Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 627 — page 11: what you’re looking at

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

— er ae. 2 tim The meeting of citizens had been adjourned till three o'clock that afternoon, awaiting the results of the search, At that hour it was called together again, and the report presented, It proved to be a disappointing one. Not aspeck of evidence had been discovered connecting Bruce or Blink with the murder, and the Huntly affair was as great a mystery as ever, It began to look as if it would never be cleared up. It was falling into the line of those mysterious mur- ders of which so many are on the dockets of the po- lice, and which promise to remain mysteries till the da of judgmen The conference that followed was broken by an unexpected and startling incident. A loud rattle of hoofs came down the street, as of a horse pushed at full gallop. It halted be fore the house at which the meeting was being held, and doe Hardy, one of the messengers of the precedir g pets sprung from the saddle, and strode hastily into the house, The next moment he entered the room where the meeting was in session, with a face full of important news. The conference suddenly ended, and every eye was turned toward him, with excited expectation. ‘*What is it, Joe?’ ‘‘ Hit anything?” ‘‘ Any news . of the horse-thieves?’ were the queries. ‘* You bet!’’ said Joe, ‘*Come! Our with it! ‘“The coon’s been nabbed,”’ answered Joe. a-ridin’ that very identical hoss.”” “Who is it? Where was it? it!’ ‘‘The place was Ivanstown, and the fellar was young Tom Bruce, the chap as I allus swore was the one!”’ This announcement caused a perfect burst of ex- clamations. “Tom Bruce! take?” *l’ve jist rid through, at top speed, from that there place. I see’d the hoss myself, and the young scrapegrace on it. I don’t reckon ther's anybody here'll say I don’t know Kurnel Brown's bay.’ ‘*Where is he? When will he be here? The scoundrelly young ruffian. This explains his mys- terious journeys. The rope’s twisted for his neck, And fer the old one, too, if he’s mixed init. When will he be here, Joe?’ “When you send for him. I had him nabbed by the Ivanstown constable, jist as he was pushin’ on fur his _hidin’-place. He’s locked up there now, waitin’ fur a requisition.”’ The meeting at once broke up in the utmost ex- citement. Those who had taken the side of Tom Bruce were silenced. His enemies were jubilant. There was already dark talk of lynch law, and of giving a terrible ex- ample to the horse-thieves. But first of ail the culprit must be brought to Mayville, and a requisi- tion was at once obtained from the proper officers. Meanwhile, the exciting tidings spread_ rapidly ede the town, and was not long in reaching the those most interested in the culprit, through the good offices of gossiping eee It was noon of the succeeding day when the youth- ful prisoner was brought back to Mayville, in cus- tody of the constable of that town. { 5 stolen horse was brought back at the same sententiously. wer ** And Tell us all about You are sure? There’s ro mis- Beatty all the inhabitants of the place had turned out to see the culprit, whose advent had become an event of gieat importance to the excited citizens. There was no question about the horse. It was recog nized by everyboly as Colonel Br own’s bay, But it was in the demeanor of the prisoner that most persons were interested. He sat beside the constable, in the road-wagon of the latter, with a le but not downcast face, and with a look of ear- nest resolution in his clear eyes, It was a very different aspect from what the peo- ple had expected. The throng was by no means quiet. Dozens of cries arose, most of them revengeful and threaten- ing, while remarks of the most unflatteriog charac- ter were made in the prisoner’s hearing, He winced somewhat at these demonstrations, A painful expression passed over his face, but the look of fixedrendurance continued, while his eyes seemed to look over the crowd, and to be fixed on the far distance. Yet the situation must have been terribly painful to him, and the constable hastened to bring it to an ond, by whipping up hi: horse. In ten minutes afterw ard Tom Bruce was the oc- cupant of a prison cell, in the small and not very we lockup of Mayville. he very’ verge of manhood his career threat- ened to be brought to a sudden and disgraceful ter- mination. Aft rthe closing of the prison door the town set- tled down into some semblance of quiet. Yet the excitement continued undiminished, In every quar- ter strong talk upon the situation was indulged in, and dark threats were in more than one mouth. The legab enalty for horse-theft was far from sufficient in th» existing state of public feeling, and it was evident that little would be needed to stir the community to the commission of illegal violence. The prisoner was given aninformal hearing be- fore a magistrate that some evening. The result but deepened the feeling against him. He refused enter into the particulars of the affair. He told where he had got the horse, but as fo the the anin urpose of his journev, or