The Barnwell people-sentinel. (Barnwell, S.C.) 1925-current, July 21, 1927, Image 6
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THE BARNWELL PEOPLE-SENTINEL. BARNWELL. SOUTH CAROLINA
THURSDAY, JULY 21ST, 1>2T.
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MicKael J. Phillips
IIl\i^tratlon« by H«nsy J*y Lee
CopyrijKt Micka»l V. Phil lip*
fUUmcad thru Publithf Autoca^tcr Service
off agamy tore 4t open curiously.' The prosecution argued that Barney
There was a half sheet of paper in- ^Olk was the driver and sole attend-
side. There were a few words, also ant. That he had broken into the
in typewriting, upo n it. He read: |,case and abstracted the bottle which
“For God’s sake, Eddie, stand by w’as found in the Mackinaw. That
me. If you tell about last night I the coat belonged to him. That he
will be disgraced. It will break my had become sick b^ reason of over
people’s hearts.” ^ There was neither, indulgence and stayed in Burley. And
salutation nor signature. that Forbes had volunteered to .take
He tore the note into small pieces the truck on to its destination: The
as he walked along and allowed them next step in the hypothesis was that
to sift into the new grass. He was Eddie had also helped himrelf to the
contempkous, but the appeal streng- liquor between Burley and Scottdale.
thened his determination to protect That he had become drunk he could
the weak youth. “If I don’t do it/ not manage tte truck, and he acei-
he’ll just about gq to the dogs,” dent had followed.
thought Eddie.
I
THE LEADING CHARACTERS
EDISON FORBES, a young resi-
rient of Scottdale, goes on a little
joy ride with another young fellow,
fiome Hquor is consumed. They are
stopped suddenly by the sight of a
t>ooxe ,truck driven by
SCOOTS LIBBEY, a worthless
character, who has smashed his ma-
occupant, a woman. Forbes' com
panion and Libbey quit the acene
hurriedly, leaving the former alone
to face a constable who reasons that
Eddie, with the scent of whiikey
about him, must be connected in some
way with the accident. Accordingly,
Forbes is arrested.
do a generous thing, and it embar
rassed him. "The fellow who was
with me wasn’t one of my particular
cronies, Pat. He has a good job.
He doesn’t take a drink once in six
months.
“I didn’t, intend to go to Burley
last night. 1 was headed home after
.. .. , g'etqing a balance on the monthj
«Mn, mto another car, tjjUyJH h-|jSa«B5r But there we. . smell of
^filing in the air. ft WSlTHTbbnlight.
,1 was tired out; I’ve., bpen working
extra hard for six or eight weeks.
Thh fellow drove along and the idea
popped into my head from nowhere
to go hunt a drink. When he of
fered me a lift I put it up to him.
He—, well, he sort of. acted on im
pulse the way I did. The fir*t thing
we knew, we were on our way to
Burley.”
“I know, Eddie,” the wifo shook
with tender impatience the hand
which she was fondling. “But he’s
r*-*
CHAPTER III
A Doubting Wife
It was his own wife, Patsy Jane
Forbes, who first gave expression in
ilia hearing to the doubt of Edison's
atory—a doubt which hung over the
community like miasma from a
swamp in the succeeding days.
Scoots Libbey was not captured the
night of the tragedy. He slipped
through the telephone dragnet. No
one had seen hinr, nor was trace of
him found thereafter.
Edison spent the night in the coun
ty jail. He was formally charged,
next morning, with manslaughter for
causing the death of Mrs. Maria
Knowles, the collision victim. Bail
was arranged and he was released. 1
He stopped at the ice and coal office
of Sam Hilton, where he was em
ployed as office manager, to explain
hia tardiness before going on home.
He found the news of his arrest
was before him. .Hilton, a grim,
narrow-faced man of sixty, prayed at
each Wednesday e^enihigV prayer-
_• •MMimf fbr the confufion pf jtrqpze
‘ *^rtM&'fci>porier*. He felt, to ^oN/
liter up his prayers with what he con
sidered good works, that he must
dtcharge Edison. And he did so.
Forbes went on home. In the
little white-painted house which they
Tented on Scqttdale’s second-best
stgemt, Pat y Jane cried over her (
husband and petted hint. The jail
she made coffee and cooked eggs a^dl
bacon. W’ith the boyish smile and
fcreakfa t had not b«e n palatable so f^e, white and twenty-one, isn’t he?
ft-ank simplicity which were his' ^ abIe to bear his share of the
chiefest charms, Eddie told her the^ he? Wh y> ^
atory of the previous evening. | ma y ^ ^ tro to jail unless you tell.
“Now you go ahead and walk over ^ does,
me, Pat,” he concluded. “For I cer-; • H e smiled tolerantly. “Oh, no, I
tainly deserve it. I’ve acted like a won’t. But h emust come forward of
fool and I’ve lost my job, all on *c ! his own accord. He has * good job;
count of a bottle of hootch. But he stend 9 high^heie. It Wopld be
of dominoes. I gave the shoves and
it’s up to me to 'stand the gaff alone.”
“Unless, of course, he offers to help.
