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^?.o ?.? ? ? o ? a.e.? ?....o.o o o..?.? ? e o.? ? ? * ??.? ?..? ? ? ^ a A il t>he Gentleman I i from Indiana m H* BOOTH TJHULIJVGTOJV flt Sf --_:_ pf S?X Copyright. 1899. hy Doubleday /St Madar* Co. %%% j?|J** Copyright. 1902. hy McClure. Tbilltpj Co. *.< ? jf . **** ? ? ? ?M"M' * 'H' 'I' ? * ? * ? ?I? * ? *'t' ? 'I' ? ? ? ? # <V 't' ? ? ? ? % t / CHAPTER VTIL fm[HE courthouse bell ringing 1 j the night! No hesita te^^? stroke of Schofields' He: BalU no uncertain touch, was the rope. A load, wild, harried cia: pealing oat to wake the country sid rapid clang! clang! clang! that str clear in to the spine. The courthc bell had totted for the death of ? ton, of Garfield, of Hendricks; : rung joy peals of peace after the i and after political campaigns, bm had rang as it was ringing now o three times-once when Hibbard's i burned, once when Webb Landis ki) Sep Bardlock and intrenched him! In the lumber yard and would not taken until he was shot through i through, and once when the Rouen commodation, crowded^ with child gH and women and men, was wrecl .Within twenty yards of the station. Why was the bell ringing now? i and women, startled into wide wa ' fulness, groped to windows. No mist hung over town or country. WI was it? The bell rang on. Its lc alarm beat increasingly into me hearts and quickened their throbbi to the rapid measure of its own. Va| forms loomed in the gloaming. A hoi madly ridden, splashed through 1 town. There were shouts; voices cal hoarsely; lamps began to gleam in 1 windows; half clad people emerg from their houses, men slapping th braces on their shoulders as they r out of doors; questions were shout Into the dimness. Then the news went over the towi It was cried from yard to yard, frc group to group, from gate to gate, a: reached the furthermost confines. Rn Hers shouted it as they sped by, a: boys panted it. breathless; women wi loosened hair stumbled into darkin chambers and faltered it out to ne wakened sleepers, and pale girls, elute lng wraps at their throats, whisper? lt across fences. The sick, tossing < their hard beds, heard it The tx clamored it far and near; it spread cv the countryside, and it flew over ti wires to distant cities. The White ?a] bad got Mr. Harkless! Lige Willetts had lost track of hi out near Briseoe's, it was said, and hi come into town at midnight seekii V nim. He had found Parker, the Hera foreman, and Ross Schofield, the typ -setter, and Bud Tipworthy, the devi ar work in the printing office, but t ?sign of Harkless there or in the co tage. Together these had sought fe him and had roused others who had ii .Quired at every house where he mig! Stave gone for shelter, and they ha "beard nothing. They had watched fe his coming during the slackening o the storm. He had not come, and ther was no place he could have gone. H was missing. Only one thing coull have happened. They had roused up Warren Smiti the'prosecutor, and Horner, the sbei iff, and Jared Wiley, the deputy. Wi liam Todd had rung the alarm. It wa agreed that the first thing to do wa to find him. After that there wou'n be trouble, if not before. It looked a if there would be trouble before. Th men tramping up to the muddy squar tn their shirt sleeves were bulgy a bou the right hips, and when Homer Tibb joined Columbus Landis at the hore corner and Landis saw that Home was carrying a shotgun Landis wen back for his. A hastily sworn poss galloped out Main street. Women an< children ran into neighbors' yards an< began io cry. Day was coming, an< as the light grew men swore and sav agely kicked at the palings of fence as they ran by them. In the foreglow of dawn they gather cd in the square and listened to War rea Smith, who made a speech fron: the . courthouse fence and warn ec them to go slow. They answered hin with angry shouts and hootings. Bu: be made his big. bass voice heard anc bade them do nothing rash. No facts Were known, ke said. It was far from jprtaln that Dann bad been done, and no one knew thar the Six Crossroads people had dutie it. even if something had happened to Mr. Harkless. He de? clared