairs in silence. At the bottom she +paused, and then extended her hands to the old couple. Her voice +faltered as she spoke. + +"Let me clasp your hands and let me tell you that my love and my prayers +are forever for you and for that little one up there. Thank you. I know +you will be good to her. She is well born. Her blood is as good as the +best. Above all things, Mrs. Crow, she is not illegitimate. You may +easily suspect that her parents are wealthy or they could not pay so +well for her care. Some day the mystery surrounding her will be cleared. +It may not be for many years. I can safely say that she will be left in +your care for twenty years at least. Some day you will know why it is +that Rosalie is not supposed to exist. God bless you." + +She was gone before they could utter a word. They watched her walk +swiftly into the darkness; a few minutes later the sound of carriage +wheels suddenly broke upon the air. Anderson Crow and his wife stood +over the "base-burner," and there were tears in their thoughtful eyes. + +"She said twenty years, Eva. Let's see, this is 1883. What would that +make it?" + +"About 1903 or 1904, Anderson." + +"Well, I guess we c'n wait if other people can," mused he. Then they +went slowly upstairs and to bed. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +Some Years Go By + + +Tinkletown as a unit supported Anderson in his application for +guardianship papers. They were filed immediately after the secret visit +of the mysterious woman; the Circuit Court at Boggs City, after hearing +the evidence, at once entered the appointment of Mr. Crow. When the +court asked in mild surprise why he did not adopt the child, Anderson +and Eva looked at each other sheepishly and were silent for a full +minute. Then Anderson spoke up a bit huskily: + +"Well, you see, judge, her name would have to be Crow, an' while it's a +good name an' an honoured one, it don't jest seem to fit the young 'un. +She 'pears to be more of a canary than a crow, figuratively speakin', +and Eva an' me jest decided we'd give her a different sort of a last +name if we could find one. Seems to me that Rosie Canary would be a good +one, but Eva an' the childern are ag'in me. They've decided to call her +Rosalie Gray, an' I guess that about settles it. If you don't mind, I +reckon that name c'n go in the records. Besides, you must recollect that +she's liable to have a lot of property some time, an' it seems more fit +fer me to be guardian than foster-father if that time ever comes. It'll +be easier to say good-bye if she keers to leave us." + +That same day Anderson deposited two hundred and fifty dollars to his +credit in the First National Bank, saying to his wife as he walked away +from the teller's window, "I guess Rosalie cain't starve till the bank +busts, an' maybe not then." + +Of course Tinkletown knew that a sum of money had been paid to Anderson, +but no one knew that it had been handed to him in person by an +interested party. Had Anderson and his wife even whispered that such a +visit had occurred, the town would have gone into a convulsion of wrath; +the marshal's pedestal would have been jerked out from under him without +compunction or mercy. Eva cautioned him to be more than silent on the +subject for the child's sake as well as for their own, and Anderson saw +wisdom in her counselling. He even lagged in his avowed intention to +unravel the mystery or die in the attempt. A sharp reminder in the shape +of an item in the _Banner_ restored his energies, and he again took up +the case with a vigour that startled even himself. Anything in the shape +of vigour startled his wife. + +Harry Squires, the reporter, who poked more or less fun at Anderson from +time to time because he had the "power of the press behind him," some +weeks later wrote the following item about the "baby mystery," as he +called it, in large type: + + "There is no news in regard to the child found upon the doorstep of + our esteemed fellow-citizen Anderson Crow, last February. The item + concerning its discovery first appeared in the columns of the + _Banner_, as will be remembered by our many readers. Detective + Crow promised developments some time ago, but they have not showed + up. It is rumoured that he has a new clew, but it cannot be + substantiated. The general impression is that he does not know + whether it is a boy or girl. We advise Mr. Crow to go slow. He + should not forget the time when he arrested Mr. John Barnes, two + years ago, for the murder of Mr. Grover, and afterward found that + the young gent was merely eloping with Judge Brewster's daughter, + which was no crime. We saw the girl. Those of our readers who were + alive at the time doubtless recall the excitement of that man-hunt + two years ago. Mr. Barnes, as innocent as a child unborn, came to + our little city engaged in the innocent pastime of getting married. + At the same time it was reported that a murder had been committed + in this county. Mr. Crow had his suspicions aroused and pursued Mr. + Barnes down the river and arrested him. It was a fine piece of + detective work. But, unfortunately for Mr. Crow, the real murderer + had been caught in the meantime. Mr. Barnes was guilty only of + stealing judge Brewster's daughter and getting married to her. The + last heard of them they were happy in New York. They even forgave + Mr. Crow, it is reported. It is to be hoped that our clever + detective will soon jump down upon the heartless parents of this + innocent child, but it is also to be hoped that he think at least + four times before he leaps." + +To say that the foregoing editorial disturbed the evenness of Mr. Crow's +temper would be saying nothing at all. In the privacy of his barn lot +Anderson did a war dance that shamed Tecumseh. He threatened to +annihilate Harry Squires "from head to foot," for publishing the base +slander. + +"Doggone his hide," roared poor Anderson, "fer two cents I'd tell all I +know about him bein' tight up at Boggs City three years ago. He couldn't +walk half an inch that time without staggerin'. Anyhow, I wouldn't have +chased Mr. Barnes that time if it hadn't been fer Harry Squires. He +egged me on, doggone his hide. If he didn't have that big typesetter +from Albany over at the _Banner_ office to back him up I'd go over an' +bust his snoot fer him. After all the items I've give him, too. That's +all the thanks you git fer gittin' up news fer them blamed reporters. +But I'll show him! I wonder what he'd think if I traced that baby right +up to his own--_What's_ that, Eva? Well, now, you don't know anything +about it neither, so keep your mouth shet. Harry Squires is a purty sly +cuss. Mebby it's his'n. You ain't supposed to know. You jest let me do +my own deducin'. I don't want no blamed woman tellin' me who to shadder. +An' you, too, Edner; get out of the way, consarn ye! The next thing +_you'll_ be tellin' me what to do--an' me your father, too!" + +And that is why Anderson Crow resumed his search for the parents of +Rosalie Gray. Not that he hoped or expected to find them, but to offset +the pernicious influence of Harry's "item." For many days he followed +the most highly impossible clews, some of them intractable, to supply a +rather unusual word of description. In other words, they reacted with a +vigour that often found him unprepared but serene. Consequences bothered +Anderson but little in those days of despised activity. + +It is not necessary to dwell upon the incidents of the ensuing years, +which saw Rosalie crawl from babyhood to childhood and then stride +proudly through the teens with a springiness that boded ill for Father +Time. Regularly each succeeding February there came to Anderson Crow a +package of twenty dollar bills amounting to one thousand dollars, the +mails being inscrutable. The Crow family prospered correspondingly, but +there was a liberal frugality behind it all that meant well for Rosalie +when the time came for an accounting. Anderson and Eva "laid by" a +goodly portion of the money for the child, whom they loved as one of +their own flesh and blood. The district school lessons were followed +later on by a boarding-school education down State, and then came the +finishing touches at Miss Brown's in New York. + +Rosalie grew into a rare flower, as dainty as the rose, as piquant as +the daisy. The unmistakable mark of the high bred glowed in her face, +the fine traces of blue blood graced her every movement, her every tone +and look. At the time that she, as well as every one else in Tinkletown, +for that matter, was twenty years older than when she first came to +Anderson's home, we find her the queen of the village, its one rich +human possession, its one truly sophisticated inhabitant. Anderson Crow +and his wife were so proud of her that they forgot their duty to their +own offspring; but if the Crow children resented this it was not +exhibited in the expressions of love and admiration for their +foster-sister. Edna Crow, the eldest of the girls--Anderson called her +"Edner"--was Rosalie's most devoted slave, while Roscoe, the +twelve-year-old boy, who comprised the rear rank of Anderson's little +army, knelt so constantly at her shrine that he fell far behind in his +studies, and stuck to the third reader for two years. + +Anderson had not been idle in all these years. He was fast approaching +his seventieth anniversary, but he was not a day older in spirit than +when we first made his acquaintance. True, his hair was thinner and +whiter, and his whiskers straggled a little more carelessly than in +other days, but he was as young and active as a youth of twenty. Hard +times did not worry him, nor did domestic troubles. Mrs. Crow often +admitted that she tried her best to worry him, but it was like "pouring +water on a duck's back." He went blissfully on his way, earning +encomiums for himself and honours for Tinkletown. There was no grave +crime committed in the land that he did not have a well-defined scheme +for apprehending the perpetrators. His "deductions" at Lamson's store +never failed to draw out and hold large audiences, and no one disputed +his theories in public. The fact that he was responsible for the arrest +of various hog, horse, and chicken thieves from time to time, and for +the continuous seizure of the two town drunkards, Tom Folly and Alf +Reesling, kept his reputation untarnished, despite the numerous errors +of commission and omission that crept in between. + +That Rosalie's mysterious friends--or enemies, it might have been--kept +close and accurate watch over her was manifested from time to time. +Once, when Anderson was very ill with typhoid fever, the package of +bills was accompanied by an unsigned, typewritten letter. The writer +announced that Mr. Crow's state of health was causing some anxiety on +Rosalie's account--the child was then six years old--and it was hoped +that nothing serious would result. Another time the strange writer, in a +letter from Paris, instructed Mr. Crow to send Rosalie to a certain +boarding school and to see that she had French, German, and music from +competent instructors. Again, just before the girl went to New York for +her two years' stay in Miss Brown's school, there came a package +containing $2500 for her own personal use. Rosalie often spoke to +Anderson of this mysterious sender as the "fairy godmother"; but the old +marshal had a deeper and more significant opinion. + +Perhaps the most anxious period in the life of Anderson Crow came when +Rosalie was about ten years old. A new sheriff had been elected in +Bramble County, and he posed as a reformer. His sister taught school in +Tinkletown, and Rosalie was her favourite. She took an interest in the +child that was almost the undoing of Mr. Crow's prosperity. Imagining +that she was befriending the girl, the teacher appealed to her brother, +the sheriff, insisting that he do what he could to solve the mystery of +her birth. The sheriff saw a chance to distinguish himself. He enlisted +the help of an aggressive prosecuting attorney, also new, and set about +to investigate the case. + +The two officers of the law descended upon Tinkletown one day and began +to ask peremptory questions. They went about it in such a high-handed, +lordly manner that Anderson took alarm and his heart sank like lead. He +saw in his mind's eye the utter collapse of all his hopes, the dashing +away of his cup of leisure and the upsetting of the "fairy godmother's" +plans. Pulling his wits together, he set about to frustrate the attack +of the meddlers. Whether it was his shrewdness in placing obstacles in +their way or whether he coerced the denizens into blocking the sheriff's +investigation does not matter. It is only necessary to say that the +officious gentleman from Boggs City finally gave up the quest in disgust +and retired into the oblivion usual to county officials who try to be +progressive. It was many weeks, however, before Anderson slept soundly. +He was once more happy in the consciousness that Rosalie had been saved +from disaster and that he had done his duty by her. + +"I'd like to know how them doggone jays from Boggs City expected to find +out anything about that child when I hain't been able to," growled Mr. +Crow in Lamson's store one night. "If they'll jest keep their blamed +noses out of this affair I'll find out who her parents are some day. It +takes time to trace down things like this. I guess I know what I'm +doin', don't I, boys?" + +"That's what you do, Anderson," said Mr. Lamson, as Anderson reached +over and took a handful of licorice drops from the jar on the counter. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +The Village Queen + + +The spring of 1903 brought Rosalie back to Tinkletown after her second +and last year with Miss Brown in New York City. The sun seemed brighter, +the birds sang more blithely, the flowers took on a new fragrance and +the village spruced up as if Sunday was the only day in the week. The +young men of the town trembled when she passed them by, and not a few of +them grew thin and haggard for want of food and sleep, having lost both +appetite and repose through a relapse in love. Her smile was the same as +of yore, her cheery greetings the same, and yet the village swains stood +in awe of this fine young aristocrat for days and days. Gradually it +dawned upon them that she was human, after all, despite her New York +training, and they slowly resumed the old-time manner of courting, which +was with the eyes exclusively. + +A few of the more venturesome--but not the more ardent--asked her to go +walking, driving, or to the church "sociables," and there was a rivalry +in town which threatened to upset commerce. There was no theatre in +Tinkletown, but they delighted in her descriptions of the gorgeous +play-houses in New York. The town hall seemed smaller than ever to them. +The younger merchants and their clerks neglected business with charming +impartiality, and trade was going to "rack and ruin" until Rosalie +declined to marry George Rawlins, the minister's son. He was looked upon +as the favoured one; but she refused him in such a decisive manner that +all others lost hope and courage. It is on record that the day after +George's _conge_ Tinkletown indulged in a complete business somersault. +Never before had there been such strict attention to customers; +merchants and clerks alike settled down to the inevitable and tried to +banish Rosalie's face from the cost tags and trading stamps of their +dull, mercantile cloister. Even Tony Brink, the blacksmith's 'prentice, +fell into the habits of industry, but with an absent-mindedness that got +him kicked through a partition in the smithy when he attempted to shoe +the fetlock of Mr. Martin's colt instead of its hoof. + +The Crow family took on a new dignity. Anderson gave fifty dollars to +the Foreign Missionary Society of the Presbyterian Church, claiming that +a foreign education had done so much for his ward; and Mrs. Crow +succeeded in holding two big afternoon teas before Rosalie could apply +the check rein. + +One night Anderson sat up until nearly ten o'clock--an unheard-of +proceeding for him. Rosalie, with the elder Crow girls, Edna and Susie, +had gone to protracted meeting with a party of young men and women. The +younger boys and girls were in bed, and Mrs. Crow was yawning +prodigiously. She never retired until Anderson was ready to do likewise. +Suddenly it dawned upon her that he was unusually quiet and +preoccupied. They were sitting on the moonlit porch. + +"What's the matter, Anderson? Ain't you well?" she asked at last. + +"No; I'm just thinkin'," he responded, rather dismally. "Doggone, I +cain't get it out of my head, Eva." + +"Can't get what out?" + +"About Rosalie." + +"Well, what about her?" + +"That's jest like a woman--always fergittin' the most important things +in the world. Don't you know that the twenty years is up?" + +"Of course I know it, but 'tain't worryin' me any. She's still here, +ain't she? Nobody has come to take her away. The thousand dollars came +all right last February, didn't it? Well, what's the use worryin'?" + +"Mebbe you're right, but I'm skeered to death fer fear some one will +turn up an' claim her, er that a big estate will be settled, er +somethin' awful like that. I don't mind the money, Eva; I jest hate to +think of losin' her, now that she's such a credit to us. Besides, I'm up +a stump about next year." + +"Well, what happens then?" + +"Derned if I know. That's what's worryin' me." + +"I don't see why you--" + +"Certainly you don't. You never do. I've got to do all the thinkin' fer +this fambly. Next year she's twenty-one years old an' her own boss, +ain't she? I ain't her guardeen after that, am I? What happens then, I'd +like to know." + +"You jest have to settle with the court, pay over to her what belongs to +her and keep the thousand every spring jest the same. Her people, +whoever they be, are payin' you fer keepin' her an' not her fer stayin' +here. 'Tain't likely she'll want to leave a good home like this 'un, is +it? Don't worry till the time comes, Anderson." + +"That's jest the point. She's lived in New York an' she's got used to +it. She's got fine idees; even her clothes seem to fit different. Now, +do you s'pose that fine-lookin' girl with all her New York trimmin's 's +goin' to hang 'round a fool little town like this? Not much! She's goin' +to dig out o' here as soon's she gits a chance; an' she's goin' to live +right where her heart tells her she belongs--in the metropolees of New +York. She don't belong in no jim-crow town like this. Doggone, Eva, I +hate to see 'er go!" + +There was such a wail of bitterness in the old constable's remark that +Mrs. Crow felt the tears start to her own eyes. It was the girl they +both wanted, after all--not the money. Rosalie, coming home with her +party some time afterward, found the old couple still seated on the +porch. The young people could not conceal their surprise. + +"Counting the stars, pop?" asked Edna Crow. + +"He's waiting for the eclipse," bawled noisy Ed Higgins, the grocer's +clerk. "It's due next winter. H'are you, Anderson?" + +"How's that?" was Anderson's rebuke. + +"I mean Mr. Crow," corrected Ed, with a nervous glance at Rosalie, who +had been his companion for the evening. + +"Oh, I'm jest so-so," remarked Anderson, mollified. "How was the party?" + +"It wasn't a party, Daddy Crow," laughed Rosalie, seating herself in +front of him on the porch rail. "It was an experience meeting. Alf +Reesling has reformed again. He told us all about his last attack of +delirium tremens." + +"You don't say so! Well, sir, I never thought Alf could find the time to +reform ag'in. He's too busy gittin' tight," mused Anderson. "But I guess +reformin' c'n git to be as much a habit as anythin' else." + +"I think he was a little woozy to-night," ventured 'Rast Little. + +"A little what?" + +"Drunk," explained 'Rast, without wasting words. 'Rast had acquired the +synonym at the business men's carnival in Boggs City the preceding fall. +Sometimes he substituted the words "pie-eyed," "skeed," "lit up," etc., +just to show his worldliness. + +After the young men had departed and the Crow girls had gone upstairs +with their mother Rosalie slipped out on the porch and sat herself down +upon the knee of her disconsolate guardian. + +"You are worried about something, Daddy Crow," she said gently. "Now, +speak up, sir. What is it?" + +"It's time you were in bed," scolded Anderson, pulling his whiskers +nervously. + +"Oh, I'm young, daddy. I don't need sleep. But you never have been up as +late as this since I've known you." + +"I was up later'n this the time you had the whoopin'-cough, all right." + +"What's troubling you, daddy?" + +"Oh, nothin'--nothin' at all. Doggone, cain't a man set out on his own +porch 'thout--" + +"Forgive me, daddy. Shall I go away and leave you?" + +"Gosh a'mighty, no!" he gasped. "That's what's worryin' me--oh, you +didn't mean forever. You jest meant to-night? Geminy crickets, you did +give me a skeer!" He sank back with a great sigh of relief. + +"Why, I never expect to leave you forever," she cried, caressing his +scanty hair. "You couldn't drive me away. This is home, and you've been +too good to me all these years. I may want to travel after a while, but +I'll always come back to you, Daddy Crow." + +"I'm--I'm mighty glad to hear ye say that, Rosie. Ye see--ye see, me an' +your ma kinder learned to love you, an'--an--" + +"Why, Daddy Crow, you silly old goose! You're almost crying!" + +"What's that? Now, don't talk like that to me, you little +whipper-snapper, er you go to bed in a hurry. I never cried in my life," +growled Anderson in a great bluster. + +"Well, then, let's talk about something else--me, for instance. Do you +know, Daddy Crow, that I'm too strong to live an idle life. There is no +reason why I shouldn't have an occupation. I want to work--accomplish +something." + +Anderson was silent a long time collecting his nerves. "You wouldn't +keer to be a female detective, would you?" he asked drily. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +Rosalie Has Plans of Her Own + + +"Do be serious, daddy. I want to do something worth while. I could teach +school or--" + +"Not much! You ain't cut out fer that job. Don't you know that ever'body +hates school-teachers when they're growed up? Jerusalem, how I still +hate old Rachel Kidwell! An' yet she's bin dead nigh onto thirty years. +She was my first teacher. You wasn't born to be hated by all the boys in +the district. I don't see what put the idee of work inter your head You +got 'bout eight thousand dollars in the bank an'--" + +"But I insist that the money is yours, daddy. My fairy godmother paid it +to you for keeping, clothing, and educating me. It is not mine." + +"You talk like I was a boardin' school instead o' bein' your guardeen. +No, siree; it's your money, an' that ends it. You git it when you're +twenty-one." + +"We'll see, daddy," she replied, a stubborn light in her dark eyes. "But +I want to learn to do something worth while. If I had a million it would +be just the same." + +"You'll have something to do when you git married," observed he sharply. + +"Nonsense!" + +"I s'pose you're goin' to say you never expect to git married. They all +say it--an' then take the first feller 'at comes along." + +"I didn't take the first, or the second, or the third, or the--" + +"Hold on! Gosh a'mighty, have you had that many? Well, why don't you go +into the matrimonial agent's business? That's an occupation." + +"Oh, none of them was serious, daddy," she said naively. + +"You could have all of the men in the county!" he declared proudly. +"Only," he added quickly, "it wouldn't seem jest right an' proper." + +"There was a girl at Miss Brown's a year ago who had loads of money, and +yet she declared she was going to have an occupation. Nobody knew much +about her or why she left school suddenly in the middle of a term. I +liked her, for she was very nice to me when I first went there, a +stranger. Mr. Reddon--you've heard me speak of him--was devoted to her, +and I'm sure she liked him. It was only yesterday I heard from her. She +is going to teach school in this township next winter." + +"An' she's got money?" + +"I am sure she had it in those days. It's the strangest thing in the +world that she should be coming here to teach school in No. 5. +Congressman Ritchey secured the appointment for her, she says. The +township trustee--whatever his name is--for a long time insisted that he +must appoint a teacher from Tinkletown and not an outsider. I am glad +she is coming here because--well, daddy, because she is like the girls +I knew in the city. She has asked me to look up a boarding place for +next winter. Do you know of any one, daddy, who could let her have a +nice room?" + +"I'll bet my ears you'd like to have your ma take her in right here. But +I don't see how it c'n be done, Rosie-posie. There's so derned many of +us now, an'--" + +"Oh, I didn't mean that, daddy. She couldn't come here. But don't you +think Mrs. Jim Holabird would take her in for the winter?" + +"P'raps. She's a widder. She might let her have Jim's room now that +there's a vacancy. You might go over an' ast her about it to-morrer. +It's a good thing she's a friend of yourn, Rosalie, because if she +wasn't I'd have to fight her app'intment." + +"Why, daddy!" reproachfully. + +"Well, she's a foreigner, an' I don't think it's right to give her a job +when we've got so many home products that want the place an' who look +unpopular enough to fill the bill. I'm fer home industry every time, an' +'specially as this girl don't appear to need the place. I don't see what +business Congressman Ritchey has foolin' with our school system anyhow. +He'd better be reducin' the tariff er increasin' the pensions down to +Washington." + +"I quite agree with you, Daddy Crow," said Rosalie with a diplomacy that +always won for her. She knew precisely how to handle her guardian, and +that was why she won where his own daughters failed. "And now, +good-night, daddy. Go to bed and don't worry about me. You'll have me +on your hands much longer than you think or want. What time is it?" + +Anderson patted her head reflectively as he solemnly drew his huge +silver time-piece from an unlocated pocket. He held it out into the +bright moonlight. + +"Geminy crickets!" he exclaimed. "It's forty-nine minutes to twelve!" +Anderson Crow's policy was to always look at things through the small +end of the telescope. + +The slow, hot summer wore away, and to Rosalie it was the longest that +she ever had experienced. She was tired of the ceaseless twaddle of +Tinkletown, its flow of "missions," "sociables," "buggy-horses," "George +Rawlin's new dress-suit," "harvesting," and "politics"--for even the +children talked politics. Nor did the assiduous attentions of the +village young men possess the power to shorten the days for her--and +they certainly lengthened the nights. She liked them because they were +her friends from the beginning--and Rosalie was not a snob. Not for the +world would she have hurt the feelings of one poor, humble, adoring soul +in Tinkletown; and while her smile was none the less sweet, her laugh +none the less joyous, in her heart there was the hidden longing that +smiled only in dreams. She longed for the day that was to bring Elsie +Banks to live with Mrs. Holabird, for with her would come a breath of +the world she had known for two years, and which she had learned to love +so well. + +In three months seven men had asked her to marry them. Of the seven, one +only had the means or the prospect of means to support her. He was a +grass-widower with five grown children. Anderson took occasion to warn +her against widowers. + +"Why," he said, "they're jest like widders. You know Dave Smith that +runs the tavern down street, don't you? Well, doggone ef he didn't turn +in an' marry a widder with seven childern an' a husband, an' he's led a +dog's life ever sence." + +"Seven children and a husband? Daddy Crow!" + +"Yep. Her derned husband wouldn't stay divorced when he found out Dave +could support a fambly as big as that. He figgered it would be jest as +easy to take keer of eight as seven, so he perlitely attached hisself to +Dave's kitchen an' started in to eat hisself to death. Dave was goin' to +have his wife apply fer another divorce an' leave the name blank, so's +he could put in either husband ef it came to a pinch, but I coaxed him +out of it. He finally got rid of the feller by askin' him one day to +sweep out the office. He could eat all right, but it wasn't natural fer +him to work, so he skipped out. Next I heerd of him he had married a +widder who was gittin' a pension because her first husband fit fer his +country. The Government shet off the pension jest as soon as she got +married ag'in, and then that blamed cuss took in washin' fer her. He +stayed away from home on wash-days, but as every day was wash-day with +her, he didn't see her by daylight fer three years. She died, an' now +he's back at Dave's ag'in. He calls Dave his husband-in-law." + +It required all of Anderson's social and official diplomacy to forestall +an indignation meeting when it was announced that a stranger, Miss +Banks, had been selected to teach school No. 5. There was some talk of +mobbing the township trustee and Board of County Commissioners, but +Anderson secured the names of the more virulent talkers and threatened +to "jail" them for conspiracy. + +"Why, Anderson," almost wailed George Ray, "that girl's from the city. +What does she know about grammar an' history an' all that? They don't +teach anything but French an' Italian in the cities an' you know it." + +"Pshaw!" sniffed Anderson. "I hate grammar an' always did. I c'n talk +better Italian than grammar right now, an' I hope Miss Banks will teach +every child in the district how to talk French. You'd orter hear Rosalie +talk it. Besides, Rosie says she's a nice girl an'--an' needs the +job." Anderson lied bravely, but he swallowed twice in doing it. + +[Illustration: "September brought Elsie Banks"] + +September brought Elsie Banks to make life worth living for Rosalie. The +two girls were constantly together, talking over the old days and what +the new ones were to bring forth, especially for Miss Gray, who had +resumed wood carving as a temporary occupation. Miss Banks was more than +ever reluctant to discuss her own affairs, and Rosalie after a few +trials was tactful enough to respect her mute appeal. It is doubtful if +either of the girls mentioned the name of big, handsome Tom Reddon--Tom, +who had rowed in his college crew; but it is safe to say that both of +them thought of him more than once those long, soft, autumn +nights--nights when Tinkletown's beaux were fairly tumbling over +themselves in the effort to make New York life seem like a flimsy shadow +in comparison. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +Elsie Banks + + +Aderson Crow stood afar off--among the bleak, leafless trees of Badger's +Grove--and gazed thoughtfully, even earnestly, upon the little red +schoolhouse with its high brick chimney and snow-clad roof. A biting +January wind cut through his whiskers and warmed his nose to a +half-broiled shade of red. On the lapel of his overcoat glistened his +social and official badges, augmented by a new and particularly shiny +emblem of respect bestowed by the citizens of Tinkletown. + +At first it had been the sense of the town to erect a monument in +recognition of his part in the capture of the Bramble County horse-thief +gang, but a thrifty and considerate committee of five substituted a +fancy gold badge with suitable inscriptions on both sides, extolling him +to the skies "long before he went there hisself" (to quote Uncle Gideon +Luce, whose bump of perception was a stubborn prophet when it came to +picking out the site of Mr. Crow's heaven). For a full half hour the +marshal of Tinkletown had been standing among the trees surveying the +schoolhouse at the foot of the slope. If his frosted cheeks and watery +eyes ached for the warmth that urged the curls of smoke to soar away +from the chimney-top, his attitude did not betray the fact. He was +watching and thinking, and when Anderson thought of one thing he never +thought of another at the same time. + +"It'll soon be recess time," he reflected. "Then I'll step down there +an' let on to be makin' a social call on the schoolma'am. By gum, I +believe she's the one! It'll take some tarnation good work to find out +the truth about her, but I guess I c'n do it all right. The only thing I +got to guard ag'inst is lettin' anybody else know of the mystery +surroundin' her. Gosh! it'll surprise some of the folks 'round here, +'specially Rosalie. An' mebby the township trustee won't be sorry he +give the school this year to a strange girl instid o' to Jane Rankin er +Effie Dickens! Congressman Ritchey hadn't no business puttin' his nose +into our affairs anyhow, no matter if this here teacher is a friend of +his fambly. He's got some kind a holt on these here trustees--'y gosh, +I'd like to know what 'tis. He c'n jest wrap 'em round his finger an' +make 'em app'int anybody he likes. Must be politics. There, it's recess! +I'll jest light out an' pay the schoolhouse a little visit." + +Inside a capacious and official pocket of Mr. Crow's coat reposed a +letter from a law firm in Chicago. It asked if within the last two years +a young woman had applied for a position as teacher in the township +schools at Tinkletown. A description accompanied the inquiry, but it was +admitted she might have applied under a name not her own, which was +Marion Lovering. In explanation, the letter said she had left her home +in Chicago without the consent of her aunt, imbued with the idea that +she would sooner support herself than depend upon the charity of that +worthy though wealthy relative. The aunt had recently died, and counsel +for the estate was trying to establish proof concerning the actions and +whereabouts of Miss Lovering since her departure from Chicago. + +The young woman often had said she would become a teacher, a tutor, a +governess, or a companion, and it was known that she had made her way to +that section of the world presided over by Anderson Crow--although the +distinguished lawyers did not put it in those words. A reward of five +hundred dollars for positive information concerning the "life of the +girl" while in "that or any other community" was promised. + +Miss Banks's appointment came through the agency of the district's +congressman, in whose home she had acted as governess for a period. +Moreover, she answered the description in that she was young, pretty, +and refined. Anderson Crow felt that he was on the right track; he was +now engaged in as pretty a piece of detective business as had ever +fallen to his lot, and he was not going to spoil it by haste and +overconfidence. + +Just why Anderson Crow should "shadow" the schoolhouse instead of the +teacher's temporary place of abode no one could possibly have known but +himself--and it is doubtful if _he_ knew. He resolved not to answer the +Chicago letter until he was quite ready to produce the girl and the +proof desired. + +"I'd be a gol-swiggled fool to put 'em onter my s'picions an' then have +'em cheat me out of the reward," he reflected keenly. "You cain't trust +them Chicago lawyers an inch an' a half. Doggone it, I'll never fergit +that feller who got my pockit-book out to Central Park that time. He +tole me positively he was a lawyer from Chicago, an' had an office in +the Y.M.C.A. Building. An' the idee of him tellin' me he wanted to see +if my pockit-book had better leather in it than hisn!" + +The fact that the school children, big and little, loved Miss Banks +possessed no point of influence over their elders of the feminine +persuasion. They turned up their Tinkletown noses and sniffed at her +because she was a "vain creature," who thought more of "attractin' the +men than she did of anything else on earth." And all this in spite of +the fact that she was the intimate friend of the town goddess, Rosalie +Gray. + +Everybody in school No. 5 over the age of seven was deeply, jealously in +love with Miss Banks. Many a frozen snowball did its deadly work from +ambush because of this impotent jealousy. + +But the merriest rivalry was that which developed between Ed Higgins, +the Beau Brummel of Tinkletown, and 'Rast Little, whose father owned the +biggest farm in Bramble County. If she was amused by the frantic efforts +of each suitor to outwit the other she was too tactful to display her +emotion. Perhaps she was more highly entertained by the manner in which +Tinkletown femininity paired its venom with masculine admiration. + +"Mornin', Miss Banks," was Anderson's greeting as he stamped noisily +into the room. He forgot that he had said good-morning to her when she +stopped in to see Rosalie on her way to the schoolhouse. The children +ceased their outdoor game and peered eagerly through the windows, +conscious that the visit of this dignitary was of supreme importance. +Miss Banks looked up from the papers she was correcting, the pucker +vanishing from her pretty brow as if by magic. + +"Good-morning, Mr. Crow. What are you doing away out here in the +country? Jimmy"--to a small boy--"please close the door." Anderson had +left it open, and it was a raw January wind which followed him into the +room. + +"'Scuse me," he murmured. "Seems I ain't got sense enough to shet a door +even. My wife says--but you don't keer to hear about that, do you? Oh, I +jest dropped in," finally answering her question. He took a bench near +the big stove and spread his hands before the sheet-iron warmth. +"Lookin' up a little affair, that's all. Powerful chilly, ain't it?" + +"Very." She stood on the opposite side of the stove, puzzled by this +unexpected visit, looking at him with undisguised curiosity. + +"Ever been to Chicago?" asked Anderson suddenly, hoping to catch her +unawares. + +"Oh, yes. I have lived there," she answered readily. He shifted his legs +twice and took a hasty pull at his whiskers. + +"That's what I thought. Why don't you go back there?" + +"Because I'm teaching school here, Mr. Crow." + +"Well, I reckon that's a good excuse. I thought mebby you had a +different one." + +"What do you mean?" + +"Oh, I dunno. I jest asked." + +"You are a detective, are you not?" asked Miss Banks, smiling brightly +and with understanding. + +"Oh, off an' on I do a little detectin'. See my badge?" + +"Am I suspected of a heinous crime?" she asked so abruptly that he +gasped. "Won't you take off your cap, Mr. Crow?" He removed it +sheepishly. + +"Lord, no!" he exclaimed in confusion. "I mean the crime--not the cap. +Well, I guess I'll be goin'. School's goin' to take up, I reckon. See +you later, Miss Banks." He restored his cap to its accustomed place and +was starting toward the door, a trifle dazed and bewildered. + +"What is it that you wish to find out, Mr. Crow?" she suddenly called to +him. He halted and faced about so quickly that his reply came like a +shot out of a gun. + +"I'm on the lookout fer a girl--an' she'll be's rich's Crowses if I c'n +only find 'er. I dassent tell 'er name jest now," he went on, slowly +retracing his steps, "'cause I don't want people--er her either, fer +that matter--to git onter my scheme. But you jest wait." He was standing +very close to her now and looking her full in the face. "You're sure you +don't know anythin' 'bout her?" + +"Why, how should I know? You've told me nothing." + +"You've got purty good clothes fer a common school-teacher," he flung at +her in an aggressive, impertinent tone, but the warm colour that swiftly +rose to her cheeks forced him to recall his words, for he quickly +tempered them with, "Er, at least, that's what all the women folks say." + +"Oh, so some one has been talking about my affairs? Some of your +excellent women want to know more about me than--" + +"Don't git excited, Miss Banks," he interrupted; "the women ain't got +anythin' to do with it--I mean, it's nothin' to them. I--" + +"Mr. Crow," she broke in, "if there is anything you or anybody in +Tinkletown wants to know about me you will have to deduce it for +yourself. I believe that is what you call it--deduce? And now good-bye, +Mr. Crow. Recess is over," she said pointedly; and Mr. Crow shuffled out +as the children galloped in. + +That evening Ed Higgins and 'Rast Little came to call, but she excused +herself because of her correspondence. In her little upstairs room she +wrote letter after letter, one in particular being voluminous. Mrs. +Holabird, as she passed her door, distinctly heard her laugh aloud. It +was a point to be recalled afterward with no little consideration. Later +she went downstairs, cloaked warmly, for a walk to the post-office. Ed +Higgins was still in the parlour talking to the family. He hastily put +in his petition to accompany her, and it was granted absently. Then he +surreptitiously and triumphantly glanced through the window, the scene +outside pleasing him audibly. 'Rast was standing at the front gate +talking to Anderson Crow. Miss Banks noticed as they passed the confused +twain at the gate that Anderson carried his dark lantern. + +"Any trace of the heiress, Mr. Crow?" she asked merrily. + +"Doggone it," muttered Anderson, "she'll give the whole snap away!" + +"What's that?" asked 'Rast. + +"Nothin' much," said Anderson, repairing the damage. "Ed's got your time +beat to-night, 'Rast, that's all!" + +"I could 'a' took her out ridin' to-night if I'd wanted to," lied 'Rast +promptly. "I'm goin' to take her to the spellin'-bee to-morrow night out +to the schoolhouse." + +"Did she say she'd go with you?" + +"Not yet. I was jest goin' to ast her to-night." + +"Mebby Ed's askin' her now." + +"Gosh dern it, that's so! Maybe he is," almost wailed 'Rast; and +Anderson felt sorry for him as he ambled away from the gate and its +love-sick guardian. