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Cfe Gentleman
Prom Indiana
.
;:;:; By 'Booth Tal'rk.ijvgtoj
;
. !! I Copyright, 1899. by Houhltday S3L McCturt Co.
u IS Copyright. 1902, by McCturt. Vhltttpj ZL Co.
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(CONTINUED mOM LAST WEEK.)
Tho voice wont on rapidly, not heed
ing lilm, "All, you needn't howl! Well,
laugh iivny. you Indians! If It liadn't
been for this nnklo-but It scorns to bo
my chest that's hurt-ond side-not
Hint It matters, you know. The sopho
more's .ut as good or bettor. It's on
ly my egotism. Yes, It must he tho
side and chest -und head-all over. I
believe, ni try again next year next
year I'll make It a dally. Helen said,
not that I should call you Helen I
mean Miss-MKs-Flsbee no. Sherwood-hut
I've always thought Helen
was the prettiest name In the world
you'll forgive meV and please tell
Parker there's no more ropy and won't
be I wouldn't grind out another stick
to save his Immortal she said ah, I
never made a good trade no unless
they can't eome seven miles but I'll
finish you, Sklllett, first; 1 know you!
I know nearly all of you. Now let's
sing 'Annie Lisle"- He lifted his
band as If to beat the time for u
chorus.
"Oil, John. John!" cried Tom Mere
dith, and sobbed outright. "My boy,
my hoy old friend!" The cry of the
classmate was like that of a mother,
for It was his old idol and hero who
lay helpless and broken before him.
Two pairs of carriage lamps sparkled
in front of the hospital In the earliest
of the small hours, these subjoined to
two deep hooded phaetons, from each
of which quickly descended a gentle
man with a beard, an air of eminence
and a small, ominous black box, and
the air of eminence was Justified by
the haste with which Meredith had
sent for them and by their wide re
pute. They arrived almost simulta
neously and hastily shook hands as
they made their way to the ward down
the long hall and up the narrow corri
dor. They had a bhort conversation
with the surgeon and a word with the
nurse, then turned the others out of the
room by a practiced innuendo of man
ner. They stayed a long time in the
Tootn without opening the door.
Meredith went out on the steps and
breathed the cool night air. A slender
taint of drugs hung everywhere about
the building, and the almost impercep
tible permeation sickened him. It was
deadly, he thought. To him it was im
bued with a hideous portent of suffer
ing. The lights In the little ward were
turned up, and they seemed to shine
from a chamber of horrors, while lie
waited as a brother might have waited
outside the Inquisition, if indeed a
brother would have been allowed to
wait outside the inquisition.
Alas, he had found .lohn ITarkless.
Ho had lost track of him as men some
times do lose track of their best be
loved, but It had always been a com
fort to know that Harkless was some
where, a comfort without which lie
could hardly have got along. Like oth
ers, he had been waiting for John to
turn up on top. of course ho hnd such
thillty, ability for anything, and people
would always eare for him and believe
In lilm so that he would be shoved
Ahead no matter how much he hung
back himself; but Meredith had not
txpectcd him to turn up in Indiana.
He remembered now hearing a man
who had spent the day In Hnttvlllo on
business speak of him: "They've got n
young fellow down there who'll bo gov
ernor in a few years. He's a sort of
dictator. Buns the party all over that
part of the state to suit his own sweet
will just by sheer personality. And
there isn't a man in the district who
wouldn't cheerfully lie down in tho
mud to let him pnss ovpr dry. It's
that joung Harkless, you know. Owns
the Herald, the paper that downed Mo
Cune and smashed those Imitation
White Caps' In Carlow county." He
had been struck by the coincidence of
tho name, but he had not dreamed that
the Carlow Harkless was Ids friend
until Helen's telegram had reached
him that evening.
He shivered. Ills name was spoken
from within, and Horner enme out on
tho steps with the two eminent sur
geons, and the latter favored him with
a few words which lie did not under
Itand. He did understand, however,
what Horner told him. Somehow the
look of the sheriff's Sunday coat, wrin
kling forlornly from his broad, bent
shoulders, was both touching and sol
emn. He said simply: "He's conscious
and not out of ids head. They're gone
In to git his anteinortem statement."
And they re-entered the ward.
