WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:10.640 The Chicken by Ellis Parker. Butler Filo Gubb, with three 2 00:00:10.800 --> 00:00:13.439 rolls of wallpaper under his arm and a pail of 3 00:00:13.599 --> 00:00:17.120 mixed paste in one hand, walked along Cherry Street near 4 00:00:17.160 --> 00:00:21.079 the brickyard. On this occasion, mister Gubb was in a 5 00:00:21.120 --> 00:00:24.440 reasonably contented frame of mind, for he had just received 6 00:00:24.480 --> 00:00:28.120 his share of the reward for capturing the dynamiters, and 7 00:00:28.239 --> 00:00:31.839 had this very morning paid the full amount to mister Meadowbrook, 8 00:00:32.320 --> 00:00:35.759 leaving but eleven six hundred and fifty dollars still to 9 00:00:35.759 --> 00:00:38.719 be paid to that gentleman for the utterly hopeless gold 10 00:00:38.759 --> 00:00:42.520 mine stock. And upon the further payment of seventy five 11 00:00:42.600 --> 00:00:46.880 cents half its cost, mister Meadowbrook gave him a telegram 12 00:00:46.880 --> 00:00:50.920 he had received from Cyrilla. The telegram was as follows, 13 00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:56.840 Rapidly shrinking, have given up all soups, including tomato soup, 14 00:00:56.920 --> 00:01:00.960 chicken soup, mulligaton, he mocked, turtle, green pea vegetable, gumbo, 15 00:01:01.039 --> 00:01:05.159 lent al, konsumme bullyon and clam broth. Now weigh only 16 00:01:05.280 --> 00:01:08.840 nine hundred and fifty pounds. Why are at once whether 17 00:01:09.040 --> 00:01:13.319 clam chowder is a soup or a food fond remembrances 18 00:01:13.359 --> 00:01:17.359 to Gubby. Mister Gubb was thinking of this telegram as 19 00:01:17.359 --> 00:01:20.560 he walked toward his work. Just ahead of him, a 20 00:01:20.799 --> 00:01:24.040 short lane led between Missus Smith's house and the Cherry 21 00:01:24.079 --> 00:01:28.120 Street Methodist Chapel to the brickyard. Missus Smith's chicken coop 22 00:01:28.200 --> 00:01:30.959 stood on the fence line between her property and the 23 00:01:31.000 --> 00:01:35.599 brick yard. Filo Gubb had passed Missus Smith's front gate 24 00:01:35.640 --> 00:01:40.359 when Missus Smith waddled to her fence and hailed him. Oh, 25 00:01:40.439 --> 00:01:44.480 mister Gobb, She panded, you got to excuse me for 26 00:01:44.560 --> 00:01:47.480 speaking to you when I don't know you. Missus Miffin 27 00:01:47.599 --> 00:01:51.719 says you're a detective. Deed ticketing is by aim and 28 00:01:51.799 --> 00:01:57.799 my profession, said mister Gubb. Well, said Missus Smith, I 29 00:01:58.000 --> 00:02:01.200 want to ask a word of you about I've had 30 00:02:01.239 --> 00:02:06.079 a chicken stole. Chicken stealing is a crime, if ever 31 00:02:06.120 --> 00:02:10.240 there was one, said Filo Gub. Seriously, what was the 32 00:02:10.360 --> 00:02:17.800 chicken worth? Forty cents? Said Missus Smith Well, said Filo Gub. 33 00:02:17.840 --> 00:02:24.520 It wouldn't hardly pay me. It ain't much, admitted Missus Smith. No, 34 00:02:25.000 --> 00:02:28.360 you're you're right, it ain't, said Filo Gub. Was this 35 00:02:28.439 --> 00:02:32.840 a rooster or a hen. It was a hen, said 36 00:02:32.960 --> 00:02:37.240 Missus Smith. Well, said mister Gubb. If you was to 37 00:02:37.319 --> 00:02:40.199 offer a reward of one hundred dollars for the capture 38 00:02:40.199 --> 00:02:45.919 of the thief, oh my land, exclaimed Missus Smith. It 39 00:02:45.960 --> 00:02:48.280 would be