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +The Spelling-Bee + + +Young Mr. Higgins found his companion bubbling over with vivacity. Her +pretty chin was in the air and every word bore the promise of a laugh. +He afterward recalled one little incident of their walk through the +frosty night, and repeated it to Anderson Crow with more awe than seemed +necessary. They were passing the town pump on their way to the +post-office. The street was dark and deserted. + +"Gosh!" said Ed, "I bet the town pump's froze up!" + +"It doesn't seem very cold," she said brightly. + +"Gee! it's below zero! I bet 'Rast thinks it's pretty doggone cold up +there by your gate." + +"Poor 'Rast! His mother should keep him indoors on nights like this." Ed +laughed loud and long and a tingle of happiness shot through his +erstwhile shivering frame. "I'm not a bit cold," she went on. "See--feel +my hand. I'm not even wearing mittens." + +Ed Higgins gingerly clasped the little hand, but it was withdrawn at +once. He found it as warm as toast. Words of love surged to his humble +lips; his knees felt a tendency to lower themselves precipitously to the +frozen sidewalk; he was ready to grovel at her feet--and he wondered if +they were as warm as toast. But 'Rast Little came up at that instant and +the chance was lost. + +"Doggone!" slipped unconsciously but bitterly from Ed's lips. + +"Can I be your company to the spellin'-bee to-morrow night, Miss Banks?" +burst unceremoniously from the lips of the newcomer. + +"Thank you, 'Rast. I was just wondering how I should get out to the +schoolhouse. You are very kind. We'll go in the bob-sled with the +Holabirds." + +"Doggone!" came in almost a wail from poor Ed. He could have killed +'Rast for the triumphant laugh that followed. + +In the meantime Anderson Crow was preparing to crawl in between the icy +sheets at home. Mrs. Crow was "sitting up" with old Mrs. Luce, who was +ill next door. + +"She's a girl with a past," reflected Anderson. "She's a mystery, +that's what she is; but I'll unravel her. She had a mighty good reason +fer sawin' me off out there to-day. I was gittin' too close home. She +seen I was about to corner her. By gum, I hope she don't suspect +nothin'! She's found out that Ed Higgins has a good job down to Lamson's +store, an' she's settin' her cap fer him. It shows she'd ruther live in +the city than in the country--so it's all up with 'Rast. That proves +she's from Chicago er some other big place. Ed's gettin' eight dollars a +week down there at Lamson's. By gum, that boy's doin' well! I used to +think he wouldn't amount to nothin'. It shows that the best of us git +fooled in a feller once in a while. To-morrow night I'll go out to the +spellin'-match, an' when the chanct comes I'll sidle up to her an' +whisper her real name in her ear. I bet four dollars an' a half that'll +fetch her purty prompt. Doggone, these here sheets air cold! It's forty +below zero right here in this bed." + +Anderson Crow soon slept, but he did not dream of the tragedy the next +night was to bring upon Tinkletown, nor of the test his prowess was to +endure. + +The next night and the "spellin'-bee" at school No. 5 came on apace +together. It was bitterly cold and starlight. By eight o'clock the warm +schoolhouse was comfortably filled with the "spellers" of the +neighbourhood, their numbers increased by competitors from Tinkletown +itself. In the crowd were men and women who time after time had "spelled +down" whole companies, and who were eager for the conflict. They had +"studied up" on their spelling for days in anticipation of a hard +battle in the words. Mrs. Borum and Mrs. Cartwill, both famous for their +victories and for the rivalry that existed between them, were selected +as captains of the opposing sides, and Miss Banks herself was to "give +out" the words. The captains selected their forces, choosing alternately +from the anxious crowd of grown folks. There were no children there, for +it was understood that big words would be given out--words children +could not pronounce, much less spell. + +The teacher was amazingly pretty on this eventful night. She was dressed +as no other woman in Bramble County, except Rosalie Gray, could have +attired herself--simply, tastefully, daintily. Her face was flushed and +eager and the joy of living glowed in every feature. Ed Higgins and +'Rast Little were struck senseless, nerveless by this vision of health +and loveliness. Anderson Crow stealthily admitted to himself that she +was a stranger in a strange land; she was not of Tinkletown or any place +like it. + +Just as the captains were completing their selections of spellers the +door opened and three strangers entered the school-room, overcoated and +furred to the tips of their noses--two men and a woman. As Miss Banks +rushed forward to greet them--she had evidently been expecting them--the +startled assemblage caught its breath and stared. To the further +amazement of every one, Rosalie hastened to her side and joined in the +effusive welcome. Every word of joyous greeting was heard by the amazed +listeners and every word from the strangers was as distinct. Surely +the newcomers were friends of long standing. When their heavy wraps +were removed the trio stood forth before as curious an audience as ever +sat spellbound. The men were young, well dressed and handsome; the woman +a beauty of the most dashing type. Tinkletown's best spellers quivered +with excitement. + +[Illustration: "The teacher was amazingly pretty on this eventful +night"] + +"Ladies and gentlemen," said Miss Banks, her voice trembling with +eagerness, "let me introduce my friends, Mrs. Farnsworth, Mr. +Farnsworth, and Mr. Reddon. They have driven over to attend the +spelling-match." Ed Higgins and 'Rast Little observed with sinking +hearts that it was Mr. Reddon whom she led forward by the hand, and they +cursed him inwardly for the look he gave her--because she blushed +beneath it. + +"You don't live in Boggs City," remarked Mr. Crow, appointing himself +spokesman. "I c'n deduce that, 'cause you're carrying satchels an' +valises." + +"Mr. Crow is a famous detective," explained Miss Banks. Anderson +attempted to assume an unconscious pose, but in leaning back he missed +the end of the bench, and sat sprawling upon the lap of Mrs. Harbaugh. +As Mrs. Harbaugh had little or no lap to speak of, his downward course +was diverted but not stayed. He landed on the floor with a grunt that +broke simultaneously with the lady's squeak; a fraction of a second +later a roar of laughter swept the room. It was many minutes before +quiet was restored and the "match" could be opened. Mrs. Cartwill chose +Mrs. Farnsworth and her rival selected the husband of the dashing young +woman. Mr. Reddon firmly and significantly announced his determination +to sit near the teacher "to preserve order," and not enter the contest +of words. + +Possibly it was the presence of the strangers that rattled and unnerved +the famed spellers of both sides, for it was not long until the lines +had dwindled to almost nothing. Three or four arrogant competitors stood +forth and valiantly spelled such words as "Popocatepetl," +"Tschaikowsky," "terpsichorean," "Yang-tse-Kiang," "Yseult," and scores +of words that could scarcely be pronounced by the teacher herself. But +at last, just as the sleepy watchers began to nod and yawn the hardest, +Mrs. Cartwill stood alone and victorious, her single opponent having +gone down on the word "sassafras." Anderson Crow had "gone down" early +in the match by spelling "kerosene" "kerry-seen." Ed Higgins followed +with "ceriseen," and 'Rast Little explosively had it "coal-oil." + +During the turmoil incident to the dispersing of the gathered hosts Miss +Banks made her way to 'Rast Little's side and informed him that the +Farnsworths were to take her to Mrs. Holabird's in their big sleigh. +'Rast was floored. When he started to remonstrate, claiming to be her +"company," big Tom Reddon interposed and drew Miss Banks away from her +lover's wrath. + +"But I'm so sorry for him, Tom," she protested contritely. "He _did_ +bring me here--in a way." + +"Well, I'll take you home another way," said good-looking Mr. Reddon. It +was also noticed that Rosalie Gray had much of a confidential nature to +say to Miss Banks as they parted for the evening, she to go home in +Blucher Peabody's new sleigh. + +'Rast and Ed Higgins almost came to blows out at the hitch-rack, where +the latter began twitting his discomfited rival. Anderson Crow kept them +apart. + +"I'll kill that big dude," growled 'Rast. "He's got no business comin' +here an' rakin' up trouble between me an' her. You mark my words, I'll +fix him before the night's over, doggone his hide!" + +At least a dozen men, including Alf Reesling, heard this threat, and not +one of them was to forget it soon. Anderson Crow noticed that Mrs. +Holabird's bob-sled drove away without either Miss Banks or 'Rast +Little in its capacious depths. Miss Banks announced that her three +friends from the city and she would stay behind and close the +schoolhouse, putting everything in order. It was Friday night, and there +would be no session until the following Monday. Mr. Crow was very sleepy +for a detective. He snored all the way home. + +The next morning two farmers drove madly into Tinkletown with the +astounding news that some one had been murdered at schoolhouse No. 5. In +passing the place soon after daybreak they had noticed blood on the snow +at the roadside. The school-room door was half open and they entered. +Blood in great quantities smeared the floor near the stove, but there +was no sign of humanity, alive or dead. Miss Banks's handkerchief was +found on the floor saturated. + +Moreover, the school-teacher was missing. She had not returned to the +home of Mrs. Holabird the night before. To make the horror all the more +ghastly, Anderson Crow, hastening to the schoolhouse, positively +identified the blood as that of Miss Banks. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +A Tinkletown Sensation + + +Sensations came thick and fast in Tinkletown during the next few hours. +Investigation proved that 'Rast Little was nowhere to be found. He had +not returned to his home after the spelling-bee, nor had he been seen +since. Mrs. Holabird passed him in the road on her way home in the +"bob-sled." In response to her command to "climb in" he sullenly said he +was going to walk home by a "short cut" through the woods. A farmer had +seen the stylish Farnsworth sleigh driving north furiously at half-past +eleven, the occupants huddled in a bunch as if to protect themselves +from the biting air. The witness was not able to tell "which was which" +in the sleigh, but he added interest to the situation by solemnly +asserting that one of the persons in the rear seat was "bundled up" more +than the rest, and evidently was unable to sit erect. + +According to his tale, the figure was lying over against the other +occupant of the seat. He was also, positive that there were three +figures in the front seat! Who was the extra person? was the question +that flashed into the minds of the listeners. A small boy came to the +schoolhouse at nine o'clock in the morning with 'Rast Little's new derby +hat. He had picked it up at the roadside not far from the schoolhouse +and in the direction taken by the Farnsworth party. + +Anderson gave orders that no word of the catastrophe be carried to +Rosalie, who was reported to be ill of a fever the next morning after +the spelling-bee. She had a cough, and the doctor had said that nothing +should be said or done to excite her. + +The crowd at the schoolhouse grew larger as the morning passed Everybody +talked in whispers; everybody was mystified beyond belief. All eyes were +turned to Anderson Crow, who stood aloof, pondering as he had never +pondered before. In one hand he held Miss Banks's bloody handkerchief +and in the other a common school text-book on physiology. His badges +and stars fairly revelled in their own importance. + +"Don't pester him with questions," warned Isaac Porter, addressing Alf +Reesling, the town drunkard, who had just arrived. + +"But I got something I want to say to him," persisted Alf eagerly. Two +or three strong men restrained him. + +"Thunderation, Alf," whispered Elon Jones, "cain't you see he's figurin' +something out? You're liable to throw him clear off the track if you say +a word to him." + +"Well, this is something he'd oughter know," almost whimpered Alf, +rubbing his frozen ears. + +"Sh!" muttered the bystanders, and poor Alf subsided. He was +unceremoniously hustled into the background as Mr. Crow moved from the +window toward the group. + +"Gentlemen," said Anderson gravely, "there is somethin' wrong here." It +is barely possible that this was not news to the crowd, but with one +accord they collectively and severally exchanged looks of appreciation. +"I've been readin' up a bit on the human body, an' I've proved one thing +sure in my own mind." + +"You bet you have, Anderson," said Elon Jones. "It's all settled. Let's +go home." + +"Settled nothin'!" said the marshal. "It's jest begun. Here's what I +deduce: Miss Banks has been foully dealt with. Ain't this her blood, an' +ain't she used her own individual handkerchief to stop it up? It's +blood right square from her heart, gentlemen!" + +"I don't see how--" began Ed Higgins; but Anderson silenced him with a +look. + +"Of course _you_ don't, but you would if you'd 'a' been a detective as +long's I have. What in thunder do you s'pose I got these badges and +these medals fer? Fer _not_ seein' how? No, siree! I got 'em fer _seein_' +how; that's what!" + +"But, Andy--" + +"Don't call me 'Andy,'" commanded Mr. Crow. + +"Well, then, Anderson, I'd like to know how the dickens she could use +her own handkerchief if she was stabbed to the heart," protested Ed. He +had been crying half the time. Anderson was stunned for the moment. + +"Why--why--now, look here, Ed Higgins, I ain't got time to explain +things to a derned idgit like you. Everybody else understands _how_, +don't you?" and he turned to the crowd. Everybody said yes. "Well, that +shows what a fool you are, Ed. Don't bother me any more. I've got work +to do." + +"Say, Anderson," began Alf Reesling from the outer circle, "I got +something important to tell--" + +"Who is that? Alf Reesling?" cried Anderson wrathfully. + +"Yes; I want to see you private, Anderson. Its important," begged Alf. + +"How many times have I got to set down on you, Alf Reesling?" exploded +Anderson. "Doggone, I'd like to know how a man's to solve mysteries if +he's got to stand around half the time an' listen to fambly quarrels. +Tell yer wife I'll--" + +"This ain't no family quarrel. Besides, I ain't got no wife. It's about +this here--" + +"That'll do, now, Alf! Not another word out of you!" commanded Anderson +direfully. + +"But, dern you, Anderson," exploded Alf, "I've got to tell you--" + +But Anderson held up a hand. + +"Don't swear in the presence of the dead," he said solemnly. "You're +drunk, Alf; go home!" And Alf, news and all was hustled from the +schoolhouse by a self-appointed committee of ten. + +"Now, we'll search fer the body," announced Anderson. "Git out of the +way, Bud!" + +"I ain't standin' on it," protested twelve-year-old Bud Long. + +"Well, you're standin' mighty near them blood-stains an'--" + +"Yes, 'n ain't blood a part of the body?" rasped Isaac Porter +scornfully; whereupon Bud faded into the outer rim. + +"First we'll look down cellar," said Mr. Crow. "Where's the cellar at?" + +"There ain't none," replied Elon Jones. + +"What? No cellar? Well, where in thunder did they hide the body, then?" + +"There's an attic," ventured Joe Perkins. + +A searching party headed by Anderson Crow shinned up the ladder to the +low garret. No trace of a body was to be found, and the searchers came +down rather thankfully. Then, under Mr. Crow's direction, they searched +the wood piles, the woods, and the fields for many rods in all +directions. At noon they congregated at the schoolhouse. Alf Reesling +was there. + +"Find it?" said he thickly, with a cunning leer. He had been drinking. +Anderson was tempted to club him half to death, but instead he sent him +home with Joe Perkins, refusing absolutely to hear what the town +drunkard had to say. + +"Well, you'll wish you'd listened to me," ominously hiccoughed Alf; and +then, as a parting shot, "I wouldn't tell you now fer eighteen dollars +cash. You c'n go to thunder!" It was _lese majeste_, but the crowd did +nothing worse than stare at the offender. + +Before starting off on the trail of the big sleigh, Anderson sent this +message by wire to the lawyers in Chicago: + + "_I have found the girl you want, but the body is lost. Would you + just as soon have her dead as alive_? + + "ANDERSON CROW." + +In a big bob-sled the marshal and a picked sextette of men set off at +one o'clock on the road over which the sleigh had travelled many hours +before. Anderson had failed to report the suspected crime to the sheriff +at Boggs City and was working alone on the mystery. He said he did not +want anybody from town interfering with his affairs. + +"Say, Andy--Anderson," said Harry Squires, now editor of the _Banner_, +"maybe we're hunting the wrong body and the wrong people." + +"What do you mean?" + +"Well, ain't 'Rast Little missing? Maybe he's been killed, eh? And say, +ain't there some chance that he did the killing? Didn't he say he was +going to murder that city chap? Well, supposing he did. We're on the +wrong track, ain't we?" + +"Doggone you, Harry, that don't fit in with my deductions," wailed +Anderson. "I wish you'd let me alone. 'Rast may have done the killin', +but it's our place to find the body, ain't it? Whoever has been slew was +taken away last night in the sleigh. S'posin it was Mr. Reddon! Well, +consarn it, ain't he got a body same as anybody else? We've just got to +find somebody's body, that's all. We've got to prove the corpus +deelicti. Drive up, Bill!" + +With a perseverance that spoke well for the detective's endurance, but +ill for his intelligence, the "bob" sped along aimlessly. It was +ridiculous to think of tracking a sleigh over a well-travelled road, and +it was not until they reached the cross-roads that Harry Squires +suggested that inquiries be made of the farmers in the neighbourhood. +After diligent effort, a farmer was discovered who said he had heard the +sleigh bells at midnight, and, peering from his window, had caught a +glimpse of the party turning south at the cross-roads. + +"Jest as I thought!" exclaimed Anderson. "They went south so's to skip +Boggs City. Boys, they've got her body er 'Rast's body er that other +feller's body with 'em, an' they're skootin' down this pike so's to get +to the big bridge. My idee is that they allowed to drop the body in the +river, which ain't friz plum over." + +"Gee! We ain't expected to search all over the bottom of the river, are +we, Anderson?" shivered Isaac Porter, the pump repairer. + +"_I_ ain't," said the leader, "but I can deputise anybody I want to." + +And so they hurried on to the six-span bridge that crossed the ice-laden +river. As they stood silent, awed and shivering on the middle span, +staring down into the black water with its navy of swirling ice-chunks, +even the heart of Anderson Crow chilled and grew faint. + +"Boys," he said, "we've lost the track! Not even a bloodhound could +track 'em in that water." + +"Bloodhound?" sniffed Harry Squires. "A hippopotamus, you mean." + +They were hungry and cold, and they were ready to turn homeward. +Anderson said he "guessed" he'd turn the job over to the sheriff and his +men. Plainly, he was much too hungry to do any more trailing. Besides, +for more than an hour he had been thinking of the warm wood fire at +home. Bill Rubley was putting the "gad" to the horses when a man on +horseback rode up from the opposite end of the bridge. He had come far +and in a hurry, and he recognised Anderson Crow. + +"Say, Anderson!" he called, "somebody broke into Colonel Randall's +summer home last night an' they're there yet. Got fires goin' in all +the stoves, an' havin' a high old time. They ain't got no business +there, becuz the place is closed fer the winter. Aleck Burbank went over +to order 'em out; one of the fellers said he'd bust his head if he +didn't clear out. I think it's a gang!" + +A hurried interview brought out the facts. The invaders had come up in a +big sleigh long before dawn, and--but that was sufficient. Anderson and +his men returned to the hunt, eager and sure of their prey. Darkness was +upon them when they came in sight of Colonel Randall's country place in +the hills. There were lights in the windows and people were making merry +indoors; while outside the pursuing Nemesis and his men were wondering +how and where to assault the stronghold. + +"I'll jest walk up an' rap on the door," said Anderson Crow, "lettin' on +to be a tramp. I'll ast fer somethin' to eat an' a place to sleep. While +I'm out there in the kitchen eatin' you fellers c'n sneak up an' +surround us. Then you c'n let on like you're lookin' fer me because I'd +robbed a hen-roost er something, an' that'll get 'em off their guard. +Once we all git inside the house with these shotguns we've got 'em where +we want 'em. Then I'll make 'em purduce the body." + +"Don't we git anythin' to eat, too?" demanded Isaac Porter faintly. + +"The horses ain't had nothin' to eat, Ike," said Anderson. "Ain't you as +good as a horse?" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +A Case of Mistaken Identity + + +Detective Crow found little difficulty in gaining admittance to Colonel +Randall's summer home. He had secreted his badge, and it was indeed a +sorry-looking tramp who asked for a bite to eat at the kitchen door. + +Three or four young women were busy with chafing dishes in this +department of the house, and some good-looking young men were looking on +and bothering them with attentions. In the front part of the house a +score of people were laughing and making merry. + +"Gosh!" said the new tramp, twisting his chin whiskers, "how many of you +are there?" + +"Oh, there are many more at home like us," trilled out one of the young +women gaily. "You're just in time, you poor old thing, to have some of +the bride-to-be's cake." + +"I guess I'm in the wrong house," murmured Anderson blankly. "Is it a +weddin'?" + +"No; but there will be one before many days. It's just a reunion. How I +wish Rosalie Gray were here!" cried another girl. + +Just then there was a pounding on the door, and an instant later Isaac +Porter stalked in at the head of the posse. + +"Throw up your hands!" called Anderson, addressing himself to the posse, +the members of which stopped in blank amazement. Some of them obligingly +stuck their hands on high. "What do you want here?" + +"We--we--we're lookin' fer a tramp who said he robbed a hen roost," +faltered Isaac Porter. + +"What is the meaning of all this?" called a strong voice from the +dining-room, and the flabbergasted Tinkletownians turned to face Colonel +Randall himself, the owner of the house. + +"Derned if I know!" muttered Anderson Crow; and he spoke the truth. + +"Why, it's Anderson Crow!" cried a gay young voice. + +"Jumpin' Jehosophat!" ejaculated the detective; "it's the body!" + +"The school-teacher!" exclaimed the surprised Tinkletownians, as with +their eyes they proceeded to search the figure before them for blood +stains. But no sooner had the chorused words escaped their lips than +they realised how wretchedly commonplace was their blundering expression +in comparison with the faultlessly professional phraseology of their +leader; and, overwhelmed with mortification, the posse ached to recall +them; for that the correct technical term had been applied by one for +years trained to the vernacular of his calling was little consolation to +these sensitive souls, now consumed with envy. + +In the meantime, the quarry, if we may be permitted so to designate her, +stood before them as pretty as a picture. At her side was Tom Reddon, +and a dozen guests of the house fell in behind them. + +"Did Rosalie tell you?" demanded Miss Banks. "The mean thing! She said +she wouldn't." + +"Ro--Rosalie!" gasped Anderson; "tell me what?" nervously. + +"That I was--was coming over here with Tom. Didn't she tell you?" + +"I should say not. If she'd told me you don't suppose I'd'a' driv' clear +over here in this kinder weather fer nothin', do you? Thunder! Did she +know 'bout it?" + +"Certainly, Mr. Crow. She helped with the plans." + +"Well, good gosh a'mighty! An' we was a-keepin' from her the awful news +fer fear 'twould give her a backset." + +"Awful news! What do you mean? Oh, you frighten me terribly!" + +"Doggone! I don't believe Rosalie was sick at all," continued Anderson, +quite regardless of the impatience of his listeners; "she jest wanted to +keep from answerin' questions. She jest regularly let everybody believe +you had been slaughtered, an' never opened her mouth." + +"Slaughtered!" cried half a dozen people. + +"Sure! Hain't you heard 'bout the murder?" + +"Murder?" apprehensively from the excited New Yorkers. + +"Yes--the teacher of schoolhouse No. 5 was brutally butchered +las--las--night--by--" + +[Illustration: "What is the meaning of all this?"] + +"Go slow, Anderson! Better hold your horses!" cautioned Harry +Squires. "Don't forget the body's alive and kic--" and stopping short, +in the hope that his break might escape the school-teacher's attention, +he confusedly substituted, "and here." + +Anderson's jaw dropped, but the movement was barely perceptible, the +discomfiture temporary, for to the analytical mind of the great +detective the fact that a murder had been committed was fully +established by the discovery of the blood. That a body was obviously +necessary for the continuance of further investigations he frankly +acknowledged to himself; and not for one instant would any supposition +or explanation other than assassination be tolerated. And it was with +unshaken conviction that he declared: + +"Well, somebody was slew, wasn't they? That's as plain's the nose on y'r +face. Don't you contradict me, Harry Squires. I guess Anderson Crow +knows blood when he sees it." + +"Do you mean to tell me that you've been trailing us all day in the +belief that some one of us had killed somebody?" demanded Tom Reddon. + +Harry Squires explained the situation, Anderson being too far gone to +step into the breach. It may be of interest to say that the Tinkletown +detective was the sensation of the hour. The crowd, merry once more, +lauded him to the skies for the manner in which the supposed culprits +had been trailed, and the marshal's pomposity grew almost to the +bursting point. + +"But how about that blood?" he demanded. + +"Yes," said Harry Squires with a sly grin, "it was positively identified +as yours, Miss Banks." + +"Well, it's the first time I was ever fooled," confessed Anderson +glibly. "I'll have to admit it. The blood really belonged to 'Rast +Little. Boys, the seegars are on me." + +"No, they're on me," exclaimed Tom Reddon, producing a box of Perfectos. + +"But, Miss Banks, you are wanted in Chicago," insisted Anderson. Reddon +interrupted him. + +"Right you are, my dear Sherlock, and I'm going to take her there as +soon as I can. It's what I came East for." + +"Ain't--I mean, wasn't you Miss Lovering?" muttered Anderson Crow. + +"Good heavens, no!" cried Miss Banks. "Who is she--a shoplifter?" + +"I'll tell you the story, Mr. Crow, if you'll come with me," said Mr. +Farnsworth, stepping forward with a wink. + +In the library he told the Tinkletown posse that Tom Reddon had met Miss +Banks while she was at school in New York. He was a Chicago +millionaire's son and she was the daughter of wealthy New York people. +Her mother was eager to have the young people marry, but the girl at +that time imagined herself to be in love with another man. In a pique +she left school and set forth to earn her own living. A year's hardship +as governess in the family of Congressman Ritchey and subsequent +disillusionment as a country school-teacher brought her to her senses +and she realised that she cared for Tom Reddon after all. She and Miss +Gray together prepared the letter which told Reddon where she could be +found, and that eager young gentleman did the rest. He had been waiting +for months for just such a message from her. The night of the +spelling-match he induced her to come to Colonel Randall's, and now the +whole house-party, including Miss Banks, was to leave on the following +day for New York. The marriage would take place in a very few weeks. + +"I'll accept your explanation," said Mr. Crow composedly as he took a +handful of cigars. "Well, I guess I'll be startin' back. It's gettin' +kind o' late-like." + +There was a telegram at the livery stable for him when he reached that +haven of warmth and rest in Tinkletown about dawn the next day. It was +from Chicago and marked "Charges collect." + + * * * * * + +"What girl and whose body," it said, "do you refer to? Miss Lovering has +been dead two years, and we are settling the estate in behalf of the +other heirs. We were trying to establish her place of residence. Never +mind the body you have lost." + + * * * * * + +"Doggone," said Anderson, chuckling aloud, "that was an awful good joke +on 'Rast, wasn't it?" + +The stablemen stood around and looked at him with jaws that were +drooping helplessly. The air seemed laden with a sombre uncertainty that +had not yet succeeded in penetrating the nature of Marshal Crow. + +"Is it from her?" finally asked Ike Smith hoarsely, his lips trembling. + +"From what her?" + +"Rosalie." + +"Thunder, no! It's from my lawyers in Chicago." + +"Ain't you--ain't you heerd about it?" half groaned Ike, moving away as +if he expected something calamitous. + +"What the dickens are you fellers drivin' at?" demanded Anderson. The +remainder of his posse deserted the red-hot stove and drew near with the +instinctive feeling that something dreadful had happened. + +"Ro--Rosalie has been missin' sence early last night. She was grabbed by +some feller near Mrs. Luce's, chucked into a big wagon an' rushed out of +town before Ros Crow could let out a yell. Clean stole her--look out! +Ketch him, Joe!" + +Anderson dropped limply into a hostler's arms. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +Rosalie Disappears + + +Things had happened in Tinkletown that night. Alf Reesling finally found +some one who would listen to his story. He told the minister and the +minister alarmed the town. To be brief, Alf admitted that 'Rast Little +was at his house in the outskirts of the village, laid up with a broken +arm and a bad cut in the top of his head. + +"He came crawlin' up to my place about six o'clock in the mornin'," +explained Alf, "an' I took the poor cuss in. That's what I wanted to +tell Anderson, but the old rip wouldn't listen to me. Seems as though +'Rast waited around the schoolhouse last night to git a crack at that +feller from town. Miss Banks and her three friends set around the stove +in the schoolhouse for about an hour after the crowd left, an' 'Rast got +so cold he liked to died out there in the woodshed. + +"Purty soon they all come out, an' 'Rast cut acrost the lot to git +inside the house by the fire. He was so derned cold that he didn't feel +like crackin' anybody. When they wasn't lookin' he sneaked inside. Jest +as he was gittin' ready to hug the stove he heard Miss Banks an' one of +the men comin' back. He shinned up the ladder into the garret just in +time. In they come an' the feller lit a lamp. 'Rast could hear 'em +talkin'. She said good-bye to the schoolhouse forever, an' the feller +kissed her a couple of times. 'Rast pretty nigh swore out loud at that. +Then she said she'd leave a note in her desk fer the trustees, resignin' +her job, er whatever she called it. He heard her read the note to the +man, an' it said somethin' about goin' away unexpected to git married. +'Rast says ef Anderson had looked in the desk he'd have found the note. + +"Then she packed up some books an' her an' the feller went out. 'Rast +was paralysed. He heerd the sleigh-bells jingle an' then he come to. He +started down the ladder so quick that he missed his hold and went +kerslam clear to the bottom. Doggone ef he didn't light on his head, +too. He don't know how long he laid there, but finally he was +resurrected enough to crawl over by the stove. His arm was broke an' he +was bleedin' like a stuck hog. Miss Banks had left her handkerchief on +the desk, an' he says he tried to bind up his head with it, but it was +too infernal small. Somehow he got outside an' wandered around half +crazy fer a long time, finally pullin' up at my house, derned nigh froze +to death an' so weak he couldn't walk no more. He'd lost his hat an' his +ear muffs an' his way all at the same time. If Anderson had let me talk +this mornin' he'd 'a' knowed there wasn't no murder. It was just a +match." + +Hours passed before Anderson was himself again and able to comprehend +the details of the story which involved the disappearance of his ward. +It slowly filtered through his mind as he sat stark-eyed and numb before +the kitchen fire that this was the means her mysterious people had taken +to remove her from his custody. The twenty years had expired, and they +had come to claim their own. There was gloom in the home of Anderson +Crow--gloom so dense that death would have seemed bright in comparison. +Mrs. Crow was prostrated, Anderson in a state of mental and physical +collapse, the children hysterical. + +All Tinkletown stood close and ministered dumbly to the misery of the +bereaved ones, but made no effort to follow or frustrate the abductors. +The town seemed as helpless as the marshal, not willingly or wittingly, +but because it had so long known him as leader that no one possessed the +temerity to step into his place, even in an hour of emergency. + +A dull state of paralysis fell upon the citizens, big and little. It +was as if universal palsy had been ordained to pinch the limbs and +brains of Tinkletown until the hour came for the rehabilitation of +Anderson Crow himself. No one suggested a move in any direction--in +fact, no one felt like moving at all. Everything stood stockstill while +Anderson slowly pulled himself together; everything waited dumbly for +its own comatose condition to be dispelled by the man who had been hit +the hardest. + +It was not until late in the afternoon that Blucher Peabody, the +druggist, awoke from his lethargy and moved as though he intended to +take the initiative. "Blootch" was Rosalie's most persistent admirer. He +had fallen heir to his father's apothecary shop and notion store, and he +was regarded as one of the best catches in town. He approached the +half-frozen crowd that huddled near old Mrs. Luce's front gate. In this +crowd were some of the prominent men of the town, young and old; they +left their places of business every half hour or so and wandered +aimlessly to the now historic spot, as if drawn by a magnet. Just why +they congregated there no one could explain and no one attempted to do +so. Presumably it was because the whole town centred its mind on one of +two places--the spot where Rosalie was seized or the home of Anderson +Crow. When they were not at Mrs. Luce's gate they were tramping through +Anderson's front yard and into his house. + +"Say," said "Blootch" so loudly that the crowd felt like remonstrating +with him, "what's the use of all this?" + +No one responded. No one was equal to it on such short notice. + +"We've got to do something besides stand around and whisper," he said. +"We've got to find Rosalie Gray." + +"But good gosh!" ejaculated Isaac Porter, "they've got purty nigh a +day's start of us." + +"Well, that don't matter. Anderson would do as much for us. Let's get a +move on." + +"But where in thunder will we hunt?" murmured George Ray. + +"To the end of the earth," announced Blootch, inflating his chest and +slapping it violently, a strangely personal proceeding, which went +unnoticed. He had reached the conclusion that his chance to be a hero +was at hand and not to be despised. Here was the opportunity to outstrip +all of his competitors in the race for Rosalie's favour. It might be +confessed that, with all his good intentions, his plans were hopelessly +vague. The group braced up a little at the sound of his heroic words. + +"But the derned thing's round," was the only thing Ed Higgins could find +to say. Ed, as fickle as the wind, was once more deeply in love with +Rosalie, having switched from Miss Banks immediately after the visit to +Colonel Randall's. + +"Aw, you go to Guinea!" was Blootch's insulting reply. Nothing could be +more disparaging than that, but Ed failed to retaliate. "Let's appoint a +committee to wait on Anderson and find out what he thinks we'd better +do." + +"But Anderson ain't--" began some one. Blootch calmly waived him into +silence. + +"What he wants is encouragement, and not a lot of soup and broth and +lemonade. He ain't sick. He's as able-bodied as I am. Every woman in +town took soup to him this noon. He needs a good stiff drink of whiskey +and a committee to cheer him up. I took a bottle up to 'Rast Little last +night and he acted like another man." + +At last it was decided that a committee should first wait on Anderson, +ascertaining his wishes in the premises, and then proceed to get at the +bottom of the mystery. In forming this committee the wise men of the +town ignored Mr. Peabody, and he might have been left off completely had +he not stepped in and appointed himself chairman. + +The five good men and true descended upon the marshal late in the +afternoon, half fearful of the result, but resolute. They found him +slowly emerging from his spell of lassitude. He greeted them with a +solemn nod of the head. Since early morning he had been conscious of a +long stream of sympathisers passing through the house, but it was not +until now that he felt equal to the task of recognising any of them. + +His son Roscoe had just finished telling him the story of the abduction. +Roscoe's awestruck tones and reddened eyes carried great weight with +them, and for the tenth time that day he had his sisters in tears. With +each succeeding repetition the details grew until at last there was but +little of the original event remaining, a fact which his own family +properly overlooked. + +"Gentlemen," said Anderson, as if suddenly coming from a trance, "this +wasn't the work of Tinkletown desperadoes." Whereupon the committee felt +mightily relieved. The marshal displayed signs of a returning energy +that augured well for the enterprise. After the chairman had +impressively announced that something must be done, and that he was +willing to lead his little band to death's door--and beyond, if +necessary--Mr. Crow pathetically upset all their hopes by saying that he +had long been expecting such a calamity, and that nothing could be done. + +"They took the very night when I was not here to pertect her," he +lamented. "It shows that they been a-watchin' me all along. The job was +did by persons who was in the employ of her family, an' she has been +carried off secretly to keep me from findin' out who and what her +parents were. Don't ye see? Her mother--or father, fer that +matter--couldn't afford to come right out plain an' say they wanted +their child after all these years. The only way was to take her away +without givin' themselves away. It's been the plan all along. There +ain't no use huntin' fer her, gentlemen. She's in New York by this time, +an' maybe she's ready fer a trip to Europe." + +"But I should think she'd telegraph to you," said Blootch. + +"Telegraph yer granny! Do you s'pose they'd 'a' stole her if they +intended to let her telegraph to anybody? Not much. They're spiritin' +her away until her estate's settled. After a while it will all come out, +an' you'll see if I ain't right. But she's gone. They've got her away +from me an'--an' we got to stand it, that's all. I--I--cain't bear to +think about it. It's broke my heart mighty ne--near. Don't mind me +if--I--cry, boys. You would, too, if you was me." + +As the committee departed soon after without any plan of action arising +from the interview with the dejected marshal, it may be well to acquaint +the reader with the history of the abduction, as told by Roscoe Crow and +his bosom friend, Bud Long, thoroughly expurgated. + +According to instructions, no one in the Crow family mentioned the +strange disappearance of Elsie Banks to Rosalie. Nor was she told of the +pursuit by the marshal and his posse. The girl, far from being afflicted +with a fever, really now kept in her room by grief over the departure of +her friend and companion. She was in tears all that night and the next +day, suffering intensely in her loss. Rosalie did not know that the +teacher was to leave Tinkletown surreptitiously until after the +spelling-bee. The sly, blushing announcement came as a shock, but she +was loyal to her friend, and not a word in exposure escaped from her +lips. Of course, she knew nothing of the sensational developments that +followed the uncalled-for flight of Elsie Banks. + +Shortly after the supper dishes had been cleared away Rosalie came +downstairs and announced that she was going over to read to old Mrs. +Luce, who was bedridden. Her guardian's absence was not explained to +her, and she did not in the least suspect that he had been away all day +on a fool's errand. Roscoe and Bud accompanied her to Mrs. Luce's front +door, heavily bound by promises to hold their tongues regarding Miss +Banks. + +"We left her there at old Mis' Luce's," related Roscoe, "an' then went +over to Robertson's Pond to skate. She tole us to stop in fer her about +nine o'clock, didn't she, Bud? Er was it eight?" He saw the necessity +for accuracy. + +"Ten," corrected Bud deliberately. + +"Well, pop, we stopped fer her, an'--an'--" + +"Stop yer blubberin', Roscoe," commanded Anderson as harshly as he +could. + +"An' got her," concluded Roscoe. "She put on her shawl an' mittens an' +said she'd run us a race all the way home. We all got ready to start +right in front of old Mis' Luce's gate. Bud he stopped an' said, 'Here +comes Tony Brink.' We all looked around, an' sure enough, a heavy-set +feller was comin' to'rds us. It looked like Tony, but when he got up to +us I see it wasn't him. He ast us if we could tell him where Mr. Crow +lived--" + +"He must 'a' been a stranger," deduced Anderson mechanically. + +"--an' Bud said you lived right on ahead where the street lamps was. +Jest then a big sleigh turned out of the lane back of Mis' Luce's an' +drove up to where we was standin'. Bud was standin' jest like this--me +here an' Rosalie a little off to one side. S'posin' this chair was her +an'--" + +"Yes--yes, go on," from Anderson. + +"The sleigh stopped, and there was two fellers in it. There was two +seats, too." + +"Front and back?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"I understand. It was a double-seated one," again deduced the marshal. + +"An' nen, by gum, 'fore we could say Jack Robinson, one of the fellers +jumped out an' grabbed Rosalie. The feller on the groun', he up an' hit +me a clip in the ear. I fell down, an' so did Bud--" + +"He hit me on top of the head," corrected Bud sourly. + +"I heerd Rosalie start to scream, but the next minute they had a blanket +over her head an' she was chucked into the back seat. It was all over in +a second. I got up, but 'fore I could run a feller yelled, 'Ketch him!' +An' another feller did. 'Don't let 'em get away,' said the driver in +low, hissin' tones--" + +"Regular villains," vowed Anderson. + +"Yes, sir. 'Don't let 'em git away er they'll rouse the town.' 'What'll +we do with 'em?' asked the feller who held both of us. 'Kill 'em?' Gosh, +I was skeered. Neither one of us could yell, 'cause he had us by the +neck, an' he was powerful strong. 'Chuck 'em in here an' I'll tend to +'em,' said the driver. Next thing we knowed we was in the front of the +sleigh, an' the whole outfit was off like a runaway. They said they'd +kill us if we made a noise, an' we didn't. I wish I'd'a' had my rifle, +doggone it! I'd'a' showed 'em." + +"They drove like thunder out to'rds Boggs City fer about two mile," said +Bud, who had been silent as long as human nature would permit. "'Nen +they stopped an' throwed us out in the road. 'Go home, you devils, an' +don't you tell anybody about us er I'll come back here some day an' give +you a kick in the slats.' + +"Slats?" murmured Anderson. + +"That's short fer ribs," explained Bud loftily. + +"Well, why couldn't he have said short ribs an' been done with it?" +complained Anderson. + +"Then they whipped up an' turned off west in the pike," resumed Bud. "We +run all the way home an' tole Mr. Lamson, an' he--" + +"Where was Rosalie all this time?" asked Anderson. + +"Layin' in the back seat covered with a blanket, jest the same as if she +was dead. I heerd 'em say somethin' about chloroformin' her. What does +chloroform smell like, Mr. Crow?" + +"Jest like any medicine. It has drugs in it. They use it to pull teeth. +Well, what then?" + +"Well," interposed Roscoe, "Mr. Lamson gave the alarm, an' nearly +ever'body in town got out o' bed. They telegraphed to Boggs City an' all +around, but it didn't seem to do no good. Them horses went faster'n +telegraphs." + +"Did you ever see them fellers before?" + +"No, sir; but I think I'd know 'em with their masks off." + +"Was they masked?" + +"Their faces were." + +"Oh, my poor little Rosalie!" sobbed old Anderson hopelessly. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +The Haunted House + + +Days passed without word or sign from the missing girl. The marshal +haunted the post-office and the railroad station, hoping with all his +poor old heart that word would come from her; but the letter was not +there, nor was there a telegram at the station when he strolled over to +that place. The county officials at Boggs City came down and began a +cursory investigation, but Anderson's emphatic though doleful opinions +set them quite straight, and they gave up the quest. There was nothing +to do but to sit back and wait. + +In those three days Anderson Crow turned greyer and older, although he +maintained a splendid show of resignation. He had made a perfunctory +offer of reward for Rosalie, dead or alive, but he knew all the time +that it would be fruitless. Mark Riley, the bill-poster, stuck up the +glaring reward notices as far away as the telegraph poles in Clay +County. The world was given to understand that $1000 reward would be +paid for Rosalie's return or for information leading to the apprehension +and capture of her abductors. + +There was one very mysterious point in connection with the +affair--something so strange that it bordered on the supernatural. No +human being in Bramble County except the two boys had seen the +double-seated sleigh. It had disappeared as if swallowed by the earth +itself. + +"Well, it don't do any good to cry over spilt milk," said Anderson +bravely. "She's gone, an' I only hope she ain't bein' mistreated. I +don't see why they should harm her. She's never done nobody a wrong. +Like as not she's been taken to a comfortable place in New York, an' +we'll hear from her as soon as she recovers from the shock. There ain't +no use huntin' fer her, I know, but I jest can't help nosin' around a +little. Mebby I can git some track of her. I'd give all I got in this +world to know that she's safe an' sound, no matter if I never see her +ag'in." + +The hungry look in his eyes deepened, and no one bandied jests with him +as was the custom in days gone by. + + * * * * * + +There were not many tramps practising in that section of the State. +Anderson Crow proudly announced that they gave Tinkletown a wide berth +because of his prowess; but the vagabond gentry took an entirely +different view of the question. They did not infest the upper part of +the State for the simple but eloquent reason that it meant starvation to +them. The farmers compelled the weary wayfarer to work all day like a +borrowed horse for a single meal at the "second table." There was no +such thing as a "hand-out," as it is known in the tramp's vocabulary. It +is not extraordinary, therefore, that tramps found the community so +unattractive that they cheerfully walked miles to avoid it. A +peculiarly well-informed vagrant once characterised the up-state farmer +as being so "close that he never shaved because it was a waste of hair." + +It is hardly necessary to state, in view of the attitude of both farmer +and tramp, that the misguided vagrant who wandered that way was the +object of distinct, if not distinguished, curiosity. In the country +roads he was stared at with a malevolence that chilled his appetite, no +matter how long he had been cultivating it on barren soil. In the +streets of Tinkletown, and even at the county seat, he was an object of +such amazing concern that he slunk away in pure distress. It was indeed +an unsophisticated tramp who thought to thrive in Bramble County even +for a day and a night. In front of the general store and post-office at +Tinkletown there was a sign-post, on which Anderson Crow had painted +these words: + + "No tramps or Live Stock Allowed on these Streets. + By order of + A. CROW, Marshal." + +The live stock disregarded the command, but the tramp took warning. On +rare occasions he may have gone through some of the houses in +Tinkletown, but if he went through the streets no one was the wiser. +Anderson Crow solemnly but studiously headed him off in the outskirts, +and he took another direction. Twice in his career he drove out tramps +who had burglarised the houses of prominent citizens in broad daylight, +but what did it matter so long as the "hoboes" were kept from +desecrating the main street of the town? Mr. Crow's official star, +together with his badge from the New York detective agency, his Sons of +the Revolution pin, and his G.A.R. insignia, made him a person to be +feared. If the weather became too hot for coat and vest the proud +dignitary fastened the badges to his suspenders, and their presence +glorified the otherwise humble "galluses." + +On the fourth day after the abduction Marshal Crow was suddenly aroused +from his lethargy by the news that the peace and security of the +neighbourhood was being imposed upon. + +"The dickens you say!" he observed, abandoning the perpetual grip upon +his straggling chin whiskers. + +"Yes, sir," responded the excited small boy, who, with two companions, +had run himself quite out of breath all over town before he found the +officer at Harkin's blacksmith shop. + +"Well, dang 'em!" said Mr. Crow impressively. + +"We was skatin' in the marsh when we heerd 'em plain as day," said the +other boy. "You bet I'm nuvver goin' nigh that house ag'in." + +"Sho! Bud, they ain't no sech thing as ghosts," said Mr. Crow; "it's +tramps." + +"You know that house is ha'nted," protested Bud. "Wasn't ole Mrs. Rank +slew there by her son-in-law? Wasn't she chopped to pieces and buried +there right in her own cellar?" + +"Thunderation, boy, that was thirty year ago!" + +"Well, nobody's lived in the ha'nted house sence then, has they? Didn't +Jim Smith try to sleep there oncet on a bet, an' didn't he hear sech +awful noises 'at he liked to went crazy?" insisted Bud. + +[Illustration: The haunted house] + +"I _do_ recollect that Jim run two mile past his own house before he +could stop, he was in sech a hurry to git away from the place. But Jim +didn't _see_ anything. Besides, that was twenty year ago. Ghosts don't +hang aroun' a place when there ain't nothin' to ha'nt. Her son-in-law +was hung, an' she ain't got no one else to pester. I tell you it's +tramps." + +"Well, we just thought we'd tell you, Mr. Crow," said the first boy. + +In a few minutes it was known throughout the business centre of +Tinkletown that tramps were making their home in the haunted house down +the river, and that Anderson Crow was to ride forth on his bicycle to +rout them out. The haunted house was three miles from town and in the +most desolate section of the bottomland. It was approachable only +through the treacherous swamp on one side or by means of the river on +the other. Not until after the murder of its owner and builder, old +Johanna Rank, was there an explanation offered for the existence of a +home in such an unwholesome locality. + +Federal authorities discovered that she and her son-in-law, Dave Wolfe, +were at the head of a great counterfeiting gang, and that they had been +working up there in security for years, turning out spurious coins by +the hundred. One night Dave up and killed his mother-in-law, and was +hanged for his good deed before he could be punished for his bad ones. +For thirty years the weather-beaten, ramshackle old cabin in the swamp +had been unoccupied except by birds, lizards, and other denizens of the +solitude--always, of course, including the ghost of old Mrs. Rank. + +Inasmuch as Dave chopped her into small bits and buried them in the +cellar, while her own daughter held the lantern, it was not beyond the +range of possibility that certain atoms of the unlamented Johanna were +never unearthed by the searchers. It was generally believed in the +community that Mrs. Rank's spirit came back every little while to nose +around in the dirt of the cellar in quest of such portions of her person +as had not been respectably interred in the village graveyard. + +Mysterious noises had been heard about the place at the dead hour of +night, and ghostly lights had flitted past the cellar windows. All +Tinkletown agreed that the place was haunted and kept at a most +respectful distance. The three small boys who startled Marshal Crow from +his moping had gone down the river to skate instead of going to school. +They swore that the sound of muffled voices came from the interior of +the cabin, near which they had inadvertently wandered. Although Dave +Wolfe had been dead thirty years, one of the youngest of the lads was +positive that he recognised the voice of the desperado. And at once the +trio fled the 'cursed spot and brought the horrifying news to Anderson +Crow. The detective was immediately called upon to solve the ghostly +mystery. + +Marshal Crow first went to his home and donned his blue coat, +transferring the stars and badges to the greasy lapel of the garment. He +also secured his dark lantern and the official cane of the village, but +why he should carry a cane on a bicycle expedition was known only to +himself. Followed by a horde of small boys and a few representative +citizens of Tinkletown on antiquated wheels, Mr. Crow pedalled +majestically off to the south. Skirting the swamp, the party approached +the haunted house over the narrow path which ran along the river bank. +Once in sight of the dilapidated cabin, which seemed to slink farther +and farther back into the dense shadows of the late afternoon, with all +the diffidence of the supernatural, the marshal called a halt and +announced his plans. + +"You kids go up an' tell them fellers I want to see 'em," he commanded. +The boys fell back and prepared to whimper. + +"I don't want to," protested Bud. + +"Why don't you go an' tell 'em yourself, Anderson?" demanded Isaac +Porter, the pump repairer. + +"Thunderation, Ike, who's runnin' this thing?" retorted Anderson Crow. +"I got a right to deputise anybody to do anything at any time. Don't you +s'pose I know how to handle a job like this? I got my own idees how to +waylay them raskils, an' I reckon I been in the detectin' business long +enough to know how to manage a gol-derned tramp, ain't I? How's that? +Who says I ain't?" + +"Nobody said a word, Anderson," meekly observed Jim Borum. + +"Well, I _thought_ somebody did. An' I don't want nobody interferin' +with an officer, either. Bud, you an' them two Heffner boys go up an' +tell them loafers to step down here right spry er I'll come up there an' +see about it." + +"Gosh, Mr. Crow, I'm a-skeered to!" whimpered Bud. The Heffner boys +started for home on a dead run. + +"Askeered to?" sniffed Anderson. "An' your great-grand-dad was in the +Revolution, too. Geminy crickets, ef you was my boy I'd give you +somethin' to be askeered of! Now, Bud, nothin' kin happen to you. Ain't +I here?" + +"But suppose they won't come when I tell 'em?" + +"Yes, 'n' supposin' 'tain't tramps, but ghosts?" volunteered Mr. Porter, +edging away with his bicycle. It was now quite dark and menacing in +there where the cabin stood. As the outcome of half an hour's +discussion, the whole party advanced slowly upon the house, Anderson +Crow in the lead, his dark lantern in one hand, his cane in the other. +Half way to the house he stopped short and turned to Bud. + +"Gosh dern you, Bud! I don't believe you heerd any noise in there at +all! There ain't no use goin' any further with this, gentlemen. The dern +boys was lyin'. We might jest as well go home." And he would have +started for home had not Isaac Porter uttered a fearful groan and +staggered back against a swamp reed for support, his horrified eyes +glued upon a window in the log house. The reed was inadequate, and Isaac +tumbled over backward. + +For a full minute the company stared dumbly at the indistinct little +window, paralysis attacking every sense but that of sight. At the +expiration of another minute the place was deserted, and Anderson Crow +was the first to reach the bicycles far up the river bank. Every face +was as white as chalk, and every voice trembled. Mr. Crow's dignity +asserted itself just as the valiant posse prepared to "straddle" the +wheels in mad flight. + +"Hold on!" he panted. "I lost my dark lantern down there. Go back an' +git it, Bud." + +"Land o' mighty! Did y'ever see anythin' like it?" gasped Jim Borum, +trying to mount a ten-year-old boy's wheel instead of his own. + +"I'd like to have anybody tell me there ain't no sech things as ghosts," +faltered Uncle Jimmy Borton, who had always said there wasn't. "Let go, +there! Ouch!" The command and subsequent exclamation were the inevitable +results of his unsuccessful attempt to mount with Elon Jones the same +wheel. + +"What'd I tell you, Anderson?" exclaimed Isaac Porter. "Didn't I say it +was ghosts? Tramps nothin'! A tramp wouldn't last a second up in that +house. It's been ha'nted fer thirty years an' it gits worse all the +time. What air we goin' to do next?" + +Even the valiant Mr. Crow approved of an immediate return to Tinkletown, +and the posse was trying to disentangle its collection of bicycles when +an interruption came from an unsuspected quarter--a deep, masculine +voice arose from the ice-covered river hard by, almost directly below +that section of the bank on which Anderson and his friends were herded. +The result was startling. Every man leaped a foot in the air and every +hair stood on end; bicycles rattled and clashed together, and Ed +Higgins, hopelessly bewildered, started to run in the direction of the +haunted house. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +Wicker Bonner, Harvard + + +"Hello, up there!" was what the deep, masculine voice shouted from the +river. Anderson Crow was the first to distinguish the form of the +speaker, and he was not long in deciding that it was far from +ghost-like. With a word of command he brought his disorganised forces +out of chaos and huddled them together as if to resist attack. + +"What's the matter with you?" he demanded, addressing his men in a loud +tone. "Don't get rattled!" + +"Are you speaking to me?" called the fresh voice from below. + +"Who are you?" demanded Mr. Crow in return. + +"Nobody in particular. What's going on up there? What's the fuss?" + +"Come up an' find out." Then Mr. Crow, observing that the man below was +preparing to comply, turned and addressed his squad in low, earnest +tones. "This feller will bear watchin'. He's mixed up in this thing +somehow. Else why is he wanderin' around here close to the house? I'll +question him." + +"By gosh, he ain't no ghost!" murmured Ed Higgins, eyeing the newcomer +as he crawled up the bank. "Say, did y' see me a minute ago? If you +fellers had come on, I was goin' right up to search that house from top +to bottom. Was you all askeered to come?" + +"Aw, you!" said Anderson Crow in deep scorn. + +The next instant a stalwart young fellow stood before the marshal, who +was eyeing him keenly, even imperiously. The newcomer's good-looking, +strong-featured face was lighted up by a smile of surpassing +friendliness. + +"It's lonesome as thunder down here, isn't it? Glad to see you, +gentlemen. What's up--a bicycle race?" + +"No, sir; we got a little business up here, that's all," responded +Anderson Crow diplomatically. "What air you doin' here?" + +"Skating. My name is Wicker Bonner, and I'm visiting my uncle, +Congressman Bonner, across the river. You know him, I dare say. I've +been hanging around here for a week's hunting, and haven't had an ounce +of luck in all that time. It's rotten! Aha, I see that you are an +officer, sir--a detective, too. By George, can it be possible that you +are searching for some one? If you are, let me in on it. I'm dying for +excitement." + +The young man's face was eager and his voice rang true. Besides, he was +a tall, athletic chap, with brawny arms and a broad back. Altogether, he +would make a splendid recruit, thought Anderson Crow. He was dressed in +rough corduroy knickerbockers, the thick coat buttoned up close to his +muffled neck. A woollen cap came down over his ears and a pair of skates +dangled from his arm. + +"Yes, sir; I'm a detective, and we are up here doin' a little +investigatin'. You are from Chicago, I see." + +"What makes you think so?" + +"Can't fool me. I c'n always tell. You said, 'I've _bean_ hangin',' +instead of 'I've _ben_ hangin'.' See? They say _bean_ in Chicago. Ha! +ha! You didn't think I could deduce that, did you?" + +"I'll confess that I didn't," said Mr. Bonner with a dry smile. "I'm +from Boston, however." + +"Sure," interposed Isaac Porter; "that's where the beans come from, +Anderson." + +"Well, that's neither here nor there," said Mr. Crow, hastily changing +the subject. "We're wastin' time." + +"Stayin' here, you mean?" asked Ed Higgins, quite ready to start. +Involuntarily the eyes of the posse turned toward the house among the +willows. The stranger saw the concerted glance and made inquiry. +Whereupon Mr. Crow, assisted by seven men and five small boys, told Mr. +Wicker Bonner, late of Harvard, what had brought them from Tinkletown to +the haunted house, and what they had seen upon their arrival. Young +Bonner's face glowed with the joy of excitement. + +"Great!" he cried, fastening his happy eyes upon the hated thing among +the trees. "Let's search the place. By George, this is glorious!" + +"Not on your life!" said Ed Higgins. "You can't get me inside that +house. Like as not a feller'd never come out alive." + +"Well, better men than we have died," said Mr. Bonner tranquilly. "Come +on; I'll go in first. It's all tommy-rot about the place being haunted. +In any event, ghosts don't monkey around at this time of day. It's +hardly dusk." + +"But, gosh dern it," exploded Anderson Crow, "we seen it!" + +"I seen it first," said Isaac Porter proudly. + +"But I heerd it first," peeped up Master Bud. + +"You've all been drinking hard cider or pop or something like that," +said the brawny scoffer. + +"Now, see here, you're gittin' fresh, an--" began the marshal, swelling +up like a pigeon. + +"Look out behind!" sang out Mr. Bonner, and Anderson jumped almost out +of his shoes, besides ripping his shirt in the back, he turned so +suddenly. + +"Jeemses River!" he gasped. + +"Never turn your back on an unknown danger," cautioned the young man +serenely. "Be ready to meet it." + +"If you're turned t'other way you c'n git a quicker start if you want to +run," suggested Jim Borum, bracing himself with a fresh chew of tobacco. + +"What time is it?" asked Wicker Bonner. + +Anderson Crow squinted up through the leafless treetops toward the +setting sun; then he looked at the shadow of a sapling down on the bank. + +"It's about seven minutes past five--in the evenin'," he said +conclusively. Bonner was impolite enough to pull out his watch for +verification. + +"You're a minute fast," he observed; but he looked at Anderson with a +new and respectful admiration. + +"He c'n detect anything under the sun," said Porter with a feeble laugh +at his own joke. + +"Well, let's go up and ransack that old cabin," announced Bonner, +starting toward the willows. The crowd held back. "I'll go alone if +you're afraid to come," he went on. "It's my firm belief that you didn't +see anything and the noise you boys heard was the wind whistling through +the trees. Now, tell the truth, how many of you saw it?" + +"I did," came from every throat so unanimously that Jim Borum's +supplemental oath stood out alone and forceful as a climax. + +"Then it's worth investigating," announced the Boston man. "It is +certainly a very mysterious affair, and you, at least, Mr. Town Marshal, +should back me up in the effort to unravel it. Tell me again just what +it was you saw and what it looked like." + +"I won't let no man tell me what my duties are," snorted Anderson, his +stars trembling with injured pride. "Of course I'm going to solve the +mystery. We've got to see what's inside that house. I thought it was +tramps at first." + +"Well, lead on, then; I'll follow!" said Bonner with a grin. + +"I thought you was so anxious to go first!" exclaimed Anderson with fine +tact. "Go ahead yourself, ef you're so derned brave. I dare you to." + +Bonner laughed loud enough to awaken every ghost in Bramble County and +then strode rapidly toward the house. Anderson Crow followed slowly and +the rest straggled after, all alert for the first sign of resistance. + +"I wish I could find that derned lantern," said Anderson, searching +diligently in the deep grass as he walked along, in the meantime +permitting Bonner to reach the grim old doorway far in advance of him. + +"Come on!" called back the intrepid leader, seeing that all save the +marshal had halted. "You don't need the lantern. It's still daylight, +old chap. We'll find out what it was you all saw in the window." + +"That's the last of him," muttered Isaac Porter, as the broad back +disappeared through the low aperture that was called a doorway. There +were no window sashes or panes in the house, and the door had long since +rotted from the hinges. + +"He'll never come out. Let's go home," added Ed Higgins conclusively. + +"Are you coming?" sang out Bonner from the interior of the house. His +voice sounded prophetically sepulchral. + +"Consarn it, cain't you wait a minute?" replied Anderson Crow, still +bravely but consistently looking for the much-needed dark lantern. + +"It's all right in here. There hasn't been a human being in the house +for years. Come on in; it's fine!" + +Anderson Crow finally ventured up to the doorway and peeped in. Bonner +was standing near the tumbledown fireplace, placidly lighting a +cigarette. + +"This is a fine job you've put up on me," he growled. "I thought there +would be something doing. There isn't a soul here, and there hasn't +been, either." + +"Thunderation, man, you cain't see ghosts when they don't want you to!" +said Anderson Crow. "It was a ghost, that's settled. I knowed it all +the time. Nothin' human ever looked like it, and nothin' alive ever +moaned like it did." + +By this time the rest of the party had reached the cabin door. The less +timorous ventured inside, while others contented themselves by looking +through the small windows. + +"Well, if you're sure you really saw something, we'd better make a +thorough search of the house and the grounds," said Bonner, and +forthwith began nosing about the two rooms. + +The floors were shaky and the place had the odour of decayed wood. Mould +clung to the half-plastered walls, cobwebs matted the ceilings, and +rotted fungi covered the filth in the corners. Altogether it was a most +uninviting hole, in which no self-respecting ghost would have made its +home. When the time came to climb up to the little garret Bonner's +followers rebelled. He was compelled to go alone, carrying the lantern, +which one of the small boys had found. This part of the house was even +more loathsome than below, and it would be impossible to describe its +condition. He saw no sign of life, and retired in utter disgust. Then +came the trip to the cellar. Again he had no followers, the Tinkletown +men emphatically refusing to go down where old Mrs. Rank's body had been +buried. Bonner laughed at them and went down alone. It was nauseous with +age and the smell of damp earth, but it was cleaner there than above +stairs. The cellar was smaller than either of the living rooms, and was +to be reached only through the kitchen. There was no exit leading +directly to the exterior of the house, but there was one small window at +the south end. Bonner examined the room carefully and then rejoined the +party. For some reason the posse had retired to the open air as soon as +he left them to go below. No one knew exactly why, but when one started +to go forth the others followed with more or less alacrity. + +"Did you see anything?" demanded the marshal. + +"What did old Mrs. Rank look like when she was alive?" asked Bonner with +a beautifully mysterious air. No one answered; but there was a sudden +shifting of feet backward, while an expression of alarmed inquiry came +into every face. "Don't back into that open well," warned the amused +young man in the doorway. Anderson Crow looked sharply behind, and +flushed indignantly when he saw that the well was at least fifty feet +away. "I saw something down there that looked like a woman's toe," went +on Bonner very soberly. + +"Good Lord! What did I tell you?" cried the marshal, turning to his +friends. To the best of their ability they could not remember that +Anderson had told them anything, but with one accord the whole party +nodded approval. + +"I fancy it was the ghost of a toe, however, for when I tried to pick it +up it wriggled away, and I think it chuckled. It disappear--what's the +matter? Where are you going?" + +It is only necessary to state that the marshal and his posse retreated +in good order to a distant spot where it was not quite so dark, there +to await the approach of Wicker Bonner, who leisurely but laughingly +inspected the exterior of the house and the grounds adjoining. Finding +nothing out of the ordinary, except as to dilapidation, he rejoined the +party with palpable displeasure in his face. + +"Well, I think I'll go back to the ice," he said; "that place is as +quiet as the grave. You are a fine lot of jokers, and I'll admit that +the laugh is on me." + +But Bonner was mystified, uncertain. He had searched the house +thoroughly from top to bottom, and he had seen nothing unusual, but +these men and boys were so positive that he could not believe the eyes +of all had been deceived. + +"This interests me," he said at last. "I'll tell you what we'll do, Mr. +Crow. You and I will come down here to-night, rig up a tent of some sort +and divide watch until morning. If there is anything to be seen we'll +find out what it is. I'll get a couple of straw mattresses from our +boathouse and--" + +"I've got rheumatiz, Mr. Bonner, an' it would be the death o' me to +sleep in this swamp," objected Anderson hastily. + +"Well, I'll come alone, then. I'm not afraid. I don't mean to say I'll +sleep in that old shack, but I'll bunk out here in the woods. No human +being could sleep in that place. Will any one volunteer to keep me +company?" + +Silence. + +"I don't blame you. It does take nerve, I'll confess. My only +stipulation is that you shall come down here from the village early +to-morrow morning. I may have something of importance to tell you, Mr. +Crow." + +"We'll find his dead body," groaned old Mr. Borton. + +"Say, mister," piped up a shrill voice, "I'll stay with you." It was Bud +who spoke, and all Tinkletown was afterward to resound with stories of +his bravery. The boy had been silently admiring the bold sportsman from +Boston town, and he was ready to cast his lot with him in this +adventure. He thrilled with pleasure when the big hero slapped him on +the back and called him the only man in the crowd. + +At eight o'clock that night Bonner and the determined but trembling Bud +came up the bank from the river and pitched a tent among the trees near +the haunted house. From the sledge on the river below they trundled up +their bedding and their stores. Bud had an old single-barrel shotgun, a +knife and a pipe, which he was just learning to smoke; Bonner brought a +Navajo blanket, a revolver and a heavy walking stick. He also had a +large flask of whiskey and the pipe that had graduated from Harvard with +him. + +At nine o'clock he put to bed in one of the chilly nests a very sick +boy, who hated to admit that the pipe was too strong for him, but who +felt very much relieved when he found himself wrapped snugly in the +blankets with his head tucked entirely out of sight. Bud had spent the +hour in regaling Bonner with the story of Rosalie Gray's abduction and +his own heroic conduct in connection with the case. He confessed that he +had knocked one of the villains down, but they were too many for him. +Bonner listened politely and then--put the hero to bed. + +Bonner dozed off at midnight. An hour or so later he suddenly sat bolt +upright, wide awake and alert. He had the vague impression that he was +deathly cold and that his hair was standing on end. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +The Men in the Sleigh + + +Let us go back to the night on which Rosalie was seized and carried away +from Mrs. Luce's front gate, despite the valiant resistance of her +youthful defenders. + +Rosalie had drooned Thackeray to the old lady until both of them were +dozing, and it was indeed a welcome relief that came with Roscoe's +resounding thumps on the front door. Mrs. Luce was too old to be +frightened out of a year's growth, but it is perfectly safe to agree +with her that the noise cost her at least three months. + +Desperately blue over the defection of Elsie Banks, Rosalie had found +little to make her evening cheerful indoors, but the fresh, crisp air +set her spirits bounding the instant she closed Mrs. Luce's door from +the outside. We have only to refer to Roscoe's lively narrative for +proof of what followed almost instantly. She was seized, her head +tightly wrapped in a thick cloak or blanket; then she was thrown into a +sleigh, and knew nothing more except a smothering sensation and the +odour of chloroform. + +When she regained consciousness she was lying on the ground in the open +air, dark night about her. Three men were standing nearby, but there was +no vehicle in sight. She tried to rise, but on account of her bonds was +powerless to do so. Speech was prevented by the cloth which closed her +lips tightly. After a time she began to grasp the meaning of the +muttered words that passed between the men. + +"You got the rig in all right, Bill--you're sure that no one heard or +saw you?" were the first questions she could make out, evidently arising +from a previous report or explanation. + +"Sure. Everybody in these parts goes to bed at sundown. They ain't got +nothing to do but sleep up 'ere." + +"Nobody knows we had that feller's sleigh an' horses out--nobody ever +will know," said the big man, evidently the leader. She noticed they +called him Sam. + +"Next thing is to git her across the river without leavin' any tracks. +We ain't on a travelled road now, pals; we got to be careful. I'll carry +her down to the bank; but be sure to step squarely in my +footprints--it'll look like they were made by one man. See?" + +"The river's froze over an' we can't be tracked on the ice. It's too +dark, too, for any one to see us. Go ahead, Sammy; it's d---- cold +here." + +The big man lifted her from the ground as if she were a feather, and she +was conscious of being borne swiftly through a stretch of sloping +woodland down to the river bank, a journey of two or three hundred +yards, it seemed. Here the party paused for many minutes before +venturing out upon the wide expanse of frozen river, evidently making +sure that the way was clear. Rosalie, her senses quite fully restored by +this time, began to analyse the situation with a clearness and calmness +that afterward was the object of considerable surprise to her. Instead +of being hysterical with fear, she was actually experiencing the thrill +of a real emotion. She had no doubt but that her abductors were persons +hired by those connected with her early history, and, strange as it may +seem, she could not believe that bodily harm was to be her fate after +all these years of secret attention on the part of those so deeply, +though remotely, interested. + +Somehow there raced through her brain the exhilarating conviction that +at last the mystery of her origin was to be cleared away, and with it +all that had been as a closed book. No thought of death entered her mind +at that time. Afterward she was to feel that death would be most +welcome, no matter how it came. + +Her captors made the trip across the river in dead silence. There was no +moon and the night was inky black. The exposed portions of her face +tingled with cold, but she was so heavily wrapped in the blanket that +her body did not feel the effects of the zero weather. + +At length the icy stretch was passed, and after resting a few minutes, +Sam proceeded to ascend the steep bank with her in his arms. Why she was +not permitted to walk she did not know then or afterward. It is +possible, even likely, that the men thought their charge was +unconscious. She did nothing to cause them to think otherwise. Again +they passed among trees, Sam's companions following in his footprints as +before. Another halt and a brief command for Davy to go ahead and see +that the coast was clear came after a long and tortuous struggle through +the underbrush. Twice they seemed to have lost their bearings in the +darkness, but eventually they came into the open. + +"Here we are!" grunted Sam as they hurried across the clearing. "A hard +night's work, pals, but I guess we're in Easy Street now. Go ahead, +Davy, an' open the trap!" + +Davy swore a mighty but sibilant oath and urged his thick, ugly figure +ahead of the others. + +A moment later the desperadoes and their victim passed through a door +and into a darkness even blacker than that outside. Davy was pounding +carefully upon the floor of the room in which they stood. Suddenly a +faint light spread throughout the room and a hoarse, raucous voice +whispered: + +"Have you got her?" + +"Get out of the way--we're near froze," responded Davy gruffly. + +"Get down there, Bill, and take her; I'm tired carryin' this hundred and +twenty pounder," growled Sam. + +The next instant Rosalie was conscious of being lowered through a trap +door in the floor, and then of being borne rapidly through a long, +narrow passage, lighted fitfully by the rays of a lantern in the hands +of a fourth and as yet unseen member of the band. + +"There!" said Bill, impolitely dropping his burden upon a pile of straw +in the corner of the rather extensive cave at the end of the passage; +"wonder if the little fool is dead. She ought to be coming to by this +time." + +"She's got her eyes wide open," uttered the raucous voice on the +opposite side; and Rosalie turned her eyes in that direction. She looked +for a full minute as if spellbound with terror, her gaze centred at the +most repulsive human face she ever had seen--the face of Davy's mother. + +The woman was a giantess, a huge, hideous creature with the face of a +man, hairy and bloated. Her unkempt hair was grey almost to whiteness, +her teeth were snags, and her eyes were almost hidden beneath the shaggy +brow. There was a glare of brutal satisfaction in them that appalled the +girl. + +For the first time since the adventure began her heart failed her, and +she shuddered perceptibly as her lids fell. + +"What the h---- are you skeering her fer like that, ma," growled Davy. +"Don't look at her like that, or--" + +"See here, my boy, don't talk like that to me if you don't want me to +kick your head off right where you stand. I'm your mother, Davy, an'--" + +"That'll do. This ain't no time to chew the rag," muttered Sam. "We're +done fer. Get us something to eat an' something to drink, old woman; +give the girl a nifter, too. She's fainted, I reckon. Hurry up; I want +to turn in." + +"Better untie her hands--see if she's froze," added Bill savagely. + +Roughly the old woman slashed the bonds from the girl's hands and feet +and then looked askance at Sam, who stood warming his hands over a +kerosene stove not far away. He nodded his head, and she instantly +untied the cloth that covered Rosalie's mouth. + +"It won't do no good to scream, girl. Nobody'll hear ye but us--and +we're your friends," snarled the old woman. + +"Let her yell if she wants to, Maude. It may relieve her a bit," said +Sam, meaning to be kind. Instinctively Rosalie looked about for the +person addressed as Maude. There was but one woman in the gang. Maude! +That was the creature's name. Instead of crying or shrieking, Rosalie +laughed outright. + +At the sound of the laugh the woman drew back hastily. + +"By gor!" she gasped; "the--she's gone daffy!" + +The men turned toward them with wonder in their faces. Bill was the +first to comprehend. He saw the girl's face grow sober with an effort, +and realised that she was checking her amusement because it was sure to +offend. + +"Aw," he grinned, "I don't blame her fer laughin'! Say what ye will, +Maude, your name don't fit you." + +"It's as good as any name--" began the old hag, glaring at him; but Sam +interposed with a command to her to get them some hot coffee while he +had a talk with the girl. "Set up!" he said roughly, addressing Rosalie. +"We ain't goin' to hurt you." + +Rosalie struggled to a sitting posture, her limbs and back stiff from +the cold and inaction. "Don't ask questions, because they won't be +answered. I jest want to give you some advice as to how you must act +while you are our guest. You must be like one of the family. Maybe we'll +be here a day, maybe a week, but it won't be any longer than that." + +"Would you mind telling me where I am and what this all means? Why have +you committed this outrage? What have I done--" she found voice to say. +He held up his hand. + +"You forget what I said about askin' questions. There ain't nothin' to +tell you, that's all. You're here and that's enough." + +"Well, who is it that has the power to answer questions, sir? I have +some right to ask them. You have--" + +"That'll do, now!" he growled. "I'll put the gag back on you if you +keep it up. So's you won't worry, I want to say this to you: Your +friends don't know where you are, and they couldn't find you if they +tried. You are to stay right here in this cave until we get orders to +move you. When the time comes we'll take you to wherever we're ordered, +and then we're through with you. Somebody else will have the say. You +won't be hurt here unless you try to escape--it won't do you any good to +yell. It ain't a palace, but it's better than the grave. So be wise. All +we got to do is to turn you over to the proper parties at the proper +time. That's all." + +"Is the person you speak of my--my mother or my father?" Rosalie asked +with bated breath. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +With the Kidnapers + + +Sam stared at her, and there was something like real amazement in his +eyes. + +"Yer mother or father?" he repeated interrogatively. "Wha--what the +devil can they have to do with this affair? I guess they're askin' a lot +of questions themselves about this time." + +"Mr. and Mrs. Crow are not my parents," she said; and then shrewdly +added, "and you know it, sir." + +"I've heard that sayin' 'bout a child never knowin' its own father, but +this business of both the father and mother is a new one on me. I guess +it's the chloroform. Give us that booze, Bill. She's dippy yet." + +He tried to induce her to swallow some of the whiskey, but steadfastly +she refused, until finally, with an evil snarl, Sam commanded the +giantess to hold her while he forced the burning liquor down her throat. +There was a brief struggle, but Rosalie was no match for the huge woman, +whose enormous arms encircled her; and as the liquid trickled in upon +her tongue she heard above the brutal laughter of the would-be doctors +the hoarse voice of Bill crying: + +"Don't hurt her, Sam! Let 'er alone!" + +"Close yer face! Don't you monkey in this thing, Bill Briggs. +I'll--well, you know. Drink this, damn you!" + +Sputtering and choking, her heart beating wildly with fear and rage, +Rosalie was thrown back upon the straw by the woman. Her throat was +burning from the effects of the whiskey and her eyes were blinded by the +tears of anger and helplessness. + +"Don't come any of your highfalutin' airs with me, you little cat," +shrieked the old woman, rubbing a knee that Rosalie had kicked in her +struggles. + +"Lay still there," added Sam. "We don't want to hurt you, but you got to +do as I tell you. Understand? Not a word, now! Gimme that coffee-pot, +Davy. Go an' see that everything's locked up an' we'll turn in fer the +night. Maude, you set up an' keep watch. If she makes a crack, soak her +one." + +"You bet I will. She'll find she ain't attendin' no Sunday-school +picnic." + +"No boozin'!" was Sam's order as he told out small portions of whiskey. +Then the gang ate ravenously of the bacon and beans and drank cup after +cup of coffee. Later the men threw themselves upon the piles of straw +and soon all were snoring. The big woman refilled the lantern and hung +it on a peg in the wall of the cave; then she took up her post near the +square door leading to the underground passage, her throne an upturned +whiskey barrel, her back against the wall of the cave. She glared at +Rosalie through the semi-darkness, frequently addressing her with the +vilest invectives cautiously uttered--and all because her victim had +beautiful eyes and was unable to close them in sleep. + +[Illustration: "Rosalie was no match for the huge woman"] + +Rosalie's heart sank as she surveyed the surroundings with her mind +once more clear and composed. After her recovery from the shock of +contact with the old woman and Sam she shrank into a state of mental +lassitude that foretold the despair which was to come later on. She did +not sleep that night. Her brain was full of whirling thoughts of escape, +speculations as to what was to become of her, miserable fears that the +end would not be what the first impressions had made it, and, over all, +a most intense horror of the old woman, who dozed, but guarded her as no +dragon ever watched in the days of long ago. + +The cave in which they were housed was thirty or forty feet from side to +side, almost circular in shape, a low roof slanting to the rocky floor. +Here and there were niches in the walls, and in the side opposite to the +entrance to the passageway there was a small, black opening, leading +without doubt to the outer world. The fact that it was not used at any +time during her stay in the cave led her to believe it was not of +practical use. Two or three coal-oil stoves were used to heat the cave +and for cooking purposes. There were several lanterns, a number of +implements (such as spades, axes, crowbars, sledges, and so forth), +stool-kegs, a rough table, which was used for all purposes known to the +dining-room, kitchen, scullery and even bedchamber. Sam slept on the +table. Horse blankets were thrown about the floor in confusion. They +served as bedclothes when the gang slept. At other times they might as +well have been called doormats. One of the niches in the wall was used +as the resting place for such bones or remnants as might strike it when +hurled in that direction by the occupants. No one took the trouble to +carefully bestow anything in the garbage hole, and no one pretended to +clean up after the other. The place was foul smelling, hot and almost +suffocating with the fumes from the stoves, for which there seemed no +avenue of escape. + +Hours afterward, although they seemed drawn out into years, the men +began to breathe naturally, and a weird silence reigned in the cave. +They were awake. The venerable Maude emerged from her doze, looked +apprehensively at Sam, prodded the corner to see that the prize had not +faded away, and then began ponderously to make preparations for a meal, +supposedly breakfast. Meagre ablutions, such as they were, were +performed in the "living room," a bucket of water serving as a general +wash-basin. No one had removed his clothing during the night, not even +his shoes. It seemed to her that the gang was in an ever-ready condition +to evacuate the place at a moment's notice. + +Rosalie would not eat, nor would she bathe her face in the water that +had been used by the quartette before her. Bill Briggs, with some sense +of delicacy in his nature, brought some fresh water from the far end of +the passageway. For this act he was reviled by his companions. + +"It's no easy job to get water here, Briggs," roared Sam. "We got to be +savin' with it." + +"Well, don't let it hurt you," retorted Bill. "I'll carry it up from the +river to-night. You won't have to do it." + +"She ain't any better'n I am," snorted Maude, "and nobody goes out to +bring me a private bath, I take notice. Get up here and eat something, +you rat! Do you want us to force it down you--" + +"If she don't want to eat don't coax her," said Sam. "She'll soon get +over that. We was only hired to get her here and get her away again, and +not to make her eat or even wash. That's nothing to us." + +"Well, she's got to eat or she'll die, and you know, Sam Welch, that +ain't to be," retorted the old woman. + +"She'll eat before she'll die, Maudie; don't worry." + +"I'll never eat a mouthful!" cried Rosalie, a brave, stubborn light in +her eyes. She was standing in the far corner drying her face with her +handkerchief. + +"Oho, you can talk again, eh? Hooray! Now we'll hear the story of her +life," laughed big Sam, his mouth full of bacon and bread. Rosalie +flushed and the tears welled to her eyes. + +All day long she suffered taunts and gibes from the gang. She grew to +fear Davy's ugly leers more than the brutal words of the others. When +he came near she shrank back against the wall; when he spoke she +cringed; when he attempted to touch her person she screamed. It was this +act that brought Sam's wrath upon Davy's head. He won something like +gratitude from the girl by profanely commanding Davy to confine his love +to looks and not to acts. + +"She ain't to be harmed," was Sam's edict. "That goes, too." + +"Aw, you go to--" began Davy belligerently. + +"What's that?" snarled Sam, whirling upon him with a glare. Davy slunk +behind his mother and glared back. Bill moved over to Sam's side. For a +moment the air was heavy with signs of an affray. Rosalie crouched in +her corner, her hand over her ears, her eyes closed. There was murder in +Davy's face. "I'll break every bone in your body!" added Sam; but Bill +laconically stayed him with a word. + +"Rats!" It was brief, but it brought the irate Sam to his senses. +Trouble was averted for the time being. + +"Davy ain't afraid of him," cried that worthy's mother shrilly. + +"You bet I ain't!" added Davy after a long string of oaths. Sam grinned +viciously. + +"There ain't nothin' to fight about, I guess," he said, although he did +not look it. "We'd be fools to scrap. Everything to lose and nothin' to +gain. All I got to say, Davy, is that you ain't to touch that girl." + +"Who's goin' to touch her?" roared Davy, bristling bravely. "An' you +ain't to touch her nuther," he added. + +The day wore away, although it was always night in the windowless cave, +and again the trio of men slept, with Maude as guard. Exhausted and +faint, Rosalie fell into a sound sleep. The next morning she ate +sparingly of the bacon and bread and drank some steaming coffee, much to +the derisive delight of the hag. + +"You had to come to it, eh?" she croaked. "Had to feed that purty face, +after all. I guess we're all alike. We're all flesh and blood, my lady." + +The old woman never openly offered personal violence to the girl. She +stood in some fear of the leader--not physical fear, but the strange +homage that a brute pays to its master. Secretly she took savage delight +in treading on the girl's toes or in pinching her arms and legs, +twisting her hair, spilling hot coffee on her hands, cursing her softly +and perpetrating all sorts of little indignities that could not be +resented, for the simple reason that they could not be proved against +her. Her word was as good as Rosalie's. + +Hourly the strain grew worse and worse. The girl became ill and feverish +with fear, loathing and uncertainty. Her ears rang with the horrors of +their lewdness, her eyes came to see but little, for she kept them +closed for the very pain of what they were likely to witness. In her +heart there grew a constant prayer for deliverance from their clutches. +She was much too strong-minded and healthy to pray for death, but her +mind fairly reeled with the thoughts of the vengeance she would exact. + +The third day found the gang morose and ugly. The confinement was as +irksome to them as it was to her. They fretted and worried, swore and +growled. At nightfall of each day Sam ventured forth through the passage +and out into the night. Each time he was gone for two or three hours, +and each succeeding return to the vile cave threw the gang into deeper +wrath. The word they were expecting was not forthcoming, the command +from the real master was not given. They played cards all day, and at +last began to drink more deeply than was wise. Two desperate fights +occurred between Davy and Sam on the third day. Bill and the old woman +pulled them apart after both had been battered savagely. + +"She's sick, Sam," growled Bill, standing over the cowering, white-faced +prisoner near the close of the fourth day. Sam had been away nearly all +of the previous night, returning gloomily without news from +headquarters. "She'll die in this d---- place and so will we if we don't +get out soon. Look at her! Why, she's as white as a sheet. Let's give +her some fresh air, Sammy. It's safe. Take her up in the cabin for a +while. To-night we can take her outside the place. Good Lord, Sammy, +I've got a bit of heart! I can't see her die in this hole. Look at her! +Can't you see she's nearly done for?" + +After considerable argument, pro and con, it was decided that it would +be safe and certainly wise to let the girl breathe the fresh air once in +a while. That morning Sam took her into the cabin through the passage. +The half hour in the cold, fresh air revived her, strengthened her +perceptibly. Her spirits took an upward bound. She began to ask +questions, and for some reason he began to take notice of them. It may +have been the irksomeness of the situation, his own longing to be away, +his anger toward the person who had failed to keep the promise made +before the abduction, that led him to talk quite freely. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +In the Cave + + +"It's not my fault that we're still here," he growled in answer to her +pathetic appeal. "I've heard you prayin' for Daddy Crow to come and take +you away. Well, it's lucky for him that he don't know where you are. +We'd make mincemeat of that old jay in three minutes. Don't do any more +prayin'. Prayers are like dreams--you have 'em at night and wonder why +the next day. Now, look 'ere, Miss Gray, we didn't do this rotten job +for the love of excitement. We're just as anxious to get out of it as +you are." + +"I only ask why I am held here and what is to become of me?" said +Rosalie resignedly. She was standing across the table from where he sat +smoking his great, black pipe. The other members of the gang were +lounging about, surly and black-browed, chafing inwardly over the delay +in getting away from the cave. + +"I don't know why you've been held here. I only know it's d---- slow. +I'd chuck the job, if there wasn't so much dust in it for me." + +"But what is to become of me? I cannot endure this much longer. It is +killing me. Look! I am black and blue from pinches. The old woman never +misses an opportunity to hurt me." + +"She's jealous of you because you're purty, that's all. Women are all +alike, hang 'em! I wouldn't be in this sort of work if it hadn't been +for a jealous wife." + +He puffed at his pipe moodily for a long time, evidently turning some +problem over and over in his mind. At last, heaving a deep sigh, and +prefacing his remarks with an oath, he let light in upon the mystery. +"I'll put you next to the job. Can't give any names; it wouldn't be +square. You see, it's this way: you ain't wanted in this country. I +don't know why, but you ain't." + +"Not wanted in this country?" she cried blankly. "I don't stand in any +one's way. My life and my love are for the peaceful home that you have +taken me from. I don't ask for anything else. Won't you tell your +employer as much for me? If I am released, I shall never interfere with +the plans of--" + +"'Tain't that, I reckon. You must be mighty important to somebody, or +all this trouble wouldn't be gone through with. The funny part of it is +that we ain't to hurt you. You ain't to be killed, you know. That's the +queer part of it, ain't it?" + +"I'll admit it has an agreeable sound to me," said Rosalie, with a +shadow of a smile on her trembling lips. "It seems ghastly, though." + +"Well, anyhow, it's part of somebody's scheme to get you out of this +country altogether. You are to be taken away on a ship, across the +ocean, I think. Paris or London, mebby, and you are never to come +back to the United States. Never, that's what I'm told." + +[Illustration: "She shrank back from another blow which seemed +impending"] + +Rosalie was speechless, stunned. Her eyes grew wide with the misery of +doubt and horror, her lips moved as if forming the words which would not +come. Before she could bring a sound from the contracted throat the +raucous voice of old Maude broke in: + +"What are you tellin' her, Sam Welch? Can't you keep your face closed?" +she called, advancing upon him with a menacing look. + +"Aw, it's nothin' to you," he retorted, but an uncomfortable expression +suddenly crept into his face. A loud, angry discussion ensued, the whole +gang engaging. Three to one was the way it stood against the leader, who +was forced to admit, secretly if not publicly, that he had no right to +talk freely of the matter to the girl. In vain she pleaded and promised. +Her tears were of no avail, once Sam had concluded to hold his tongue. +Angry with himself for having to submit to the demands of the others, +furious because she saw his surrender, Sam, without a word of warning, +suddenly struck her on the side of the head with the flat of his broad +hand, sending her reeling into the corner. Dazed, hurt and half stunned, +she dropped to her knees, unable to stand. With a piteous look in her +eyes she shrank back from another blow which seemed impending. Bill +Briggs grasped his leader's arm and drew him away, cursing and snarling. + +Late in the afternoon, Bill was permitted to conduct her into the cabin +above, for a few minutes in the air, and for a glimpse of the failing +sunlight. She had scarcely taken her stand before the little window when +she was hastily jerked away, but not before she thought she had +perceived a crowd of men, huddling among the trees not far away. A +scream for help started to her lips; but Bill's heavy hand checked it +effectually. His burly arm sent her scuttling toward the trap-door; and +a second later she was below, bruised from the fall and half fainting +with disappointment and despair. + +Brief as the glimpse had been, she was positive she recognised two faces +in the crowd of men--Anderson Crow's and Ed Higgins's. It meant, if her +eyes did not deceive her, that the searchers were near at hand, and that +dear, old Daddy Crow was leading them. Her hopes flew upward and she +could not subdue the triumphant glance that swept the startled crowd +when Bill breathlessly broke the news. + +Absolute quiet reigned in the cave after that. Maude cowed the prisoner +into silence with the threat to cut out her tongue if she uttered a cry. +Later, the tramp of feet could be heard on the floor of the cabin. +There was a sound of voices, loud peals of laughter, and then the noise +made by some one in the cellar that served as a blind at one end of the +cabin. After that, dead silence. At nightfall, Sam stealthily ventured +forth to reconnoitre. He came back with the report that the woods and +swamps were clear and that the searchers, if such they were, had gone +away. + +"The house, since Davy's grandma's bones were stored away in that cellar +for several moons, has always been thought to be haunted. The fools +probably thought they saw a ghost--an' they're runnin' yet." + +Then for the first time Rosalie realised that she was in the haunted +cabin in the swamp, the most fearsome of all places in the world to +Tinkletown, large and small. Not more than three miles from her own +fireside! Not more than half an hour's walk from Daddy Crow and others +in the warmth of whose love she had lived so long! + +"It's gettin' too hot here for us," growled Sam at supper. "We've just +got to do something. I'm going out to-night to see if there's any word +from the--from the party. These guys ain't all fools. Somebody is liable +to nose out the trap-door before long and there'll be hell to pay. They +won't come back before to-morrow, I reckon. By thunder, there ought to +be word from the--the boss by this time. Lay low, everybody; I'll be +back before daybreak. This time I'm a-goin' to find out something sure +or know the reason why. I'm gettin' tired of this business. Never know +what minute the jig's up, nor when the balloon busts." + +Again he stole forth into the night, leaving his companions more or less +uneasy as to the result, after the startling events of the afternoon. +Hour after hour passed, and with every minute therein, Rosalie's ears +strained themselves to catch the first sound of approaching rescuers. +Her spirits fell, but her hopes were high. She felt sure that the men +outside had seen her face and that at last they had discovered the place +in which she was kept. It would only be a question of time until they +learned the baffling secret of the trap-door. Her only fear lay in the +possibility that she might be removed by her captors before the rescuers +could accomplish her delivery. Her bright, feverish, eager eyes, +gleaming from the sunken white cheeks, appealed to Bill Briggs more than +he cared to admit. The ruffian, less hardened than his fellows, began to +feel sorry for her. + +Eleven o'clock found the trio anxious and ugly in their restlessness. +There was no sleep for them. Davy visited the trap over a hundred times +that night. His mother, breaking over the traces of restraint, hugged +the jug of whiskey, taking swig after swig as the vigil wore on. At last +Davy, driven to it, insisted upon having his share. Bill drank but +little, and it was not long before Rosalie observed the shifty, nervous +look in his eyes. From time to time he slyly appropriated certain +articles, dropping them into his coat pocket. His ear muffs, muffler, +gloves, matches, tobacco and many chunks of bread and bacon were stowed +stealthily in the pockets of his coat. At last it dawned upon her that +Bill was preparing to desert. Hope lay with him, then. If he could only +be induced to give her an equal chance to escape! + +Mother and son became maudlin in their--not cups, but jug; but Davy had +the sense to imbibe more cautiously, a fact which seemed to annoy the +nervous Bill. + +"I must have air--fresh air," suddenly moaned Rosalie from her corner, +the strain proving too great for her nerves. Bill strode over and looked +down upon the trembling form for a full minute. "Take me outside for +just a minute--just a minute, please. I am dying in here." + +"Lemme take her out," cackled old Maude. "I'll give her all the air she +wants. Want so--some air myself. Lemme give her air, Bill. Have some air +on me, pardner. Lemme--" + +"Shut up, Maude!" growled Bill, glancing uneasily about the cave. "I'll +take her up in the cabin fer a couple of minutes. There ain't no +danger." + +Davy protested, but Bill carried his point, simply because he was sober +and knew his power over the half-stupefied pair. Davy let them out +through the trap, promising to wait below until they were ready to +return. + +"Are you going away?" whispered Rosalie, as they passed out into the +cold, black night. + +"Sh! Don't talk, damn you!" he hissed. + +"Let me go too. I know the way home and you need have no fear of me. I +like you, but I hate the others. Please, please! For God's sake, let me +go! They can't catch me if I have a little start." + +"I'd like to, but I--I dassent. Sam would hunt me down and kill me--he +would sure. I am goin' myself--I can't stand it no longer." + +"Have pity! Don't leave me alone with them. Oh, God, if you--" + +Moaning piteously, she pleaded with him; but he was obdurate, chiefly +through fear of the consequences. In his heart he might have been +willing to give her the chance, but his head saw the danger to itself +and it was firm. + +"I'll tell you what I'll do," he whispered in the end. "I'll take you +back there and then I'll go and tell your friends where you are and how +to help you. Honest! Honest, I will. I know it's as broad as it is +long, but I'd rather do it that way. They'll be here in a couple of +hours and you'll be free. Nobody will be the wiser. Curse your whining! +Shut up! Damn you, get back in there! Don't give me away to Davy, and +I'll swear to help you out of this." + +A minute or two later, he dragged her back into the cabin, +moaning, pleading, and crying from the pain of a sudden blow. Ten +minutes afterward he went forth again, this time ostensibly to meet Sam; +but Rosalie knew that he was gone forever. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +The Trap-Door + + +A sickly new moon threw vague ghostly beams across the willow-lined +swamp, out beyond the little cabin that stood on its border. Through the +dense undergrowth and high among the skeleton treetops ugly shadows +played with each other, while a sepulchral orchestra of wind and bough +shrieked a dirge that flattened in Bonner's ears; but it was not the +weird music of the swamp that sent the shudder of actual terror through +the frame of the big athlete. + +A series of muffled, heartbreaking moans, like those of a woman in dire +pain, came to his ears. He felt the cold perspiration start over his +body. His nerves grew tense with trepidation, his eyes wide with horror. +Instinctively, his fingers clutched the revolver at his side and his +gaze went toward the black, square thing which marked the presence of +the haunted house. The orchestra of the night seemed to bring its dirge +to a close; a chill interlude of silence ensued. The moans died away +into choking sobs, and Bonner's ears could hear nothing else. A sudden +thought striking him, he rolled out of his bed and made his way to Bud's +pile of blankets. But the solution was not there. The lad was sound +asleep and no sound issued from his lips. The moans came from another +source, human or otherwise, out there in the crinkling night. + +Carefully making his way from the tent, his courage once more restored +but his flesh still quivering, Bonner looked intently for manifestations +in the black home of Johanna Rank. He half expected to see a ghostly +light flit past a window. It was intensely dark in the thicket, but the +shadowy marsh beyond silhouetted the house into a black relief. He was +on all fours behind a thick pile of brush, nervously drawing his pipe +from his pocket, conscious that he needed it to steady his nerves, when +a fresh sound, rising above the faint sobs, reached his ears. Then the +low voice of a man came from some place in the darkness, and these words +rang out distinctly: + +"Damn you!" + +He drew back involuntarily, for the voice seemed to be at his elbow. The +sobs ceased suddenly, as if choked by a mighty hand. + +The listener's inclination was to follow the example of Anderson Crow +and run madly off into the night. But beneath this natural panic was the +soul of chivalry. Something told him that a woman out there in the +solitude needed the arms of a man; and his blood began to grow hot +again. Presently the silence was broken by a sharp cry of despair: + +"Have pity! Oh, God--" moaned the voice that sent thrills through his +body--the voice of a woman, tender, refined, crushed. His fingers +gripped the revolver with fresh vigor, but almost instantly the rustling +of dead leaves reached his ears: the man and his victim were making +their way toward the house. + +Bonner crouched among the bushes as if paralysed. He began to comprehend +the situation. In a vague sort of way he remembered hearing of +Tinkletown's sensation over at his uncle's house, where he was living +with a couple of servants for a month's shooting. The atmosphere had +been full of the sensational abduction story for several days--the +abduction of a beautiful young woman and the helpless attitude of the +relatives and friends. Like a whirlwind the whole situation spread +itself before him; it left him weak. He had come upon the gang and their +victim in this out-of-the-way corner of the world, far from the city +toward which they were supposed to have fled. He had the solution in his +hands and he was filled with the fire of the ancients. + +A light appeared in the low doorway and the squat figure of a man held a +lantern on high. An instant later, another man dragged the helpless girl +across the threshold and into the house. Even as Bonner squared himself +to rush down upon them the light disappeared and darkness fell over the +cabin. There was a sound of footsteps on the floor, a creaking of hinges +and the stealthy closing of a door. Then there was absolute quiet. + +Bonner was wise as well as brave. He saw that to rush down upon the +house now might prove his own as well as her undoing. In the darkness, +the bandits would have every advantage. For a moment he glared at the +black shadow ahead, his brain working like lightning. + +"That poor girl!" he muttered vaguely. "Damn beasts! But I'll fix 'em, +by heaven! It won't be long, my boys." + +His pondering brought quick results. Crawling to Bud's cot, he aroused +him from a deep sleep. Inside of two minutes the lad was streaking off +through the woods toward town, with instructions to bring Anderson Crow +and a large force of men to the spot as quickly as possible. + +"I'll stand guard," said Wicker Bonner. + +As the minutes went by Bonner's thoughts dwelt more and more intently +upon the poor, imprisoned girl in the cabin. His blood charged his +reason and he could scarce control the impulse to dash in upon the +wretches. Then he brought himself up with a jerk. Where was he to find +them? Had he not searched the house that morning and was there a sign of +life to be found? He was stunned by this memory. For many minutes he +stood with his perplexed eyes upon the house before a solution came to +him. + +He now knew that there was a secret apartment in the old house and a +secret means of entrance and exit. With this explanation firmly +impressed upon his mind, Wicker Bonner decided to begin his own campaign +for the liberation of Rosalie Gray. It would be hours before the +sluggish Anderson Crow appeared; and Bonner was not the sort to leave a +woman in jeopardy if it was in his power to help her. Besides, the +country people had filled him with stories of Miss Gray's beauty, and +they found him at an impressionable and heart-free age. The thrill of +romance seized him and he was ready to dare. + +He crept up to the doorway and listened. Reason told him that the coast +was clear; the necessity for a sentinel did not exist, so cleverly were +the desperadoes under cover. After a few moments, he crawled into the +room, holding his breath, as he made his way toward the cellar +staircase. He had gone but a few feet when the sound of voices came to +him. Slinking into a corner, he awaited developments. The sounds came +from below, but not from the cellar room, as he had located it. A moment +later, a man crawled into the room, coming through a hole in the floor, +just as he had suspected. A faint light from below revealed the sinister +figure plainly, but Bonner felt himself to be quite thoroughly hidden. +The man in the room spoke to some one below. + +"I'll be back in half an hour, Davy. I'll wait fer Sam out there on the +Point. He ought to have some news from headquarters by this time. I +don't see why we have to hang around this place forever. She ought to be +half way to Paris by now." + +"They don't want to take chances, Bill, till the excitement blows over." + +"Well, you an' your mother just keep your hands off of her while I'm +out, that's all," warned Bill Briggs. + +The trap-door was closed, and Bonner heard the other occupant of the +room shuffle out into the night. He was not long in deciding what to do. +Here was the chance to dispose of one of the bandits, and he was not +slow to seize it. There was a meeting in the thicket a few minutes +later, and Bill was "out of the way" for the time being. Wicker Bonner +dropped him with a sledge-hammer blow, and when he returned to the cabin +Bill was lying bound and gagged in the tent, a helpless captive. + +His conqueror, immensely satisfied, supplied himself with the surplus +ends of "guy ropes" from the tent and calmly sat down to await the +approach of the one called Sam, he who had doubtless gone to a +rendezvous "for news." He could well afford to bide his time. With two +of the desperadoes disposed of in ambuscade, he could have a fairly even +chance with the man called Davy. + +It seemed hours before he heard the stealthy approach of some one moving +through the bushes. He was stiff with cold, and chafing at the +interminable delay, but the approach of real danger quickened his blood +once more. There was another short, sharp, silent struggle near the +doorway, and once more Wicker Bonner stood victorious over an +unsuspecting and now unconscious bandit. Sam, a big, powerful man, was +soon bound and gagged and his bulk dragged off to the tent among the +bushes. + +"Now for Davy," muttered Bonner, stretching his great arms in the pure +relish of power. "There will be something doing around your heart, Miss +Babe-in-the-Woods, in a very few minutes." + +He chuckled as he crept into the cabin, first having listened intently +for sounds. For some minutes he lay quietly with his ear to the floor. +In that time he solved one of the problems confronting him. The man Davy +was a son of old Mrs. Rank's murderer, and the "old woman" who kept +watch with him was his mother, wife of the historic David. It was she +who had held the lantern, no doubt, while David Wolfe chopped her own +mother to mincemeat. This accounted for the presence of the gang in the +haunted house and for their knowledge of the underground room. + +Bonner's inspiration began to wear off. Pure luck had aided him up to +this stage, but the bearding of David in his lair was another +proposition altogether. His only hope was that he might find the man +asleep. He was not taking the old woman into consideration at all. Had +he but known it, she was the most dangerous of all. + +His chance, he thought, lay in strategy. It was impossible to open the +trap-door from above, he had found by investigation. There was but one +way to get to Miss Gray, and that was by means of a daring ruse. +Trusting to luck, he tapped gently on the floor at the spot where memory +told him the trap-door was situated. His heart was thumping violently. + +There was a movement below him, and then the sound of some one handling +the bolts in the door. Bonner drew back, hoping against hope that a +light would not be shown. In one hand he held his revolver ready for +use; in the other his heavy walking stick. His plans were fully +developed. After a moment the trap was lifted partially and a draft of +warm air came out upon him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +Jack, the Giant Killer + + +"That you, Sam?" half whispered a man's voice. There was no light. + +"Sh!" hissed Bonner, muffling his voice. "Is everybody in?" + +"Bill's waitin' fer you outside. Ma an' me are here. Come on down. +What's up?" + +"How's the girl?" + +"Bellerin' like a baby. Ma's with her in the cave. Hurry up! This +thing's heavy." + +For reply Bonner seized the edge of the door with his left hand, first +pushing his revolver in his trousers' pocket. Then he silently swung the +heavy cane through the air and downward, a very faint light from below +revealing the shock head of Davy in the aperture. It was a mighty blow +and true. Davy's body fell away from the trap, and a second later +Bonner's dropped through the hole. He left the trap wide open in case +retreat were necessary. Pausing long enough to assure himself that the +man was unconscious and bleeding profusely, and to snatch the big +revolver from Davy's person, Bonner turned his attention to the +surroundings. + +Perhaps a hundred feet away, at the end of a long, low passage, he saw +the glimmer of a light. Without a second's hesitation he started toward +it, feeling that the worst of the adventure was past. A shadow coming +between him and the light, he paused in his approach. This shadow +resolved itself into the form of a woman, a gigantic creature, who +peered intently up the passage. + +"What's the matter, Davy?" she called in raucous tones. "You damn fool, +can't you do anything without breaking your neck? I reckon you fell down +the steps? That you, Sam?" + +Receiving no answer, the woman clutched the lantern and advanced boldly +upon Bonner, who stood far down the passage, amazed and irresolute. She +looked more formidable to him than any of the men, so he prepared for a +struggle. + +"Halt!" he cried, when she was within ten feet of him. "Don't resist; +you are surrounded!" + +The woman stopped like one shot, glared ahead as if she saw him for the +first time, and then uttered a frightful shriek of rage. Dashing the +lantern to the ground, she raised her arm and fired a revolver point +blank at Bonner, despite the fact that his pistol was covering her. He +heard the bullet crash into the rotten timbers near his ear. Contrary to +her design, the lantern was not extinguished. Instead, it lay sputtering +but effective upon the floor. + +Before Bonner could make up his mind to shoot at the woman she was upon +him, firing again as she came. He did not have time to retaliate. The +huge frame crushed down upon him and his pistol flew from his hand. As +luck would have it, his free hand clutched her revolver, and she was +prevented from blowing his brains out with the succeeding shots, all of +which went wild. + +Then came a desperate struggle. Bonner, a trained athlete, realised that +she was even stronger than he, more desperate in her frenzy, and with +murder in her heart. As they lunged to and fro, her curses and shrieks +in his ear, he began to feel the despair of defeat. She was beating him +down with one mighty arm, crushing blows, every one of them. Then came +the sound which turned the tide of battle, for it filled him with a +frenzy equal to her own. The scream of a woman came down through the +passage, piteous, terror-stricken. + +He knew the fate of that poor girl if his adversary overcame him. The +thought sent his blood hot and cold at once. Infuriatedly, he exerted +his fine strength, and the tide turned. Panting and snarling, the big +woman was battered down. He flung her heavily to the ground and then +leaped back to pick up his revolver, expecting a renewal of the attack. +For the first time he was conscious of intense pain in his left leg. The +woman made a violent effort to rise, and then fell back, groaning and +cursing. + +"You've done it! You've got me!" she yelled. "My leg's broke!" Then she +shrieked for Davy and Bill and Sam, raining curses upon the law and upon +the traitor who had been their undoing. + +Bonner, his own leg wobbling and covered with blood, tried to quiet her, +but without success. He saw that she was utterly helpless, her leg +twisted under her heavy body. Her screams of pain as he turned her over +proved conclusively that she was not shamming. Her hip was dislocated. +The young man had sense enough left to return to Davy before venturing +into the cave where Miss Gray was doubtless in a dead faint. The man was +breathing, but still unconscious from the blow on the head. Bonner +quickly tied his hands and feet, guarding against emergencies in case +of his own incapacitation as the result of the bullet wound in his leg; +then he hobbled off with the lantern past the groaning Amazon in quest +of Rosalie Gray. It did not occur to him until afterward that single +handed he had overcome a most desperate band of criminals, so simply had +it all worked out up to the time of the encounter with the woman. + +A few yards beyond where the old woman lay moaning he came upon the cave +in which the bandits made their home. Holding the lantern above his +head, Bonner peered eagerly into the cavern. In the farthest corner +crouched a girl, her terror-struck eyes fastened upon the stranger. + +"How do you do, Miss Gray," came the cheery greeting from his lips. She +gasped, swept her hand over her eyes, and tried piteously to speak. The +words would not come. "The long-prayed-for rescue has come. You are +free--that is, as soon as we find our way out of this place. Let me +introduce myself as Jack, the Giant Killer--hello! Don't do that! Oh, +the devil!" She had toppled over in a dead faint. + +How Wicker Bonner, with his wounded leg, weak from loss of blood, and +faint from the reaction, carried her from the cave through the passage +and the trap-door and into the tent can only be imagined, not described. +He only knew that it was necessary to remove her from the place, and +that his strength would soon be gone. The sun was tinting the east +before she opened her eyes and shuddered. In the meantime he had +stanched the flow of blood in the fleshy part of his leg, binding the +limb tightly with a piece of rope. It was an ugly, glancing cut made by +a bullet of large calibre, and it was sure to put him on crutches for +some time to come. Even now he was scarcely able to move the member. For +an hour he had been venting his wrath upon the sluggish Anderson Crow, +who should have been on the scene long before this. Two of his captives, +now fully conscious, were glaring at their companions in the tent with +hate in their eyes. + +Rosalie Gray, wan, dishevelled, but more beautiful than the reports had +foretold, could not at first believe herself to be free from the +clutches of the bandits. It took him many minutes--many painful +minutes--to convince her that it was not a dream, and that in truth he +was Wicker Bonner, gentleman. Sitting with his back against a tent pole, +facing the cabin through the flap, with a revolver in his trembling +hand, he told her of the night's adventures, and was repaid tenfold by +the gratitude which shone from her eyes and trembled in her voice. In +return she told him of her capture, of the awful experiences in the +cave, and of the threats which had driven her almost to the end of +endurance. + +"Oh, oh, I could love you forever for this!" she cried in the fulness of +her joy. A rapturous smile flew to Bonner's eyes. + +"Forever begins with this instant, Miss Gray," he said; and without any +apparent reason the two shook hands. Afterward they were to think of +this trivial act and vow that it was truly the beginning. They were +young, heart-free, and full of the romance of life. + +"And those awful men are really captured--and the woman?" she cried, +after another exciting recital from him. Sam and Bill fairly snarled. +"Suppose they should get loose?" Her eyes grew wide with the thought of +it. + +"They can't," he said laconically. "I wish the marshal and his bicycle +army would hurry along. That woman and Davy need attention. I'd hate +like the mischief to have either of them die. One doesn't want to kill +people, you know, Miss Gray." + +"But they were killing me by inches," she protested. + +"Ouch!" he groaned, his leg giving him a mighty twinge. + +"What is it?" she cried in alarm. "Why should we wait for those men? +Come, Mr. Bonner, take me to the village--please do. I am crazy, +absolutely crazy, to see Daddy Crow and mother. I can walk there--how +far is it?--please come." She was running on eagerly in this strain +until she saw the look of pain in his face--the look he tried so hard to +conceal. She was standing straight and strong and eager before him, and +he was very pale under the tan. + +"I can't, Miss Gray. I'm sorry, you know. See! Where there's smoke +there's fire--I mean, where there's blood there's a wound. I'm done for, +in other words." + +"Done for? Oh, you're not--not going to die! Are you hurt? Why didn't +you tell me?" Whereupon she dropped to her knees at his side, her dark +eyes searching his intently, despair in them until the winning smile +struggled back into his. The captives chuckled audibly. "What can +I--what shall I do? Oh, why don't those men come! It must be noon or--" + +"It's barely six A.M., Miss Gray. Don't worry. I'm all right. A cut in +my leg; the old woman plugged me. I can't walk, you know--but--" + +"And you carried me out here and did all that and never said a word +about--oh, how good and brave and noble you are!" + +When Anderson Crow and half of Tinkletown, routed out _en masse_ by Bud, +appeared on the scene an hour or two later, they found Wicker Bonner +stretched out on a mattress, his head in Rosalie's lap. The young woman +held his revolver in her hand, and there was a look in her face which +said that she would shoot any one who came to molest her charge. Two +helpless desperadoes lay cursing in the corner of the tent. + +Anderson Crow, after an hour of deliberation and explanation, fell upon +the bound and helpless bandits and bravely carted the whole lot to the +town "calaboose." Wicker Bonner and his nurse were taken into town, and +the news of the rescue went flying over the county, and eventually to +the four corners of the land, for Congressman Bonner's nephew was a +person of prominence. + +Bonner, as he passed up the main street in Peabody's sleigh on the way +to Anderson Crow's home, was the centre of attraction. He was the hero +of the hour, for was not Rosalie Gray herself, pale and ill with +torture, his most devoted slave? What else could Tinkletown do but pay +homage when it saw Bonner's head against her shoulder and Anderson Crow +shouting approval from the bob-sled that carried the kidnapers. The four +bandits, two of them much the worse for the night's contact with Wicker +Bonner, were bundled into the lock-up, a sadly morose gang of ghosts. + +"I owe you a thousand dollars," said Anderson to Bonner as they drew up +in front of the marshal's home. All Tinkletown was there to see how Mrs. +Crow and the family would act when Rosalie was restored to them. The +yard was full of gaping villagers, and there was a diffident cheer when +Mrs. Crow rushed forth and fairly dragged Rosalie from the sleigh. +"Blootch" Peabody gallantly interposed and undertook to hand the girl +forth with the grace of a Chesterfield. But Mrs. Crow had her way. + +"I'll take it out in board and lodging," grinned Wicker Bonner to +Anderson as two strong men lifted him from the sleigh. + +"Where's Bud?" demanded Anderson after the others had entered the house. + +"He stayed down to the 'calaboose' to guard the prisoners," said +"Blootch." "Nobody could find the key to the door and nobody else would +stay. They ain't locked in, but Bud's got two revolvers, and he says +they can only escape over his dead body." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +Tinkletown's Convulsion + + +Anderson Crow was himself once more. He was twenty years younger than +when he went to bed the night before. His joy and pride had reached the +bursting point--dignity alone prevented the catastrophe. + +"What do you expect to do with the gang, Mr. Crow?" asked Bonner, +reclining with amiable ease in the marshal's Morris chair. He was +feeling very comfortable, despite "Doc" Smith's stitches; and he could +not help acknowledging, with more or less of a glow in his heart, that +it was nice to play hero to such a heroine. + +"Well, I'll protect 'em, of course. Nobody c'n lynch 'em while I'm +marshal of this town," Anderson said, forgetful of the fact that he had +not been near the jail, where Master Bud still had full charge of +affairs, keyless but determined. "I'll have to turn them over to the +county sheriff to-day er to-morrow, I reckon. This derned old calaboose +of ourn ain't any too safe. That's a mighty desperit gang we've +captured. I cain't remember havin' took sech a mob before." + +"Has it occurred to you, Mr. Crow, that we have captured only the +hirelings? Their employer, whoever he or she may be, is at large and +probably laughing at us. Isn't there some way in which we can follow +the case up and land the leader?" + +"'y Gosh, you're right," said Anderson. "I thought of that this mornin', +but it clean skipped my mind since then. There's where the mistake was +made, Mr. Bonner. It's probably too late now. You'd oughter thought +about the leader. Seems to me--" + +"Why, Daddy Crow," cried Rosalie, a warm flush in her cheeks once more, +"hasn't Mr. Bonner done his part? Hasn't he taken them single-handed and +hasn't he saved me from worse than death?" + +"I ain't castin' any insinyations at him, Rosalie," retorted Anderson, +very sternly for him. "How _can_ you talk like that?" + +"I'm not offended, Miss Gray," laughed Bonner. "We all make mistakes. It +has just occurred to me, however, that Mr. Crow may still be able to +find out who the leader is. The prisoners can be pumped, I dare say." + +"You're right ag'in, Mr. Bonner. It's funny how you c'n read my +thoughts. I was jest goin' down to the jail to put 'em through the sweat +cell." + +"Sweat cell? You mean sweat box, Mr. Crow," said Bonner, laughing in +spite of himself. + +"No, sir; it's a cell. We couldn't find a box big enough. I use the cell +reserved fer women prisoners. Mebby some day the town board will put in +a reg'lar box, but, so far, the cell has done all right. I'll be back +'bout supper-time, Eva. You take keer o' Rosalie. Make her sleep a while +an' I guess you'd better dose her up a bit with quinine an'--" + +"I guess I know what to give her, Anderson Crow," resented his wife. "Go +'long with you. You'd oughter been lookin' after them kidnapers three +hours ago. I bet Bud's purty nigh wore out guardin' them. He's been +there ever sence nine o'clock, an' it's half-past two now." + +"Roscoe's helpin' him," muttered Anderson, abashed. + +At that instant there came a rush of footsteps across the front porch +and in burst Ed Higgins and "Blootch" Peabody, fairly gasping with +excitement. + +"Hurry up, Anderson--down to the jail," sputtered the former; and then +he was gone like the wind. "Blootch," determined to miss nothing, +whirled to follow, or pass him if possible. He had time to shout over +his shoulder as he went forth without closing the door: + +"The old woman has lynched herself!" + +It would now be superfluous to remark, after all the convulsions +Tinkletown had experienced inside of twenty-four hours, that the +populace went completely to pieces in face of this last trying +experiment of Fate. With one accord the village toppled over as if +struck by a broadside and lay, figuratively speaking, writhing in its +own gore. Stupefaction assailed the town. Then one by one the minds of +the people scrambled up from the ashes, slowly but surely, only to +wonder where lightning would strike next. Not since the days of the +American Revolution had the town experienced such an incessant rush of +incident. The Judgment Day itself, with Gabriel's clarion blasts, could +not be expected to surpass this productive hour in thrills. + +It was true that old Maude had committed suicide in the calaboose. She +had been placed on a cot in the office of the prison and Dr. Smith had +been sent for, immediately after her arrival; but he was making a call +in the country. Bud Long, supported by half a dozen boys armed with +Revolutionary muskets, which would not go off unless carried, stood in +front of the little jail with its wooden walls and iron bars, guarding +the prisoners zealously. The calaboose was built to hold tramps and +drunken men, but not for the purpose of housing desperadoes. Even as the +heroic Bud watched with persevering faithfulness, his charges were +planning to knock their prison to smithereens and at the proper moment +escape to the woods and hills. They knew the grated door was unlocked, +but they imagined the place to be completely surrounded by vengeful +villagers, who would cut them down like rats if they ventured forth. Had +they but known that Bud was alone, it is quite likely they would have +sallied forth and relieved him of his guns, spanked him soundly and then +ambled off unmolested to the country. + +All the morning old Maude had been groaning and swearing in the office, +where she lay unattended. Bud was telling his friends how he had knocked +her down twice in the cave, after she had shot six times and slashed at +him with her dagger, when a sudden cessation of groans from the interior +attracted the attention of all. "Doc" Smith arrived at that juncture +and found the boys listening intently for a resumption of the +picturesque profanity. It was some time before the crowd became large +enough to inspire a visit to the interior of the calaboose. As became +his dignity, Bud led the way. + +The old woman, unable to endure the pain any longer, and knowing full +well that her days were bound to end in prison, had managed, in some +way, to hang herself from a window bar beside her bed, using a twisted +bed sheet. She was quite dead when "Doc" made the examination. A +committee of the whole started at once to notify Anderson Crow. For a +minute it looked as though the jail would be left entirely unguarded, +but Bud loyally returned to his post, reinforced by Roscoe and the +doctor. + +Upon Mr. Crow's arrival at the jail, affairs assumed some aspect of +order. He first locked the grate doors, thereby keeping the fiery David +from coming out to see his mother before they cut her down. A messenger +was sent for the coroner at Boggs City, and then the big body was +released from its last hanging place. + +"Doggone, but this is a busy day fer me!" said Anderson. "I won't have +time to pump them fellers till this evenin'. But I guess they'll keep. +'What's that, Blootch?" + +"I was just goin' to ask Bud if they're still in there," said Blootch. + +"Are they, Bud?" asked Anderson in quick alarm. + +"Sure," replied Bud with a mighty swelling of the chest. Even Blootch +envied him. + +"She's been dead jest an hour an' seven minutes," observed Anderson, +gingerly touching the dead woman's wrist. "Doggone, I'm glad o' one +thing!" + +"What's that, Anderson?" + +"We won't have to set her hip. Saved expense." + +"But we'll have to bury her, like as not," said Isaac Porter. + +"Yes," said Anderson reflectively. "She'll have to be buried. +But--but--" and here his face lightened up in relief--"not fer a day er +two; so what's the use worryin'." + +When the coroner arrived, soon after six o'clock, a jury was empanelled +and witnesses sworn. In ten minutes a verdict of suicide was returned +and the coroner was on his way back to Boggs City. He did not even know +that a hip had been dislocated. Anderson insisted upon a post-mortem +examination, but was laughed out of countenance by the officious M.D. + +"I voted fer that fool last November," said Anderson wrathfully, as the +coroner drove off, "but you c'n kick the daylights out of me if I ever +do it ag'in. Look out there, Bud! What in thunder are you doin' with +them pistols? Doggone, ain't you got no sense? Pointin' 'em around that +way. Why, you're liable to shoot somebody--" + +"Aw, them ain't pistols," scoffed Bud, his mouth full of something. +"They're bologny sausages. I ain't had nothin' to eat sence last night +and I'm hungry." + +"Well, it's dark out here," explained Anderson, suddenly shuffling into +the jail. "I guess I'll put them fellers through the sweat box." + +"The _what?