Harkless' eyes were bandaged. The
Inwyer was speaking to him, and as
Horner went awkwardly toward the
cot Warren said something Indicative
of tho sheriff's presence, and tho hand
on the sheet made a formless motion
which Horner understood, and he took
t,lt,,1.,,............-.t.J..t-.-J............ ... J
the pale lingers In his own very gent
ly and then set them back. .Smith
turned toward Meredith, but the latter
made a gesture which forbade the at
torney to speak to him and went to n
comer and sat down, with his head in
his hands.
A sleepy young man had been
brought in, and he opened a notebook
and shook a stylographle pen so that
the ink might How freely. The law
yer, briefly and with rulegal agitation,
administered an oath, and then there
wus silence.
"Now, Mr. Harkless, If you please,"
said Barrett Insinuatingly, "If you feel
like telling us as much as you can
about it."
He answered in n low, rather Indis
tinct voice very deliberately, pausing
before almost every word. It was
easy work for the sleepy stenographer.
"1 understand. I don't want to go
off my head again before I llnlsh. If
It were only for myself I should tell
you nothing, because If I am to leave
I should like It better if no one were
punished. Hut that's a bad communi
ty over there. They are everlastingly
worrying our people. They've always
been a bother to us, and It's time it
was stopped for good. I don't believe
very much in punishment, but you
can't do a great deal of reforming with
the Crossroaders unless you catch them
young, before they're weaned. They
wean them on whisky, you know. 1
realize you needn't have sworn me for
me to tell you this."
Horner and Smith had started at the
mention of the Crossroads, but they
subdued their ejaculations, while Mr.
Barrett looked as if he had known it.
of course. The room was still, save
for the dim voice and the soft trail
Bcriblngs of the stylographle pen.
"I left Judge Hriscoe's and went west
on the pike to a big tree. It rained,
and I stepped under the tree for shel
ter. There was a man on the other
side of the fence Hob Sklllett. He
was carrying Ids gown and hood I
suppose It was that on his arm. Then
I saw two others n little farther east
in the middle or the road. I think
they had followed me from tho Bris
coos' or near there. They had their
foolish regalia on. as nil the others
had. There was plenty of lightning
to see. The two In the road were sim
ply standing there in the rain looking
at me through tho eyeholes In their
masks. 1 knew there were others
plenty but 1 thought they were com
ing from behind me the west.
"I wanted to get home -the court
house yard was good enough for me
so I started east toward town. I pass
ed the two geiitlenien, and one Tell
down as I went by him, but the other
fired a shot as a signal, and I got his
hood on' his face for it. 1 stopped
long enough, and It was Force John
son. I know him well. Then I ran,
and they followed. A little ahead of
me I saw six or eight of them spread
across the road. I knew I'd have a
time getting through, so I Jumped the
fence to cut across the fields. I lit In
a swarm of them. It had rained them
Just where I Jumped. 1 set my back
to the fence, but one of the fellows In
the road leaned over and smashed my
head In. rather with the butt of a
gun, I iMdleve. I enmo out from the
fence, and they made n little circle
around me. No one said anything. I
saw they had ropes and saplings, and
I didn't want that exactly, so I went
In to them. I got n good many masks
off before it was over, and I can swear
to quite a number besides those I told
you."
He named the men slowly and care
fully. Then he went on: "I think they
Rave up tho notion of whipping. Wo
all got into n bunch, and they couldn't
-
,.nminiayMfe" -'nwjr'' "
fct clear to shoot without hitting some
of their own, and there wan a lot of
gouging and kicking. One fellow near
ly got my left eye, and I tried to tear
him npart, and he screamed a good
deal. Once or twice I thought I might
get away, but somebody hammered me
over the head and face again, and I got
dizzy, and then they all Jumped away
from me suddenly, and Hob Sklllett
stepped up and ant" shot me. He
waited for a Hurry of lightning, and 1
was slow tumbling down. Some one
else fired a shotgun, I think, 1 can't be
sure, about he same time from the
fide. I tried to get up, but 1 couldn't,
and then they got together for a con
saltation. The man 1 had hurl 1 didn't
recognize him came and looked at inc.
He was nursing himself all over and
groaned, and I laughed, I think; at any
rate my arm was lying stretched out
on the grass, and he stamped his heel
Into my hand, and after a little of that
I quit feeling.