cheaper for me to pay somebody five dollars 40 00:02:48.360 --> 00:02:50.879 to come and steal the rest of the chickens. It 41 00:02:50.960 --> 00:02:53.879 seems to me that you ought to make the thief pay. 42 00:02:54.719 --> 00:02:57.000 I ain't the one that did the crime, am I. 43 00:02:57.599 --> 00:02:59.919 It's only right that a thief should pay for the 44 00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:04.240 time and trouble he puts you to, ain't it. I 45 00:03:04.319 --> 00:03:07.719 never looked at it that way, said mister Gubb thoughtfully, 46 00:03:08.479 --> 00:03:13.479 But it stands to reason. Of course it does, said 47 00:03:13.479 --> 00:03:16.560 missus Smith. You catch that thief and you can offer 48 00:03:16.599 --> 00:03:19.840 yourself a million dollars reward if you want to. That's 49 00:03:19.879 --> 00:03:24.879 none of my business, well said Filo Gubb, picking up 50 00:03:24.879 --> 00:03:29.000 his paste pail. I guess if there ain't any important 51 00:03:29.080 --> 00:03:32.240 murders or things turned up by seven tonight, I'll start 52 00:03:32.280 --> 00:03:35.199 in to work for that reward. I guess I can 53 00:03:35.439 --> 00:03:40.560 ask more than five dollars reward. At seven, the evening 54 00:03:40.800 --> 00:03:44.360 was still light, and Filo Gubb to cover his intentions 55 00:03:44.360 --> 00:03:47.639 and avert suspicion in case his interview with Missus Smith 56 00:03:47.639 --> 00:03:50.599 had been observed by the thief, put a false beard 57 00:03:50.639 --> 00:03:54.000 in his pocket and a revolver beside it, and left 58 00:03:54.000 --> 00:03:57.919 his office in the oppera house block. Cautiously, he slipped 59 00:03:57.960 --> 00:04:00.719 into the alley and glided down it, leaping close to 60 00:04:00.759 --> 00:04:05.439 the stables. The detective must be cautious. The abandoned brick 61 00:04:05.520 --> 00:04:10.120 kilns offered admirable seclusion. A brick kiln is built entirely 62 00:04:10.280 --> 00:04:13.280 or almost so of the brick that are to be burned, 63 00:04:13.319 --> 00:04:15.960 and the kilns are torn down and carted away as 64 00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:19.399 the brick or sold. The overstructure of the kilns was 65 00:04:19.439 --> 00:04:22.560 a mere roof of half inch planks laid on timbers 66 00:04:22.560 --> 00:04:26.439 that were upheld by poles. A ladder leaning against one 67 00:04:26.480 --> 00:04:29.839 of the poles gave access to the roof. In the darkness, 68 00:04:29.879 --> 00:04:33.560 it was impossible for Philo Gub to find a fingerprint 69 00:04:33.560 --> 00:04:37.279 of the culprit on the kilns. Although he looked for one. 70 00:04:37.360 --> 00:04:41.040 He did not even find the usual and highly helpful button. 71 00:04:41.399 --> 00:04:44.319 Torn from its place in the criminal's eagerness to depart, 72 00:04:45.160 --> 00:04:49.399 He found only an old horseshoe and a broken tobacco pipe, 73 00:04:49.959 --> 00:04:52.920 as there were evidences that the pipe had been abandoned 74 00:04:52.920 --> 00:04:56.120 on that spot several years earlier. Neither of these was 75 00:04:56.160 --> 00:05:00.639 a very valuable clue. Mister Gubb next game his attention 76 00:05:00.720 --> 00:05:04.120 to the chicken coop. It was pre eminently a hand 77 00:05:04.160 --> 00:05:08.639 made chicken coop of the rough and ready variety. Philo 78 00:05:08.759 --> 00:05:12.639 Gub entered the chicken house and looked around, lighting his 79 