_" demanded George Ray. + +"The sweat-box--b-o-x, box. Cain't you hear?" + +"I thought you used a cell." + +"Thunderation, no! Nobody but country jakes call it a cell," said +Anderson in fine scorn. + +The three prisoners scowled at him so fiercely and snarled so +vindictively when they asked him if they were to be starved to death, +that poor Anderson hurried home and commanded his wife to pack "a baskit +of bread and butter an' things fer the prisoners." It was nine o'clock +before he could make up his mind to venture back to the calaboose with +his basket. He spent the intervening hours in telling Rosalie and Bonner +about the shocking incident at the jail and in absorbing advice from the +clear-headed young man from Boston. + +"I'd like to go with you to see those fellows, Mr. Crow," was Bonner's +rueful lament. "But the doctor says I must be quiet until this +confounded thing heals a bit. Together, I think we could bluff the whole +story out of those scoundrels." + +"Oh, never you fear," said the marshal; "I'll learn all there is to be +learnt. You jest ask Alf Reesling what kind of a pumper I am." + +"Who is Alf Reesling?" + +"Ain't you heerd of him in Boston? Why, every temperance lecturer that +comes here says he's the biggest drunkard in the world. I supposed his +reputation had got to Boston by this time. He's been sober only once in +twenty-five years." + +"Is it possible?" + +"That was when his wife died. He said he felt so good it wasn't +necessary to get drunk. Well, I'll tell you all about it when I come +back. Don't worry no more, Rosalie. I'll find out who's back of this +business an' then we'll know all about you. It's a long lane that has no +turn." + +"Them prisoners must be mighty near starved to death by this time, +Anderson," warned Mrs. Crow. + +"Doggone, that's so!" he cried, and hustled out into the night. + +The calaboose was almost totally dark--quite so, had it not been for the +single lamp that burned in the office where the body of the old woman +was lying. Two or three timid citizens stood afar off, in front of +Thompson's feed yard, looking with awe upon the dungeon keep. Anderson's +footsteps grew slower and more halting as they approached the entrance +to the forbidding square of black. The snow creaked resoundingly under +his heels and the chill wind nipped his muffless ears with a +spitefulness that annoyed. In fact, he became so incensed, that he set +his basket down and slapped his ears vigorously for some minutes before +resuming his slow progress. He hated the thought of going in where the +dead woman lay. + +Suddenly he made up his mind that a confession from the men would be +worthless unless he had ear witnesses to substantiate it in court. +Without further deliberation, he retraced his steps hurriedly to +Lamson's store, where, after half an hour's conversation on the topics +of the day, he deputised the entire crowd to accompany him to the jail. + +"Where's Bud?" he demanded sharply. + +"Home in bed, poor child," said old Mr. Borton. + +"Well, doggone his ornery hide, why ain't he here to--" began Anderson, +but checked himself in time to prevent the crowd from seeing that he +expected Bud to act as leader in the expedition. "I wanted him to jot +down notes," he substituted. Editor Squires volunteered to act as +secretary, prompter, interpreter, and everything else that his scoffing +tongue could utter. + +"Well, go ahead, then," said Anderson, pushing him forward. Harry led +the party down the dark street with more rapidity than seemed necessary; +few in the crowd could keep pace with him. A majority fell hopelessly +behind, in fact. + +Straight into the office walked Harry, closely followed by Blootch and +the marshal. Maude, looking like a monument of sheets, still occupied +the centre of the floor. Without a word, the party filed past the +gruesome, silent thing and into the jail corridor. It was as dark as +Erebus in the barred section of the prison; a cold draft of air flew +into the faces of the visitors. + +"Come here, you fellers!" called Anderson bravely into the darkness; but +there was no response from the prisoners. + +For the very good reason that some hours earlier they had calmly removed +a window from its moorings and by this time were much too far away to +answer questions. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +The Flight of the Kidnapers + + +Searching parties were organised and sent out to scour the country, late +as it was. Swift riders gave the alarm along every roadway, and the +station agent telegraphed the news into every section of the land. At +Boggs City, the sheriff, berating Anderson Crow for a fool and +Tinkletown for an open-air lunatic asylum, sent his deputies down to +assist in the pursuit. The marshal himself undertook to lead each +separate and distinct posse. He was so overwhelmed by the magnitude of +his misfortune that it is no wonder his brain whirled widely enough to +encompass the whole enterprise. + +Be it said to the credit of Tinkletown, her citizens made every +reasonable effort to recapture the men. The few hundred able-bodied men +of the town rallied to the support of their marshal and the law, and +there was not one who refused to turn out in the cold night air for a +sweeping search of the woods and fields. + +Rosalie, who had been awakened early in the evening by Mr. Crow's noisy +preparations for the pursuit, came downstairs, and instantly lost all +desire to sleep. Bonner was lying on a couch in the "sitting-room," +which now served as a temporary bedchamber. + +"If you'll just hand me those revolvers, Mr. Crow," said he, indicating +the two big automatics he had taken from Davy and Bill, "I'll stand +guard over the house as best I can while you're away." + +"Stand guard? What fer? Nobody's goin' to steal the house." + +"We should not forget that these same rascals may take it into their +heads to double on their tracks and try to carry Miss Gray away again. +With her in their possession they'll receive their pay; without her +their work will have been for nothing. It is a desperate crowd, and they +may think the plan at least worth trying." + +Rosalie's grateful, beaming glance sent a quiver that was not of pain +through Bonner's frame. + +"Don't worry about that," said the marshal. "We'll have 'em shot to +pieces inside of an hour an' a half." + +"Anderson, I want you to be very careful with that horse pistol," said +his wife nervously. "It ain't been shot off sence the war, an' like as +not it'll kill you from behind." + +"Gosh blast it, Eva!" roared Anderson, "don't you suppose I know which +end to shoot with?" And away he rushed in great dudgeon. + +Edna Crow sat at the front window, keeping watch for hours. She reported +to the other members of the household as each scurrying band of +searchers passed the place. Bonner commanded Rosalie to keep away from +the windows, fearing a shot from the outside. From time to time Roscoe +replenished the big blaze in the fireplace. It was cosey in the +old-fashioned sitting-room, even though the strain upon its occupants +was trying in the extreme. + +Great excitement came to them when the figure of a man was seen to drop +to the walk near the front gate. At first it was feared that one of the +bandits, injured by pursuers, had fallen to die, but the mournful calls +for help that soon came from the sidewalk were more or less reassuring. +The prostrate figure had a queer habit from time to time of raising +itself high enough to peer between the pickets of the fence, and each +succeeding shout seemed more vigorous than the others. Finally they +became impatient, and then full of wrath. It was evident that the +stranger resented the inhospitality of the house. + +"Who are you?" called Edna, opening the window ever so slightly. +Whereupon the man at the gate sank to the ground and groaned with +splendid misery. + +"It's me," he replied. + +"Who's me?" + +"'Rast--'Rast Little. I think I'm dyin'." + +There was a hurried consultation indoors, and then Roscoe bravely +ventured out to the sidewalk. + +"Are you shot, 'Rast?" he asked in trembling tones. + +"No; I'm just wounded. Is Rosalie in there?" + +"Yep. She's--" + +"I guess I'll go in, then. Dern it! It's a long walk from our house over +here. I guess I'll stay all night. If I don't get better to-morrow I'll +have to stay longer. I ought to be nursed, too." + +"Rosalie's playin' nurse fer Mr. Bonner," volunteered Roscoe, still +blocking the gate through which 'Rast was trying to wedge himself. + +"Mr. who?" + +"Bonner." + +"Well," said 'Rast after a moment's consideration, "he ought to be moved +to a hospital. Lemme lean on you, Roscoe. I can't hardly walk, my arm +hurts so." + +Mr. Little, with his bandages and his hobble, had joined in the +expedition, and was not to be deterred until faintness overcame him and +he dropped by the wayside. He was taken in and given a warm chair before +the fire. One long look at Bonner and the newcomer lapsed into a +stubborn pout. He groaned occasionally and made much ado over his +condition, but sourly resented any approach at sympathy. Finally he fell +asleep in the chair, his last speech being to the effect that he was +going home early in the morning if he had to drag himself every foot of +the way. Plainly, 'Rast had forgotten Miss Banks in the sudden revival +of affection for Rosalie Gray. The course of true love did not run +smoothly in Tinkletown. + +The searchers straggled in empty handed. Early morning found most of +them asleep at their homes, tucked away by thankful wives, and with the +promises of late breakfasts. The next day business was slow in asserting +its claim upon public attention. Masculine Tinkletown dozed while +femininity chattered to its heart's content. There was much to talk +about and more to anticipate. The officials in all counties contiguous +had out their dragnets, and word was expected at any time that the +fugitives had fallen into their hands. + +But not that day, nor the next, nor any day, in fact, did news come of +their capture, so Tinkletown was obliged to settle back into a state of +tranquility. Some little interest was aroused when the town board +ordered the calaboose repaired, and there was a ripple of excitement +attached to the funeral of the only kidnaper in captivity. It was +necessary to postpone the oyster supper at the Methodist Church, but +there was some consolation in the knowledge that it would soon be +summer-time and the benighted Africans would not need the money for +winter clothes. The reception at the minister's house was a fizzle. He +was warned in time, however, and it was his own fault that he received +no more than a jug of vinegar, two loaves of bread and a pound of honey +as the result of his expectations. It was the first time that a "pound" +party had proven a losing enterprise. + +Anderson Crow maintained a relentless search for the desperadoes. He +refused to accept Wicker Bonner's theory that they were safe in the city +of New York. It was his own opinion that they were still in the +neighbourhood, waiting for a chance to exhume the body of Davy's mother +and make off with it. + +"Don't try to tell me, Mr. Bonner, that even a raskil like him hasn't +any love fer his mother," he contended. "Davy may not be much of a +model, but he had a feelin' fer the woman who bore him, an' don't you +fergit it." + +"Why, Daddy Crow, he was the most heartless brute in the world!" cried +Rosalie. "I've seen him knock her down more than once--and kick her, +too." + +"A slip of the memory, that's all. He was probably thinkin' of his wife, +if he has one." + +At a public meeting the town board was condemned for its failure to +strengthen the jail at the time Anderson made his demand three years +before. + +"What's the use in me catchin' thieves, and so forth, if the jail won't +hold 'em?" Anderson declared. "I cain't afford to waste time in runnin' +desperite characters down if the town board ain't goin' to obstruct 'em +from gittin' away as soon as the sun sits. What's the use, I'd like to +know? Where's the justice? I don't want it to git noised aroun' that the +on'y way we c'n hold a prisoner is to have him commit suicide as soon as +he's arrested. Fer two cents I'd resign right now." + +Of course no one would hear to that. As a result, nearly five hundred +dollars was voted from the corporation funds to strengthen and modernise +the "calaboose." It was the sense of the meeting that a "sweat box" +should be installed under Mr. Crow's supervision, and that the marshal's +salary should be increased fifty dollars a year. After the adoption of +this popular resolution Mr. Crow arose and solemnly informed the people +that their faith in him was not misplaced. He threw the meeting into a +state of great excitement by announcing that the kidnapers would soon be +in the toils once more. In response to eager queries he merely stated +that he had a valuable clew, which could not be divulged without +detriment to the cause. Everybody went home that night with the +assurance that the fugitives would soon be taken. Anderson promised the +town board that he would not take them until the jail was repaired. + +It was almost a fortnight before Wicker Bonner was able to walk about +with crutches. The wound in his leg was an ugly one and healed slowly. +His uncle, the Congressman, sent up a surgeon from New York, but that +worthy approved of "Doc" Smith's methods, and abruptly left the young +man to the care of an excellent nurse, Rosalie Gray. Congressman +Bonner's servants came over every day or two with books, newspapers, +sweetmeats, and fresh supplies from the city, but it was impossible for +them to get any satisfaction from the young man in reply to their +inquiries as to when he expected to return to the big house across the +river. Bonner was beginning to hate the thought of giving up Rosalie's +readings, her ministrations, and the no uncertain development of his own +opinions as to her personal attractiveness. + +"I don't know when I'll be able to walk, Watkins," he said to the +caretaker. "I'm afraid my heart is affected." + +Bonner's enforced presence at Anderson Crow's home was the source of +extreme annoyance to the young men of the town. "Blootch" Peabody +created a frightful scandal by getting boiling drunk toward the end of +the week, so great was his dejection. As it was his first real spree, he +did not recover from the effect for three days. He then took the pledge, +and talked about the evils of strong drink with so much feeling at +prayer meeting that the women of the town inaugurated a movement to stop +the sale of liquor in the town. As Peabody's drug store was the only +place where whiskey could be obtained, "Blootch" soon saw the error of +his ways and came down from his pedestal to mend them. + +Bonner was a friend in need to Anderson Crow. The two were in +consultation half of the time, and the young man's opinions were not to +be disregarded. He advanced a theory concerning the motives of the +leader in the plot to send Rosalie into an exile from which she was not +expected to return. It was his belief that the person who abandoned her +as a babe was actuated by the desire to possess a fortune which should +have been the child's. The conditions attending the final disposition of +this fortune doubtless were such as to make it unwise to destroy the +girl's life. The plotter, whatever his or her relation to the child may +have been, must have felt that a time might come when the existence of +the real heiress would be necessary. Either such a fear was the +inspiration or the relationship was so dear that the heart of the +arch-plotter was full of love for the innocent victim. + +"Who is to say, Miss Gray," said Bonner one night as they sat before the +fire, "that the woman who left you with Mr. Crow was not your own +mother? Suppose that a vast estate was to be yours in trust after the +death of some rich relative, say grandparent. It would naturally mean +that some one else resented this bequest, and probably with some +justice. The property was to become your own when you attained a certain +age, let us say. Don't you see that the day would rob the disinherited +person of every hope to retain the fortune? Even a mother might be +tempted, for ambitious reasons, to go to extreme measures to secure the +fortune for herself. Or she might have been influenced by a will +stronger than her own--the will of an unscrupulous man. There are many +contingencies, all probable, as you choose to analyse them." + +"But why should this person wish to banish me from the country +altogether? I am no more dangerous here than I would be anywhere in +Europe. And then think of the means they would have employed to get me +away from Tinkletown. Have I not been lost to the world for years? +Why--" + +"True; but I am quite convinced, and I think Mr. Crow agrees with me, +that the recent move was made necessary by the demands of one whose +heart is not interested, but whose hand wields the sceptre of power +over the love which tries to shield you. Any other would have cut off +your life at the beginning." + +"That's my idee," agreed Anderson solemnly. + +"I don't want the fortune!" cried Rosalie. "I am happy here! Why can't +they let me alone?" + +"I tell you, Miss Gray, unless something happens to prevent it, that +woman will some day give you back your own--your fortune and your name." + +"I can't believe it, Mr. Bonner. It is too much like a dream to me." + +"Well, doggone it, Rosalie, dreams don't last forever!" broke in +Anderson Crow. "You've got to wake up some time, don't you see?" + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +As the Heart Grows Older + + +Bonner's eagerness to begin probing into the mystery grew as his +strength came back to him. He volunteered to interest his uncle in the +matter, and through him to begin a systematic effort to unravel the +tangled ends of Rosalie's life. Money was not to be spared; time and +intelligence were to be devoted to the cause. He knew that Rosalie was +in reality a creature of good birth and worthy of the name that any man +might seek to bestow upon her--a name given in love by a man to the +woman who would share it with him forever. + +The days and nights were teaching him the sacredness of a growing +attachment. He was not closing his eyes to the truth. It was quite as +impossible for big, worldly Wick Bonner to be near her and not fall a +victim, as it was for the crude, humble youth of Tinkletown. His heart +was just as fragile as theirs when it bared itself to her attack. Her +beauty attracted him, her natural refinement of character appealed to +him; her pureness, her tenderness, her goodness, wrought havoc with his +impressions. Fresh, bright, as clear-headed as the June sunshine, she +was a revelation to him--to Bonner, who had known her sex in all its +environments. His heart was full of her, day and night; for day and +night he was wondering whether she could care for him as he knew he was +coming to care for her. + +One day he received a telegram. It was from his mother and his sister, +who had just reached Boston from Bermuda, and it carried the brief +though emphatic information that they were starting to Tinkletown to +nurse and care for him. Bonner was thrown into a panic. He realised in +the instant that it would be impossible for them to come to Mr. Crow's +home, and he knew they could not be deceived as to his real condition. +His mother would naturally insist upon his going at once to Bonner +Place, across the river, and on to Boston as soon as he was able; his +clever sister would see through his motives like a flash of lightning. +Young Mr. Bonner loved them, but he was distinctly bored by the prospect +of their coming. In some haste and confusion, he sent for "Doc" Smith. + +"Doctor, how soon will I be able to navigate?" he asked anxiously. + +"Right now." + +"You don't say so! I don't feel strong, you know." + +"Well, your leg's doing well and all danger is past. Of course, you +won't be as spry as usual for some time, and you can't walk without +crutches, but I don't see any sense in your loafing around here on that +account. You'd be safe to go at any time, Mr. Bonner." + +"Look here, doctor, I'm afraid to change doctors. You've handled this +case mighty well, and if I went to some other chap, he might undo it +all. I've made up my mind to have you look out for me until this wound +is completely healed. That's all right, now. I know what I'm talking +about. I'll take no chances. How long will it be until it is completely +healed?" + +"A couple of weeks, I suppose." + +"Well, I'll stay right here and have you look at it every day. It's too +serious a matter for me to trifle with. By the way, my mother is coming +up, and I dare say she'll want me to go to Boston. Our family doctor is +an old fossil and I don't like to trust him with this thing. You'll be +doing me a favour, doctor, if you keep me here until I'm thoroughly +well. I intend to tell my mother that it will not be wise to move me +until all danger of blood poisoning is past." + +"Blood poisoning? There's no danger now, sir." + +"You never can tell," said Bonner sagely. + +"But I'd be a perfect fool, Mr. Bonner, if there were still danger of +that," complained the doctor. "What sort of a doctor would they consider +me?" + +"They'd certainly give you credit for being careful, and that's what +appeals to a mother, you know," said Bonner still more sagely. "Besides, +it's _my_ leg, doctor, and I'll have it treated my way. I think a couple +of weeks more under your care will put me straight. Mother has to +consider me, that's all. I wish you'd stop in to-morrow and change these +bandages, doctor; if you don't mind--" + +"Doc" Smith was not slow. He saw more than Bonner thought, so he winked +to himself as he crossed over to his office. At the corner he met +Anderson Crow. + +"Say, Anderson," he said, half chuckling, "that young Bonner has had a +relapse." + +"Thunderation!" + +"He can't be moved for a week or two." + +"Will you have to cut it off?" + +"The leg?" + +"Certainly. That's the only thing that pains him, ain't it?" + +"I think not. I'm going to put his heart in a sling," said Smith, +laughing heartily at what he thought would be taken as a brilliant piece +of jesting. But he erred. Anderson went home in a great flurry and +privately cautioned every member of the household, including Rosalie, to +treat Bonner with every consideration, as his heart was weak and liable +to give him great trouble. Above all, he cautioned them to keep the +distressing news from Bonner. It would discourage him mightily. For a +full week Anderson watched Bonner with anxious eyes, writhing every +time the big fellow exerted himself, groaning when he gave vent to his +hearty laugh. + +"Have you heard anything?" asked Bonner with faithful regularity when +Anderson came home each night. He referred to the chase for the +fugitives. + +"Nothin' worth while," replied Anderson dismally. "Uncle Jimmy Borton +had a letter from Albany to-day, an' his son-in-law said three strange +men had been seen in the Albany depot the other day. I had Uncle Jimmy +write an' ast him if he had seen anybody answerin' the description, you +know. But the three men he spoke of took a train for New York, so I +suppose they're lost by this time. It's the most bafflin' case I ever +worked on." + +"Has it occurred to you that the real leader was in this neighbourhood +at the time? In Boggs City, let us say. According to Rosa--Miss Gray's +story, the man Sam went out nightly for instructions. Well, he either +went to Boggs City or to a meeting place agreed upon between him and his +superior. It is possible that he saw this person on the very night of my +own adventure. Now, the thing for us to do is to find out if a stranger +was seen in these parts on that night. The hotel registers in Boggs City +may give us a clew. If you don't mind, Mr. Crow, I'll have this New York +detective, who is coming up to-morrow, take a look into this phase of +the case. It won't interfere with your plans, will it?" asked Bonner, +always considerate of the feelings of the good-hearted, simple-minded +old marshal. + +"Not at all, an' I'll help him all I can, sir," responded Anderson +magnanimously. "Here, Eva, here's a letter fer Rosalie. It's the second +she's had from New York in three days." + +"It's from Miss Banks. They correspond, Anderson," said Mrs. Crow. + +"And say, Eva, I've decided on one thing. We've got to calculate on +gittin' along without that thousand dollars after this." + +"Why, An--der--son Crow!" + +"Yep. We're goin' to find her folks, no matter if we do have to give up +the thousand. It's no more'n right. She'll be twenty-one in March, an' +I'll have to settle the guardeenship business anyhow. But, doggone it, +Mr. Bonner, she says she won't take the money we've saved fer her." + +"She has told me as much, Mr. Crow. I think she's partly right. If she +takes my advice she will divide it with you. You are entitled to all of +it, you know--it was to be your pay--and she will not listen to your +plan to give all of it to her. Still, I feel that she should not be +penniless at this time. She may never need it--she certainly will not as +long as you are alive--but it seems a wise thing for her to be protected +against emergencies. But I dare say you can arrange that between +yourselves. I have no right to interfere. Was there any mail for me?" + +"Yep. I almost fergot to fork it over. Here's one from your mother, I +figger. This is from your sister, an' here's one from your--your +sweetheart, I reckon. I deduce all this by sizin' up the--" and he went +on to tell how he reached his conclusions, all of which were wrong. +They were invitations to social affairs in Boston. "But I got somethin' +important to tell you, Mr. Bonner. I think a trap is bein' set fer me by +the desperadoes we're after. I guess I'm gittin' too hot on their trail. +I had an ananymous letter to-day." + +"A what?" + +"Ananymous letter. Didn't you ever hear of one? This one was writ fer +the express purpose of lurin' me into a trap. They want to git me out of +the way. But I'll fool 'em. I'll not pay any attention to it." + +"Goodness, Anderson, I bet you'll be assassinated yet!" cried his poor +wife. "I wish you'd give up chasin' people down." + +"May I have a look at the letter, Mr. Crow?" asked Bonner. Anderson +stealthily drew the square envelope from his inside pocket and passed it +over. + +"They've got to git up purty early to ketch me asleep," he said proudly. +Bonner drew the enclosure from the envelope. As he read, his eyes +twinkled and the corners of his mouth twitched, but his face was +politely sober as he handed the missive back to the marshal. "Looks like +a trap, don't it?" said Anderson. "You see there ain't no signature. +The raskils were afraid to sign a name." + +"I wouldn't say anything to Miss Gray about this if I were you, Mr. +Crow. It might disturb her, you know," said Bonner. + +"That means you, too, Eva," commanded Anderson in turn. "Don't worry the +girl. She mustn't know anything about this." + +"I don't think it's a trap," remarked Eva as she finished reading the +missive. Bonner took this opportunity to laugh heartily. He had held it +back as long as possible. What Anderson described as an "ananymous" +letter was nothing more than a polite, formal invitation to attend a +"house warming" at Colonel Randall's on the opposite side of the river. +It read: + + "Mr. and Mrs. D.F. Randall request the honour of your presence at a + house warming, Friday evening, January 30, 190--, at eight o'clock. + Rockden-of-the-Hills." + +"It is addressed to me, too, Anderson," said his wife, pointing to the +envelope. "It's the new house they finished last fall. Anonymous letter! +Fiddlesticks! I bet there's one at the post-office fer each one of the +girls." + +"Roscoe got some of the mail," murmured the marshal sheepishly. "Where +is that infernal boy? He'd oughter be strapped good and hard fer holdin' +back letters like this," growled he, eager to run the subject into +another channel. After pondering all evening, he screwed up the courage +and asked Bonner not to tell any one of his error in regard to the +invitation. Roscoe produced invitations for his sister and Rosalie. He +furthermore announced that half the people in town had received them. + +"There's a telegram comin' up fer you after a while, Mr. Bonner," he +said. "Bud's out delivering one to Mr. Grimes, and he's going to stop +here on the way back. I was at the station when it come in. It's from +your ma, and it says she'll be over from Boggs City early in the +morning." + +"Thanks, Roscoe," said Bonner with an amused glance at Rosalie; "you've +saved me the trouble of reading it." + +"They are coming to-morrow," said Rosalie long afterward, as the last of +the Crows straggled off to bed. "You will have to go away with them, +won't you?" + +"I'm an awful nuisance about here, I fancy, and you'll be glad to be rid +of me," he said softly, his gaze on the blazing "back-log." + +"No more so than you will be to go," she said so coolly that his pride +suffered a distinct shock. He stole a shy glance at the face of the girl +opposite. It was as calm and serene as a May morning. Her eyes likewise +were gazing into the blaze, and her fingers were idly toying with the +fringe on the arm of the chair. + +"By George!" he thought, a weakness assailing his heart suddenly; "I +don't believe she cares a rap!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +The Left Ventricle + + +The next day Mrs. Bonner and Miss Bonner descended upon Tinkletown. They +were driven over from Boggs City in an automobile, and their advent +caused a new thrill of excitement in town. Half of the women in +Tinkletown found excuse to walk past Mr. Crow's home some time during +the day, and not a few of them called to pay their respects to Mrs. +Crow, whether they owed them or not, much to that estimable lady's +discomfiture. + +Wicker's mother was a handsome, aristocratic woman with a pedigree +reaching back to Babylon or some other historic starting place. Her +ancestors were Tories at the time of the American Revolution, and she +was proud of it. Her husband's forefathers had shot a few British in +those days, it is true, and had successfully chased some of her own +ancestors over to Long Island, but that did not matter in these +twentieth century days. Mr. Bonner long since had gone to the tomb; and +his widow at fifty was quite the queen of all she surveyed, which was +not inconsiderable. The Bonners were rich in worldly possessions, rich +in social position, rich in traditions. The daughter, just out in +society, was a pretty girl, several years younger than Wicker. She was +the idol of his heart. This slip of a girl had been to him the +brightest, wittiest and prettiest girl in all the world. Now, he was +wondering how the other girl, who was not his sister, would compare with +her when they stood together before him. + +Naturally, Mrs. Crow and her daughters sank into a nervous panic as soon +as these fashionable women from Boston set foot inside the humble home. +They lost what little self-possession they had managed to acquire and +floundered miserably through the preliminaries. + +But calm, sweet and composed as the most fastidious would require, +Rosalie greeted the visitors without a shadow of confusion or a sign of +gaucherie. Bonner felt a thrill of joy and pride as he took note of the +look of surprise that crept into his mother's face--a surprise that did +not diminish as the girl went through her unconscious test. + +"By George!" he cried jubilantly to himself, "she's something to be +proud of--she's a queen!" + +Later in the day, after the humble though imposing lunch (the paradox +was permissible in Tinkletown), Mrs. Bonner found time and opportunity +to express her surprise and her approval to him. With the insight of the +real aristocrat, she was not blind to the charms of the girl, who +blossomed like a rose in this out-of-the-way patch of nature. The tact +which impelled Rosalie to withdraw herself and all of the Crows from the +house, giving the Bonners an opportunity to be together undisturbed, did +not escape the clever woman of the world. + +"She is remarkable, Wicker. Tell me about her. Why does she happen to +be living in this wretched town and among such people?" + +Whereupon Bonner rushed into a detailed and somewhat lengthy history of +the mysterious Miss Gray, repeating it as it had come to him from her +own frank lips, but with embellishments of his own that would have +brought the red to her cheeks, could she have heard them. His mother's +interest was not assumed; his sister was fascinated by the recital. + +"Who knows," she cried, her dark eyes sparkling, "she may be an heiress +to millions!" + +"Or a princess of the royal blood!" amended her mother with an +enthusiasm that was uncommon. "Blood alone has made this girl what she +is. Heaven knows that billions or trillions could not have overcome the +influences of a lifetime spent in--in Winkletown--or is that the name? +It doesn't matter, Wicker--any name will satisfy. Frankly, I am +interested in the girl. It is a crime to permit her to vegetate and die +in a place like this." + +"But, mother, she loves these people," protested Bonner lifelessly. +"They have been kind to her all these years. They have been parents, +protectors--" + +"And they have been well paid for it, my son. Please do not +misunderstand me, I am not planning to take her off their hands. I am +not going to reconstruct her sphere in life. Not by any means. I am +merely saying that it is a crime for her to be penned up for life in +this--this desert. I doubt very much whether her parentage will ever be +known, and perhaps it is just as well that it isn't to be. Still, I am +interested." + +"Mamma, I think it would be very nice to ask her to come to Boston for a +week or two, don't you?" suggested Edith Bonner, warmly but doubtfully. + +"Bully!" exclaimed Wicker, forgetting in his excitement that he was a +cripple. "Have her come on to stop a while with you, Ede. It will be a +great treat for her and, by George, I'm inclined to think it maybe +somewhat beneficial to us." + +"Your enthusiasm is beautiful, Wicker," said his mother, perfectly +unruffled. "I have no doubt you think Boston would be benefited, too." + +"Now, you know, mother, it's not just like you to be snippish," said he +easily. "Besides, after living a while in other parts of the world, I'm +beginning to feel that population is not the only thing about Boston +that can be enlarged. It's all very nice to pave our streets with +intellect so that we can't stray from our own footsteps, but I rather +like the idea of losing my way, once in a while, even if I have to look +at the same common, old sky up there that the rest of the world looks +at, don't you know. I've learned recently that the same sun that shines +on Boston also radiates for the rest of the world." + +"Yes, it shines in Tinkletown," agreed his mother serenely. "But, my +dear--" turning to her daughter--"I think you would better wait a while +before extending the invitation. There is no excuse for rushing into the +unknown. Let time have a chance." + +"By Jove, mother, you talk sometimes like Anderson Crow. He often says +things like that," cried Wicker delightedly. + +"Dear me! How can you say such a thing, Wicker?" + +"Well, you'd like old Anderson. He's a jewel!" + +"I dare say--an emerald. No, no--that was not fair or kind, Wicker. I +unsay it. Mr. Crow and all of them have been good to you. Forgive me the +sarcasm. Mr. Crow is perfectly impossible, but I like him. He has a +heart, and that is more than most of us can say. And now let us return +to earth once more. When will you be ready to start for Boston? +To-morrow?" + +"Heavens, no! I'm not to be moved for quite a long time--danger of +gangrene or something of the sort. It's astonishing, mother, what +capable men these country doctors are. Dr. Smith is something of a +marvel. He--he--saved my leg." + +"My boy--you don't mean that--" his mother was saying, her voice +trembling. + +"Yes; that's what I mean. I'm all right now, but, of course, I shall be +very careful for a couple of weeks. One can't tell, you know. Blood +poisoning and all that sort of thing. But let's not talk of it--it's +gruesome." + +"Indeed it is. You must be extremely careful, Wicker. Promise me that +you will do nothing foolish. Don't use your leg until the doctor--but I +have something better. We will send for Dr. J----. He can run up from +Boston two or three times--" + +"Nothing of the sort, mother! Nonsense! Smith knows more in a minute +than J---- does in a month. He's handling the case exactly as I want him +to. Let well enough alone, say I. You know J---- always wants to +amputate everything that can be cut or sawed off. For heaven's sake, +don't let him try it on me. I need my legs." + +It is not necessary to say that Mrs. Bonner was completely won over by +this argument. She commanded him to stay where he was until it was +perfectly safe to be moved across the river, where he could recuperate +before venturing into the city of his birth. Moreover, she announced +that Edith and she would remain in Boggs City until he was quite out of +danger, driving over every day in their chartered automobile. It +suddenly struck Bonner that it would be necessary to bribe "Doc" Smith +and the entire Crow family, if he was to maintain his position as an +invalid. + +"Doc" Smith when put to the test lied ably in behalf of his client (he +refused to call him his patient), and Mrs. Bonner was convinced. Mr. +Crow and Eva vigorously protested that the young man would not be a +"mite of trouble," and that he could stay as long as he liked. + +"He's a gentleman, Mrs. Bonner," announced the marshal, as if the mother +was being made aware of the fact for the first time. "Mrs. Crow an' me +have talked it over, an' I know what I'm talkin' about. He's a perfect +gentleman." + +"Thank you, Mr. Crow. I am happy to hear you say that," said Mrs. +Bonner, with fine tact. "You will not mind if he stops here a while +longer then?" + +"I should say not. If he'll take the job, I'll app'int him deputy +marshal." + +"I'd like a picture of you with the badge and uniform, Wick," said Edith +with good-natured banter. + +Just before the two ladies left for Boggs City that evening Bonner +managed to say something to Edith. + +"Say, Ede, I think it would be uncommonly decent of you to ask Miss Gray +down to Boston this spring. You'll like her." + +"Wicker, if it were not so awfully common, I'd laugh in my sleeve," said +she, surveying him with a calm scrutiny that disconcerted. "I wasn't +born yesterday, you know. Mother was, perhaps, but not your dear little +sister. Cheer up, brother. You'll get over it, just like all the rest. +I'll ask her to come, but--Please don't frown like that. I'll suspect +something." + +During the many little automobile excursions that the two girls enjoyed +during those few days in Tinkletown, Miss Bonner found much to love in +Rosalie, much to esteem and a great deal to anticipate. Purposely, she +set about to learn by "deduction" just what Rosalie's feelings were for +the big brother. She would not have been surprised to discover the +telltale signs of a real but secret affection on Rosalie's part, but she +was, on the contrary, amazed and not a little chagrined to have the +young girl meet every advance with a joyous candour, that definitely set +aside any possibility of love for the supposedly irresistible brother. +Miss Edith's mind was quite at rest, but with the arrogant pride of a +sister, she resented the fact that any one could know this cherished +brother and not fall a victim. Perversely, she would have hated Rosalie +had she caught her, in a single moment of unguardedness, revealing a +feeling more tender than friendly interest for him. + +Sophisticated and world-wise, the gay, careless Miss Bonner read her +pages quickly--she skimmed them--but she saw a great deal between the +lines. If her mother had been equally discerning, that very estimable +lady might have found herself immensely relieved along certain lines. + +Bonner was having a hard time of it these days. It was worse than misery +to stay indoors, and it was utterly out of the question for him to +venture out. His leg was healing with disgusting rashness, but his heart +was going into an illness that was to scoff at the cures of man. And if +his parting with his mother and the rosy-faced young woman savoured of +relief, he must he forgiven. A sore breast is no respecter of persons. + +They were returning to the Hub by the early morning train from Boggs +City, and it was understood that Rosalie was to come to them in June. +Let it be said in good truth that both Mrs. Bonner and her daughter were +delighted to have her promise. If they felt any uneasiness as to the +possibility of unwholesome revelations in connection with her birth, +they purposely blindfolded themselves and indulged in the game of +consequences. + +Mrs. Bonner was waiting in the automobile, having said good-bye to +Wicker. + +"I'll keep close watch on him, Mrs. Bonner," promised Anderson, "and +telegraph you if his condition changes a mite. I ast 'Doc' Smith to-day +to tell me the real truth 'bout him, an'--" + +"The real truth? What do you mean?" she cried, in fresh alarm. + +"Don't worry, ma'am. He's improvin' fine, 'doc' says. He told me he'd be +out o' danger when he got back to Boston. His heart's worryin' 'doc' a +little. I ast 'im to speak plain an' tell me jest how bad it's affected. +He said: 'At present, only the left ventricle--whatever that be--only +the left one is punctured, but the right one seems to need a change of +air.'" + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +The Grin Derisive + + +"I like your ma," said Anderson to Wicker, later in the evening. "She's +a perfect lady. Doggone, it's a relief to see a rich woman that knows +how to be a lady. She ain't a bit stuck up an' yet she's a reg'lar +aristocrat. Did I ever tell you about what happened to Judge +Courtwright's wife? No? Well, it was a long time ago, right here in +Tinkletown. The judge concluded this would be a good place fer a summer +home--so him an' her put up a grand residence down there on the river +bluff. It was the only summer place on this side of the river. Well, of +course Mrs. Courtwright had to turn in an' be the leader of the women in +this place. She lorded it over 'em an' she give 'em to understand that +she was a queen er somethin' like that an' they was nothin' but +peasants. An' the derned fool women 'lowed her to do it, too. Seems as +though her great-grandfather was a 'squire over in England, an' she had +a right to be swell. Well, she ruled the roost fer two summers an' +nobody could get near her without a special dispensation from the +Almighty. She wouldn't look at anybody with her eyes; her chin was so +high in the air that she had to look through her nose. + +"Her husband was as old as Methoosalum--that is, he was as old as +Methoosalum was when he was a boy, so to speak--an' she had him skeered +of his life. But I fixed her. At the end of the second summer she was +ready to git up an' git, duke er no duke. Lemme me give you a tip, Wick. +If you want to fetch a queen down to your level, jest let her know +you're laughin' at her. Well, sir, the judge's wife used to turn up her +nose at me until I got to feelin' too small to be seen. My pride was +wallerin' in the dust. Finally, I thought of a scheme to fix her. Every +time I saw her, I'd grin at her--not sayin' a word, mind you, but jest +lookin' at her as if she struck me as bein' funny. Well, sir, I kept it +up good an' strong. First thing I knowed, she was beginnin' to look as +though a bee had stung her an' she couldn't find the place. I'd ketch +her stealin' sly glances at me an' she allus found me with a grin on my +face--a good, healthy grin, too. + +"There wasn't anything to laugh at, mind you, but she didn't know that. +She got to fixin' her back hair and lookin' worried about her clothes. +'Nen she'd wipe her face to see if the powder was on straight, all the +time wonderin' what in thunder I was laughin' at. If she passed in her +kerridge she'd peep back to see if I was laughin'; and I allus was. I +never failed. All this time I wasn't sayin' a word-jest grinnin' as +though she tickled me half to death. Gradually I begin to be scientific +about it. I got so that when she caught me laughin', I'd try my best to +hide the grin. Course that made it all the worse. She