"I'm not quite clear about what hap
pened afterward. They went away
not far, 1 think. There's an old shed, a
cuttle shelter, near there, and I think
the storm drove them under It to wait
for a slack. It seemed a long time.
Sometimes I was conscious, sometimes
I wasn't. I thought I might be
drowned, but 1 suppose the rain was
good for me. Then I remember being In
motion, being dragged and carried a
long way. They carried me up a steep '
short slope and set me down near the
top. 1 knew that was the railroad em
bankment, and I thought they meant to
lay me across the track, but It didn't
occur to thcui-Uicy are not familiar
with melodrama and a long time after
that I felt and heard a great banging
and rattling under me and all about
me, and It came to me that they had
disposed of mo by hoisting me into an
empty freight ear. The odd part of it
was that the car wasn't empty, for
there were two men already in It, and
I knew them by what they said to me.
"They were the two shell men that
cheated Hartley Bowlder, and they
weren't vindictive. They even seemed
to be trying to help me a little, though
perhaps they were only stealing my
clothes, and maybe they thought for
them to do -inything unpleasant would
be superfluous. I could see that they
thought I was done for and that they
had been hiding In the ear when 1 was
put there. I asked them to try to call
the trainmen for me, but they wouldn't
listen or else I couldn't make myself mi
derstood. That's all. The rest Is a blur.
I haven't known anything more until
those surgeons were here. Dense tell
me how long ago it happened. I shall
not die, I think. There are a good many!
things I want to know about." He
moved restlessly, and the nurse soothed
him.
Meredith rose and left the room with
a noiseless step. He went out to the
stars again and looked to them to check
the storm of rage and sorrow that buf
feted ills bosom. He understood lynch
lug, now the thing was home to lilm.
and his feeling was no inspiration of a
fear lest the law miscarry. It was the
itch to get his own hand on the rope.
Horner came out presently and whis
pered a long, broad, profound curse
upon the men of the Crossroads, and
Meredith's gratitude to him was keen.
Barrett went away soon after, and
Meredith had a strange, unreasonable
desire to kick Barrett, possibly for hh
sergeant's sake. Warren Smith sat In
the ward with the nurse and (lay, and
the room was very quiet. It was a long
vigil. They were only waiting.
At ." o'clock he was still alive- Just
that, Smith came out to say. Meredith
sent a telegram to Helen which would
give I'lattvllle the news that Harklesi
was found and was not yet gone from
them. Horner left for the station hi
catch a train. There were things foi
him to do In Carlow. At noon Meredith
sent a second telegram to Helen as bar
ren of detail as the first. lie was alive;
was a little improved. But tills tele
gram did not reach her, for she was on
the way to Itouen, and half of the pop
ulation of Carlow- at least so it socmen
to the unhappy conductor of the accom
modation was with her.
They seemed to feel that they could
camp in the hospital halls and corri
dors, and they were an incalculable
worry to the authorities. More canio
on every train, and nearly all brought
flowers and Jelly and chickens for pro-
bd mi hack to the encc."
1 n a53?MKw? MP ' I
HI
paring broth, and they initiated that tho
two latter delicacies be fed to tho pn-1
ticnt ot once. They wcro still in Ig
norance of the truth about tho Cross
roads and spent the day (It was Sum
day) partly In getting In the way ot
tho attendants and partly In planning
an assault upon the llouen Jail for tho
purpose of lynching Slattery in ease"
Harkless' condition did not Improve nt
once. Those who laid heard Ida state
nient kept close mouths until the story
appeared In full In the Itouen papers ou
Monday morning. Hut by that tlmo
h'ory member of tho Crossroads White
Dups was lodged In the llouen Jail with
Blattery. Horner and a heavily armed
posse rode over to the muddy corners
on Sunday night, and the sheriff dis
covered that he might have taken the
Sklllotts and Johnsons single handed
ind unarmed. Their nerve was gone,
rhey were shaken and afraid, and, to
Binploy a figure somewhat Inappropri
ate to their sullen, glad surrender, they
fell upon his neck In their relief at
Qndlng the law touching them. They
had no wish to hear "John Brown's'
lody" again. They wanted to get In
)de of a strong Jail and to throw them
selves on the mercy of (he court as soon
as possible. And those whom Harkless
had not recognized made no delay In
giving themselves up. They did not
wish to remain In Six Crossroads. Bob
Sklllett, Force Johnson ami one or two
others needed the care of a physician
badly, and one man was suffering
from a severely wrenched back. Hor
ner had a train stopped at a crossing
o that his prisoners need not be taken
through riattvllle, and he brought
them all safely to Itouen.
