Never, said Newt firmly, as he hurried homeward by the back streets,--never would he do another day"s work in his life, if this was to be the result of honest toil. And what"s more, he hadn"t even received a single word of praise from his wife when he descended from the attic and triumphantly told her what he had accomplished,--he and the pup between them--after three hours of solid, painstaking endeavour.
Mrs. Spratt had merely said: "If you could learn that pup how to split firewood or milk a cow or repair the picket fence or something like that, you might be worth your salt, Newt Spratt. As it is, you ain"t."
As Newt turned gloomily into the alley leading up to his back gate, he espied the Marshal of Tinkletown, Anderson Crow, leisurely approaching from the opposite direction. Mr. Crow, on catching sight of Newt, hastily removed something from his mouth and held it behind his back.
Perceiving that it was n.o.body but Newt Spratt, he restored the object to his lips and began puffing away at it,--but not until he had sent a furtive glance over his shoulder.
"What you doin" back here?" inquired Newt, somewhat offensively, as the two drew closer together. "Lookin" fer clues?"
Anderson again removed the corn-cob pipe, spat accurately over the hand with which he shielded his straggling chin whiskers, and remarked:
"Do _you_ see anything wrong with this here pipe, Newt?" he asked, gazing rather pensively at the object.
"I don"t _see_ anything wrong with it," said Newt. "Still, I think you"re mighty sensible not to smoke it any place except in an alley. Why don"t you get a new one? They only cost ten cents. If you got a new one once in a while,--say once a year,--your wife wouldn"t order you out of the house every time you light it."
"She don"t order me out of the house when I light it," retorted Anderson. ""Cause why? "Cause I never light it till I get two or three blocks away from home."
The subject apparently being exhausted, the two alley-farers lapsed into characteristic silence. Mr. Spratt leaned rather wearily against his own back fence, while Mr. Crow accepted the support of a telephone pole.
Presently the former started to say something about the weather, but got no farther than the first two or three words when an astounding conjecture caused him to break off abruptly. He glanced at the old marshal, swallowed hard a couple of times, and then hopefully ventured the time-honoured question:
"Anything new, Anderson?"
The marshal responded with a slow, almost imperceptible shake of the head. He was gazing reflectively at a couple of English sparrows perched on one of the telephone wires some distance down the line.
Newt experienced a sudden, overwhelming joy. Caution, however, and a certain fear that he might be mistaken, advised him to go slow. There remained the possibility that Anderson might be capable of simulation.
"Where"s the body?" he inquired, casually.
Marshal Crow"s gaze deserted the sparrows and fixed itself on Newt"s ear.
"The what?"
His companion exhaled a tremendous breath of satisfaction. Life was suddenly worth living. The Marshal of Tinkletown had not heard the "news." The marshal, _himself_!
"Well, by Gosh!" exclaimed the revivified Mr. Spratt. "Where have you been at?"
"That"s my business," snapped Anderson.
"All I got to say is that you ought to be attendin" to it, if it"s your business," said Newt loftily. "You"re the marshal of this here town, ain"t you? And everybody in town knows that Jake Miller is dead except you. You"re a fine marshal." There was withering scorn in Newt"s voice.
He even manifested an inclination to walk off and leave the marshal without further enlightenment.
Anderson made a valiant effort to conceal his astonishment. a.s.suming a more or less indifferent air, he calmly remarked:
"I knowed Jake was a little under the weather, but I didn"t think it was serious? When did he die?"
"He didn"t die," said Newt. "He hung himself."
"What"s that?" gasped Anderson, his jaw sagging.
