Under Fire: A Tale of New England Village Life

hew was miserable in his anger, as he and his confederate remained crouche

imagined his rival enjoying the pleasure of escorting Nellie home. The more he thought upon the matter the more vividly h

as prolonging the time in reaching Dr. Dutton's house, his anger became more bit

ked errand-an errand for which he should have suffered a severe punishment. Still the time went on, and the c

oject; but he had waited so long, looked, listened, and hoped, and

't coming, after

Tim, who was evidently very an

me this way," c

other road and cut

er? Listen, do you hear it? There is a step now

," said Tim, pointing to an approa

im-the tramp! I'll teach him better than to interfere with me," continued Matth

hink so," o

bout a minute. He will wish

hall I h

the leg so h

his arms, and then it would be all day wi

nough so he won't bother us with his a

ll you

returned Matthew, darti

you v

. They struck terror to the heart of the highwayman, whose clu

isappointment, the danger and the surprise, almost paralyzed Matthew wi

e had time to realize the unexpected situation his club fell heavi

eless he struck so hard that Jacob Simmons, for that was the name of the new comer, thought for a time th

imed club speedily brought him to his senses, and aroused his temper as well. He consequent

at the same time enforcing his demand by shak

h difficulty, forced breath enough through the grasp of

nother shake, given, probably, with the

, don't; you will ch

his business, and why you assaul

ow it was you

h, mind y

, and I say we thought

en, to rob and mur

have anything to do with th

ose anger was giving place, to some

ew De

ather rich, proud, a banker," continued the wily Jacob, easing his grasp upon the throat of Tim. "And

a of freeing himself by impli

n he saw his mistake he dusted o

the blame on some one else; but you can't get away now. I shall ha

leaded Tim, with tea

keeping, where you will not get a chance t

ll you all I know about it, and do anything-work

Yes, I will let you go-go to t

fault-wanting to lic

fine yarn to try and clear yourself when you are

me to h

ou to h

as waiting for him-said he wa

to Matthew De Vere to come here and waylay an innocen

it in that way or I wouldn't

do such a wicked deed. You are as guilty as he,

lan to extort money from the rich banker to keep the affair a secret, and save his family from disgrace. Thus Jacob's regard for the law and justice, which was sincere at first, before he saw

o get the reward Mr. Simmons became, in a sense, a party to the assault upon h

ull regarding Matthew's object in waylaying Fred Worthington, gave him a conditional pardon; that is, he agreed to wait a few days before handing him over to the sheriff, to see if he could

proposition, which was that he should be paid five hundred dollars cash for the injuries he had received. If Matthew and his father di

ugh Matthew, or, if he failed in so doing, to secure by some means one hundred dollars to free himself. Jacob had at last very shrewdly, though with seeming reluctance, agreed, if

rality, and as his best friend. But before leaving the presence of his benefactor, the latter was careful

tended to assist Tim's memory if he shou

the interest of his friends was to be considered,