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"By gol!" cried Jeb Case; "I hearn theht er after 'T woke oin' sixty mile an hour Er say," he stopped to scratch his head "Mebby it was tramps They ht an' agin this mornin' I never seed so dum many bums in noring the others comments "Oakdale's all tore up Abbie Prim's disappeared and Jonas Pris 'uz murdered, er most murdered--chances is he's dead by this time anyhow Doc said he hadn't no chance"

"Gosh!" It was a pater-filius duet

"But thet ain't all," gloated Jiie Paynter were recognized, an' who do you think one of 'em was, eh? Why one of 'em was Abbie Prim an' tother was a slick crook frouet 'eular dee-dectiff down froo, an' the board o' select-men's offered a re-ward o' fifty dollars fer the arrest an' conviction of the perpetrators of these dastardly crimes!"

"Gosh!" cried Willie Case "I know--"; but then he paused If he told all he knew he saw plainly that either the carrier or his father would profit by it and collect the reward Fifty dollars!! Willie gasped

"Well," said Jiotta be on my way Here's the Tribune--there ain't nothin' one

"I don' see why he don't carry a whip," idappin' to that there tin lizzie," he ood as a hoss But I ets out an' tries to lead it by Lem Smith's threshin' machine"

Jeb Case preferred an audience worthy his mettle; but Willie was better than no one, yet when he turned to note the effect of his remarks on his son, Willie was no where to be seen If Jeb had but known it his young hopeless was already in the loft of the hay barn deep in a small, red-covered book entitled: "HOW TO BE A DETECTIVE"

Bridge, who had had no intention of deserting his helpless companions, appeared at last to yield reluctantly to their pleas That indefinable soly to the protective instinct in the man, also assured him that the other's h the stories of the two yeggued to the contrary There was the chance, however, that the boy had really taken the first step upon the road toward a crie felt ated to protect his new found friend from arrest, secure in the reflection that his own precept and example would do more to lead hiistrate or penal institute