"Hung himself some time last night," went on Newt joyously. "From a rafter in Ed Higgins"s livery stable. With a clothesline. Kicked a step-ladder out from under himself. Why, even Uncle Dad Simms has heard about it. Ed found him when he went out to--wait a second! I"m goin"
your way. What"s the rush? He"s been dead six or eight hours. He can"t escape. He"s down in Hawkins"s undertaking place. Hey! You dropped your pipe. Don"t you want it any--"
"If you"re goin" my way, you"ll have to _run_," called out Marshal Crow as he unlimbered his long legs and made for the mouth of the alley. He was not running, but Newt, being an undersized individual, had no other means of keeping up with him unless he obeyed the sardonic behest. For ten or fifteen rods, Mr. Spratt jogged faithfully at the heels of the leader, and then suddenly remembered that it was a long way to Hawkins"s Undertaking Emporium in Sickle street,--at least an eighth of a mile as the crow flies,--and as he already had had a hard day"s work, he slowed down to a walk and then to a standstill. He concluded to wait till some one came along in a wagon or an automobile. There wasn"t any use wasting his valuable breath in running. Much better to save it for future use.
In the meantime, by standing perfectly still, he could ruminate to his heart"s content.
Marshal Crow"s long strides soon carried him to the corner of Maple Street, where he made a sharp turn to the right, shooting a swift look over his shoulder as he did so. His late companion was leaning against a tree. Satisfied that he had completely thrown Mr. Spratt off the trail, Anderson took a short cut through Justice of the Peace Robb"s front and back yards and eventually emerged into Main Street, where he slackened his pace to a dignified saunter.
He caught sight of Alf Reesling, the reformed town drunkard, holding conversation from the sidewalk with some one in a second story window of Mrs. Judy O"Ryan"s boarding house, half a block away.
"h.e.l.lo!" shouted Alf, discovering the marshal. "Here he comes now. Where you been all morning, Andy? I been huntin" everywhere for you. Something horrible has happened. I just stopped to tell Judy about it."
The marshal stopped, and gazed upon Alf with mild interest. He nodded carelessly to Mrs. O"Ryan in the upstairs window, and addressed the following significant remark to Alf:
"I guess I"ve got Jake"s motive purty well established, Alf. You needn"t ask me what I"ve unearthed, because I won"t tell you. It"s a nice day, ain"t it, Judy?"
Before Mrs. O"Ryan could affirm or deny this polite bit of information, Alf cried out:
"You don"t mean to say you _know_ about it?"
"The rain yesterday and day before has brought your lilacs out splendid, Judy," said Anderson, ignoring him.
"I was up to your house before eight o"clock, and your wife said you"d gone out in the country to practise your new Decoration Day speech, Anderson. How in thunder did you find out about Jake?"
Marshal Crow turned upon the speaker with some severity. "See here, Alf, are you tryin" to act like Newt Spratt?"
That was a deadly insult to Alf.
"What do you mean?" he demanded hotly.
"Nothin"--except that Newt had the same kind of an idee in his head that you seem to have got into yours. Next time you see Newt you tell him I been laughin" myself almost sick over the way I fooled him,--the blamed iggoramus." Having planted a seed that was intended to bear the fruit of justification, the venerable marshal decided that now was the time to prepare himself against anything further in the shape of surprise. So he linked arms with Alf and started off down the street.
"Now, see here, Alf," he began, somewhat sternly. "I won"t stand for any beatin" about the bush from you. You got to tell me the whole truth an"
nothin" but the truth, and if your story hangs together and agrees with what I"ve already worked out,--I"ll see that you get fair treatment and--"
Alf stopped short. "What in sa.s.safras are you talkin" about? What story?"
"Begin at the beginnin" and tell me where you was last night, and _early this morning_, and where and when you last saw Jake Miller."
The marshal"s manner was decidedly accusative, although tempered by sadness. Something in his voice betrayed a great and illy concealed regret that this life-long friend had got himself so seriously entangled in the Jacob Miller affair.
"Where was I last night and this morning?" repeated the astonished Alf.
"Percisely," said Anderson, tightening his grip on Alf"s arm.
"In bed," said Alf succinctly.
"Come, now," warned the marshal; "none of that. I want the truth out of you. When did you last see Jake Miller,--and what was he doing?"
"I saw him about half an hour ago, and he wasn"t doin" anything."