00:05:12.800 --> 00:05:15.399 dark lantern and throwing its rays here and there that 80 00:05:15.480 --> 00:05:19.079 he might see better. The house was so low of 81 00:05:19.240 --> 00:05:21.879 roof that he had to stoop to avoid the roosts, 82 00:05:22.079 --> 00:05:25.319 and the tails of the chickens brushed his hat. It 83 00:05:25.480 --> 00:05:29.319 needed brushing, so this did no harm the hens, and 84 00:05:29.399 --> 00:05:32.560 the two roosters complained gently of this interruption of their 85 00:05:32.560 --> 00:05:36.000 beauty sleep, and moved along the roosts, and mister Gubb 86 00:05:36.079 --> 00:05:39.759 went outside again. It was quite evident that the thief 87 00:05:39.800 --> 00:05:43.720 had had no great hardships to undergo in robbing that roost. 88 00:05:44.399 --> 00:05:46.959 All he had to do was to enter the chicken house, 89 00:05:47.120 --> 00:05:50.800 choose a chicken, and walk away with it. Why had 90 00:05:50.839 --> 00:05:55.000 he not taken ten chickens? Mister Gubb, as he put 91 00:05:55.040 --> 00:05:57.040 the keg hoop over the end board of the gate 92 00:05:57.160 --> 00:06:01.079 studied this. The theory that mister Gus adopted was that 93 00:06:01.120 --> 00:06:03.839 the thief coming for a rate on the coop, had 94 00:06:03.879 --> 00:06:07.279 been surprised to find it so poorly guarded. It had 95 00:06:07.360 --> 00:06:09.759 been so easy to enter the coop and steal the 96 00:06:09.879 --> 00:06:12.319 chicken that he had decided it would be folly to 97 00:06:12.399 --> 00:06:15.920 take eight or ten chickens and thus arouse instant suspicion 98 00:06:15.959 --> 00:06:20.879 and reprisal. Instead of this, he had taken but one, 99 00:06:20.920 --> 00:06:23.879 trusting that the loss of one would be unnoticed or 100 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:28.240 blade to rats or cats or weasels. Thus he would 101 00:06:28.279 --> 00:06:30.920 be able to return again and again as foul meat 102 00:06:31.079 --> 00:06:34.000 was needed or desired, and the chickens would be like 103 00:06:34.240 --> 00:06:37.160 money in the bank, a fund on which to draw. 104 00:06:38.319 --> 00:06:41.399 This theory was so sound that mister Gubb believed it 105 00:06:41.399 --> 00:06:44.319 would require nothing more than patience to capture the criminal. 106 00:06:44.959 --> 00:06:49.600 The thief would come back for more chickens. Filo Gubb 107 00:06:49.720 --> 00:06:52.800 looked around for an advantageous position in which to await 108 00:06:52.879 --> 00:06:56.000 the coming of the thief and be unseen himself, and 109 00:06:56.120 --> 00:07:00.040 the loose board roof of the brick kiln met his eye. 110 00:07:00.360 --> 00:07:04.040 No position could be better. He climbed the ladder inside 111 00:07:04.040 --> 00:07:06.360 the kiln. Pushed one of the boards aside enough to 112 00:07:06.399 --> 00:07:08.759 permit him to squeeze through on to the roof, and, 113 00:07:08.879 --> 00:07:12.759 creeping carefully over the loose boards, reached the edge of 114 00:07:12.800 --> 00:07:16.319 the roof. Here he stretched himself out flat on the 115 00:07:16.360 --> 00:07:26.040 boards and waited. Nothing. Absolutely nothing happened. The mosquitoes, numerous, indeed, 116 00:07:26.079 --> 00:07:28.560 because of the nearness of the pond, buzzed around his 117 00:07:28.639 --> 00:07:30.879 head and stung him on the neck and hands, but 118 00:07:30.920 --> 00:07:33.560 he did not dare slap at them lest he betray 119 