It took nearly a week to persuade the
people of I'lattvllle that It was better
for them to go home, and It was only
the (Hiiilldeuee Inspired by the manner
of the two eminent surgeons (they lay
In wail at all hours to interview these
gentlemen) that did persuade them to
return- this and the promise of two
dally bulletins.
As many of them said on their re
turn, I'lattvllle didn't "feel like the same
place," and a strange thing had happened-for
the first lime In five years
the Carlow County Herald missed lire
ultogcthcr. Tuesday, Thursday and
Saturday passed. Mr. Flsbee only sat
staring out of the dingy olllce win
dows with Barker In a demented si
lence. There was no Herald; there
was no one to get It out.
In the Itouen hospital John Harkless
feebly moved on his bed of pain. Ills
constant delusion was that the uni
verse was a vast, white heated brass
bell ami he a point tit tho center of It,
listening, listening for years, to the
brazen hum it gave olt and burning
in hot waves of sound.
Finally he came to what he would
have considered a lucid Interval had
It not appeared that Helen Sherwood
was whispering to Tom Meredith at
tin; fool of his bed. This he knew to
be a fictitious presentation of ids fever,
for was she not by this time away and
away for foreign lands? And also Tom
Meredith was a slim yourfg thing and
not a middle aged youth with an un
deniable stomach and a baldlsh head
who by the preposterous necromancy
of fever assumed a grotesque likeness
of his old friend. He waved his hand
to the figures, and they vanished like
figments of a dream; but, all the same,
the vision had been realistic enough
for the lady to look exquisitely pretty.
No one could help wishing to stay In
a world which contained as charming
a picture as that.
But the next night Meredith waited
near his bedside, haggard and dishev
eled, Harkless had been lying In a
long stupor. Suddenly he spoke, quite
loudly, and the young surgeon, (lay,
who leaned over lilm, remembered the
words and the tone all his life.
"A was and away across the wa
ters," said John Harkless. "She was
here once In June."
"What Is It, JohnV" whispered Mere
dith huskily. "You're feeling easier,
aren't you V
And John smiled a little, as If, for
the moment, he saw' and knew his old
friend again.
That same night n friend of Rodney
Mediae's sent a telegram from Itouen:
"He Is dying. His paper In dead.
Your name goes before convention In
September."
i i i i
CHABTHH XL
B. BOSS SCHOFIELD wns en
gaged In decorating the bat
tered chairs in the Herald edi
torial room with blue satin
ribbon, the purchase of which at the
Dry floods Emporium hail been direct
ed by a sudden Inspiration of Ids supe
rior, Mr. l'arker of the composing
force. It was Boss' Intention to gar
nish each chair with an elaborately
tied bow, but as he was no sailor and
understood only the Intricacies of a
hard knot he confined himself to Unit
species of ornamentation, leaving, how
ever, very long ends of ribbon hanging
1s...... . !,.. li. mniiniil' nf Hill tlollltlllllH
' of rosettes. Mr. Schoficld was alone at
his labor, his two confreres having be
taken themselves to the station to meet
the train from Itouen.
I It was a wet, gray day. The wldo
country lay dripping under formless
' wraps of thin mist, and the warm, driz
zling rain blackened the weather beat
en shingles of the station, made clear
reflecting puddles on the unevenly
worn planks of the platform and damp
ened the pjicklng cases too thoroughly
M
?tH-U
for occupation by tho station lounger.
Tho bus driver, Mr. Bennett, and tho
proprietors of two attendnnt "cut tin
ders" and three or four other worthies
whom business or the lack of It called
to that locality nvallcd themselves of
the shelter of the waiting room, but tho
gentlemen of the Herald were too agi
tated to be confined save by the limits
of the horizon.