fidgeted an' +squirmed an' got red in the face till it looked like she was pickled. +Doggone, ef she didn't begin to neglect her business as a +great-granddaughter! She didn't have time to lord it over her peasants. +She was too blame busy wonderin' what I was laughin' at. + +[Illustration: "It was a wise, discreet old oak"] + +"'Nen she begin to look peaked an' thin. She looked like she was seem' +ghosts all the time. That blamed grin of mine pursued her every minute. +Course, she couldn't kick about it. That wouldn't do at all. She jest +had to bear it without grinnin'. There wasn't anything to say. Finally, +she got to stayin' away from the meetin's an' almost quit drivin' +through the town. Everybody noticed the change in her. People said she +was goin' crazy about her back hair. She lost thirty pounds worryin' +before August, and when September come, the judge had to take her to a +rest cure. They never come back to Tinkletown, an' the judge had to sell +the place fer half what it cost him. Fer two years she almost went into +hysterics when anybody laughed. But it done her good. It changed her +idees. She got over her high an' mighty ways, they say, an' I hear she's +one of the nicest, sweetest old ladies in Boggs City nowadays. But +Blootch Peabody says that to this day she looks flustered when anybody +notices her back hair. The Lord knows I wa'n't laughin' at her hair. I +don't see why she thought so, do you?" + +Bonner laughed long and heartily over the experiment; but Rosalie +vigorously expressed her disapproval of the marshal's methods. + +"It's the only real mean thing I ever heard of you doing, daddy Crow!" +she cried. "It was cruel!" + +"Course you'd take her part, bein' a woman," said he serenely. "Mrs. +Crow did, too, when I told her about it twenty years ago. Women ain't +got much sense of humour, have they, Wick?" He was calling him Wick +nowadays; and the young man enjoyed the familiarity. + +The days came when Bonner could walk about with his cane, and he was not +slow to avail himself of the privilege this afforded. It meant enjoyable +strolls with Rosalie, and it meant the elevation of his spirits to such +heights that the skies formed no bounds for them. The town was not slow +to draw conclusions. Every one said it would be a "match." It was +certain that the interesting Boston man had acquired a clear field. +Tinkletown's beaux gave up in despair and dropped out of the contest +with the hope that complete recovery from his injuries might not only +banish Bonner from the village, but also from the thoughts of Rosalie +Gray. Most of the young men took their medicine philosophically. They +had known from the first that their chances were small. Blootch Peabody +and Ed Higgins, because of the personal rivalry between themselves, +hoped on and on and grew more bitter between themselves, instead of +toward Bonner. + +[Illustration: "'I beg your pardon,' he said humbly"] + +Anderson Crow and Eva were delighted and the Misses Crow, after futile +efforts to interest the young man in their own wares, fell in with the +old folks and exuberantly whispered to the world that "it would be +perfectly glorious." Roscoe was not so charitable. He was soundly +disgusted with the thought of losing his friend Bonner in the hated +bonds of matrimony. From his juvenile point of view, it was a fate +that a good fellow like Bonner did not deserve. Even Rosalie was not +good enough for him, so he told Bud Long; but Bud, who had worshipped +Rosalie with a hopeless devotion through most of his short life, took +strong though sheepish exceptions to the remark. It seemed quite settled +in the minds of every one but Bonner and Rosalie themselves. They went +along evenly, happily, perhaps dreamily, letting the present and the +future take care of themselves as best they could, making mountains of +the past--mountains so high and sheer that they could not be surmounted +in retreat. + +Bonner was helplessly in love--so much so, indeed, that in the face of +it, he lost the courage that had carried him through trivial affairs of +the past, and left him floundering vaguely in seas that looked old and +yet were new. Hourly, he sought for the first sign of love in her eyes, +for the first touch of sentiment; but if there was a point of weakness +in her defence, it was not revealed to the hungry perception of the +would-be conqueror. And so they drifted on through the February chill, +that seemed warm to them, through the light hours and the dark ones, +quickly and surely to the day which was to call him cured of one ill and +yet sorely afflicted by another. + +Through it all he was saying to himself that it did not matter what her +birth may have been, so long as she lived at this hour in his life, and +yet a still, cool voice was whispering procrastination with ding-dong +persistency through every avenue of his brain. "Wait!" said the cool +voice of prejudice. His heart did not hear, but his brain did. One look +of submission from her tender eyes and his brain would have turned deaf +to the small, cool voice--but her eyes stood their ground and the voice +survived. + +The day was fast approaching when it would be necessary for him to leave +the home of Mr. Crow. He could no longer encroach upon the hospitality +and good nature of the marshal--especially as he had declined the +proffered appointment to become deputy town marshal. Together they had +discussed every possible side to the abduction mystery and had laid the +groundwork for a systematic attempt at a solution. There was nothing +more for them to do. True to his promise, Bonner had put the case in the +hands of one of the greatest detectives in the land, together with every +known point in the girl's history. Tinkletown was not to provide the +solution, although it contained the mystery. On that point there could +be no doubt; so, Mr. Bonner was reluctantly compelled to admit to +himself that he had no plausible excuse for staying on. The great +detective from New York had come to town, gathered all of the facts +under cover of strictest secrecy, run down every possible shadow of a +clew in Boggs City, and had returned to the metropolis, there to begin +the search twenty-one years back. + +"Four weeks," Bonner was saying to her reflectively, as they came +homeward from their last visit to the abandoned mill on Turnip Creek. It +was a bright, warm February morning, suggestive of spring and fraught +with the fragrance of something far sweeter. "Four weeks of idleness and +joy to me--almost a lifetime in the waste of years. Does it seem long to +you, Miss Gray--oh, I remember, I am to call you Rosalie." + +"It seems that I have known you always instead of for four weeks," she +said gently. "They have been happy weeks, haven't they? My--our only +fear is that you haven't been comfortable in our poor little home. It's +not what you are accustomed--" + +"Home is what the home folks make it," he said, striving to quote a +vague old saying. He was dimly conscious of a subdued smile on her part +and he felt the fool. "At any rate, I was more than comfortable. I was +happy--never so happy. All my life shall be built about this single +month--my past ends with it, my future begins. You, Rosalie," he went on +swiftly, his eyes gleaming with the love that would not be denied, "are +the spirit of life as I shall know it from this day forth. It is you who +have made Tinkletown a kingdom, one of its homes a palace. Don't turn +your face away, Rosalie." + +But she turned her face toward him and her dark eyes did not flinch as +they met his, out there in the bleak old wood. + +"Don't, please don't, Wicker," she said softly, firmly. Her hand touched +his arm for an instant. "You will understand, won't you? Please don't!" +There was a world of meaning in it. + +His heart turned cold as ice, the blood left his face. He understood. +She did not love him. + +"Yes," he said, his voice dead and hoarse, "I think I understand, +Rosalie. I have taken too much for granted, fool that I am. Bah! The +egotism of a fool!" + +"You must not speak like that," she said, her face contracted by pain +and pity. "You are the most wonderful man I've ever known--the best and +the truest. But--" and she paused, with a wan, drear smile on her lips. + +"I understand," he interrupted. "Don't say it. I want to think that some +day you will feel like saying something else, and I want to hope, +Rosalie, that it won't always be like this. Let us talk about something +else." But neither cared to speak for what seemed an hour. They were in +sight of home before the stony silence was broken. "I may come over from +Bonner Place to see you?" he asked at last. He was to cross the river +the next day for a stay of a week or two at his uncle's place. + +"Yes--often, Wicker. I shall want to see you every day. Yes, every day; +I'm sure of it," she said wistfully, a hungry look in her eyes that he +did not see, for he was staring straight ahead. Had he seen that look or +caught the true tone in her voice, the world might not have looked so +dark to him. When he did look at her again, her face was calm almost to +sereneness. + +"And you will come to Boston in June just the same?" + +"If your sister and--and your mother still want me to come." + +[Illustration: "'I think I understand, Rosalie'"] + +She was thinking of herself, the nameless one, in the house of his +people; she was thinking of the doubts, the speculations--even the fears +that would form the background of her welcome in that proud house. No +longer was Rosalie Gray regarding herself as the happy, careless +foster-child of Anderson Crow; she was seeing herself only as the +castaway, the unwanted, and the world was growing bitter for her. But +Bonner was blind to all this; he could not, should not know. + +"You know they want you to come. Why do you say that?" he asked quickly, +a strange, dim perspective rising before him for an instant, only to +fade away before it could be analysed. + +"One always says that," she replied with a smile. "It is the penalty of +being invited. Your sister has written the dearest letter to me, and I +have answered it. We love one another, she and I." + +"Rosalie, I am going to write to you," said he suddenly; "you will +answer?" + +"Yes," she told him simply. His heart quickened, but faltered, and was +lost. "I had a long letter from Elsie Banks to-day," she went on with an +indifference that chilled. + +"Oh," he said; "she is your friend who was or is to marry Tom Reddon, I +believe. I knew him at Harvard. Tell me, are they married?" + +"No. It was not to take place until March, but now she writes that her +mother is ill and must go to California for several months. Mr. Reddon +wants to be married at once, or before they go West, at least; but she +says she cannot consent while her mother requires so much of her. I +don't know how it will end, but I presume they will be married and all +go to California. That seems the simple and just way, doesn't it?" + +"Any way seems just, I'd say," he said. "They love one another, so +what's the odds? Do you know Reddon well?" + +"I have seen him many times," she replied with apparent evasiveness. + +"He is a--" but here he stopped as if paralysis had seized him suddenly. +The truth shot into his brain like a deadly bolt. Everything was as +plain as day to him now. She stooped to pick up a slim, broken reed that +crossed her path, and her face was averted. "God!" was the cry that +almost escaped his lips. "She loves Reddon, and he is going to marry her +best friend!" Cold perspiration started from every pore in his body. He +had met the doom of love--the end of hope. + +"He has always loved her," said Rosalie so calmly that he was shocked by +her courage. "I hope she will not ask him to wait." + +Rosalie never understood why Bonner looked at her in amazement and said: + +"By Jove, you are a--a marvel, Rosalie!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +The Blind Man's Eyes + + +Bonner went away without another word of love to her. He saw the +futility of hoping, and he was noble enough to respect her plea for +silence on the subject that seemed distasteful to her. He went as one +conquered and subdued; he went with the iron in his heart for the first +time--deeply imbedded and racking. + +Bonner came twice from the place across the river. Anderson observed +that he looked "peaked," and Rosalie mistook the hungry, wan look in his +face for the emaciation natural to confinement indoors. He was whiter +than was his wont, and there was a dogged, stubborn look growing about +his eyes and mouth that would have been understood by the sophisticated. +It was the first indication of the battle his love was to wage in days +to come. He saw no sign of weakening in Rosalie. She would not let him +look into her brave little heart, and so he turned his back upon the +field and fled to Boston, half beaten, but unconsciously collecting his +forces for the strife of another day. He did not know it then, nor did +she, but his love was not vanquished; it had met its first rebuff, that +was all. + +Tinkletown was sorry to see him depart, but it thrived on his promise to +return. Every one winked slyly behind his back, for, of course, +Tinkletown understood it all. He would come back often and then not at +all--for the magnet would go away with him in the end. The busybodies, +good-natured but garrulous, did not have to rehearse the story to its +end; it would have been superfluous. Be it said here, however, that +Rosalie was not long in settling many of the speculators straight in +their minds. It seemed improbable that it should not be as they had +thought and hoped. The news soon reached Blootch Peabody and Ed Higgins, +and, both eager to revive a blighted hope, in high spirits, called to +see Rosalie on the same night. It is on record that neither of them +uttered two dozen words between eight o'clock and ten, so bitterly was +the presence of the other resented. + +March came, and with it, to the intense amazement of Anderson Crow, the +ever-mysterious thousand dollars, a few weeks late. On a certain day the +old marshal took Rosalie to Boggs City, and the guardianship proceedings +were legally closed. Listlessly she accepted half of the money he had +saved, having refused to take all of it. She was now her own mistress, +much to her regret if not to his. + +"I may go on living with you, Daddy Crow, may I not?" she asked +wistfully as they drove home through the March blizzard. "This doesn't +mean that I cannot be your own little girl after to-day, does it?" + +"Don't talk like that, Rosalie Gray, er I'll put you to bed 'thout a +speck o' supper," growled he in his most threatening tones, but the +tears were rolling down his cheeks at the time. + +"Do you know, daddy, I honestly hope that the big city detective won't +find out who I am," she said after a long period of reflection. + +"Cause why?" + +"Because, if he doesn't, you won't have any excuse for turning me out." + +"I'll not only send you to bed, but I'll give you a tarnation good +lickin' besides if you talk like--" + +"But I'm twenty-one. You have no right," said she so brightly that he +cracked his whip over the horse's back and blew his nose twice for full +measure of gratitude. + +"Well, I ain't heerd anything from that fly detective lately, an' I'm +beginnin' to think he ain't sech a long sight better'n I am," said he +proudly. + +"He isn't half as good!" she cried. + +"I mean as a detective," he supplemented apologetically. + +"So do I," she agreed earnestly; but it was lost on him. + +There was a letter at home for her from Edith Bonner. It brought the +news that Wicker was going South to recuperate. His system had "gone +off" since the accident, and the March winds were driving him away +temporarily. Rosalie's heart ached that night, and there was a still, +cold dread in its depths that drove sleep away. He had not written to +her, and she had begun to fear that their month had been a trifle to +him, after all. Now she was troubled and grieved that she should have +entertained the fear. Edith went on to say that her brother had seen the +New York detective, who was still hopelessly in the dark, but struggling +on in the belief that chance would open the way for him. + +Rosalie, strive as she would to prevent it, grew pale and the roundness +left her cheek as the weeks went by. Her every thought was with the man +who had gone to the Southland. She loved him as she loved life, but she +could not confess to him then or thereafter unless Providence made clear +the purity of her birth to her and to all the world. When finally there +came to her a long, friendly, even dignified letter from the far South, +the roses began to struggle back to her cheeks and the warmth to her +heart. Her response brought a prompt answer from him, and the roses grew +faster than the spring itself. Friendship, sweet and loyal, marked every +word that passed between them, but there was a dear world in each +epistle--for her, at least, a world of comfort and hope. She was +praying, hungering, longing for June to come--sweet June and its tender +touch--June with its bitter-sweet and sun clouds. Now she was forgetting +the wish which had been expressed to Anderson Crow on the drive home +from Boggs City. In its place grew the fierce hope that the once +despised detective might clear away the mystery and give her the right +to stand among others without shame and despair. + +"Hear from Wick purty reg'lar, don't you, Rosalie?" asked Anderson +wickedly, one night while Blootch was there. The suitor moved uneasily, +and Rosalie shot a reproachful glance at Anderson, a glance full of +mischief as well. + +"He writes occasionally, daddy." + +"I didn't know you corresponded reg'larly," said Blootch. + +"I did not say regularly, Blucher." + +"He writes sweet things to beat the band, I bet," said Blootch with a +disdain he did not feel. + +"What a good guesser you are!" she cried tormentingly. + +"Well, I guess I'll be goin'," exploded Blootch wrathfully; "it's +gittin' late." + +"He won't sleep much to-night," said Anderson, with a twinkle in his +eye, as the gate slammed viciously behind the caller. "Say, Rosalie, +there's somethin' been fidgetin' me fer quite a while. I'll blurt it +right out an' have it over with. Air you in love with Wick Bonner?" + +She started, and for an instant looked at him with wide open eyes; then +they faltered and fell. Her breath came in a frightened, surprised gasp +and her cheeks grew warm. When she looked up again, her eyes were soft +and pleading, and her lips trembled ever so slightly. + +"Yes, Daddy Crow, I love him," she almost whispered. + +"An' him? How about him?" + +"I can't answer that, daddy. He has not told me." + +"Well, he ought to, doggone him!" + +"I could not permit him to do so if he tried." + +"What! You wouldn't permit? What in tarnation do you mean?" + +"You forget, daddy, I have no right to his love. It would be wrong--all +wrong. Good-night, daddy," she cried, impulsively kissing him and +dashing away before he could check her, but not before he caught the +sound of a half sob. For a long time he sat and stared at the fire in +the grate. Then he slapped his knee vigorously, squared his shoulders +and set his jaw like a vise. Arising, he stalked upstairs and tapped on +her door. She opened it an inch or two and peered forth at him--a +pathetic figure in white. + +"Don't you worry, Rosalie," he gulped. "It will be all right and hunky +dory. I've just took a solemn oath down stairs." + +"An oath, daddy?" + +"Yes, sir; I swore by all that's good and holy I'd find out who your +parents are ef it took till doomsday. You shall be set right in the eyes +of everybody. Now, if I was you, I'd go right to sleep. There ain't +nothin' to worry about. I've got another clew." + +She smiled lovingly as he ambled away. Poor old Anderson's confidence in +himself was only exceeded by his great love for her. + +At last June smiled upon Rosalie and she was off for Boston. Her gowns +were from Albany and her happiness from heaven--according to a +reverential Tinkletown impression. For two weeks after her departure, +Anderson Crow talked himself hoarse into willing ears, always extolling +the beauty of his erstwhile ward as she appeared before the family +circle in each and every one of those wonderful gowns. + +This humble narrative has not to do with the glories and foibles of +Boston social life. It has to deal with the adventures of Anderson Crow +and Rosalie Gray in so far as they pertain to a place called Tinkletown. +The joys and pleasures that Rosalie experienced during that month of +June were not unusual in character. The loneliness of Anderson Crow was +not a novelty, if one stops to consider how the world revolves for every +one else. Suffice to say that the Bonners, _mere, fils_ and _fille_, +exerted themselves to make the month an unforgetable one to the +girl--and they succeeded. The usual gaiety, the same old whirl of +experiences, came to her that come to any other mortal who is being +entertained, feted and admired. She was a success--a pleasure in every +way--not only to her hosts but to herself. If there was a cloud hanging +over her head through all these days and nights, the world was none the +wiser; the silver lining was always visible. + +Once while she was driving with the Bonners she saw a man whom she knew, +but did not expect to ever look upon again. She could not be mistaken in +him. It was Sam Welch, chief of the kidnapers. He was gazing at her from +a crowded street corner, but disappeared completely before Bonner could +set the police on his trail. + +Commencement Day at Cambridge brought back hundreds of the old men--the +men famous in every branch of study and athletics. Among them was +handsome Tom Reddon. He came to see her at the Bonner home. Elsie Banks +was to return in September from Honolulu, and they were to be married in +the fall. Wicker Bonner eagerly looked for the confusion of love in her +eyes, but none appeared. That night she told him, in reply to an +impulsive demand, that she did not care for Reddon, that she never had +known the slightest feeling of tenderness for him. + +"Have you ever been in love, Rosalie?" he asked ruthlessly. + +"Yes," she said after a moment, looking him bravely in the eyes. + +"And could you never learn to love any one else?" + +"I think not, Wicker," she said ever so softly. + +"I beg your pardon," he said humbly, his face white and his lips drawn. +"I should not have asked." + +And so he remained the blind man, with the light shining full into his +eyes. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +The Mysterious Questioner + + +July brought Rosalie's visit to an end, and once more Tinkletown basked +in her smiles and yet wondered why they were so sad and wistful. She and +Bonner were much nearer, far dearer to one another than ever, and yet +not one effort had been made to bridge the chasm of silence concerning +the thing that lay uppermost in their minds. She only knew that Anderson +Crow had not "run down" his clew, nor had the New York sleuth reported +for weeks. Undoubtedly, the latter had given up the search, for the last +heard of him was when he left for Europe with his wife for a pleasure +trip of unknown duration. It looked so dark and hopeless to her, all of +it. Had Bonner pressed his demands upon her at the end of the visit in +Boston, it is possible--more than possible--that she would have faltered +in her resolution. After all, why should she deprive herself of +happiness if it was held out to her with the promise that it should +never end? + +The summer turned steaming hot in the lowlands about Tinkletown, but in +the great hills across the river the air was cool, bright, and +invigorating. People began to hurry to their country homes from the +distant cities. Before the month was old, a score or more of beautiful +places were opened and filled with the sons and daughters of the rich. +Lazily they drifted and drove and walked through the wonderful hills, +famed throughout the world, and lazily they wondered why the rest of the +world lived. In the hills now were the Randalls, the Farnsworths, the +Brackens, the Brewsters, the Van Wagenens, the Rolfes and a host of +others. Tinkletown saw them occasionally as they came jaunting by in +their traps and brakes and automobiles--but it is extremely doubtful if +they saw Tinkletown in passing. + +Anderson Crow swelled and blossomed in the radiance of his own +importance. In his old age he was becoming fastidious. Only in the +privacy of his own back yard did he go without the black alpaca coat; he +was beginning to despise the other days, when he had gone coatless from +dawn till dark, on the street or off. His badges were pinned neatly to +his lapel and not to his suspenders, as in the days of yore. His dignity +was the same, but the old sense of irritation was very much modified. In +these new days he was considerate--and patronising. Was he not one of +the wealthiest men in town--with his six thousand dollars laid by? Was +he not its most honoured citizen, not excepting the mayor and selectmen? +Was he not, above all, a close friend of the Bonners? + +The Bonners were to spend August in the Congressman's home across the +big river. This fact alone was enough to stir the Crow establishment to +its most infinitesimal roots. Rosalie was to be one of the guests at the +house party, but her foster-sisters were not the kind to be envious. +They revelled with her in the preparations for that new season of +delight. + +With the coming of the Bonners, Anderson once more revived his +resolution to unravel the mystery attending Rosalie's birth. For some +months this ambition had lain dormant, but now, with the approach of the +man she loved, the old marshal's devotion took fire and he swore daily +that the mystery should be cleared "whether it wanted to be or not." + +He put poor old Alf Reesling through the "sweat box" time and again, and +worthless Tom Folly had many an unhappy night, wondering why the marshal +was shadowing him so persistently. + +"Alf," demanded Anderson during one of the sessions, "where were you on +the night of February 18, 1883? Don't hesitate. Speak up. Where were +you? Aha, you cain't answer. That looks suspicious." + +"You bet I c'n answer," said Alf bravely, blinking his blear eyes. "I +was in Tinkletown." + +"What were you doin' that night?" + +"I was sleepin'." + +"At what time? Keerful now, don't lie." + +"What time o' night did they leave her on your porch?" demanded Alf in +turn. + +"It was jest half past 'leven." + +"You're right, Anderson. That's jest the time I was asleep." + +"C'n you prove it? Got witnesses?" + +"Yes, but they don't remember the night." + +"Then it may go hard with you. Alf, I still believe you had somethin' to +do with that case." + +"I didn't, Anderson, so help me." + +"Well, doggone it, somebody did," roared the marshal. "If it wasn't you, +who was it? Answer that, sir." + +"Why, consarn you, Anderson Crow, I didn't have any spare children to +leave around on doorsteps. I've allus had trouble to keep from leavin' +myself there. Besides, it was a woman that left her, wasn't it? Well, +consarn it, I'm not a woman, am I? Look at my whiskers, gee whiz! I--" + +"I didn't say you left the baskit, Alf; I only said you'd somethin' to +do with it. I remember that there was a strong smell of liquor around +the place that night." In an instant Anderson was sniffing the air. +"Consarn ye, the same smell as now--yer drunk." + +"Tom Folly drinks, too," protested Alf. "He drinks Martini cocktails." + +"Don't you?" + +"Not any more. The last time I ordered one was in a Dutch eatin' house +up to Boggs City. The waiter couldn't speak a word of English, an' +that's the reason I got so full. Every time I ordered 'dry Martini' he +brought me three. He didn't know how to spell it. No, sir, Anderson; I'm +not the woman you want. I was at home asleep that night. I remember jest +as well as anything, that I said before goin' to bed that it was a good +night to sleep. I remember lookin' at the kitchen clock an' seein' it +was jest eighteen minutes after eleven. 'Nen I said--" + +"That'll be all for to-day, Alf," interrupted the questioner, his gaze +suddenly centering on something down the street. "You've told me that +six hundred times in the last twenty years. Come on, I see the boys +pitchin' horseshoes up by the blacksmith shop. I'll pitch you a game fer +the seegars." + +"I cain't pay if I lose," protested Alf. + +"I know it," said Anderson; "I don't expect you to." + +The first day that Bonner drove over in the automobile, to transplant +Rosalie in the place across the river, found Anderson full of a new and +startling sensation. He stealthily drew the big sunburnt young man into +the stable, far from the house. Somehow, in spite of his smiles, Bonner +was looking older and more serious. There was a set, determined +expression about his mouth and eyes that struck Anderson as new. + +"Say, Wick," began the marshal mysteriously, "I'm up a stump." + +"What? Another?" + +"No; jest the same one. I almost got track of somethin' to-day--not two +hours ago. I met a man out yander near the cross-roads that I'm sure I +seen aroun' here about the time Rosalie was left on the porch. An' the +funny part of it was, he stopped me an' ast me about her. Doggone, I +wish I'd ast him his name." + +"You don't mean it!" cried Bonner, all interest. "Asked about her? Was +he a stranger?" + +"I think he was. Leastwise, he said he hadn't been aroun' here fer +more'n twenty year. Y'see, it was this way. I was over to Lem Hudlow's +to ask if he had any hogs stole last night--Lem lives nigh the +poorhouse, you know. He said he hadn't missed any an' ast me if any hogs +had been found. I tole him no, not that I knowed of, but I jest thought +I'd ask; I thought mebby he'd had some stole. You never c'n tell, you +know, an' it pays to be attendin' to business all the time. Well, I was +drivin' back slow when up rode a feller on horseback. He was a +fine-lookin' man 'bout fifty year old, I reckon, an' was dressed in all +them new-fangled ridin' togs. 'Ain't this Mr. Crow, my old friend, the +detective?' said he. 'Yes, sir,' said I. 'I guess you don't remember +me,' says he. I told him I did, but I lied. It wouldn't do fer him to +think I didn't know him an' me a detective, don't y'see? + +"We chatted about the weather an' the crops, him ridin' longside the +buckboard. Doggone, his face was familiar, but I couldn't place it. +Finally, he leaned over an' said, solemn-like: 'Have you still got the +little girl that was left on your porch?' You bet I jumped when he said +that. 'Yes,' says I, 'but she ain't a little girl now. She's growed +up.' 'Is she purty?' he ast. 'Yes,' says I, 'purty as a speckled pup!' +'I'd like to see her,' he said. 'I hear she was a beautiful baby. I hope +she is very, very happy.' 'What's that to you?' says I, sharp-like. 'I +am very much interested in her, Mr. Crow,' he answered. 'Poor child, I +have had her in mind for a long time,' he went on very solemn. I begin +to suspect right away that he had a lot to do with her affairs. Somehow, +I couldn't help thinkin' I'd seen him in Tinkletown about the time she +was dropped--left, I mean. + +"'You have given her a good eddication, I hope,' said he. 'Yes, she's +got the best in town,' said I. 'The thousand dollars came all right +every year?' 'Every February.' 'I should like to see her sometime, if I +may, without her knowin' it, Mr. Crow.' 'An' why that way, sir?' +demanded I. 'It would probably annoy her if she thought I was regardin' +her as an object of curiosity,' said he. 'Tell her fer me,' he went on' +gittin' ready to whip up, 'that she has an unknown friend who would give +anything he has to help her.' Goshed, if he didn't put the gad to his +horse an' gallop off 'fore I could say another word. I was goin' to ask +him a lot of questions, too." + +"Can't you remember where and under what circumstances you saw him +before?" cried Bonner, very much excited. + +"I'm goin' to try to think it up to-night. He was a rich-lookin' feller +an' he had a heavy black band aroun' one of his coat sleeves. Wick, I +bet he's the man we want. I've made up my mind 'at he's her father!" + +Bonner impatiently wormed all the information possible out of the +marshal, especially as to the stranger's looks, voice, the direction +taken when they parted company and then dismally concluded that an +excellent opportunity had been hopelessly lost. Anderson said, in +cross-examination, that the stranger had told him he "was leavin' at +once fer New York and then going to Europe." His mother had died +recently. + +"I'll try to head him off at Boggs City," said Bonner; and half an hour +later he was off at full speed in the big machine for the county seat, a +roundabout way to Bonner Place. The New York train had gone, but no one +had seen a man answering the description of Anderson's interviewer. + +"I'm sorry, Rosalie," said Bonner some time later. He was taking her for +a spin in the automobile. "It was a forlorn hope, and it is also quite +probable that Mr. Crow's impressions are wrong. The man may have +absolutely no connection with the matter. I'll admit it looks +interesting, his manner and his questions, and there is a chance that he +knows the true story. In any event, he did not go to New York to-day and +he can't get another train until to-morrow. I'll pick up Mr. Crow in the +morning and we'll run up here to have a look at him if he appears." + +"I think it is a wild goose chase, Wicker," Rosalie said despairingly. +"Daddy Crow has done such things before." + +"But this seems different. The man's actions were curious. He must have +had some reason for being interested in you. I am absolutely wild with +eagerness to solve this mystery, Rosalie. It means life to me." + +"Oh, if you only could do it," she cried so fervently, that his heart +leaped with pity for her. + +"I love you, Rosalie. I would give my whole life to make you happy. +Listen, dearest--don't turn away from me! Are you afraid of me?" He was +almost wailing it into her ear. + +"I--I was only thinking of the danger, Wicker. You are not watching the +road," she said, flushing a deep red. He laughed gaily for the first +time in months. + +"It is a wide road and clear," he said jubilantly. "We are alone and we +are merely drifting. The machine is alive with happiness. +Rosalie--Rosalie, I could shout for joy! You _do_ love me? You will be +my wife?" + +She was white and silent and faint with the joy of it all and the pain +of it all. Joy in the full knowledge that he loved her and had spoken in +spite of the cloud that enveloped her, pain in the certainty that she +could not accept the sacrifice. For a long time she sat staring straight +down the broad road over which they were rolling. + +"Wicker, you must not ask me now," she said at last, bravely and +earnestly. "It is sweet to know that you love me. It is life to me--yes, +life, Wicker. But, don't you see? No, no! You must not expect it. You +must not ask it. Don't, don't, dear!" she cried, drawing away as he +leaned toward her, passion in his eyes, triumph in his face. + +"But we love each other!" he cried. "What matters the rest? I want +you--_you!_" + +"Have you considered? Have you thought? I have, a thousand times, a +thousand bitter thoughts. I cannot, I will not be your--your wife, +Wicker, until--" + +In vain he argued, pleaded, commanded. She was firm and she felt she was +right if not just. Underneath it all lurked the fear, the dreadful fear +that she may have been a child of love, the illegitimate offspring of +passion. It was the weight that crushed her almost to lifelessness; it +was the bar sinister. + +"No, Wicker, I mean it," she said in the end resolutely. "Not until I +can give you a name in exchange for your own." + +"Your name shall one day be Bonner if I have to wreck the social system +of the whole universe to uncover another one for you." + +The automobile had been standing, by some extraordinary chance, in the +cool shade of a great oak for ten minutes or more, but it was a wise, +discreet old oak. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +The Hemisphere Train Robbery + + +Anderson Crow lived at the extreme south end of Tinkletown's principal +thoroughfare. The "calaboose" was situated at the far end of Main +Street, at least half a mile separating the home of the law and the home +of the lawless. Marshal Crow's innate love for the spectacular alone +explains the unneighbourliness of the two establishments. He felt an +inward glory in riding or walking the full length of the street, and he +certainly had no reason to suspect the populace of disregarding the +outward glory he presented. + +The original plan of the merchantry comprehended the erection of the +jail in close proximity to the home of its chief official, but Mr. Crow +put his foot flatly and ponderously upon the scheme. With the dignity +which made him noticeable, he said he'd "be doggoned ef he wanted to +have people come to his own dooryard to be arrested." By which, it may +be inferred, that he expected the evil-doer to choose his own arresting +place. + +Mr. and Mrs. Crow were becoming thrifty, in view of the prospect that +confronted them, to wit: The possible marriage of Rosalie and the +cutting off of the yearly payments. As she was to be absent for a full +month or more, Anderson conceived the idea of advertising for a lodger +and boarder. By turning Roscoe out of his bed, they obtained a spare +room that looked down upon the peony beds beyond the side "portico." + +Mr. Crow was lazily twisting his meagre chin whiskers one morning soon +after Rosalie's departure. He was leaning against the town pump in front +of the post-office, the sun glancing impotently off the bright badge on +the lapel of his alpaca coat. A stranger came forth from the post-office +and approached the marshal. + +"Is this Mr. Crow?" he asked, with considerable deference. + +"It is, sir." + +"They tell me you take lodgers." + +"Depends." + +"My name is Gregory, Andrew Gregory, and I am here to canvass the +neighbourhood in the interest of the Human Life Insurance Company of +Penobscot. If you need references, I can procure them from New York or +Boston." + +The stranger was a tall, lean-faced man of forty or forty-five, well +dressed, with a brusque yet pleasant manner of speech. His moustache and +beard were black and quite heavy. Mr. Crow eyed him quietly for a +moment. + +"I don't reckon I'll ask fer references. Our rates are six dollars a +week, board an' room. Childern bother you?" + +"Not at all. Have you any?" + +"Some, more or less. They're mostly grown." + +"I will take board and room for two weeks, at least," said Mr. Gregory, +who seemed to be a man of action. + +For almost a week the insurance agent plied his vocation assiduously but +fruitlessly. The farmers and the citizens of Tinkletown were slow to +take up insurance. They would talk crops and politics with the obliging +Mr. Gregory, but that was all. And yet, his suavity won for him many +admirers. There were not a few who promised to give him their insurance +if they concluded to "take any out." Only one man in town was willing to +be insured, and he was too old to be comforting. Mr. Calligan was +reputed to be one hundred and three years of age; and he wanted the +twenty-year endowment plan. Gregory popularised himself at the Crow home +by paying for his room in advance. Moreover, he was an affable chap with +a fund of good stories straight from Broadway. At the post-office and +in Lamson's store he was soon established as a mighty favourite. Even +the women who came to make purchases in the evening,--a hitherto unknown +custom,--lingered outside the circle on the porch, revelling in the +second edition of the "Arabian Nights." + +"Our friend, the detective here," he said, one night at the close of the +first week, "tells me that we are to have a show in town next week. I +haven't seen any posters." + +"Mark Riley's been goin' to put up them bills sence day 'fore +yesterday," said Anderson Crow, with exasperation in his voice, "an he +ain't done it yet. The agent fer the troupe left 'em here an' hired +Mark, but he's so thunderation slow that he won't paste 'em up 'til +after the show's been an' gone. I'll give him a talkin' to to-morrer." + +"What-fer show is it?" asked Jim Borum. + +"Somethin' like a circus on'y 'tain't one," said Anderson. "They don't +pertend to have animals." + +"Don't carry a menagerie, I see," remarked Gregory. + +"'Pears that way," said Anderson, slowly analysing the word. + +"I understand it is a stage performance under a tent," volunteered the +postmaster. + +"That's what it is," said Harry Squires, the editor, with a superior +air. "They play 'As You Like It,' by Shakespeare. It's a swell show. We +got out the hand bills over at the office. They'll be distributed in +town to-morrow, and a big batch of them will be sent over to the summer +places across the river. The advance agent says it is a high-class +performance and will appeal particularly to the rich city people up in +the mountains. It's a sort of open-air affair, you know." And then Mr. +Squires was obliged to explain to his fellow-townsmen all the known +details in connection with the approaching performance of "As You Like +It" by the Boothby Company, set for Tinkletown on the following Thursday +night. Hapgood's Grove had been selected by the agent as the place in +which the performance should be given. + +"Don't they give an afternoon show?" asked Mrs. Williams. + +"Sure not," said Harry curtly. "It isn't a museum." + +"Of course not," added Anderson Crow reflectively. "It's a troupe." + +The next morning, bright and early, Mark Riley fared forth with paste +and brush. Before noon, the board fences, barns and blank walls of +Tinkletown flamed with great red and blue letters, twining in and about +the portraits of Shakespeare, Manager Boothby, Rosalind, Orlando, and an +extra king or two in royal robes. A dozen small boys spread the hand +bills from the _Banner_ presses, and Tinkletown was stirred by the +excitement of a sensation that had not been experienced since +Forepaugh's circus visited the county seat three years before. It went +without saying that Manager Boothby would present "As You Like It" with +an "unrivalled cast." He had "an all-star production," direct from "the +leading theatres of the universe." + +When Mark Riley started out again in the afternoon for a second +excursion with paste and brush, "slapping up" small posters with a +celerity that bespoke extreme interest on his part, the astonished +populace feared that he was announcing a postponement of the +performance. Instead of that, however, he was heralding the fact that +the Hemisphere Trunk Line and Express Company would gladly pay ten +thousand dollars reward for the "apprehension and capture" of the men +who robbed one of its richest trains a few nights before, seizing as +booty over sixty thousand dollars in money, besides killing two +messengers in cold blood. The great train robbery occurred in the +western part of the State, hundreds of miles from Tinkletown, but nearly +all of its citizens had read accounts of the deed in the weekly paper +from Boggs City. + +"I seen the item about it in Mr. Gregory's New York paper," said +Anderson Crow to the crowd at Lamson's. + +"Gee whiz, it must 'a' been a peach!" said Isaac Porter, open-mouthed +and eager for details. Whereupon Marshal Crow related the story of the +crime which stupefied the world on the morning of July 31st. The express +had been held up in an isolated spot by a half-dozen masked men. A safe +had been shattered and the contents confiscated, the perpetrators +vanishing as completely as if aided by Satan himself. The authorities +were baffled. A huge reward was offered in the hope that it might induce +some discontented underling in the band to expose his comrades. + +"Are you goin' after 'em, Anderson?" asked old Mr. Borton, with +unfailing faith in the town's chief officer. + +"Them fellers is in Asia by this time," vouchsafed Mr. Crow scornfully, +forgetting that less than a week had elapsed since the robbery. He +flecked a fly from his detective's badge and then struck viciously at +the same insect when it straightway attacked his G.A.R. emblem. + +"I doubt it," said Mr. Lamson. "Like as not they're right here in this +State, mebby in this county. You can't tell about them slick +desperadoes. Hello, Harry! Has anything more been heard from the train +robbers?" Harry Squires approached the group with something like news in +his face. + +"I should say so," he said. "The darned cusses robbed the State Express +last