00:07:33.680 --> 00:07:38.560 his hiding place. Hour followed hour, and no chicken thief appeared, 120 00:07:38.879 --> 00:07:41.360 And when the first rays of the sun lighted the east, 121 00:07:41.399 --> 00:07:44.639 he climbed down and stalked stiffly away to a short 122 00:07:44.680 --> 00:07:49.199 hour of sleep. The next night, the correspondent school detective 123 00:07:49.240 --> 00:07:52.319 wasted no time in preliminary observations of the lay of 124 00:07:52.360 --> 00:07:55.600 the land. He kept out of sight until the sun 125 00:07:55.680 --> 00:07:58.439 had set and dusk covered the land with shade, and 126 00:07:58.639 --> 00:08:00.639 then he went at once to the roof of the 127 00:08:00.639 --> 00:08:04.800 brick kiln. This time he was disguised in a red mustache, 128 00:08:04.959 --> 00:08:08.240 a pair of flowing white side whiskers, and a woolen cap. 129 00:08:09.199 --> 00:08:13.040 He wore two revolvers, large ones in a belt about 130 00:08:13.040 --> 00:08:17.480 his waist. It was still too early for brisk business 131 00:08:17.519 --> 00:08:20.439 in chicken stealing when Philo Gubb climbed to the roof 132 00:08:20.480 --> 00:08:23.399 of the kiln and spread himself out there, and he 133 00:08:23.519 --> 00:08:26.360 felt that he had time for a few minutes sleep. 134 00:08:26.959 --> 00:08:31.120 He was tremendously sleepy. Sleep fairly pushed his eyelids down 135 00:08:31.160 --> 00:08:33.600 over his eyes, and he put his crooked arm under 136 00:08:33.639 --> 00:08:36.559 his head, and, after thinking fondly of Syrilla for a 137 00:08:36.600 --> 00:08:39.519 few minutes, went to sleep so suddenly that it was 138 00:08:39.559 --> 00:08:44.440 like falling off a cliff into dreamland. He dreamed uneasily 139 00:08:44.639 --> 00:08:47.840 of having been captured by an array of forty chicken thieves, 140 00:08:48.200 --> 00:08:51.320 of having been led in triumph before the Supreme Court 141 00:08:51.399 --> 00:08:54.480 of the United States, and of having been condemned as 142 00:08:54.519 --> 00:08:57.879 a detective trust on the charge of acting in restraint 143 00:08:57.919 --> 00:09:02.559 of trade, as injuring the Chicken Stealers Association's business. Had 144 00:09:02.720 --> 00:09:07.399 required to dissolve himself. The dream was agonizing as he 145 00:09:07.559 --> 00:09:13.039 tried one dissolvent after another without success. Turpentine merely dissolved 146 00:09:13.039 --> 00:09:18.080 his skin. Alcohol had no effect whatever. He imagined himself 147 00:09:18.080 --> 00:09:21.120 in a long room in which stood vast rows of 148 00:09:21.279 --> 00:09:25.039 vats bearing different labels, and in and out of these 149 00:09:25.080 --> 00:09:27.919 he climbed, trying to obey the order of the court, 150 00:09:27.960 --> 00:09:32.320 but nothing seemed capable of dissolving him, and he suddenly 151 00:09:32.360 --> 00:09:35.639 discovered that he was made of rubber. He seemed to 152 00:09:35.679 --> 00:09:39.879 remember that rubber was soluble in benzine, and he started 153 00:09:39.919 --> 00:09:41.879 on a tour of the vats, trying to find a 154 00:09:41.919 --> 00:09:46.639 benzene that he walked many miles. Sometimes he arose in 155 00:09:46.679 --> 00:09:49.440 the air with ease and grace, and flew a few miles. 