They hud reached the station half an
hour before train time and consumed'
the Interval In pacing the platform un-1
dor a big eottnn umbrella, addressing
each other only In monosyllables. Those
in the waiting room gossiped eagerly
and for the thousandth time about tho
Into events and particularly about the
tremendous news of Flsbee. Judd Bet
nett looked out through the rainy door
way at the latter with reverence and n
flue pride of towtismunshlp. He C
clnrcd It to tie his belief that Flsbee
and Parker were waiting for her now.
For all Carlow knew why Flsbee hud
gone to meet the strange lady nt tho
station when she had come to visit'
the Hrlscoes. why he had come with
lier to the lecture, why he had taken
upper at the Hrlscoes' three times and
dinner twice when she was there. Fls
bee had told the story to Barker on a
melancholy afternoon as they sat to
gether In the Herald olllce, and Barker
bad told the town. It was simple
enough Indeed, and Flshee's past was
mystery no longer, it might have
been revealed years before had there
been anything In particular to reveal
and If It had ever occurred to Flsbee
to talk of himself mid his affairs.
Things had a habit of not occurring to
Flsbee.
Mr. Barker, very nervous himself,
felt his compniduu'M elbow trembling
against his own as the great engine,
reeking in the mist and sending great
clouds of white vapor up to the sky,
swooped down the track, rushed by
them and came to a standstill beyond
the platform. Flsbee and the foreman
made haste to the nearest vestibule
and were gazing blankly at Its burred
approaches when they heard a silvery
laugh behind them and an exclamation.
"Upstairs and downstairs and In my
ludy'H chamber! Just behind yon,
dear!"
Turning quickly, tho foreman behold
a blushing mid smiling little vision, a
vision with light brown hair, u vision
enveloped In a light brown ruin cloak
and with brown gloves from which
the bundles of a big brown traveling
bng were let fall as the vision dis
appeared under the cotton umbrella,
while the smitten Judd Bennett reeled
gasping against the station.
"nearest," the girl cried to tho old
man, "you should liavu been looking
for me between the devil and the deep
sea, the parlor car and the smoker!
I've given up cigars, and I've begun
to study economy, so I didn't come on
either!"
The drizzle and mist blew in under
the top of the "cut under" as they
drove rapidly Into town, and bright lit
tle drops sparkled on tho fair hnlr
above the new editor's forehead and on
tho long lashes above the now editor's
cheeks. Sim shook these transient
gems off lightly as she paused in tho
doorway of the olllce at the top of tho
rickety stairway.
Mr. Sehotleld had Just added the last
touch to his decorations and managed
to slide Into his coat us the party came
up the stairs, and now, perspiring,
proud, embarrassed, ho assumed an at
Utude at once deprecatory of his en
deavors and pointedly expectant of
commendations for the results. (Ho
was a modest youth and a conscious.
After his first sight of her as she stood
In the doorway It was several days be
fore he could lift his distressed eyes
under the new editor's glanco or, In
deed, dure to avail himself of inoro
than a hasty and tlultciing stnre nt
her when her buck wus turned.) As
she entered the room ho sidled nlong
tho wall and laughed sheepishly at
nothing.
Every chair In the room was orna
mented with one of his blue rosettes,
Ued carefully and firmly to the middle
slat of each chair back. There had
been several yards of ribbon left over,
and there wus u hard knot of glossy
satin on each of the inkstands and on
the doorknobs. A blue band passing
around the "tovepipe lent it an antique
raklshnesK suggestive of tho charioteer,
and a number of streamers suspended
from a hook In tho ceiling encouraged
a supposition that the employees ot tho
Herald were contemplating tho In
tricate festivities of May day. It need
ed no ghost to infer that these garni
tures had not embellished tho editorial
chamber during Mr. Harkless activity,
but, on the contrary, had been put In
pluco that very morning. Mr. Fisbeo
had not known of the decorutlons, und
as his eye fell upon them a faint look
of pain passed over his brow. But tho
girl examined the room with a dancing
eye, and there woro both tours und
laughter in her heart.
"How beautiful!" she cried. "How
beautiful!" She crossed the room and
gave her hand to Boss. "It la Mr.
Schoficld, isn't it? The ribbons aro
delightful. I didn't know Mr. nark
less' room was so pretty.."
(to ii k continued.)
That Settle's It.
When a Colorado pund stone walk is
laid that settltH it. Sue OvoriiiR Bnw,
& Co. for priees.
,m jT"1".
1 1'4
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