his knowledge of how oy TH had got there, not a word could be drawn | from him. “That is matter for the c-urt,’’ he said. firmly. “T have been advised to keep silent till my case | | Tom Bruce of ATEONSOS, get get ee a ee ee comes to a trial. I know, say. 7? And nothing more satisfactory could be got from him, question as they would, He was next examined as to what he knew con- cerning the Huntly murder. Had he seen his father When that happens I will tell all | and Tony Blifk abroad on that night? * For the present I have nothing more to To this query Tom had no answer. It evidently tock him by surprise, but he kept an obstinate si- lence, He was remanded to jail, to await his trial. While these events were proceeding Jake Bruce had spent his time in a state of drunkenness. He had kept out of sight of his unfortunate son, and roamed from one bar-room to another swilling whisky until apparently almost too full to walk. People talked freely before him, judging him too drunk to heed their remarks. Finally one of the more decent landlords refused him any more liquor, and he reeled home, cursing as if he had been bitterly insulted. Mrs. Bruce, somewhat recovered from the shock of the distressing news she had heard met him as he entered. ‘What are you going to do in this matter?” she demanded, with unusual resolution for her, seizing him by the shoulder. “Tt is all your work, Jake Bruce, You have laid this trap for the boy.” Jake’s reeling motion had ceased, and he spoke in a tohe which showed that much of his late drunkenness had been assumed. “s pose I have,” he uttered. in’ to do *bout it?’ “Tt is a de acl shame,’ she ejaculated. boy shall not hang to please your spite, derstand me, Jake Bruce?” *T understand this much, that I'll kill you if you blow on me. lll kill youydo you hear? And when I say kill, J mean kill.” He shook the poor woman as though she had been ‘What are you go- “The Do you un- a reed in his grasp, while his eyes blazed with fury. ‘*T love the boy, and T will not stand by and see him hung,’’ she feebly repeated. ‘If you say a wor d louder than a mouse's whisper Vl split yer skull as I would a log of wood. T hate the kid and all bis kin. And so do you. You swore revenge on his father. Have youfergot that? You swore a deep oath thatfyou’d never rest till you had retribution.”’ ‘‘IT do not care for that. It wasin excitement I did it. Tom has been a good boy to you and me, He cannot be held responsible for the doings of others, I love him, and harm,’ “i ‘ell you, woman, he’ll hang me if I don’t hang him. It’s lite for life between us. You want a settler, I see!”’ He snatched up anax from the hearth, cau cir her by the» shoulder, and brandished it over head, while fury blazed in his face. “Swear that you'll hold your tongue, or by St. Peter, ll brain you! Swear!” Frightened by her imminent danger, the poor woman did as he commanded, shrinking to the floor in her mortal terror. He released her then, and strode the floor still brandishing the ax, and cursing like a demon in his excited fury. will not see him come to Do you hear me? CHAPTER XT. THE PRISONER'S HEARING. Ir wasa bitter night that Tom Bruce passed in his prison cell, Scarcely a moment's sleep came to him through the night. The bed was hard, the cell chilly, everything about it uncomfortable, but it was not to this he owed his wakefulness. With a quiet mind he could have slept soundly on an oak log in an open field. It was partly the disgrace of bis situation that troubled him: but his greatest uneasiness came from the distressing dilemma in which he gvas placed,, He knew not what to think, Hada trap been set for him? But if so, by whom? Not his father; he could not believe it was his father. A balf dozen times before he had obtained a horse from the same situation, and returned it there, without anything resulting from it. How was it that on this occasion a stolen horse was placed there to entrap him? A thousand doubts flowed through his mind, but he drove away all that implicated his father. Despite Jake Druce’s dr unkenness and occasional violence, Tom had a son’s affection for him, and could not let himself think that his ‘‘dad” had any Ching to do with the trap set for him. must be the mysterious individual whom he had met in the Tennessee grove, and who he had been told provided the horse. Yet could he tell the whole truth without endan- gering his father? The complication was an awk- ward one To tell hisstory in full might hang his father. That he determined he would not do, what- ever befell. But to keep silent would hang himself. And even if he told all he knew he might be disbelieved, and treated as an pena lice of the thieves, Morning came ere he got rid of his multitude of exciting thoughts in a broken sleep. He had deter- mined on one thing only— to shiel his father to the utmost, whatever the consequence. I thought for awhile that he had a hand in knock- ing me down and robbing me that morning,” he | soliloquized; ‘for he had money the next day. But what eood would that have done him, when I was | bringing the money straight to him? * There’s a mystery about it all