156 00:09:50.200 --> 00:09:53.600 Finally he found the vat of benzine, immersed himself in it, 157 00:09:53.639 --> 00:09:56.759 and began to dissolve, calmly and with a blessed sense 158 00:09:56.799 --> 00:10:00.519 of having done his duty. It was then that Filo 159 00:10:00.600 --> 00:10:03.759 Gubb entered the dreamless sleep of the utterly weary. And 160 00:10:03.879 --> 00:10:07.279 about the same time, two men slunk under the roof 161 00:10:07.360 --> 00:10:10.080 of the brick kiln, and, after looking carefully around, took 162 00:10:10.120 --> 00:10:13.679 seats on the fallen bricks, Resting their backs against the 163 00:10:13.799 --> 00:10:18.279 partly demolished kiln. They arranged the bricks as comfortably as 164 00:10:18.320 --> 00:10:21.960 possible before seating themselves, and when they were seated, one 165 00:10:21.960 --> 00:10:24.679 of them drew a whisky bottle from his pocket, and 166 00:10:24.759 --> 00:10:29.519 after taking a good Swig offered it to his partner. Nope, 167 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:33.120 said he. I'm going to steer clear of that stuff 168 00:10:33.159 --> 00:10:35.480 until I know where I'm at. And you're a fool 169 00:10:35.519 --> 00:10:38.440 for not doing the same, WIXI. First thing, you know, 170 00:10:38.519 --> 00:10:41.279 you'll be salst And if you are and anything turns up, 171 00:10:41.320 --> 00:10:43.440 what'll I do? I got all I can do to 172 00:10:43.480 --> 00:10:48.440 take care of you, sober ah turn up? Well, what's 173 00:10:48.480 --> 00:10:52.279 going to turn up way out here? Asked Wixy. They 174 00:10:52.320 --> 00:10:55.120 ain't nobody following us anyway. That's just a notion you've 175 00:10:55.159 --> 00:10:58.960 got your nerves has gone back when you Sandlot. My 176 00:10:59.200 --> 00:11:01.720 nerve is all right, And don't you worry about that, 177 00:11:02.320 --> 00:11:05.480 said Sandlot. I've got plenty of nerves, so I don't 178 00:11:05.519 --> 00:11:07.879 have to brace it up with booze. And you ain't. 179 00:11:08.480 --> 00:11:11.440 That's what's the matter with you. You saw that feller 180 00:11:11.440 --> 00:11:13.399 as well as I did. Didn't you see him at 181 00:11:13.399 --> 00:11:19.200 the Bureau, that fella with the white whiskers? Yes? Him? 182 00:11:19.440 --> 00:11:22.759 And didn't you see him again in Durlingport? Well, what 183 00:11:22.919 --> 00:11:25.000 was he following us that way? For? When he told 184 00:11:25.080 --> 00:11:29.600 us that Joliet he was going east? A tramp has 185 00:11:29.720 --> 00:11:32.159 as good a right to change his mind as what 186 00:11:32.240 --> 00:11:35.840 we have, said, Wixy. Didn't we tell him we was 187 00:11:35.919 --> 00:11:39.440 going east ourselves? Maybe he ain't looking for steady company 188 00:11:39.480 --> 00:11:42.840 any more than we be. Maybe he come this way 189 00:11:42.840 --> 00:11:45.120 to get away from us, like we did to get 190 00:11:45.159 --> 00:11:50.720 away from, say sand Lot, he said, almost pleadingly. You 191 00:11:50.759 --> 00:11:53.639 don't really think Old White Whiskers was a trail in us, 192 00:11:53.679 --> 00:11:56.440 do you? You ain't got a notion he's a detective. 193 00:11:57.840 --> 00:12:01.919 How do I know what he is? Sandlot? All I 194 00:12:02.000 --> 00:12:04.000 know is that when I see a feller like that 195 00:12:04.200 --> 00:12:07.080 once and then again, and he looks like he was 196 00:12:07.120 --> 00:12:09.519 trying to keep hid from us, I want to shake 197 00:12:09.600 --> 00:12:13.080 him off. I know that, and I know I'm going 198 00:12:13.120 --> 00:12:15.320 to shake him off. And I know that if you 199 00:12:15.480 --> 00:12:18.080 get all boozed up and full of liquor and can't 200 00:12:18.120 --> 00:12:21.440 walk and that fella shows up, I'm going to quit 201 00:12:21.559 --> 00:12:25.080 you and look out for myself. When a feller steals 202 00:12:25.120 --> 00:12:28.879 something or does any little harmless thing like that, it's different. 