RLACKSHEEP!
AAereditii Nicholson
The brushing of the hands to
gether Archie interpreted as a code
sign signifying murder and the sub
sequent interchange of words he
took to be injury and answer as to
the danger of apprehension. He
felt that Leary's attitude toward
v him became friendlier from that
moment. There was something
i,||astly in the thought that the
of a human being he attained
a certain dignity in the eyes of men
like Leary. But he became inter
ested in the transaction that was
now taking place between the thief
and the Governor. The Governor
extracted the sixty one-thousand
dollar bills from his bag, and laid
them out on the bed. He rapidly
explained just how Leary's hidden
booty had been recovered, and the
manner in which the smaller de
nominations had been converted in
to bills that could be passed with
out arousing suspicion.
Leary philisophically stowed the
bills in his clothing.
"You're done, are you?" asked
the Governor; "out of the game?"
"I sure have quit the road,"
Leary answered. "The old girl has
got a few thousands tucked away
and I'm goin' to pick her up and
buy a motion picture joint or a
candy and soda shop somewhere in
the big lakes—one of those places
that freeze up all winter, so I can
have a chance to rest. The old girl
has a place in mind.
"On the whole it doesn't sound
exciting," the Governor comment
ed, inspecting a clean shirt. "Did
your admirable wife get rid of those
pearls she pinched last winter?
They were a handsome string, as I
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remember, too handsome to market
readily. Mrs. Leary has a passion
for precious baubles, Archie," . the
Governor explained. "A brilliant!
career in picking up such trifles; a
star performer, Red, if you don't |
mind my bragging of your wife."
1
Leary seemed not at all disturbed
by his revelation of his wife's larcen
ous affection for pearls. That a train
robber's wife should be a thief seem
ed perfectly natural; indeed it seem
ed quite fitting that thieves should
mate with thieves. Archie further
gathered that Mrs. Leary operated in
Chicago, under the guise of a confec
tionary shop, one of the stations of
the underground railroad, and assist
ed the brotherhood in disposing of
their ill-gotten wares: A recent re
form wave in Chicago had caused a
shake-up in the police department,
most disturbing to the preying pow
ers.
"There clean off me, I reckon,"
said Leary a little pathetically, the
reference being presumably to the
pestiferous police. "That was a
good idea of yours for me to go up
into Canada and work at a real
job for a while. Must a worked
hard enough to change my finger
prints. Some bloke died in Kan
sas awhile back and got all the
credit for being the old original
Red Leary."
This error of the press is record
ing Leary's death tickled the Gov
ernor mightily, and Leary laughed
until he was obliged to wipe the
tears from his eyes.
"I'm going to pull my freight
after supper," he said. "Walker's
goin' to take me into town and I'll
THE FOREST CITY COURIER, THURSDAY, DEC. 8, 1927.
slip out to Detroit where the old
girl's waitin' for me."
Walker called them to supper
and they went down to a meal that
met all the expectations aroused by
the Governor's boast of the Walker
cuisine.
At the end of the meal Walker
left for town to put Leary on a
train for Boston. The veteran train
robber shook hands all around and
waved a last farewell from the gate.
Archie was sorry to lose him, for
Leary was an appealing old fellow,
and he had hoped for a chance to
coax from him some reminiscences
of his experiences.
Leary vanished into the starlit
dusk as placidly as though he hadn't
tucked away in his clothing sixty
thousand dollars to which he had
no lawful right or title. There was
I something ludicrous in the whole
| proceeding. While Archie had an
I income of fifty thousand dollars a
year from investments, he had al
ways experienced a pleasurable thrill
iat receiving the statement of his
dividends from his personal clerk in
j the broker's office, where he drew
|an additional ten thousand as a si
lent partner. Leary's method of dip
ping into the world's capital seemed
quite as honorable as his own. Neith
er really did any work for the
money.
The Governor, smoking a pipe
■on the veranda and chatting with
Mrs. Walker, recalled him from his
meditations to suggest that he show
a decent spirit of appreciation of
the Walker's hospitality by repair
ing to the kitchen and helping Sal
ly with the dishes. In his youth Arch
ie had been carefully instructed in
the proper manner of entering a
parlor, but it was with the greatest
embarrassment that he sought Sally
in her kitchen.
"I was just wondering whether
you wouldn't show up! Not that j
you had to, but it's a good deal'
more fun having somebody to keep j
you company in the kitchen."
"Give me a towel and I'll prom- j
ise not to break anything."
"You don't look as though you'd!
been used to work much," she said, j
"but take off your coat and I'll ;
hang an apron on you."