That he spoke in Harkless' name. Nothing could distress him so much as for them to defy the law. to take it out of the proper bands. Justice would be done. -Yes. it will!" shouted a man below him. brandishing the butt cl a rawhide whip above bis bead. "And while you jaw on al/cut it here be may be tied up like a dog JU the woods, shot full of boles by the men you never lifted ,n finger to bonder. l>ecause yon want their veres when you run for circuit judge. What are we doin' here? What's the good of listening to your* There was a yell at this, and those . who heard the speaker would probably have started for the Crossroads had not a rumor sprung up which passed rapidly from man to man and in a few moments had reached every person in the crowd. The news came that the two sheil gamblers had wrenched a bar out of a window under cover of the storm, bad broken jail and were at large. Their threats of the day before were remembered now with convincing vividness. They had sworn repeatedly to Bardlock and to the sherill and in the hearing of others that they would "do" for the man who bad taken their mon? ey from them and had them arrested. The_prosecuting attorney, quickly per eelvmg the value of this complication in holding back the mob that was al? ready forming, called Horner from the crowd and made him get up on the fence and confess that his prisoners had escaped, at what time he did not know, probably toward the beginning of the storm, when it was noisiest "You see." cried the attorney, "there is nothing as yet of which we can ac? cuse the Crossroads. If our friend has been hurt it is much more likely that these crooks did it They escaped in time to do it, and we all know they were laying for him. You want to be mighty careful, fellow citizens. Hor? ner is already in telegraphic communi? cation with every town around here, and he'll have those men before night. All you've got to do is to control your? selves a little and go home quietly." He could see that bis words (except those in reference to returning home no one was going home) made an im? pression. There was a babble of shout? ing and argument and swearing that grew louder and louder. Mr. Ephraim Watts, in spite of all confusion, clad as carefully as upon the preceding day, deliberately climbed the fence and stood by the lawyer and made a single steady gesture with his hand. He was listened to at once, as his respect for the law was less noto? rious than his irreverence for it and he had been known in Carlow as cus? tomarily a reckless man. They want? ed illegal and desperate advice and quieted down to hear it He spoke in his professionally calm voice. "Gentlemen, it seems to me that Mr. Smith and Mr. Ribshaw,** nodding to the man with the rawhide whip, "are both right What good are we doing here? What we want to know is what's happened to Mr. Harkless. It looks just now like the shell men might have done it Lef s find out what they done. Scatter and hunt for him. Soon as any? thing^ known for certain Hibbard's mill whistle will blow three times. Keep on looking till it does; then," he finished, with a barely perceptible scornful smile at the attorney-"then we can decide on what had ought be done." Six Crossroads lay dark and steam? ing in the sun that morning. The forge was silent the saloon locked up, the roadway deserted even by the pigs. The broken old buggy stood rotting in the mud without a single lean little old man or woman-such were the chil? dren of the Crossroads-to play about it. Once, when the deputy sheriff rode through alone, a tattered black hound, more wolf than dog, half emerged, growling, from beneath one of the tumbledown barns and was jerked back into the darkness by bi> tail, with a snarl fiercer than his own, while a gun barrel shone for a second as it swung for a stroke on the bribe's head. The hound did not yelp or_whine when ?nc'j n.-bWcTcd him r::tli- angry (lie blow Tell. "Se shut lils eyes rwic;> ::nd slunk sullenly back to his place. The shanties might have received ? volley or two from some of the mount . i bands, exasperated by futile search. in??, had not the escape of Homer's irisoners made the guilt of the Cross -~?K1S appear doubtful in tho minds of' ;n:tny. As the morning waned the ad? vocates of the theory that the gam? blers had made away with Harkles* ..row in number. There came a tel - ur.