that I can’t make ont. Some enemy is trving to rnin us. Who is it? That I cannot tell. But I dare not reveal the — ee ee EE EEE i 11 _— -—- whole pl lest [hang my father, and fail to save m Seep 1 now came on him, which clung to him till roe Exhausted nature had at length declared tse Meanwhile the town had become divided into twm par/ies, one favoring the innocence of Tom Bruce,, the other sure of his guilt. The former was principally made up of the boys, with Will Corson at their head. They could not be made to believe that a lad like Tom could become & horse-thief, and vowed that he was a victim of some pry S Some few of the men and women of the town fav~ ored this view, {but the majority believed him. guilty, and were » bent on making a severe example of the voung thief. The court and jail of the county were in a town some ten miles distant, but the people of Mayville had no idea of giving up their prize to the slow and: uncertain process of the :aw, if they could avoid it. They preferred to take the law into their own hands ere the authorities could take any decisive ac- tion. This Wil. Corson determined to prevent. He set out at noon that day for the country town, to ap- priso the proper officers of the danger of illegay violence, and to warn them of the necessity of re- moving the prisoner from the hands of the excited peo le of Mayville. lie tried to keep this journey a secret, but news: of it came out in the town, arousing general indig- nation. *"{he young busybody! J move we splice him ee and sive him a round dozen, when he comes back. There’ 's no other way to teach these conceited boys: sense,’ ‘*It ain’t easy to put smoke back into a bag after it’s got out,” was thoreply, ‘“* We’ve Ko ot to dig in, at once, or the job’l be took out of orr hands.” This was the general view of tho case, and a meet- ing of citizens was at once called, which organized itself into a sort of Vigilance Committee. Colonel Brown, W ho had been bitter ly revengeful since the loss of )'s horse, presided. ‘Give the boy the chance we would give to a_ bur- glar or murderer,” suggestedZMr. Wilson. ‘* Don’t condemn him unheard. He has had a night’s time to think over the matter, and may be ready now Lo tell the whole truth about the business,’ This view of the affair was accepted as a proper one, and the youthful prisoner was ordered to be brought before the meeting. Informal as this process was, it had the support of the great majority of the citizens, the authorities of Mayville being powerless to oppose it, even if they had not been in sympathy with the proceedings, Tom was brought before them. Every eye was: fixed upou his face with curiosity as to his bearing, He was pale and disturbed, that was evident; yet he showed no signs of flinching, while his blue eyes: were full of earnestness and resolution. The examination was conducted by a semi-lawyer of the town, who had some experience in cross- questioning. But he found the prisoner anything but a ready witness. ~“T found the horse in the grove where I was hurt some time ago,”* acknowledged Tom. ‘‘ That he was: stolen I did not dream, Who left him there I can- not tell,” ** How did you know you would find him there?” ‘Thad been told so, I was sent on en expeditiom for which the horse was provided without my knowl- edge.” e Who sent you on this expedition ?”’ ‘*T decline to tell.” ‘Who told you that the horse would be at that spot?” *T dec’ine to tell, All T can say is that on a half- dozen occasions I have made such expeditions, and found horses in that spot, None of these were stolem there,” 1 know no more than you who put there there ‘What did you do with these horses?” “T left them where I had found them, The horse that Mr. Jones heard in the grove the morning 1 was: hurt, was one I had just left there.” “Who removed that horse?” It is as great a mystery to me 4 ak cannot answer. as to you.’ “That story is a lame one,” breke in Colonek Brown severely. ‘“‘A horse was stolen that night from Mr. Ripka’s stable. That grove seems to be the delivery-place of the horse-thieves. You, as a. ready rider, are engaged to run them from that spoe to their hiding-place. The affair is clear as day- ht. at murmur of applause showed that most of those present agreed with him, ‘That is your theory, Colonel Brown,” answered Tom boldly ‘I will show you, when the} proper time comes that it is not a sound one,’ “] beg that there will be no interruption,” said the lawyer, with a show of displeasure. ‘“‘I am conducting this examination. cu say that you used these horses on certain secret expeditions. Do you refuse to tell what was the nature of these ex- peditions?”’ ty *T will tell what I know,” answered Tom. ‘ ey were mysteries to me as well as to you: I a of. that my absences from town have been talked of, but I was acting undor orders.” hie hase orders?” * Tha ecline to answer. He proceeded to tell the sto ory, with which the reader is already acquainted; of his night rides from the grove where he had found the horses to Ivans- town; his breakfasting there; his change of horses at aninn ten miles further on; his ride to the Mis-