night at Vanderskoop and got away with thirteen hundred dollars. +Say, they're wonders! The engineer says they're only five of them." + +"Why, gosh dern it, Vanderskoop's only the fourth station west of Boggs +City!" exclaimed Anderson Crow, pricking up his official ear. "How in +thunder do you reckon they got up here in such a short time?" + +"They probably stopped off on their way back from Asia," drily remarked +Mr. Lamson; but it passed unnoticed. + +"Have you heard anything more about the show, Harry?" asked Jim Borum. +"Is she sure to be here?" What did Tinkletown care about the train +robbers when a "show" was headed that way? + +"Sure. The press comments are very favourable," said Harry. "They all +say that Miss Marmaduke, who plays Rosalind, is great. We've got a cut +of her and, say, she's a beauty. I can see myself sitting in the front +row next Thursday night, good and proper." + +"Say, Anderson, I think it's a dern shame fer Mark Riley to go 'round +pastin' them reward bills over the show pictures," growled Isaac Porter. +"He ain't got a bit o' sense." + +With one accord the crowd turned to inspect two adjacent bill boards. +Mark had either malignantly or insanely pasted the reward notices over +the nether extremities of Rosalind as she was expected to appear in the +Forest of Arden. There was a period of reflection on the part of an +outraged constituency. + +"I don't see how he's goin' to remove off them reward bills without +scraping off her legs at the same time," mused Anderson Crow in +perplexity. Two housewives of Tinkletown suddenly deserted the group and +entered the store. And so it was that the train robbers were forgotten +for the time being. + +But Marshal Crow's reputation as a horse-thief taker and general +suppressor of crime constantly upbraided him. It seemed to call upon him +to take steps toward the capture of the train robbers. All that +afternoon he reflected. Tinkletown, seeing his mood, refrained from +breaking in upon it. He was allowed to stroke his whiskers in peace and +to think to his heart's content. By nightfall his face had become an +inscrutable mask, and then it was known that the President of Bramble +County's Horse-Thief Detective Association was determined to fathom the +great problem. Stealthily he went up to the great attic in his home and +inspected his "disguises." In some far-off period of his official career +he had purchased the most amazing collection of false beards, wigs and +garments that any stranded comedian ever disposed of at a sacrifice. He +tried each separate article, seeking for the best individual effect; +then he tried them collectively. It would certainly have been +impossible to recognise him as Anderson Crow. In truth, no one could +safely have identified him as a human being. + +"I'm goin' after them raskils," he announced to Andrew Gregory and the +whole family, as he came down late to take his place at the head of the +supper table. + +"Ain't you goin' to let 'em show here, pop?" asked Roscoe in distress. + +"Show here? What air you talkin' about?" + +"He means the train robbers, Roscoe," explained the lad's mother. The +boy breathed again. + +"They are a dangerous lot," volunteered Gregory, who had been in Albany +for two days. "The papers are full of their deeds. Cutthroats of the +worst character." + +"I'd let them alone, Anderson," pleaded his wife. "If you corner them, +they'll shoot, and it would be jest like you to follow them right into +their lair." + +"Consarn it, Eva, don't you s'pose that I c'n shoot, too?" snorted +Anderson. "What you reckon I've been keepin' them loaded revolvers out +in the barn all these years fer? Jest fer ornaments? Not much! They're +to shoot with, ef anybody asks you. Thunderation, Mr. Gregory, you ain't +no idee how a feller can be handicapped by a timid wife an' a lot o' +fool childern. I'm almost afeard to turn 'round fer fear they'll be +skeered to death fer my safety." + +"You cut yourself with a razor once when ma told you not to try to shave +the back of your neck by yourself," said one of the girls. "She wanted +you to let Mr. Beck shave it for you, but you wouldn't have it that +way." + +"Do you suppose I want an undertaker shavin' my neck? I'm not that +anxious to be shaved. Beck's the undertaker, Mr. Gregory." + +"Well, he runs the barber shop, too," insisted the girl. + +During the next three days Tinkletown saw but little of its marshal, +fire chief and street commissioner. That triple personage was off on +business of great import. Early, each morning, he mysteriously stole +away to the woods, either up or down the river, carrying a queer bundle +under the seat of his "buckboard." Two revolvers, neither of which had +been discharged for ten years, reposed in a box fastened to the +dashboard. Anderson solemnly but positively refused to allow any one to +accompany him, nor would he permit any one to question him. Farmers +coming to town spoke of seeing him in the lanes and in the woods, but he +had winked genially when they had asked what he was trailing. + +"He's after the train robbers," explained all Tinkletown soberly. +Whereupon the farmers and their wives did not begrudge Anderson Crow the +chicken dinners he had eaten with them, nor did they blame him for +bothering the men in the fields. It was sufficient that he found excuse +to sleep in the shade of their trees during his still hunt. + +"Got any track of 'em?" asked George Ray one evening, stopping at +Anderson's back gate to watch the marshal unhitch his thankful nag. +Patience had ceased to be a virtue with George. + +"Any track of who?" asked Mr. Crow with a fine show of innocence. + +"The robbers." + +"I ain't been trackin' robbers, George." + +"What in thunder have you been trackin' all over the country every day, +then?" + +"I'm breakin' this colt," calmly replied the marshal, with a mighty wink +at old Betty, whom he had driven to the same buckboard for twenty years. +As George departed with an insulted snort, Andrew Gregory came from the +barn, where he had been awaiting the return of Mr. Crow." + +"I'm next to something big," he announced in a low tone, first looking +in all directions to see that no one was listening. + +"Gosh! Did you land Mr. Farnsworth?" + +"It has nothing to do with insurance," hastily explained the agent. +"I've heard something of vast importance to you." + +"You don't mean to say the troupe has busted?" + +"No--no; it is in connection with--with--" and here Mr. Gregory leaned +forward and whispered something in Anderson's ear. Mr. Crow promptly +stopped dead still in his tracks, his eyes bulging. Betty, who was being +led to the water trough, being blind and having no command to halt, +proceeded to bump forcibly against her master's frame. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +"As You Like It" + + +"You--don't--say--so! Whoa! dang ye! Cain't you see where you're goin', +you old rip?" Betty was jerked to a standstill. "What have you heerd?" +asked Anderson, his voice shaking with interest. + +"I can't tell you out here," said the other cautiously. "Put up the nag +and then meet me in the pasture out there. We can sit down and talk and +not be overheard." + +"I won't be a minute. Here, you Roscoe! Feed Betty and water her first. +Step lively, now. Tell your ma we'll be in to supper when we git good +an' ready." + +Anderson and Andrew Gregory strode through the pasture gate and far out +into the green meadow. Once entirely out of hearing, Gregory stopped and +both sat down upon a little hillock. The agent was evidently suppressing +considerable excitement. + +"Those train robbers are in this neighbourhood," he said, breaking a +long silence. Anderson looked behind involuntarily. "I don't mean that +they are in this pasture, Mr. Crow. You've been a good friend to me, and +I'm inclined to share the secret with you. If we go together, we may +divide the ten-thousand-dollar reward, because I'm quite sure we can +land those chaps." + +"What's your plan?" asked Anderson, turning a little pale at the +thought. Before going any further into the matter, Gregory asked +Anderson if he would sign a paper agreeing to divide the reward equally +with him. This point was easily settled, and then the insurance man +unfolded his secret. + +"I have a straight tip from a friend in New York and he wouldn't steer +me wrong. The truth about him is this: He used to work for our company, +but took some money that didn't belong to him. It got him a sentence in +the pen. He's just out, and he knows a whole lot about these robbers. +Some of them were in Sing Sing with him. The leader wanted him to join +the gang and he half-way consented. His duty is to keep the gang posted +on what the officers in New York are doing. See?" + +"Of course," breathed Anderson. + +"Well, my friend wants to reform. All he asks is a slice of the reward. +If we capture the gang, we can afford to give him a thousand or so, +can't we?" + +"Of course," was the dignified response. + +"Here's his letter to me. I'll read it to you." In the gathering dusk +Gregory read the letter to the marshal of Tinkletown. "Now, you see," he +said, at the close of the astounding epistle, "this means that if we +observe strict secrecy, we may have the game in our hands. No one must +hear a word of this. They may have spies right here in Tinkletown. We +can succeed only by keeping our mouths sealed." + +"Tighter'n beeswax," promised Anderson Crow. + +Briefly, the letter to Andrew Gregory was an exposure of the plans of +the great train-robber gang, together with their whereabouts on a +certain day to come. They were to swoop down on Tinkletown on the night +of the open-air performance of "As You Like It," and their most +desperate coup was to be the result. The scheme was to hold up and rob +the entire audience while the performance was going on. Anderson Crow +was in a cold perspiration. The performance was but three days off, and +he felt that he required three months for preparation. + +"How in thunder are we goin' to capture that awful gang, jest you an' +me?" he asked, voicing his doubts and fears. + +"We'll have to engage help, that's all." + +"We'll need a regiment." + +"Don't you think it. Buck up, old fellow, don't be afraid." + +"Afeerd? Me? I don't know what it is to be skeered. Didn't you ever hear +about how I landed them fellers that kidnaped my daughter Rosalie? Well, +you jest ast some one 'at knows about it. Umph! I guess that was a +recommend fer bravery. But these fellers will be ready fer us, won't +they?" + +"We can trick them easily. I've been thinking of a plan all afternoon. +We don't know just where they are now, so we can't rake them in +to-night. We'll have to wait until they come to us. My plan is to have a +half-dozen competent private detectives up from New York. We can scatter +them through the audience next Thursday night, and when the right time +comes we can land on every one of those fellows like hawks on spring +chickens. I know the chief of a big private agency in New York, and I +think the best plan is to have him send up some good men. It won't cost +much, and I'd rather have those fearless practical men here than all the +rubes you could deputise. One of 'em is worth ten of your +fellow-citizens, Mr. Crow, begging your pardon for the remark. You and I +can keep the secret and we can do the right thing, but we would be asses +to take more Tinkletown asses into our confidence. If you'll agree, I'll +write to Mr. Pinkerton this evening. He can have his men here, disguised +and ready for work, by Thursday afternoon. If you don't mind, I'd like +to have you take charge of the affair, because you know just how to +handle thieves, and I don't. What say you?" + +Anderson was ready and eager to agree to anything, but he hesitated a +long time before concluding to take supreme charge of the undertaking. +Mr. Gregory at once implored him to take command. It meant the success +of the venture; anything else meant failure. + +"But how'n thunder am I to know the robbers when I see 'em?" demanded +the marshal, nervously pulling bluegrass up by the roots. + +"You'll know 'em all right," said Andrew Gregory. Thursday came and with +it the "troupe." Anderson Crow had not slept for three nights, he was so +full of thrills and responsibility. Bright and early that morning he was +on the lookout for suspicious characters. Gregory was to meet the +detectives from New York at half-past seven in the evening. By previous +arrangement, these strangers were to congregate casually at Tinkletown +Inn, perfectly diguised as gentlemen, ready for instructions. The two +arch-plotters had carefully devised a plan of action. Gregory chuckled +secretly when he thought of the sensation Tinkletown was to +experience--and he thought of it often, too. + +The leading members of Boothby's All Star Company "put up" at the Inn, +which was so humble that it staggered beneath this unaccustomed weight +of dignity. The beautiful Miss Marmaduke (in reality, Miss Cora Miller) +was there, and so were Miss Trevanian, Miss Gladys Fitzmaurice, Richmond +Barrett (privately Jackie Blake), Thomas J. Booth, Francisco Irving, Ben +Jefferson and others. The Inn was glorified. All Tinkletown looked upon +the despised old "eating house" with a reverence that was not reluctant. + +The manager, a busy and preoccupied person, who looked to be the +lowliest hireling in the party, came to the Inn at noon and spread the +news that the reserved seats were sold out and there was promise of a +fine crowd. Whereupon there was rejoicing among the All Star Cast, for +the last legs of the enterprise were to be materially strengthened. + +"We won't have to walk back home," announced Mr. Jackie Blake, that +good-looking young chap who played Orlando. + +"Glorious Shakespeare, thou art come to life again," said Ben Jefferson, +a barn-stormer for fifty years. "I was beginning to think you were a +dead one." + +"And no one will seize our trunks for board," added Miss Marmaduke +cheerfully. She was a very pretty young woman and desperately in love +with Mr. Orlando. + +"If any one seized Orlando's trunks, I couldn't appear in public +to-night," said Mr. Blake. "Orlando possesses but one pair of trunks." + +"You might wear a mackintosh," suggested Mr. Booth. + +"Or borrow trunks of the trees," added Mr. Irving. + +"They're off," growled Mr. Jefferson, who hated the puns he did not +make. + +"Let's dazzle the town, Cora," said Jackie Blake; and before Tinkletown +could take its second gasp for breath, the leading man and woman were +slowly promenading the chief and only thoroughfare. + +"By ginger! she's a purty one, ain't she?" murmured Ed Higgins, sole +clerk at Lamson's. He stood in the doorway until she was out of sight +and remained there for nearly an hour awaiting her return. The men of +Tinkletown took but one look at the pretty young woman, but that one +look was continuous and unbroken. + +"If this jay town can turn up enough money to-night to keep us from +stranding, I'll take off my hat to it for ever more," said Jackie Blake. + +"Boothby says the house is sold out," said + +Miss Marmaduke, a shade of anxiety in her dark eyes. "Oh, how I wish we +were at home again." + +"I'd rather starve in New York than feast in the high hills," said he +wistfully. The idols to whom Tinkletown was paying homage were but +human, after all. For two months the Boothby Company had been buffeted +from pillar to post, struggling hard to keep its head above water, +always expecting the crash. The "all-stars" were no more than striving +young Thespians, who were kept playing throughout the heated term with +this uncertain enterprise, solely because necessity was in command of +their destinies. It was not for them to enjoy a summer in ease and +indolence. + +"Never mind, dear," said she, turning her green parasol so that it +obstructed the intense but complimentary gaze of no less than a dozen +men; "our luck will change. We won't be barn-storming for ever." + +"We've one thing to be thankful for, little woman," said Jackie, his +face brightening. "We go out again this fall in the same company. That's +luck, isn't it? We'll be married as soon as we get back to New York and +we won't have to be separated for a whole season, at least." + +"Isn't it dear to think of, Jackie sweetheart? A whole season and then +another, and then all of them after that? Oh, dear, won't it be sweet?" +It was love's young dream for both of them. + +"Hello, what's this?" exclaimed Orlando the Thousandth, pausing before a +placard which covered the lower limbs of his pictorial partner. "Ten +Thousand Dollars reward! Great Scott, Cora, wouldn't I like to catch +those fellows? Great, eh? But it's a desperate gang! The worst ever!" + +Just then both became conscious of the fact that some one was +scrutinising them intently from behind. They turned and beheld Anderson +Crow, his badges glistening. + +"How are you, officer?" said Jackie cheerily. Miss Marmaduke, in her +happiness, beamed a smile upon the austere man with the chin whiskers. +Anderson was past seventy, but that smile caused the intake of his +breath to almost lift him from the ground. + +"First rate, thanks; how's yourself? Readin' the reward notice? Lemme +tell you something. There's goin' to be somethin' happen tarnation soon +that will astonish them fellers ef--" but here Anderson pulled up with a +jerk, realising that he was on the point of betraying a great secret. +Afraid to trust himself in continued conversation, he abruptly said: +"Good afternoon," and started off down the street, his ears tingling. + +"Queer old chap, isn't he?" observed Jackie, and immediately forgot him +as they strolled onward. + +That evening Tinkletown swarmed with strangers. The weather was fine, +and scores of the summer dwellers in the hills across the river came +over to see the performance, as the advance agent had predicted. Bluff +Top Hotel sent a large delegation of people seeking the variety of life. +There were automobiles, traps, victorias, hay-racks, and "sundowns" +standing all along the street in the vicinity of Hapgood's Grove. It was +to be, in the expansive language of the press agent, "a cultured +audience made up of the elite of the community." + +Late in the afternoon, a paralysing thought struck in upon the marshal's +brain. It occurred to him that this band of robbers might also be +engaged to carry off Rosalie Gray. After all, it might be the great +dominant reason for their descent upon the community. Covered with a +perspiration that was not caused by heat, he accosted Wicker Bonner, the +minute that gentleman arrived in town. Rosalie went, of course, to the +Crow home for a short visit with the family. + +"Say, Wick, I want you to do me a favour," said Anderson eagerly, taking +the young man aside. "I cain't tell you all about it, 'cause I'm bound +by a deathless oath. But, listen, I'm afraid somethin's goin' to happen +to-night. There's a lot o' strangers here, an' I'm nervous about +Rosalie. Somebody might try to steal her in the excitement. Now I want +you to take good keer of her. Don't let 'er out o' your sight, an' don't +let anybody git 'er away from you. I'll keep my eye on her, too. Promise +me." + +"Certainly, Mr. Crow. I'll look out for her. That's what I hope to do +all the rest of--' + +"Somethin's liable to happen," Mr. Crow broke in, and then quietly +slipped away. + +Bonner laughed easily at the old man's fears and set them down as a part +of his whimsical nature. Later, he saw the old man near the entrance as +the party passed inside the inclosure. The Bonner party occupied +prominent seats in front, reserved by the marshal. There were ten in the +group, a half-dozen young Boston people completing the house party. + +The side walls of a pavilion inclosed the most beautiful section of the +grove. In one end were the seats, rapidly filling with people. At the +opposite end, upon Mother Earth's green carpet, was the stage, lighted +dimly by means of subdued spot lights and a few auxiliary stars on high. +There was no scenery save that provided by Nature herself. An orchestra +of violins broke through the constant hum of eager voices. + +Anderson Crow's heart was inside the charmed inclosure, but his person +was elsewhere. Simultaneously, with the beginning of the performance of +"As You like It," he was in his own barn-loft confronting Andrew Gregory +and the five bewhiskered assistants from New York City. Gregory had met +the detectives at the Inn and had guided them to the marshal's barn, +where final instructions were to be given. For half an hour the party +discussed plans with Anderson Crow, speaking in low, mysterious tones +that rang in the marshal's ears to his dying day. + +"We've located those fellows," asserted Mr. Gregory firmly. "There can +be no mistake. They are already in the audience over there, and at a +signal will set to work to hold up the whole crowd. We must get the +drop on them, Mr. Crow. Don't do that! You don't need a disguise. Keep +those yellow whiskers in your pocket. The rest of us will wear +disguises. These men came here disguised because the robbers would be +onto them in a minute if they didn't. They know every detective's face +in the land. If it were not for these beards and wigs they'd have +spotted Pinkerton's men long ago. Now, you know your part in the affair, +don't you?" + +"Yes, sir," respectfully responded Anderson, his chin whisker wobbling +pathetically. + +"Then we're ready to proceed. It takes a little nerve, that's all, but +we'll soon have those robbers just where we want them," said Andrew +Gregory. + +The second act of the play was fairly well under way when Orlando, in +the "green room," remarked to the stage director: + +"What's that old rube doing back here, Ramsay? Why, hang it, man, he's +carrying a couple of guns. Is this a hold-up?" At the same instant +Rosalind and two of the women came rushing from their dressing tent, +alarmed and indignant. Miss Marmaduke, her eyes blazing, confronted the +stage director. + +"What does this mean, Mr. Ramsay?" she cried. "That old man ordered us +out of our dressing-room at the point of a revolver, and--see! There he +is now doing the same to the men." + +It was true. Anderson Crow, with a brace of horse pistols, was driving +the players toward the centre of the stage. In a tremulous voice he +commanded them to remain there and take the consequences. A moment later +the marshal of Tinkletown strode into the limelight with his arsenal, +facing an astonished and temporarily amused audience. His voice, pitched +high with excitement, reached to the remotest corners of the inclosure. +Behind him the players were looking on, open-mouthed and bewildered. To +them he loomed up as the long-dreaded constable detailed to attach their +personal effects. The audience, if at first it laughed at him as a joke, +soon changed its view. Commotion followed his opening speech. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +The Luck of Anderson Crow + + +"Don't anybody attempt to leave this tent!" commanded Mr. Crow, standing +bravely forth with his levelled revolvers. The orchestra made itself as +small as possible, for one of the guns wavered dangerously. "Don't be +alarmed, ladies and gentlemen. The train robbers are among you." + +There were a few feminine shrieks, a volume of masculine "Whats!" a +half-hearted and uncertain snigger, and a general turning of heads. + +"Keep your seats!" commanded Anderson. "They can't escape. I have them +surrounded. I now call upon all robbers present to surrender in the name +of the law. Surrender peaceful and you will not he damaged; resist and +we'll blow you to hell an' gone, even at the risk of injurin' the women +and childern. The law is no respecter of persons. Throw up your hands!" + +He waited impressively, but either through stupefaction or obstinacy the +robbers failed to lift their hands. + +"You're cornered, you golderned scamps!" shouted Anderson Crow, "an' you +might jest as well give up! Twenty Pinkerton men are here from New York +City, an' you can't escape! Throw up your hands!" + +"The damned old fool is in earnest," gasped Judge Brewster, from across +the river. + +"He's crazy!" cried Congressman Bonner. + +"Let everybody in this crowd throw up their hands!" called a firm, clear +voice from the entrance. At the same instant five bewhiskered +individuals appeared as if by magic with drawn revolvers, dominating the +situation completely. The speaker was Andrew Gregory, the insurance +agent. + +"Now, what have you got to say?" cried Anderson gaily. "I guess me an' +the detectives have you cornered all right, ain't we?" + +The audience sat stupefied, paralysed. While all this was going on upon +the inside, a single detective on the outside was stealthily puncturing +the tires of every automobile in the collection, Mr. Bracken's huge +touring car being excepted for reasons to be seen later on. + +"Good heavens!" groaned old Judge Brewster. A half dozen women fainted +and a hundred men broke into a cold perspiration. + +"Hands up, everybody!" commanded Andrew Gregory. "We can take no +chances. The train robbers are in this audience. They came to hold up +the entire crowd, but we are too quick for you, my fine birds. The place +is surrounded!" + +"Mr. Gregory, the insurance--" began Anderson Crow, but he was cut +short. + +"Mr. Crow deserves great credit for this piece of detective work. His +mere presence is a guaranty of safety to those of you who are not +thieves. You all have your hands up? Thanks. Mr. Crow, please keep those +actors quiet. Now, ladies and gentlemen, it is not always an easy matter +to distinguish thieves from honest men. I will first give the +desperadoes a chance to surrender peaceably. No one steps forward? Very +well. Keep your hands up, all of you. The man who lowers his hands will +be instantly regarded as a desperado and may get a bullet in his body +for his folly. The innocent must suffer with the guilty. Mr. Crow, shall +we proceed with the search?" + +"Yes, sir; go right ahead, and be quick," replied Anderson Crow. + +"Very well, then, in the name of the law, my men will begin the search. +They will pass among you, ladies and gentlemen, and any effort to retard +their progress will be met with instant--well, you know." + +Before the petrified audience could fully realise what was taking place, +three of the detectives were swiftly passing from person to person, +stripping the women of their jewels, the men of their money and their +watches. A half-hearted protest went up to Anderson Crow, but it was +checked summarily by the "searching party." It was well for the poor +marshal that he never knew what the audience thought of him at that +ghastly moment. + +It was all over in five minutes. The detectives had searched every +prosperous-looking person in the audience, under the very nose and guns +of Marshal Crow, and they were sardonically bidding the assemblage a +fond good-bye from the flapping doorway in the side wall. Andrew Gregory +addressed the crowd, smiling broadly. + +"We found a good many more robbers in the crowd than we could +conveniently handle, ladies and gentlemen. In fact, I never came across +such a rare collection of hold-up men outside of Wall Street. The only +perfectly honest man in Tinkletown to-night is Anderson Crow, your +esteemed marshal. Believe me, he is ridiculously honest. He may be a +damn fool, but he is honest. Don't blame him. Thanking you, one and all, +for your generous help in our search for the train robbers, we bid you +an affectionate farewell. We may meet again if you travel extensively on +express trains. Good-night!" + +With a taunting laugh, Andrew Gregory dropped the flap and leaped after +his companions. Bracken's chauffeur lay senseless by the roadside, and +one of the "detectives" sat in his seat. Even as the audience opened +its collective mouth to shout its wrath and surprise, the big touring +car, with six armed men aboard, leaped away with a rush. Down the dark +road it flew like an express train, its own noise drowning the shouts of +the multitude, far behind. + +Bonner, recovering from his stupefaction and rage, led the pursuit, +first commanding Rosalie to hurry home with the women and lock herself +safely indoors. + +Anderson Crow, realising what a dupe he had been in the hands of the +clever scoundrels, was covered with fear and shame. The outraged crowd +might have killed him had not his escape been made under cover of +darkness. Shivering and moaning in abject misery, the pride of +Tinkletown fled unseeing, unthinking into the forest along the river. He +was not to know until afterward that his "detectives" had stripped the +rich sojourners of at least ten thousand dollars in money and jewels. It +is not necessary to say that the performance of "As You Like It" came to +an abrupt end, because it was not as they liked it. Everybody knew by +this time that they had seen the celebrated "train robbers." + +Jackie Blake was half dressed when he leaped to his feet with an +exclamation so loud that those preceding it were whispers. + +"Holy smoke!" fell from his lips; and then he dashed across the green to +the women's dressing tent. "Cora! Cora! Come out!" + +"I can't," came back in muffled tones. + +"Then good-bye; I'm off!" he shouted. That brought her, partially +dressed, from the tent. "Say, do you remember the river road we walked +over to-day? Well, those fellows went in that direction, didn't they? +Don't you see? Aren't you on? The washout! If they don't know about it +the whole bunch is at the bottom of the ravine or in the river by this +time! Mum's the word! There's a chance, darling; the reward said 'dead +or alive!' I'm off!" + +She tried to call him back, but it was too late. With his own revolver +in his hand, the half Orlando, half Blake, tore down the rarely +travelled river road south. Behind him Tinkletown raved and wailed over +the great calamity, but generally stood impotent in the face of it all. +But few felt inclined to pursue the robbers. Blake soon had the race to +himself. It was a mile or more to the washout in the road, but the +excitement made him keen for the test. The road ran through the woods +and along the high bluff that overlooked the river. He did not know it, +but this same road was a "short cut" to the macadam pike farther south. +By taking this route the robbers gave Boggs City a wide berth. + +Blake's mind was full of the possibilities of disaster to the +over-confident fugitives. The washout was fresh, and he was counting on +the chance that they were not aware of its existence. If they struck it +even at half speed the whole party would be hurled a hundred feet down +to the edge of the river or into the current itself. In that event, +some, if not all, would be seriously injured. + +As he neared the turn in the road, his course pointed out to him by the +stars above, he was startled half out of his boots by the sudden +appearance of a man, who staggered from the roadside and wobbled +painfully away, pleading for mercy. + +"Halt, or I'll shoot!" called Jackie Blake, and the pathetic figure not +only halted, but sat down in the middle of the road. + +"For the Lord's sake, don't shoot!" groaned a hoarse voice. "I wasn't in +cahoots with them. They fooled me--they fooled me." It was Anderson +Crow, and he would have gone on interminably had not Jackie Blake +stopped him short. + +"You're the marshal, eh? The darned rube--" + +"Yes, I'm him. Call me anything, only don't shoot. Who are you?" groaned +Anderson, rising to his knees. He was holding his revolvers by the +muzzles. "Never mind who I am. I haven't time. Say, you'd better come +with me. Maybe we can head off those villains. They came this way and--" + +"Show 'em to me," roared Anderson, recognising a friend. Rage surged up +and drove out the shame in his soul. "I'll tackle the hull caboodle, +dang 'em!" And he meant it, too. + +Blake did not stop to explain, but started on, commanding Mr. Crow to +follow. With rare fore-thought the marshal donned his yellow beard as he +panted in the trail of the lithe young actor. The latter remembered that +the odds were heavily against him. The marshal might prove a valuable +aid in case of resistance, provided, of course, that they came upon the +robbers in the plight he was hoping for. + +"Where the dickens are you a-goin'?" wheezed the marshal, kicking up a +great dust in the rear. The other did not answer. His whole soul was +enveloped in the hope that the washout had trapped the robbers. He was +almost praying that it might be so. The reward could be divided with the +poor old marshal if-- + +He gave a yell of delight, an instant later, and then began jumping +straight up and down like one demented. Anderson Crow stopped so +abruptly that his knees were stiff for weeks. Jackie Blake's wild dream +had come true. The huge automobile had struck the washout, and it was +now lying at the base of the bluff, smashed to pieces on the rocks! By +the dim light from the heavens, Blake could see the black hulk down +there, but it was too dark to distinguish other objects. He was about to +descend to the river bank when Anderson Crow came up. + +"What's the matter, man?" panted he. + +"They're down there, don't you see it? They went over the bluff right +here--come on. We've got 'em!" + +"Hold on!" exclaimed Anderson, grasping his arm. "Don't rush down there +like a danged fool. If they're alive they can plug you full of bullets +in no time. Let's be careful." + +"By thunder, you're right. You're a wise old owl, after all. I never +thought of that. Let's reconnoitre." + +Tingling with excitement, the two oddly mated pursuers descended +stealthily by a roundabout way. They climbed over rocks and crept +through underbrush until finally they came to a clear spot not twenty +feet from where the great machine was lying, at the very edge of the +swift, deep current. They heard groans and faint cries, with now and +then a piteous oath. From their hiding place they counted the forms of +four men lying upon the rocks, as if dead. The two held a whispered +consultation of war, a plan of action resulting. + +"Surrender!" shouted Jackie Blake, standing forth. He and Anderson had +their pistols levelled upon the prostrate robbers. For answer there were +louder groans, a fiercer oath or two and then a weak, pain-struck voice +came out to them: + +"For God's sake, get this machine off my legs. I'm dying. Help! Help! We +surrender!" + +Ten minutes later, the jubilant captors had released the miserable +Andrew Gregory from his position beneath the machine, and had +successfully bound the hands and feet of five half-unconscious men. +Gregory's legs were crushed and one other's skull was cracked. The sixth +man was nowhere to be found. The disaster had been complete, the +downfall of the great train robbers inglorious. Looking up into the face +of Anderson Crow, Gregory smiled through his pain and said hoarsely: + +"Damned rotten luck; but if we had to be taken, I'm glad you did it, +Crow. You're a good fool, anyway. But for God's sake, get me to a +doctor." + +"Dang it! I'm sorry fer you, Mr. Gregory--" began Anderson, ready to +cry. + +"Don't waste your time, old man. I need the doctor. Are the others +dead?" he groaned. + +"I don't know," replied Jackie Blake. "Some of them look like it. We +can't carry you up that hill, but we'll do the next best thing. Marshal, +I'll stay here and guard the prisoners while you run to the village for +help--and doctors." + +"And run fast, Anderson," added Gregory. "You always were so devilish +slow. Don't walk-trot." + +Soon afterward, when Anderson, fagged but overjoyed, hobbled into the +village, the excited crowd was ready to lynch him, but with his first +words the atmosphere changed. + +"Where is Jackie Blake?" sobbed a pretty young woman, grasping the proud +marshal's arm and shaking him violently. + +"Derned if I know, ma'am. Was he stole?" + +She made him understand, and together, followed by the actors, the +audience and the whole town, they led the way to the washout, the fair +Rosalind dragging the overworked hero of the hour along at a gait which +threatened to be his undoing. + +Later on, after the five bandits had been carried to the village, Jackie +Blake gladly informed his sweetheart that they could have easy sailing +with the seven thousand dollars he expected. Anderson Crow had agreed to +take but three thousand dollars for his share in the capture. One of the +robbers was dead. The body of the sixth was found in the river weeks +afterward. + +"I'm glad I was the first on the ground," said Blake, in anticipation of +the reward which was eventually to be handed over to him. "But Anderson +Crow turned out to be a regular trump, after all. He's a corker!" He was +speaking to Wicker Bonner and a crowd of New Yorkers. + +Tinkletown began to talk of a monument to Anderson Crow, even while he +lived. The general opinion was that it should be erected while he was +still able to enjoy it and not after his death, when he would not know +anything about its size and cost. + +"By gosh! 'Twas a great capture!" swelling perceptibly. "I knowed they +couldn't escape me. Dang 'em! they didn't figger on me, did they? Pshaw! +it was reediculus of 'em to think they c'd fool me entirely, although +I'll have to confess they did fool me at first. It was a desprit gang +an' mighty slick." + +"You worked it great, Anderson," said George Ray. "Did you know about +the washout?" + +"Did I know about it?" snorted Anderson witheringly. "Why, good Gosh +a'mighty, didn't I purty near run my legs off to git there in time to +throw down the barricade before they could get there with Mr. Bracken's +automobile? Thunderation! What a fool question!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +Bill Briggs Tells a Tale + + +Tinkletown fairly bubbled with excitement. At last the eyes of the world +were upon it. News of the great sensation was flashed to the end of the +earth; every detail was gone into with harrowing minuteness. The +Hemisphere Company announced by telegraph that it stood ready to hand +over the ten thousand dollars; and the sheriff of Bramble County with +all the United States deputy marshals within reach raced at once to +Tinkletown to stick a finger in the pie. + +The morning after the "great pavilion robbery," as it was called in the +_Banner_, Anderson Crow and Bonner fared forth early to have a look at +the injured desperadoes, all of whom were safely under guard at the +reincarnated calaboose. Fifty armed men had stood guard all night long, +notwithstanding the fact that one robber was dead and the others so +badly injured that they were not expected to survive the day. + +A horseman passed the marshal and his friend near the post-office, +riding rapidly to the north. He waved his crop pleasantly to them and +Bonner responded. Anderson stopped stock still and tried to speak, but +did not succeed for a full minute; he was dumb with excitement. + +"That's him!" he managed to gasp. "The feller I saw the other day--the +man on horseback!" + +"That?" cried Bonner, laughing heartily. "Why, that is John E. Barnes, +the lawyer and probably a United States Senator some day. Good heavens, +Mr. Crow, you've made a bad guess of it this time! He is staying with +Judge Brewster, his father-in-law." + +"What! Well, by Geminy! I thought I knowed him," cried Anderson. "They +cain't fool me long, Wick--none of 'em. He's the same feller 'at run +away with Judge Brewster's daughter more'n twenty year ago. 'y Gosh, I +was standin' right on this very spot the first time I ever see him. He +sold me a hoss and buggy--but I got the money back. I arrested him the +same day." + +"Arrested John Barnes?" in amazement. + +"Yep--fer murder--only he wasn't the murderer. We follered him down the +river--him an' the girl--to Bracken's place, but they were married afore +we got there. Doggone, that was a busy day! Some blamed good detective +work was did, too. I--" + +"And Mr. Barnes was interested in Rosalie?" asked Bonner suddenly. "How +could he have known anything about her?" + +"That's what puzzles me. She came here about two years after the +elopement more er less, but I don't remember ever seein' him after that +time." + +"It's very strange, Mr. Crow," reflected Bonner soberly. "He has a son, +I know. His wife died a year or so after the boy's birth. Young Barnes +is about twenty-one, I think at this time. By George! I've heard it said +that Barnes and his wife were not hitting it off very well. They say she +died of a broken heart. I've heard mother speak of it often. I +wonder--great heavens, it isn't possible that Rosalie can be +connected in any way with John Barnes? Anderson Crow, I--I wonder if +there is a possibility?" Bonner was quivering with excitement, +wonder--and--unbelief. + +"I'm workin' on that clew," said Anderson as calmly as his tremors would +permit. He was thrilled by the mere suggestion, but it was second nature +for him to act as if every discovery were his own. "Ever sence I saw him +on the road up there, I've been trackin' him. I tell you, Wick, he's my +man. I've got it almost worked out. Just as soon as these blamed robbers +are moved to Boggs City, er buried, I'm goin' over an' git the truth out +of Mr. Barnes. I've been huntin' him fer twenty-one years." Anderson, of +course, was forgetting that Barnes had slipped from his mind completely +until Bonner nudged his memory into life. + +"It's a delicate matter, Mr. Crow. We must go about it carefully," said +Bonner severely. "If Mr. Barnes is really interested in her, we can't +find it out by blundering; if he is not interested, we can't afford to +drag him into it. It will require tact--" + +"Thunderation, don't you suppose I know that?" exploded Anderson. +"Detectives are allers tackin'. They got to, y' see, ef they're goin' to +foller half a dozen clews at oncet. Gee whiz, Wick, leave this thing to +me! I'll git at the bottom of it inside o' no time." + +"Wait a few days, Mr. Crow," argued Bonner, playing for time. "Don't +hurry. We've got all we can do now to take care of the fellows you and +that young actor captured last night." The young man's plan was to keep +Anderson off the trail entirely and give the seemingly impossible clew +into the possession of the New York bureau. + +"I don't know what I'd 'a' done ef it hadn't been fer that young +feller," said the marshal. "He was right smart help to me last night." +Bonner, who knew the true story, suppressed a smile and loved the old +man none the less for his mild deception. + +They entered the "calaboose," which now had all the looks and odours of +a hospital. A half-dozen doctors had made the four injured men as +comfortable as possible. They were stretched on mattresses in the jail +dining-room, guarded by a curious horde of citizens. + +"That's Gregory!" whispered Anderson, as they neared the suffering +group. He pointed to the most distant cot. "That's jest the way he swore +last night. He must 'a' shaved in the automobile last night," though +Gregory had merely discarded the false whiskers he had worn for days. + +"Wait!" exclaimed Bonner, stopping short beside the first cot. He +stooped and peered intently into the face of the wounded bandit. "By +George!" + +"What's up?" + +"As I live, Mr. Crow, this fellow was one of the gang that abducted +Rosalie Gray last winter. I can swear to it. Don't you remember the one +she tried to intercede for? Briggs! That's it! Briggs!" + +The injured man slowly opened his eyes as the name was half shouted. A +sickly grin spread slowly over his pain-racked face. + +"She tried to intercede fer me, did she?" he murmured weakly. "She said +she would. She was square." + +"You were half decent to her," said Bonner. "How do you happen to be +with this gang? Another kidnaping scheme afloat?" + +"No--not that I know of. Ain't you the guy that fixed us? Say, on the +dead, I was goin' to do the right thing by her that night. I was duckin' +the gang when you slugged me. Honest, mister, I was goin' to put her +friends next. Say, I don't know how bad I'm hurt, but if I ever git to +trial, do what you can fer me, boss. On the dead, I was her friend." + +Bonner saw pity in Anderson's face and rudely dragged him away, although +Bill's plea was not addressed to the old marshal. + +"Wait for me out here, Mr. Crow," said he when they reached the office. +"You are overcome. I'll talk to him." He returned at once to the injured +man's cot. + +"Look here, Briggs, I'll do what I can for you, but I'm afraid it won't +help much. What do the doctors say?" + +"If they ain't lyin', I'll be up an' about in a few weeks. Shoulder and +some ribs cracked and my legs stove up. I can't move. God, that was an +awful tumble!" He shuddered in memory of the auto's leap. + +"Is Sam or Davy in this gang?" + +"No; Davy's at Blackwell's Island, an' Sam told me he was goin' to +Canada fer his health. Jim Courtney is the leader of this gang. He +sailed under the name of Gregory. That's him swearin' at the rubes." + +"The thing for you to do is to make a clean breast of it, Briggs. It +will go easier with you." + +"Turn State's evidence? What good will that do when we was all caught +with the goods?" + +"If you will tell us all of the inside facts concerning the abduction +I'll guarantee that something can be done to lighten your sentence. I am +Congressman Bonner's nephew." + +"So? I thought you was the swellest hold-up man I ever met, that night +out in the woods. You'd do credit to Sam Welch himself. I'll tell you +all I know, pardner, but it ain't a great deal. It won't do me any good +to keep my mouth shut now, an', if you say so, it may help me to squeal. +But, fer the Lord's sake, have one of these rotten doctors give me +something to make me sleep. Don't they know what morphine is for?" + +Growling and cursing at the doctors, Bill was moved into the office. +Anderson came in from the dining-room at that juncture, visibly excited. + +"I've got a confession from Gregory," he said. "He confesses that he +oughter be hung." + +"What!" + +"That's what he said--'y ginger. Here's his very words, plain as day: 'I +oughter be hung half a dozen times.' 