-;m from "he Rouen chief of polie? .hat he had a clew to their whereabouts Ile thought they had succeeded Iv. reaching Rouen, and it began to be generally believed that they had es raped by the 1 o'clock freight train, which had stopped to take on some rmpiy '-ars ai a side track a mile north west of town, across the fields from the Briscoe house. Toward noon a party went out to examine the rail? road embankment. Men began to come back into the vil? lage for breakfast by twos and threes, but many kept on searching the woods, not feeling thc ner d of food or caring if they did. Every grove and clump of underbrush, every thicket was ran sacked. The waters of the <-rei>k. shal? low for the most part, but swollen overnight, were dragged at every pool. Nothing was found. There was not .M sig?. The bar of tho hotel was th roi med all morning as the returning citizens r?pidlj made their'way thither, and those who had breakfasted and were going out "again paused tor internal well as external re-enforcement. 1 landlord, himself returned from a lc hunt, set out his whisky with a lav hand. "He was the best man wc had. boy said Landis as he poured the lit glasses full. "We'd ort of sent him the legislative halls of Washingt long ago. He'd of done us honor the But we never thought of doin' ai thing fer him. Jest set round and li him build up the town and give h empty thankyes. Drink hearty, g< tlemen," he finished gloomily. "I do grudge no liquor today-except to Li Willette." "He was a good man," said you William Todd, whose nose was red, t from the whisky. "I've about gi up." "It's goin' to seem mighty emp around here," . said Ross Schofie "What's goin' to become o' the Hers and the party in this district? When the man to run either of 'em no^ Like as not" be continued desperate! "ifll go against us in the fall." Dibb Zane choked over his four fl gers. "We might's well bust up t dab dusted ole town ef he's gone." "I don't know what's come over th Cynthy Tipworthy," said the landloi "She's waited table on him last tr years, and her brother Bud works the Herald office. She didn't say word, only looked and looked ai looked, like a crazy woman; then h and Bud went off together to hunt the woods. They jest tuck hold each other's hands like" "I reckon there ain't many crazi than them two Bowlders, father ai son," interrupted a patron, wiping tl drops from his beard as he set h glass on the bar. "They rid into tow like a couple of wild Indians, the o man beatin' that gray mare o' theil till she was one big walt, and he aiE natcherly no cruel man either. I e: peet Lige Willette better keep out < Hartley's way." "I keep out of no man's way!" cri< a voice behind him. Turning, they sa Lige standing on the threshold of tl door that led to the street. In his han he held the bridle of the horse he ha ridden across the sidewalk and thj now stood panting, with lowered hea half through the doorway, beside h: master. Lige was hatless, splashe with mud from head to foot; his ja'1 was set, his teeth ground together, hi eyes burned under red lids, and hi hair lay tossed and damp on his brov "I keep out of no man's way." he n peated hoarsely. "I heard you, M. Tibbs, but I've got too much to d< while you loaf and gas and drink ove Landis* bar. I've got other busines than keepin' out of Hart Bowlder' way. I'm lookin' for John Harkles? He was the best man we had in thi ornery hole, and he was too good fo us, and so we've maybe let him ge killed, and maybe I'm to blame. Bu I'm goin' to find him. and if he's bur I'm goin' to have a hand on the rop that lifts the men that did it if I bav to go to Rouen to put it there. Afte that I'll answer for my fault, not be fore." He threw himself on his horse an< was gone. Soon the room emptied, a: the patrons of the bar returned to th? search, and only Mr. Wilkerson an< the landlord remained, the bar beinj the professional office, so to speak, o: both. At ll o'clock Judge Briscoe droppec wearily from his horse at his own gat? and said to a wan girl who came run ning down the walk to meet him "There is nothing yet. I sent the tel egram to your mother-to Mrs. Sher wood." Helen turned away without answer ing. Her face was very white anc looked pinched about the mouth. Sh? went back to where old Fisbce sat or the porch, his white head held betweer his two hands. He was rocking him self to and fro. She touched him gen tly. but he did net look up. She spokt to him. "Father," she said. He did not seem to hear her. "There isn't anything yet. He sen1 the telegram. I shall stay with you now, no matte" what you say." She sat beside him and put her bead down on his shoulder, and, though for a mo? ment he appeared not to notice it. when Minnie came out on the porch, hearing her father at the door, the old man had put his arm about the girl and was stroking her fair hair softly. Briscoe glanced at them and raised a warning finger to his daughter, and they went tiptoeing into the house, where the judge dropped heavily upon a sofa. Minnie stood before him with a look of pale inquiry, and he shook bis head. "No use to tell him, but I can't see any hope," he answered her, biting nervously at the end of a cigar. "I ex? pect you better bring me some coffee in here. I couldn't take another step to save me. I'm too old to tear around the country horseback before break? fast, like I have today." "Did you send her telegram?" Min? nie asked as he drank the coffee she brought him. She had interpreted "coffee" liberally and, with ?he assist? ance of Mildy Upton, whose subdued nose was frankly red and who shed tears on the raspberries, hac prepared an appetizing table at his eiuow. "Yes," responded the judge, "and I'm glad she sont it. I talked the other way yesterday, what little I said-ii isn't any of our business-but I don't think any too much of those people somehow. She thinks she belongs with Fisbee, and I guess she's right. That young fellow must have j:?;t along with ber pretty well, and I'm afraid when she gives up she'll be pretty bad over ii; but I ^ruoss we all will. It's terribly sudden, somehow, though it's only what everybody half expected would come, only we thought it would (.onie from over yonder." He nodded towan! tho west. "But she's mt to stay here with us. Boarding ;n Tibbs" with that old man won't do. and she's no I girl to live in two rooms. You lix it up with lier-you make ber stay." "She must/' answered his daughter .is she knelt "beside "bini "and patted bis coat and handed bim several things to eat at the same time. "Mr. Fisbee will help me persuade her, now that ? J "Father," she said. she's bound to stay in spite of him and the Sherwoods too. I've always thought she was grand, ever since she took me under lier protection at school, when I '- Minnie was speaking sadly, ine ohanicaily, but suddenly she broke off with a quick sob, turned to the win? dow, then turned again to Briscoe and cried: "I don't believe it! He knew how to take care of himself too well. He'd have got away from them." Her father shook his head. "Then why ?asirtlie"t?r?"eTjndp"7 He'd "have gone home after the storm if something bad wasn't the matter." "Dut nothing-nothing that bad could have happened. They haven't f o und-a ny-a ny t hi a g. ' ' "But why hasn't he come back, child V" "Well, he's lying hurt somewhere, that's all." "Then why haven't they lound him?" "I don't caro." she cried and choked with Hie words and tossed her dishev? eled hair froin her temples, "it isn't true! Helen won't believe it. Why should IV it's only a few hours sine? he was right hore in our yard taikinp rous ali. I won';, believe it till they'vi searched every stick and s.one of Si. Crossroads ->n *' fru-rul bim." (To Be Continued.) CASTOR IA For Infants and Children.. The Kind You Have Always Bought Bears the Signature of Mr. Frank Jones, of Abbeville county, has won a suit against the Seaboard Air Line for $5,000 for the less of a foot. Do You Want Strength? ?If you want to increase your strength you must add to and not take from the physical. In other