That’ll be different.”
He could feel her stiffening with
resentment and 'something else. She
rose and began clearing away the
disher. “It—it almost looks as
though there might have been some
thing dishonorable,” she murmured.
He knew what she meant, and
flushed. They had been married only
a year. Previous to hef coming to
Scottdale with her father and -step
mother to reside, he had been tacitly
engaged to Nance Encell, daughter
of the. town’s richest man. But
Nance was headstrong and higti-
spirited. They quarreled frequently
and violently. After one of the quar
rels he met, fell in love with Patsy
-Jane and married her, all within the
space of three months.
Nance was one of the first to call
Eddie was on the stand in his own
defense. But he did not help his
care. He told his story strictly in
accordance with the truth. He
steadfastly refused to give any
CHAPTER IV
“Guilty"
For his companion was not of the
stuff of which martyrs are fashioned. - hint of the identity of the person with
He was easily lead, easily oppressed him in the car. The sheriff had tried
by disapproval. He was of the type to prove up by a search for distin-
whose face registers with hangdog guishing tiremarks <n Jthe nap-row
faithfulness for days the record of a lane leading from, the river road to the
few hour?’ dissipation. “Well, you’re ( highway. But as so many cars had
a weak sister, kid,” he summed up, followed the route to the accident
“which is all the more reason I have tha( no evidence wan forthcoming.
to stand by you. If I told, your
father would probably kick you out;
they’d fire you down at the office,
( just the way I was fired by old Sam.
You’d slink away to the big town
and be a bum.
“Oh, I know if I save you this time
you’ll probably stub your toe sooner
or later, anyway. But that’s not my
affair. I wont be to blame. I have
my coityUe mapped, <*ut. I must
keep the faith, no matter what hap
pens next week or next year. Be
sides, I really don’t need your help.
No jury would convict on such flim
sy evidence.”
He was curiourly mistaken in this.
He failed to take into consideraton;
Into the minds of the judge, the
jury and the spectators seeped the
belief that the story he told Vvas, in
the main particulars false. They
reasoned that the prosecutor’s theory
must be the correct one. In the cold
light of day his Quixotic defense of
another, even at the possible expense
of his own freedom, did not seem
logical.
They went a step farther. If, by
any chance he was telling the truth
he had an unworthy motive, and not
a worthy one, for keeping the name
of his companion a secret His court
ship of Nance Encell was remember
ed. Therr friendliness since his
marriage, innocent though it was, had
man, efewnt. -which combined to| bNn „ , ubj ^ t 0 , ta ,„ wn
work agramst him -Ith what appeared i go _ w> , th( . , tep ^
alone.
The outstanding thought in Edisons
mind was that he had been a fool, a
crackbrained^ ovtergenerous fool,
prbtecting one who could not be saved
by protection. And one who did not
appreciate his sacrifice. The coward
ly note the morning after the accident
proved that. So did the young man’s
avoidance of him since his arrest-
His thought}? ran: “If I’d have
known they’d convict me, I would
have told who was with me.”
The tr&in puffed into Jackson. Beal
signaled a taxicab. They were driven
to the prison whose sinister w^Hs
towered above the railway tracks.
Edison shuddered as they parsed
within the gateway of discolored gr
stone. The whole place seemed
recover slowly from the recent siege
of wet weather. There were puddles
n the worn flags of‘the foot walk.
The ivy dripped as it clung to the
cold stone barriers. There was the
same cold dampne5ts in the prison
office, and a sftrong smell of disin
fectants, both depressing and degrad
ing. '
Hi mis received a receipt for his
prisoner and went away after a silent
handclasp. His mouth twitched with
emotion, so that he dared attempt
no word. The clerk in charge had
barely started on Edison’s pedigree
when the warden entered.
“Never mind, Jerry,” he said to the
clerk. And then to Edison: “You’re
Forbes of Scottdale?”
“Yes, air.” *
(CONTINUED NEXT WEEK.)
ed
be personal malignacy. Mrs.
—if he wasn’t driving the truck, th?n
KncmlM, the woman who had been hf joyridine >round ^ ^
crushed to death, was admired and
lespccted in the community. Her life WflS gt h om< ,
had be^n a long struggle again <t
» Encell girl while his poor little wife
J
The jury bropght in a verdict of
“Guilty." Interpreted, it really meant
“Guilty on appearances and general
principles.” In a scathing arraign-
ment that lasted for 20 minutes,
route between Canadian pdlti, and j udg , p lrMOS MnU , nced
Detro.t and Cb«g>. Purthermorej EdiMn fron , 6 , s y< , ar ,
in ihe state penitentiary at Jackson.
Edison made' the few hours’ trip
other way when t he trucks ...slipped t « the prison city in a daxe of misery.
odds, which she had overcome with
noteworthy patience and industry.
It had been suspected for some time
that Scottdale was on the main booie
there were hints that peace officers 1
wee being ^subsidized to look the
INSURANCE
FIRE
WINDSTORM.
PUBLIC LIABILITY
ACCIDENT - HEALTH
SURETY BONDS
AUTOMOBILE
THEFT
Calhoun and Co.