His investiture in Mrs. Walker's
ample apron made it necessary for
Sally to stand quite close to him,
and her manner of compressing her
lips as she pinned the bib to the.
collar of his waistcoat he found
wholly charming. His heart went
pit-a-pat as her fingers, moist from
the suds, brushed his chin. She
was quite tall; taller than Isabel,
who had fixed his standard of a
proper height for girls. Sally did
not giggle, but acted as normal
sensible girls should act when pin- j
ning aprons on young men.
"You've never stopped here be
fore? I thought I didn't remember
you. Well, we're always glad to
see the Governor, he's so funny;
I but say, some of the people who
come along—!"
"I hope," said Archie, turning a
( dish to the light to be sure it was
j thoroughly polished, "I hope ray
' presence isn't offensive?"
1 "Cut it out!" she returned crisply.
. "Of course you're all right. I knew
you were a real gent the first squint
I got of you. You can't fool me
much on human nature."
1 "You've always lived up here?"
asked Archie, meek under her
frank approval.
"Certainly not. I was born in
Missouri, a grand old state if I do
say it myself, and we came here
when I was twelve. I went through
high school and took dairying and
the domestic arts in college and I'm
twenty-three if you care to know."
When the kitchen was in perfect
order they reported the fact to Mrs.
> • and Sally suggested that
they stroll to a trout brook which
was her own particular property.
He had decided to avoid any ref
erence to the secrets of the under- I
ground trail, but his delicacy re
ceived a violent shock a moment'
later, when they were seated on a i
bench beside the brook.
| "Do you know," she said, "you!
! are not like the other?"
"I don't understand," he faltered.
"Oh, cut it out! You needn't try
to fool me! When I told you
awhile ago I thought you were nice,
I meant more than that; I meant
that you didn't at all seem like the
crooks that sneak through here and
hide at our house. You're more
like the Governor, and I never
understand about the Governor. It
doesn't seem possible that any one
who isn't forced by necessity into
crime would ever follow the life.
Now you're a gentleman, any one
could tell that, but I suppose
you've really done something pretty
bad or you wouldn't be here! Now
I'm going to hand it to you straight;
that's the only way."
"Certainly, Miss Walker; I wont
you to be perfectly frank with me."
i "Well, my advice would be to
give yourself up, do your time like
a man and then live straight. The
Governor has romantic ideas about
t
the great game but that's no rea
son why you should walk the thorny
road. Now pop would kill me if
he knew I was talking this way. It's
a funny thing about pop. All I
know about him I just picked up a
little at a time, and he and ma never
; wanted me to know. Ma's awful
nervous about so many of the boys
stopping here, for she hung on to
pop all the time he was shooting up
trains out West, and having a hus
i band in the penitentiary isn't a
pleasant thing to think about. Ma's
father ran a saloon down in Missouri;
| that's how she got acquainted with
. pop, but ma was always on the
square, and they both wanted me
: brought up right.
1 "I wouldn't be surprised if pop
! didn't pull out some time and beat
it for the West. It must be awful
tame for a man who's stuck pistols
into the faces of express messen
gers and made bank tellers hand
; out their cash to settle down in a
place like this where there's noth
j ing much to do but go to church
and prayer meeting. I don't know
how many men pop's killed in his
time, but there must be quite a
bunch. But pop doesn't seem to
worry much. It seems to me if
I'd ever pumped a man full of lead
I d have a bad case of insomnia."
"Well, I don't know," remarkec
Archie, weighing the point judi.
cially. "I suppose you get used
to it in time. \ our father seems
very gentle. You probably exag
gerate the number of his—er—
homicides."
"Well, pop can be pretty rough
sometimes. He and I have our
little troubles."
"Nothing serious, I'm sure. I
can't imagine any one being un
kind to you, Sally."
"It's nice of you to say that. But
I'm not perfect and I don't pretend
to be!"
Sympathy and tenderness surged
j within him at this absurd sugges
tion that any one could harbor a
doubt of Sally's perfection. Her
modesty, the tone of her voice
called for some more concrete ex
pression of his understanding than
he could put into words. Her hand,
dimly discernible in the dusk of the
June stars, was invitingly near. Ke
clasped and held it, warm and
yielding. She drew it away in a
moment but not rebukincrly.
"I wonder," she said presently;
"I wonder whether you would—
whether you really would do some-
I thing for me?"
"Anything in my power," he de
j clared hoarsely.
"What time is it?" she asked with
j a jarring return to practical things
She bent her head close as he
held a match to his watch. It was
i half past eight.
"We'll have to hurry," she said.
"When I told you pop and I didn't
i always agree about everything I
i was thinking—"
"Is it dbout a man?" he asked,
surmising the worst and steeling
i himself for the blow if it must fall.
"It would be a long story," she
said sadly, "and there Isn't time
, to tell it, but the moment I saw you
I were so big and brave and . strong,
j I thought you might help."
(Continued next week)