words, the food that you eat must be digest? ed, assimilated and appropriated by the nerves, blood and tissues before being expelled from the intestines. Kodol Dyspepsia Cure adds to the physical. It gives strength to and builds-up strength in the human sys? tem. It is pleasant to the taste and palatable, and the only combination of digestants that will digest the food and enable the system to ap? propriate all of its health and strength-giving qualities. Sold by all druggists. The Columbia water works bonds have been sold to the Union Savings Bank and Trust Co., of Cincinnati, whose bid was for the whole issue of $400.000 at par, a premium of $4,050 and accrued interest. itt'sPills After eating, persons of a bilious habit wil! derive great benefit by taking one of these pills. If you have been DRINKING TOO MUCH, they w?l promptly relieve the nausea, SICK HEADACHE and nervousness which follows,restore the appetite and remove gloomy feel? ings. Elegantly sugar coated? Take No Substitute. Coros Colds} Prevents Pneumonia Sour Stomach No appetite, loss of strength, nervous? ness, headache, constipation, bad breath, general debility, sour risings, and catarrh of the stomach are all due to indigestion. Kodol cures indigestion. This new discov? ery represents the natural juices of diges? tion as they exist in a healthy stomach, combined with the greatest known tonic and reconstructive properties. Kodol Dys? pepsia Cure does not only cure indigestion and dyspepsia, but this famous remedy cures all stomach troubles by cleansing, purifying, sweetening and strengthening the mucous membranes lining the stomach. t Mr. S. S. Ball, of Ravenswood. W. Va., says: *' I was troubled with sour stomach for twenty years. Kodol cured me and we are now using it in milk for baby." Kodol Digests What You Eat. Bottles only. $1.00 Sire hol.iin? TA times the trial size, whick selis for 50 cents. Prepared by E. C. ?eWiTT & CO.. CHICAGO. For Sale by all Druggists. lOLEYSHONKMCAl for chlldrent safe, ?ure* /io opiates Clerk-Carrier Examination. The United States Civil Service Commissioner announces that on Oct. 28 an examination will be held for the positions of clerk and carrier in the Post-Office Service. This examination offers an oppor? tunity to bright, energetic young persons to enter au interesting field of Government employment where the salaries compare most favorably with those paid in private employment. The sainty of letter carriers in all cities containing less than 75.000 populatii-n there are two classes : 8850 per annum, and $600 per annum. Ap? pointment- of letter carriers are made to the class having tba minimum rate of pay and promotions from the lower grades are made to the next higher grade at the expiration of ce years' service on certificate o' the postmaster t > the efficiency and faith? fulness of the employee during the preceding year. A vacancy in tn* re? gular force of carriers most be filled bv the promotion of the senior sub? stitute. The examination w:ll consist o? the snbjects mentioned below: Spelling, Arithmetic, numbers, and in common decimal fractions, and United States money. Letter writing, Penmanship, Copying from nlain copy, United States geography, Read? ing addresses. Age limit, hil positions, 18 to 45 years. j? All applicants, male and female, must have rne medical certificate in -the application blank executed. Male applicants muss be at least 5 feet 4 inches in height iu bare feet, ano weigh not less than 125 pounds. For application blank, lull instruc? tions, specimen exsmintion que.-tions, and information relative to the duties and salaries cf the different positions, and the location of the examination room, application should be made to the secretary of the board of exami? ners at the postoffice. No application will be accepted for this exmination unless received by the undersigned crier to 4 o'clock p. m., cu October 21, 1904. Kow to Cure Corns and Bunions. 