T. A. PRICE, Mananr.
I
tfrmugh 1n the ' higWC TRi* was
"fccenfy resented. ' The town had been
dry for years before the passage-qf
The depute sheriff in whose charge
he was. Linus ©eel, was a school-
^ime f iend. He sympathized deeply
Wm. McNAB
before you start I want to tell you awfully hard on his people. Ap^ nocor was frequently heard roaring
that I’m done, through, completed, really, I’m to blame—
finis! No more booze for mine. Patsy Jane let go his hand. “Oh,
Fm off the stuff for life. When I indeed!” she commented coldly. “He
«aw what it did last night it opened . doe * stand high, does he? And of
nay eyes, I can tell you.' Oh. I know course your being under arrest and
Tve said all this before. But tins losing your job isn’t hard on ”me!
time I mean it. I’m done; that’s all.” You owe something at home, don’t
numerous violations had alrou ed pub
lic sentiment. * ~ * * •*
Eddie Forbes had been popjhlar.
But now that he was under arrest
for a mi hap due to liquor, it was
recalled that he had been drunk with
more or less frequency in the past.
Repudiation by his employer, a man
of influence, had done much to turn
after they were settled in the little I the community against him.
the Eighteertth Amendment, and the*, .. : . . . , .
. . , . ■ ‘with the prisoner and respected his
tragic bewilderment. He did not in
sist on sitting with Edison. He real
ized that his prisoner preferred to be
FIRE, HEALTH AND ACCIDENT
INSURANCE COMPANIES. i
#
Personal attention given all bosinoee
%
‘Office hi Harrison Block, Main 8t
BARNWELL. 8. C
/
LONG TERM MONEY to LEND
whitjb house. Theire wt<| a good-
humored air of “let bygones be by
gones” on the surface, but, seemingly,
a lurking imp of malice beneath.
She showed open favor for her old
sweetheart at parties and dances.
She came and went as she pleased.
She had her own car. Its powerful
At unconventional hours along Scott-
dale’s quiet streets. It might look,
thoughtEddie, moodily, after he had
kissed his wife godbye and started
downtown, that he nad been out rid
ing with Nance last, night and was
concealing the fact, Well/'iL Patey
The trial overwhelmed him like n
landslide. The prcrecution produced <
6 per cent, interest on large amounts-
Private funds for small loans.
witnesses to prove that he had been
seen sittng alone on the truck, on the
main ntreet of Burley, less than two
ihours before the accident. This wasl
while Scoops Libbey conducted the
wretchedly ill Barney, Oik to the
Burley House, a short di.'/tance away. ——■■■■
But Barney had entered the hotel a-
lone. Hearing of the accident, he
disappeared next morning before he
could be questioned. , - _ ^
“You didn’t say who was with you, 1 you?” : Jane was silly enough to believe
Eddie,” was her -comment. ! But he sheqk hi? head stubbornly, let her- He would keep silent as to
“No, I didn’t, Pat,” he replied. “Can’t do it, Pat. I’ve thought It h** companion was. That wa?
“Pm not going to teM anyone.” j all over. In a way I’m responsible tbe on !y square, decent thing to do.
She looked at him in surprise, for that woman 1 * death. If I hadn’t Of course, if that companion chose
“But at the trial you’ll have to, won’t persuaded. Libbey to break into a to come forward vm|untariV, the
case at Burley, he might have not ^W'Plications would be srocotfied out.
" He had left the block in whTch his
home was situated when he met -a
The boy
700?“
Wot if I don’t want
qlon*t.”
/ “Rut why?”
’ “Weil, it’s Hke this,” he began
ahame faced and flushing. He was
s&out to confess a determination to didn’t It’s like pushing over a line written only Forbes’ name, and rode
to; and I gotten drunk. Don’t you see? And
if, when this chap offered me a ride,
I had asked him to take me home, »w*ll boy on a bicycle,
he would have done it That’s all. mounted, handed hjn a fplain
there would have been to it But I *h>te envelope on which was type-
No one had noticed Forbes’ com
panion and the latter’s car on the ex-
nodition to Burley. This was because
Eddie had left them on a side stre-t
ile he skirmished the liquor. Noth
ing mjld be found to substantiate hi
story that 4he mining Scoops was re-
non'/ible for tbp accident There was
little to connect Libbey with the
truck. There was a Mackinaw coat
cn the driver’s seat In oito^of the
pocket* was a partly emptied bbttle
of liquor. The cargo was intact ex
cept for one care which had been
opened, and from which two bottles
had been taken.
BROWN & BUSH
BARNWELL. SOUTH CAROLINA.
-x~x-:-<-x^<"X^x-x-C“XX~:“X-.x-x--x~x-<~>*x-x~;-x-x-x-x*-x-x*->
NOW---
That the Easter rush is over—is the
best time to get a permanent wave.
You will enjoy it through the Spring
and Summer months.
Phone cr write for an appointment;
Leonard Beauty Shoppe
MRS. A. DBAS, Prop.
Phone No. 2237
Augusta, Ga.
Leonard Building
Room No. 408
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