'What fer?' says I. 'Fer bein' sech +a damned ass,' said he. 'But that ain't a hangable offence,' said I. +You know, I kinder like Gregory, spite of all. 'It's the worst crime in +the world,' said he. 'Then you confess you've committed it?' said I, +anxious to pin him right down to it, y' see.' 'ou bet I do. Ef they hang +me it'll be because I'm a drivelling idiot, an' not because I've shot +one er two in my time. Nobody but an ass could be caught at it, an' +that's why I feel so infernal guilty. Look here, Mr. Crow, ever' time +you see a feller that's proved himself a downright ass, jest take him +out an' lynch him. He deserves it, that's all I've got to say. The +greatest crime in the world is criminal neglect.' Don't bother me now, +Wick; I'm going to write that down an' have him sign it." + +"Look here, pard," said Bill Briggs, laboriously breaking in upon their +conversation; "I want to do the right thing by you an' her as fer as I +can. You've been good to me, an' I won't fergit it. Besides, you said +you'd make things easy fer me if I told you what I knowed about that job +last winter. Well, I'd better tell it now, 'cause I'm liable to pass in +my checks before these doctors git through with me. An' besides, they'll +be haulin' me off to the county seat in a day or two. Now, this is dead +straight, I'm goin' to give you. Maybe it won't help you none, but 'll +give you a lead." + +"Go on," cried Bonner breathlessly. + +"Well, Sam Welch come to me in Branigan's place one night--that's in +Fourt' Avenue--an' says he's got a big job on. We went over to Davy +Wolfe's house an' found him an' his mother--the old fairy, you remember. +Well, to make it short, Sam said it was a kidnaping job an' the Wolfes +was to be in on it because they used to live in this neighbourhood an' +done a lot of work here way back in the seventies. There was to be five +thousand dollars in the job if we got that girl safe on board a ship +bound fer Europe. Sam told us that the guy what engineered the game was +a swell party an' a big boy in politics, finance, society an' ever'thin' +else. He could afford to pay, but he didn't want to be seen in the job. +Nobody but Sam ever seen his face. Sam used to be in politics some. Jest +before we left New York to come up here, the swell guy comes around to +Davy's with another guy fer final orders. See? It was as cold as h---- +as the dickens--an' the two of 'em was all muffled up so's we couldn't +get a pipe at their mugs. One of 'em was old--over fifty, I guess--an' +the other was a young chap. I'm sure of that. + +"They said that one or the other of 'em would be in this neighbourhood +when the job was pulled off; that one thousand dollars would be paid +down when we started; another thousand when we got 'er into the cave; +and the rest when we had 'er at the dock in New York--alive an' unhurt. +See? We was given to understand that she was to travel all the rest of +'er life fer 'er health. I remember one thing plain: The old man said to +the young 'un: 'She must not know a thing of this, or it will ruin +everything.' He wasn't referrin' to the girl either. There was another +woman in the case. They seemed mighty anxious to pull the job off +without this woman gettin' next. + +"Well, we got ready to start, and the two parties coughed up the +thousand plunks--that is, the young 'un handed it over to Sam when the +old 'un told him to. Sam took three hundred and the rest of us two +hundred a piece. When they were lookin' from the winder to see that +nobody on the streets was watchin' the house, I asked Sam if he knowed +either of them by name. He swore he didn't, but I think he lied. But +jest before they left the house, I happened to look inside of the old +boy's hat--he had a stiff dicer. There was a big gilt letter in the top +of it." + +"What was that letter?" demanded Bonner eagerly. + +"It was a B." + +Bonner looked at Anderson as if the floor were being drawn from under +his feet. + +"The young chap said somethin' low to the old 'un about takin' the night +train back to the University an' comin' down again Saturday." + +"To the University? Which one? Did he mention the name?" cried Bonner. + +"No. That's all he said." + +"Good heavens, if it should be!" said Bonner as if to himself. + +"Well, we come up here an' done the job. You know about that, I guess. +Sam saw the young feller one night up at Boggs City, an' got +instructions from him. He was to help us git 'er away from here in an +automobile, an' the old man was to go across the ocean with 'er. That's +all I know. It didn't turn out their way that time, but Sam says it's +bound to happen." + +Bonner, all eagerness and excitement, quickly looked around for +Anderson, but the marshal had surreptitiously left the room. Then, +going over to the door, he called for Anderson Crow. Bud Long was there. + +"Anderson left five minutes ago, Mr. Bonner, hurryin' like the dickens, +too," he said. "He's gone to hunt up a feller named Barnes. He told me +to tell you when you came out." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +Elsie Banks Returns + + +Bonner, considerably annoyed and alarmed by the marshal's actions, made +every effort to turn him back before he could ruin everything by an +encounter with Mr. Barnes. He sent men on bicycles and horseback to +overtake him; but the effort was unsuccessful. Mr. Crow had secured a +"ride" in an automobile which had brought two newspaper correspondents +over from Boggs City. They speeded furiously in order to catch a train +for New York, but agreed to drop the marshal at the big bridge, not more +than a mile from Judge Brewster's place. + +Chagrined beyond expression, he made ready to follow Anderson with all +haste in his own machine. Rosalie hurriedly perfected preparations to +accompany him. She was rejoining the house party that day, was consumed +by excitement over the situation, and just as eager as Bonner to +checkmate the untimely operations of poor old Anderson Crow. + +The marshal had more than half an hour's start of them. Bonner was his +own chauffeur and he was a reckless one to-day. Luck was against him at +the outset. The vigorous old detective inspired to real speed, for the +first time in his lackadaisacal life, left the newspaper men at the +bridge nearly three-quarters of an hour before Bonner passed the same +spot, driving furiously up the hill toward Judge Brewster's. + +"If your bothersome old daddy gets his eyes on Barnes before I can head +him off, dearest, the jig will be up," groaned Bonner, the first words +he had spoken in miles. "Barnes will be on his guard and ready for +anything. The old--pardon me, for saying it--the old jay ought to know +the value of discretion in a case like this." + +"Poor old daddy," she sighed, compassion in her heart. "He thinks he is +doing it for the best. Wicker, I hope it is--it is not Mr. Barnes," she +added, voicing a thought which had been struggling in her mind for a +long time. + +"Why not, dearest?" + +"It would mean one of two things. Either he does not want to recognise +me as his child--or cannot, which is even worse. Wicker, I don't want to +know the truth. I am afraid--I am afraid." + +She was trembling like a leaf and there was positive distress in her +eyes, eyes half covered by lids tense with alarm. + +"Don't feel that way about it, dear," cried he, recovering from his +astonishment and instantly grasping the situation as it must have +appeared to her. "To tell you the truth, I do not believe that Mr. +Barnes is related to you in any way. If he is connected with the case at +all, it is in the capacity of attorney." + +"But he is supposed to be an honourable man." + +"True, and I still believe him to be. It does not seem possible that he +can be engaged in such work as this. We are going altogether on +supposition--putting two and two together, don't you know, and hoping +they will stick. But, in any event, we must not let any chance slip by. +If he is interested, we must bring him to time. It may mean the +unravelling of the whole skein, dear. Don't look so distressed. Be +brave. It doesn't matter what we learn in the end, I love you just the +same. You shall be my wife." + +"I _do_ love you, Wicker. I will always love you." + +"Dear little sweetheart!" + +They whirled up to the lodge gate at Judge Brewster's place at last, the +throbbing machine coming to a quick stop. Before he called out to the +lodge keeper, Bonner impulsively drew her gloveless hand to his lips. + +"Nothing can make any difference now," he said. + +The lodge keeper, in reply to Bonner's eager query, informed them that +Mr. Barnes had gone away ten or fifteen minutes before with an old man +who claimed to be a detective, and who had placed the great lawyer under +arrest. + +"Good Lord!" gasped Bonner with a sinking heart. + +"It's an outrage, sir! Mr. Barnes is the best man in the world. He never +wronged no one, sir. There's an 'orrible mistake, sir," groaned the +lodge keeper. "Judge Brewster is in Boggs City, and the man wouldn't +wait for his return. He didn't even want to tell Mr. Barnes what 'e was +charged with." + +"Did you ever hear of anything so idiotic?" roared Bonner. Rosalie was +white and red by turn. "What direction did they take?" + +"The constable told Mr. Barnes he'd 'ave to go to Tinkletown with 'im at +once, sir, even if he 'ad to walk all the way. The old chap said +something, sir, about a man being there who could identify him on sight. +Mr. Barnes 'ad to laugh, sir, and appeared to take it all in good +humour. He said he'd go along of 'im, but he wouldn't walk. So he got +his own auto out, sir, and they went off together. They took the short +cut, sir, by the ferry road, 'eaded for Tinkletown. Mr. Barnes said he'd +be back before noon, sir--if he wasn't lynched." + +"It's all over," groaned Bonner dejectedly. Something had slipped from +under his feet and he was dangling in space, figuratively speaking. +"There's nothing to do, Rosalie, except to chase them down. Mr. Crow has +ruined everything. I'll leave you at Bonner Place with mother and Edith, +and I'll hurry back to Tinkletown." + +The excitement was too much for Rosalie's nerves. She was in a state of +physical collapse when he set her down at his uncle's summer home half +an hour later. Leaving her to explain the situation to the curious +friends, he set speed again for Tinkletown, inwardly cursing Anderson +Crow for a meddling old fool. + +In the meantime Tinkletown was staring open-mouthed upon a new +sensation. The race between Anderson and Bonner was hardly under way +when down the main street of the town came a jaded team and surrey. +Behind the driver sat a pretty young woman with an eager expression on +her pale face, her gaze bent intently on the turn in the street which +hid Anderson Crow's home from view. Beside the young woman lounged +another of her sex, much older, and to all appearances, in a precarious +state of health. The young men along the street gasped in amazement and +then ventured to doff their timid hats to the young woman, very much as +if they were saluting a ghost. Few of them received a nod of recognition +from Elsie Banks, one-time queen of all their hearts. + +Roscoe Crow bounded out to the gate when he saw who was in the carriage, +first shouting to his mother and sisters, who were indoors receiving +congratulations and condolences from their neighbours. + +Miss Banks immediately inquired if she could see Rosalie. + +"She ain't here," said Roscoe. "She's away fer a month--over at the +Bonners'. He's her feller, you know. Ma! Here's Miss Banks! Edner! Sue!" +Mrs. Crow and the girls flew out to the gate, babbling their surprise +and greetings. + +"This is my mother," introduced the young lady. "We have just come from +New York, Mrs. Crow. We sail for England this week, and I must see +Rosalie before we go. How can we get to Mr. Bonner's place?" + +"It's across the river, about twelve miles from here," said Mrs. Crow. +"Come in and rest yourselves. You don't have to go back to-day, do you? +Ain't you married yet?" + +"No, Mrs. Crow," responded Elsie, with a stiff, perfunctory smile. +"Thank you, we cannot stop. It is necessary that we return to New York +to-night, but I must see Rosalie before going. You see, Mrs. Crow, I do +not expect to return to America. We are to live in London forever, I +fear. It may be the last chance I'll have to see Rosalie. I must go on +to Bonner Place to-day. But, dear me, I am so tired and hot, and it is +so far to drive," she cried ruefully. "Do you know the way, driver?" The +driver gruffly admitted that he did not. Roscoe eagerly bridged the +difficulty by offering to act as pathfinder. + +At first Mrs. Banks tried to dissuade her daughter from undertaking the +long trip, but the girl was obstinate. Her mother then flatly refused to +accompany her, complaining of her head and heart. In the end the elder +lady decided to accept Mrs. Crow's invitation to remain at the house +until Elsie's return. + +"I shall bring Rosalie back with me, mother," said Elsie as she prepared +to drive away. Mrs. Banks, frail and wan, bowed her head listlessly and +turned to follow her hostess indoors. With Roscoe in the seat with the +driver, the carriage started briskly off down the shady street, headed +for the ferry road and Bonner Place. + +To return to Anderson Crow and his precipitancy. Just as the lodge +keeper had said, the marshal, afoot and dusty, descended upon Mr. Barnes +without ceremony. The great lawyer was strolling about the grounds when +his old enemy arrived. He recognised the odd figure as it approached +among the trees. + +"Hello, Mr. Crow!" he called cheerily. "Are you going to arrest me +again?" He advanced to shake hands. + +"Yes, sir; you are my prisoner," said Anderson, panting, but stern. "I +know you, Mr. Barnes. It won't do you any good to deny it." + +"Come in and sit down. You look tired," said Barnes genially, regarding +his words as a jest; but Anderson proudly stood his ground. + +"You can't come any game with me. It won't do you no good to be perlite, +my man. This time you don't git away." + +"You don't mean to say you are in earnest?" cried Barnes. + +"I never joke when on duty. Come along with me. You c'n talk afterward. +Your hirelin' is in jail an' he c'n identify you; so don't resist." + +"Wait a moment, sir. What is the charge?" + +"I don't know yet. You know better'n I do what it is." + +"Look here, Mr. Crow. You arrested me the first time I ever saw you, and +now you yank me up again, after all these years. Haven't you anything +else to do but arrest me by mistake? Is that your only occupation?" + +Anderson sputtered indignantly. Driven to it, he informed John Barnes +that he was charged with kidnaping, attempted murder, polygamy, child +desertion, and nearly everything else under the sun. Barnes, at first +indignant, finally broke into a hearty laugh. He magnanimously agreed to +accompany his captor to Tinkletown. Not only that, but he provided the +means of transportation. To the intense dismay of the servants, he +merrily departed with Mr. Crow, a prisoner operating his own patrol +wagon. The two were smoking the captive's best cigars. + +"It's mighty nice of you, Mr. Barnes, to let us use your autermobile," +said Anderson, benignly puffing away as they bowled off through the +dust. "It would 'a' been a long walk. I'll speak a good word fer you fer +this." + +"Don't mention it, old chap. I rather enjoy it. It's been uncommonly +dull up here. I did not get away as soon as I expected, you see. So I am +charged with being Rosalie's father, eh? And deserting her? And +kidnaping her? By jove, I ought to be hung for all this!" + +"'Tain't nothin' to laugh at, my friend. You ought to be ashamed of +yourself. I was onto you the day you stopped me in the road an' ast +about her. What a fool you was. Reg'lar dead give-away." + +"See here, Mr. Crow, I don't like to upset your hopes and calculations," +said Barnes soberly. "I did that once before, you remember. That was +years ago. You were wrong then, and you are wrong now. Shall I tell you +why I am interested in this pretty waif of yours?" + +"It ain't necessary," protested the marshal. + +"I'll tell you just the same. My son met her in New York while he was at +school. He heard her story from mutual friends and repeated it to me. I +was naturally interested, and questioned you. He said she was very +pretty. That is the whole story, my dear sir." + +"That's all very purty, but how about the B in your hat?" + +"I don't understand. Oh, you mean the political bee?" + +"Politics, your granny! I mean the 'nitial that Briggs saw. No; hold on! +Don't answer. Don't say anything that'll incriminate yourself." + +"I never had an initial in my hat, and I don't know Briggs. Mr. Crow, +you are as crazy as a loon." He prepared to bring the machine to a +standstill. "I'm going home. You can ride back with me or get out and +walk on, just as you please." + +"Hold on! Don't do that! I'll see that you're paid fer the use of the +machine. Besides, consarn ye, you're my prisoner." This was too much for +Barnes. He laughed long and loud, and he did not turn back. + +Just beyond the ferry they turned aside to permit a carriage to pass. A +boy on the box with the driver shouted frantically after them, and +Anderson tried to stop the machine himself. + +"Stop her!" he cried; "that's Roscoe, my boy. Hold on! Who's that with +him? Why, by cracky, it's Miss Banks! Gee whiz, has she come back here +to teach again? Whoa! Turn her around, Mr. Barnes. They are motionin' +fer us to come back. 'Pears to be important, too." + +Barnes obligingly turned around and ran back to where the carriage was +standing. An hour later the automobile rolled into the driveway at +Bonner Place, and Anderson Crow, a glorious triumph in his face, handed +Miss Banks from the tonneau and into the arms of Rosalie Gray, who at +first had mistaken the automobile for another. Pompous to the point of +explosion, Anderson waved his hand to the party assembled on the +veranda, strolled around to Mr. Barnes's seat and acquired a light for +his cigar with a nonchalance that almost overcame his one-time prisoner, +and then said, apparently to the whole world, for he addressed no one in +particular: + +"I knowed I could solve the blamed thing if they'd jest give me time." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + +The Story is Told + + +Elsie Banks had a small and select audience in Mrs. Bonner's room +upstairs. She had come from New York--or from California, strictly +speaking--to furnish the narrative which was to set Rosalie Gray's mind +at rest forever-more. It was not a pleasant task; it was not an easy +sacrifice for this spirited girl who had known luxury all her life. Her +spellbound hearers were Mrs. Bonner and Edith, Wicker Bonner, Anderson +Crow, Rosalie, and John E. Barnes, who, far from being a captive of the +law, was now Miss Gray's attorney, retained some hours before by his +former captor. + +"I discharge you, sir," Anderson had said, after hearing Miss Bank's +statement in the roadway. "You are no longer a prisoner. Have you +anything to say, sir?" + +"Nothing, Mr. Crow, except to offer my legal services to you and your +ward in this extraordinary matter. Put the matter in my hands, sir, and +she shall soon come into her own, thanks to this young lady. I may add +that, as I am not in the habit of soliciting clients, it is not my +intention in this instance to exact a fee from your ward. My services +are quite free, given in return, Mr. Crow, for the magnanimous way in +which you have taken me into your confidence ever since I have known +you. It is an honour to have been arrested by you; truthfully it is no +disgrace." + +In the privacy of Mrs. Bonner's sitting-room, Elsie Banks, dry-eyed and +bitter, told the story of her life. I cannot tell it as she did, for she +was able to bring tears to the eyes of her listeners. It is only for me +to relate the bare facts, putting them into her words as closely as +possible. Rosalie Gray, faint with astonishment and incredulity, a lump +in her throat that would not go down, and tears in her eyes, leaned back +in an easy-chair and watched her unhappy friend. + +"I shall provide Mr. Barnes with proof of everything I say," said Miss +Banks. "There can be no difficulty, Rosalie dear, in confirming all that +I have to tell. If you will permit me to relate the story without +interruption and afterward let me go my way without either pity or +contempt, I shall be, oh, so grateful to you all--especially to you, +dear Rosalie. Believe me I love you with my whole soul. + +"I have come to you voluntarily, and my mother, who is in Tinkletown, in +resigning herself to the calls of conscience, is now happier than she +has ever been before. A more powerful influence than her own will or her +own honour, an influence that was evil to the core, inspired her to +countenance this awful wrong. It also checkmated every good impulse she +may have had to undo it in after years. That influence came from Oswald +Banks, a base monster to whom my mother was married when I was a year +old. My mother was the daughter of Lord Abbott Brace, but married my own +father, George Stuart, who was a brilliant but radical newspaper writer +in London, against her father's wish. For this he cast her off and +disinherited her. Grandfather hated him and his views, and he could not +forgive my mother even after my father died, which was two years after +their marriage. + +"Lord Richard Brace, my mother's only brother, married the daughter of +the Duchess of B----. You, Rosalie, are Lady Rosalie Brace of Brace +Hall, W--shire, England, the true granddaughter of General Lord Abbott +Brace, one of the noblest and richest men of his day. Please let me go +on; I cannot endure the interruptions. The absolute, unalterable proof +of what I say shall be established through the confession of my own +mother, in whose possession lies every document necessary to give back +to you that which she would have given to me. + +"Your mother died a few weeks after you were born, and Sir Richard, who +loved my mother in the face of his father's displeasure, placed you in +her care, while he rushed off, heart-broken, to find solace in Egypt. It +is said that he hated you because you were the cause of her death. On +the day after your birth, old Lord Brace changed his will and bequeathed +a vast amount of unentailed property to you, to be held in trust by your +father until you were twenty-one years of age. I was almost two years +old at the time, and the old man, unexpectedly compassionate, inserted a +provision which, in the event that you were to die before that time, +gave all this money to me on my twenty-first birthday. The interest on +this money, amounting to five thousand pounds annually, was to go to +you regularly, in one case, or to me, in the other. Oswald Banks was an +American, whom my mother had met in London several years prior to her +first marriage. He was the London representative of a big Pennsylvania +manufacturing concern. He was ambitious, unscrupulous and clever beyond +conception. He still is all of these and more, for he is now a coward. + +"Well, it was he who concocted the diabolical scheme to one day get +possession of your inheritance. He coerced my poor mother into +acquiescense, and she became his wretched tool instead of an honoured +wife and helpmate. One night, when you were three weeks old, the house +in which we lived was burned to the ground, the inmates narrowly +escaping. So narrow was the escape, in fact, that you were said to have +been left behind in the confusion, and the world was told, the next day, +that the granddaughter of Lord Brace had been destroyed by the flames. + +"The truth, however, was not told. My stepfather did not dare to go so +far as to kill you. It was he who caused the fire, but he had you +removed to a small hotel in another part of the city some hours earlier, +secretly, of course, but in charge of a trusted maid. My mother was +responsible for this. She would not listen to his awful plan to leave +you in the house. But you might just as well have died. No one was the +wiser and you were given up as lost. A week later, my mother and Mr. +Banks started for America. You and I were with them, but you went as the +daughter of a maid-servant--Ellen Hayes. + +"This is the story as my mother has told it to me after all these years. +My stepfather's plan, of course, was to place you where you could never +be found, and then to see to it that our grandfather did not succeed in +changing his will. Moreover, he was bound and determined that he himself +should be named as trustee--when the fortune came over at Lord Brace's +death. That part of it turned out precisely as he had calculated. Let me +go on a few months in advance of my story. Lord Brace died, and the will +was properly probated and the provisions carried out. Brace Hall and the +estates went to your father and the bequest came to me, for you were +considered dead. My stepfather was made trustee. He gave bond in England +and America, I believe. In any event, the fortune was to be mine when I +reached the age of twenty-one, but each year the income, nearly +twenty-five thousand dollars, was to be paid to my stepfather as +trustee, to be safely invested by him. My mother's name was not +mentioned in the document, except once, to identify me as the +beneficiary. I can only add to this phase of the hateful conspiracy, +that for nineteen years my stepfather received this income, and that he +used it to establish his own fortune. By investing what was supposed to +be my money, he has won his own way to wealth. + +"Mr. Banks decided that the operations were safest from this side of the +Atlantic. He and my mother took up their residence in New York, and it +has been their home ever since. He spent the first half year after your +suspected death in London, solely for the purpose of establishing +himself in Lord Brace's favour. Within a year after the death of Lord +Brace your father was killed by a poacher on the estate. He had but +lately returned from Egypt, and was in full control of the lands and +property attached to Brace Hall. If my stepfather had designs upon Brace +Hall, they failed, for the lands and the title went at once to your +father's cousin, Sir Harry Brace, the present lord. + +"So much for the conditions in England then and now. I now return to +that part of the story which most interests and concerns you. My poor +mother was compelled, within a fortnight after we landed in New York, to +give up the dangerous infant who was always to hang like a cloud between +fortune and honour. The maid-servant was paid well for her silence. By +the way, she died mysteriously soon after coming to America, but not +before giving to my mother a signed paper setting forth clearly every +detail in so far as it bore upon her connection with the hateful +transaction. Conscience was forever at work in my mother's heart; honour +was constantly struggling to the surface, only to be held back by fear +of and loyalty to the man she loved. + +"It was decided that the most humane way to put you out of existence was +to leave you on the doorstep of some kindly disposed person, far from +New York. My stepfather and my mother deliberately set forth on this +so-called mission of mercy. They came north, and by chance, fell in with +a resident of Boggs City while in the station at Albany. They were +debating which way to turn for the next step. My mother was firm in the +resolve that you should be left in the care of honest, reliable, +tender-hearted people, who would not abuse the trust she was to impose. +The Boggs City man said he had been in Albany to see about a bill in the +legislature, which was to provide for the erection of a monument in +Tinkletown--where a Revolutionary battle had been fought. It was he who +spoke of Anderson Crow, and it was his stories of your goodness and +generosity, Mr. Crow, that caused them to select you as the man who was +to have Rosalie, and, with her, the sum of one thousand dollars a year +for your trouble and her needs. + +"My mother's description of that stormy night in February, more than +twenty-one years ago, is the most pitiful thing I have ever listened to. +Together they made their way to Tinkletown, hiring a vehicle in Boggs +City for the purpose. Mr. Banks left the basket on your porch while +mother stood far down the street and waited for him, half frozen and +heartsick. Then they hurried out of town and were soon safely on their +way to New York. It was while my stepfather was in London, later on, +that mother came up to see Rosalie and make that memorable first payment +to Mr. Crow. How it went on for years, you all know. It was my +stepfather's cleverness that made it so impossible to learn the source +from which the mysterious money came. + +"We travelled constantly, always finding new places of interest in which +my mother's conscience could be eased by contact with beauty and +excitement. Gradually she became hardened to the conditions, for, after +all, was it not her own child who was to be enriched by the theft and +the deception? Mr. Banks constantly forced that fact in upon her +mother-love and her vanity. Through it all, however, you were never +neglected nor forgotten. My mother had your welfare always in mind. It +was she who saw that you and I were placed at the same school in New +York, and it was she who saw that your training in a way was as good as +it could possibly be without exciting risk. + +"Of course, I knew nothing of all this. I was rolling in wealth and +luxury, but not in happiness. Instinctively I loathed my stepfather. He +was hard, cruel, unreasonable. It was because of him that I left school +and afterward sought to earn my own living. You know, Rosalie, how Tom +Reddon came into my life. He was the son of William Reddon, my +stepfather's business partner, who had charge of the Western branch of +the concern in Chicago. We lived in Chicago for several years, +establishing the business. Mr. Banks was until recently president of the +Banks & Reddon Iron Works. Last year, you doubtless know, the plant was +sold to the great combine and the old company passed out of existence. +This act was the result of a demand from England that the trust under +which he served be closed and struck from the records. It was his plan +to settle the matter, turn the inheritance over to me according to law, +and then impose upon my inexperience for all time to come. The money, +while mine literally, was to be his in point of possession. + +"But he had reckoned without the son of his partner. Tom Reddon in some +way learned the secret, and he was compelled to admit the young man into +all of his plans. This came about some three years ago, while I was in +school. I had known Tom Reddon in Chicago. He won my love. I cannot deny +it, although I despise him to-day more deeply than I ever expect to hate +again. He was even more despicable than my stepfather. Without the +faintest touch of pity, he set about to obliterate every chance Rosalie +could have had for restitution. Time began to prove to me that he was +not the man I thought him to be. His nature revealed itself; and I found +I could not marry him. Besides, my mother was beginning to repent. She +awoke from her stupor of indifference and strove in every way to +circumvent the plot of the two conspirators, so far as I was concerned. +The strain told on her at last, and we went to California soon after my +ridiculous flight from Tinkletown last winter. It was not until after +that adventure that I began to see deep into the wretched soul of Tom +Reddon. + +"Then came the most villainous part of the whole conspiracy. Reddon, +knowing full well that exposure was possible at any time, urged my +stepfather to have you kidnaped and hurried off to some part of the +world where you could never be found. Even Reddon did not have the +courage to kill you. Neither had the heart to commit actual murder. It +was while we were at Colonel Randall's place that the abduction took +place, you remember. Mr. Banks and Tom Reddon had engaged their men in +New York. These desperadoes came to Boggs City while Tom was here to +watch their operations. All the time Mr. Crow was chasing us down +Reddon was laughing in his sleeve, for he knew what was to happen during +the marshal's absence. You know how successfully he managed the job. It +was my stepfather's fault that it did not succeed. + +"My mother, down in New York, driven to the last extreme, had finally +turned on him and demanded that he make restitution to Rosalie Gray, as +we had come to know her. Of course, there was a scene and almost a +catastrophe. He was so worried over the position she was taking, that he +failed to carry out his part of the plans, which were to banish Rosalie +forever from this country. You were to have been taken to Paris, dear, +and kept forever in one of those awful sanitoriums. They are worse than +the grave. In the meantime, the delay gave Mr. Bonner a chance to rescue +you from the kidnapers. + +"Shortly after reaching New York I quarrelled with Thomas Reddon, and my +mother and I fled to California. He followed us and sought a +reconciliation. I loathed him so much by this time, that I appealed to +my mother. It was then that she told me this miserable story, and that +is why we are in Tinkletown to-day. We learned in some way of the plot +to kidnap you and to place you where you could not be found. The inhuman +scheme of my stepfather and his adviser was to have my mother declared +insane and confined in an asylum, where her truthful utterances could +never be heard by the world, or if they were, as the ravings of a mad +woman. + +"The day that we reached New York my mother _placed_ the documents and +every particle of proof in her possession in the hands of the British +Consul. The story was told to him and also to certain attorneys. A +member of his firm visited my stepfather and confronted him with the +charges. That very night Mr. Banks disappeared, leaving behind him a +note, in which he said we should never see his face again. Tom Reddon +has gone to Europe. My mother and I expect to sail this week for +England, and I have come to ask Rosalie to accompany us. I want her to +stand at last on the soil which knows her to be Rosalie Brace. The +fortune which was mine last week is hers to-day. We are not poor, +Rosalie dear, but we are not as rich as we were when we had all that +belonged to you." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI + +Anderson Crow's Resignation + + +Some days later Anderson Crow returned to Tinkletown from New York, +where he had seen Rosalie Bonner and her husband off for England, +accompanied by Mrs. Banks and Elsie, who had taken passage on the same +steamer. He was attired in a brand-new suit of blue serge, a panama hat, +and patent-leather shoes which hurt his feet. Moreover, he carried a new +walking stick with a great gold head and there was a huge pearl +scarf-pin in his necktie Besides all this, his hair and beard had been +trimmed to perfection by a Holland House barber. Every morning his wife +was obliged to run a flatiron over his trousers to perpetuate the +crease. Altogether Anderson was a revelation not only to his family and +to the town at large, but to himself as well. He fairly staggered every +time he got a glimpse of himself in the shop windows. + +All day long he strolled about the street, from store to store, or +leaned imposingly against every post that presented itself conveniently. +Naturally he was the talk of the town. + +"Gee-mi-nently!" ejaculated Alf Reesling, catching sight of him late in +the day. "Is that the president?" + +"It's Anderson Crow," explained Blootch Peabody. + +"Who's dead?" demanded Alf. + +"What's that got to do with it?" + +"Why, whose clothes is he wearin'?" pursued Alf, utterly overcome by the +picture. + +"You'd better not let him hear you say that," cautioned Isaac Porter. +"He got 'em in New York. He says young Mr. Bonner give 'em to him fer a +weddin' present. Rosalie give him a pearl dingus to wear in his cravat, +an' derned ef he don't have to wear a collar all the time now. That +lawyer Barnes give him the cane. Gee whiz! he looks like a king, don't +he?" + +At that moment Anderson approached the group in front of Lamson's store. +He walked with a stateliness that seemed to signify pain in his lower +extremities more than it did dignity higher up. + +"How fer out do you reckon they are by this time, Blootch?" he asked +earnestly. + +"'Bout ten miles further than when you asked while ago," responded +Blootch, consulting his watch. + +"Well, that ought to get 'em to Liverpool sometime soon then. They took +a powerful fast ship. Makes it in less 'n six days, they say. Let's see. +They sailed day before yesterday. They must be out sight o' land by this +time." + +"Yes, unless they're passin' some islands," agreed Blootch. + +"Thunderation! What air you talkin' about?" said Anderson scornfully. +"Cuby an' Porty Rico's been passed long ago. Them islands ain't far from +Boston. Don't you remember how skeered the Boston people were durin' the +war with Spain? Feared the Spanish shells might go a little high an' +smash up the town? Islands nothin'! They've got away out into deep +water by this time, boys. 'y Gosh, I'm anxious about Rosalie. S'posin' +that derned boat struck a rock er upset er somethin'! They never could +swim ashore." + +"Oh, there's no danger, Anderson," said Mr. Lamson. "Those boats are +perfectly safe. I suppose they're going to telegraph you when they +land." + +"No, they're goin' to cable, Wick says. Doggone, I'm glad it's all +settled. You don't know how hard I've worked all these years to find out +who her parents was. Course I knowed they were foreigners all the time, +but Rosalie never had no brogue, so you c'n see how I was threw off the +track. She talked jest as good American as we do. I was mighty glad when +I finally run Miss Banks to earth." The crowd was in no position to +argue the point with him. "That Miss Banks is a fine girl, boys. She +done the right thing. An' so did my Rosalie--I mean Lady Rosalie. She +made Elsie keep some of the money. Mr. Barnes is goin' to England next +week to help settle the matter for Lady Rosalie. He says she's got +nearly a million dollars tied up some'eres. It's easy sailin', though, +'cause Mrs. Banks says so. Did you hear what Rosalie said when she got +convinced about bein' an English lady?" + +"No; what did she say?" + +"She jest stuck up that derned little nose o' hern an' said: 'I am an +American as long as I live.'" + +"Hooray!" shouted Alf Reesling, throwing Isaac Porter's new hat into the +air. The crowd joined in the cheering. + +"Did I ever tell you how I knowed all along that it was a man who left +Rosalie on the porch?" asked Anderson. + +"Why, you allus told me it was a woman," said Alf. "You accused me of +bein' her." + +"Shucks! Woman nothin'! I knowed it was a man. Here's somethin' you +don't know, Alf. I sized up the foot-prints on my front steps jest after +she--I mean he--dropped the basket. The toes turned outward, plain as +day, right there in the snow." He paused to let the statement settle in +their puzzled brains. "Don't you know that one hunderd percent of the +women turn their toes in when they go upstairs? To keep from hookin' +into their skirts? Thunder, you oughter of thought of that, too!" + +Some one had posted Anderson on this peculiarly feminine trait, and he +was making the best of it. Incidentally, it may be said that every man +in Tinkletown took personal observations in order to satisfy himself. + +"Any one seen Pastor MacFarlane?" went on Anderson. "Wick Bonner give me +a hunderd dollar bill to give him fer performin' the ceremony up to our +house that night. G'way, Ed Higgins! I'm not goin' 'round showin' that +bill to people. If robbers got onto the fact I have it, they'd probably +try to steal it. I don't keer if you ain't seen that much money in one +piece. That's none of my lookout. Say, are you comin' to the town +meetin' to-night?" + +They were all at the meeting of the town board that night. It was held, +as usual, in Odd Fellows' Hall, above Peterson's dry-goods store, and +there was not so much as standing room in the place when the clerk read +the minutes of the last meeting. Word had gone forth that something +unusual was to happen. It was not idle rumour, for soon after the +session began, Anderson Crow arose to address the board. + +"Gentlemen," he said, his voice trembling with emotion, "I have come +before you as I notified you I would. I hereby tender my resignation as +marshal of Tinkletown, street commissioner and chief of the fire +department--an' any other job I may have that has slipped my mind. I now +suggest that you app'int Mr. Ed Higgins in my place. He has wanted the +job fer some time, an' says it won't interfere with his business any +more than it did with mine. I have worked hard all these years an' I +feel that I ought to have a rest. Besides, it has got to be so that +thieves an' other criminals won't visit Tinkletown on account o' me, an' +I think the town is bein' held back considerable in that way. What's the +use havin' a marshal an' a jail ef nobody comes here to commit crimes? +They have to commit 'em in New York City er Chicago nowadays, jest +because it's safer there than it is here. Look at this last case I had. +Wasn't that arranged in New York? Well, it shouldn't be that way. Even +the train robbers put up their job in New York. I feel that the best +interests of the town would be served ef I resign an' give the criminals +a chance. You all know Ed Higgins. He will ketch 'em if anybody kin. I +move that he be app'inted." + +The motion prevailed, as did the vote of thanks, which was vociferously +called for in behalf of Anderson Crow. + +"You honour me," said the ex-marshal, when the "ayes" died away. "I +promise to help Marshal Higgins in ever' way possible. I'll tell him +jest what to do in everything. I wish to say that I am not goin' out of +the detective business, however. I'm goin' to open an agency of my own +here. All sorts of detective business will be done at reasonable prices. +I had these cards printed at the _Banner_ office to-day, an' Mr. Squires +is goin' to run an ad. fer me fer a year in the paper." + +He proudly handed a card to the president of the board and then told the +crowd that each person present could have one by applying to his son +Roscoe, who would be waiting in the hallway after the meeting. The card +read: + + "Anderson Crow, Detective. + All kinds of cases Taken and Satisfaction + Guaranteed. + Berth mysteries a Specialty." + +Mrs. Bonner, upon hearing of his resignation the next day, just as she +was leaving for Boston, drily remarked to the Congressman: + +"I still maintain that Anderson Crow is utterly impossible." + +No doubt the entire world, aside from the village of Tinkletown, agrees +with her in that opinion. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DAUGHTER OF ANDERSON CROW*** + + +******* This file should be named 14818.txt or 14818.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/8/1/14818 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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