Detective Bob Bridger — page 85: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

78 DETECTIVE BOB BRIDGER. “The party had evidently followed upon the regular ex- press train from Corydon. ‘The smoke and sparks blown from the bonfire suddenly swerved toward the crowd about the fiery little widow, and, to escape the annoyance, they moved to a position di- rectly beneath my window. | ‘Ag the lady walked, however, she kept her glib tongue moving, and no resident of Garson will ever forget the volleys of indignation the excited little woman from Cory- don poured forth against the gay deceiver, murderer, and horrid, deep-dyed villain, ‘who so richly deserved the hang- ing he was to get,’ and was now in the big frame hotel awaiting it. ‘Despite the truly serious aspect of matters, and the possibility that I might be the principal performer in one of those American hanging matches which I had so often read of, I was highly amused at the scene. ‘‘Tn fact, I laughed loud and long at the eccentricities of the little widyw, as in shrill tones, and gesticulating wildly, she taxed her lively imagination to relate deeds in illustration of my utter depravity. ‘Suddenly a very ungallant idea struck me. ‘“A pitcher of water stood near, on a wash-stand, and grasping it by the handle, I hurled its contents from the window so that the water, on striking, distributed itself between the widow, the constable and the lawyer, the law- yer receiving by far the best share of it. ‘‘The scene that ensued eclipsed the circus. | ‘‘The widow let forth a wild shriek and fell back, sup- ported by the two wet men. “Every woman in the crowd, following her example, seemed to try to outdo her neighbor in the vigor of her screams, “Then lifting their skirts, and grasping up their chil- dren, the entire female portion of the mob ran pell-mell toward the railway platform, while such cries as ‘Oh, he’ll murder us all! The murderer is loose! Heaven save us!’ filled the air. ‘The lawyer and constable, shaking the water from their | dripping hats, assisted the widow along in the rear of the frightened swarm of females. ‘She continued the while to shriek at regular intervals, her outcries modulating down from the extremely high pitch of the first to a hysterical sob. ‘At the very moment that the ungallant pitcher upset Se itself the crash of wood-work and the cracking of flying i.e De bee pes ft FA ye, ees | a e4 i » *, tt oe. 4