5First, soak the corn or bunion in warm water to soften it; then pare it down as closely as possible without drawing blood and apply Chamber? lain's Pain Balm twice daily, rubbing vigorously for five minutes at. each application. A corn plaster should be worn a few days to protect it from the shoe. As a general liniment for sprains, bruises, lameness and rheu? matism, Pain Balm is unequaled. For sale by all druggists. ) Dil ?e*entMe Jdne I$1.00 everywhere. Call on your drug? gist for free sample bottle, or write us. Checkers Medicine Co. Winston-Salem, N. C. I Blakes Kidneys and Bladder Right PATENTS Promptly obtained or no fee. Write for onr 1 and help inventors to success Send model, photo or sketch, and we send IMMEDIATE FREE REPORT ON PAT? ENTABILITY. 20years'practice. Regis? tered Patent Lawyers, write or come to us at 506-507, 7th St. WASHINGTON, D. C. ?????M Tte Lamest anil Most Gsifllen Geo. S. Bicker & Soi. -MANUFACTURERS OP - DOORS. SASH, BLINDS, Moulding <fc Building Material. >?ct ao-1 "?T-irrcoocos. K'o?, pposite O ooo Street, CHARLESTON j S. C. >JHF" Pnrrta*^ our aiaKe. which we gcarao 8np-r cr to an?- sold South, anil tcierehr -^ve money Window and Paney Glass a Specials THE "BOSS" COTTON PRESS! SIMPLEST. STRONGEST. BEST THE MURRAY GINNING SYSTEM Gins, Feeders. Condensers. Etc. GIBBES MACHINERY CO. Columbia? ?S. C. For all Kinds of Piles. *To draw the fire out of a burn, heal a cut without leaving a scar, or to cure boils, sores, tetter, eczema and all skin and scalp diseases, use Dewitt's Witch Hazel Salve. A spe? cific for blind, bleeding, itching and protruding piles. Stops the pain in? stantly and cures permanently. Get the genuine. Sold by all druggists. Land Surveying I will give prompt attention to all calls for surveying, platting, terracing hill sides draining bottoms, drawing Mortgages Titles, Probating, ?fee. BANKS H. BO Y KIN, D. S., not 19-o CatchaiL S. C. FOLEY'S KIDNEY CURE WIU. CURE YOU of any case df Kidney or Bladder disease that is not beyond the reach of medi? cine. Take it at once. Do not risk having Bright's Dis? ease or Diabetes. There is nothing gained by delay. 50c. and $1.00 Bottles? REFUSE SUBSTITUTES. DURANT'S PHARMACY. BeLORFiE'S PHARMACY, 23 South Main St. Open from 7 a. m. to 10 p. m. ; Sunday, 9 a. m. io 1 p. m. Having consolidated my two stores, 1 will be pleased to see all my customers at the above stand, where I am better pre? pared than ever to serve them. Your prescriptions will be called for and delivered. Phone 45. Full line of Drugs, Garden Seed and Cigars. Your patronage solicited. Call bell for night work. $100,000.00 Capital. THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK of Sumter, S. C. THE Comptroller of the Currency hav? ing approved the increase of the Capital of this Bank to $100,000.00, depositors now have as security for their deposits : Capital, - - $100,000 00 Stockholders' Individual Lia? bility, - - - '00,000 00 Surplus and Undivided Prof? its, - - - 25,000 00 Total Security for Depositors, $225,000 00 ' ONLY NATI0NLA BANK IK CITY OF SUMTER. Largest Capital of any Bank in this section of South Carolina. Strongest Bank in Eastern part of this State. Interest allowed on deposits to a limited amount. BOARD OF DIRECTORS. A. J. CHINA, President. NEILL O'DONNELL, Vice President. H. D. BARNETT, R. D. LEE, G. A. LEMMON, JOHN RETD, E. P. RICKER. R. L. EDMUNDS, Cashier. R. D. LEE, Solicitor. BOOKKEEPERS. J. L. McCpJlncn, D. J. Winn, Jr. _Oliver L. Yate*._ TSE SUMTER SAVINGS SANK. HORACE HARBY, President. I. C. STRAUSS. Vice-president. GEO. L. RICF.ER, Cashier. Capital Stock, $25,000 Liabilitv of Stockholders. 2^,coo Pinrel II ;:; Every Facility For the transaction of business is afford? ed those who deposit their money with The Sumter Savings Bank. Iru portant papers can be drawn up and signed in a private room set a*ide for use of our clients and any information de? sired will be cheerfully furnished by the management. Savings deposited here draw iuterest at the rate of 4 per cent per annum. $i.0X) will open an account and secure a bank book. W> promptly obtain ?. S. and Foreign .Send model, sketch or photo of invention for1 free report on patentability, ior free book, l?rTRADE-MARKS I ^^a?w^^?r?^^^wTP^ ' H ?&Bg f? 1 R 1 I i ff II IrW SB?' ' Opposite U. S, Patent Office WASHINGTON D.C.