203 00:12:29.440 --> 00:12:31.919 He can't afford to stick to a pal, even if 204 00:12:31.960 --> 00:12:35.799 he gets nabbed. But when it's a case of now, 205 00:12:36.279 --> 00:12:40.559 don't use that word, said Wixy angrily. It wasn't no 206 00:12:40.639 --> 00:12:43.840 more murder than nothing was We going to let Chicago 207 00:12:44.000 --> 00:12:46.279 Chicken bash our heads in just because we stood up 208 00:12:46.320 --> 00:12:49.440 for our rights, him wanting a full half, just because 209 00:12:49.480 --> 00:12:52.000 he put us onto the job. He ought to be 210 00:12:52.120 --> 00:12:56.279 killed for asking such a thing. Will he was, wasn't, 211 00:12:56.279 --> 00:12:59.799 he asked Sandlot. You killed him, all right? It was 212 00:12:59.840 --> 00:13:02.440 you swung on him with the rock, Wixy, remember that, 213 00:13:03.840 --> 00:13:06.559 trying to put it off on me, Ain't you? Said 214 00:13:06.559 --> 00:13:10.240 Wixy angrily. Well, you can't do it if I hang 215 00:13:10.720 --> 00:13:13.440 you hang. Maybe I did take a rock to him, 216 00:13:13.440 --> 00:13:15.279 but you had him strangled to death before I ever 217 00:13:15.360 --> 00:13:19.799 hit him. What's the use gabbin about it? Said Sandlot. 218 00:13:20.039 --> 00:13:22.600 He's dead, and we made our getaway, and all we 219 00:13:22.679 --> 00:13:26.240 got to do is keep god away. There ain't nobody 220 00:13:26.240 --> 00:13:28.399 ever going to find him, not where we sunk him 221 00:13:28.399 --> 00:13:32.559 in that deep water. Ain't I been saying that right along? 222 00:13:33.320 --> 00:13:36.480 Asked WIXI. Ain't I been telling you was a fool 223 00:13:36.519 --> 00:13:39.039 to be scared of an old feller like white Whiskers, 224 00:13:39.679 --> 00:13:42.360 cutting across country this way, when we might as well 225 00:13:42.399 --> 00:13:45.200 be forty miles more down the rock Island, traveling along 226 00:13:45.240 --> 00:13:48.879 as nice as you please in a box car. Now, 227 00:13:49.000 --> 00:13:53.720 look here, said Sandlot, menacingly. I ain't going to take 228 00:13:53.759 --> 00:13:57.279 no abuse from you, drunk or sober. If you don't 229 00:13:57.480 --> 00:13:59.639 like my way, you go back to the railroad and 230 00:13:59.759 --> 00:14:02.840 leave me go my own way. I'm going on across 231 00:14:02.879 --> 00:14:05.759 country until I come to another railroad I am. And 232 00:14:05.840 --> 00:14:08.240 if I come to a river and I run across 233 00:14:08.240 --> 00:14:11.080 a boat, I'm going to take that boat and float aways. 234 00:14:11.519 --> 00:14:13.799 When I says nobody is going to know anything about 235 00:14:13.799 --> 00:14:16.000 what we did to the chicken over there in Chicago, 236 00:14:16.200 --> 00:14:20.200 I mean it, nobody is. But didn't sal know all 237 00:14:20.240 --> 00:14:22.399 three of us was going out on that job that night. 238 00:14:22.679 --> 00:14:24.919 And when the chicken don't come back, ain't she going 239 00:14:24.919 --> 00:14:28.679 to guess something happened to the chicken. She's going to 240 00:14:28.759 --> 00:14:31.039 think he made a rich haul like he did, and 241 00:14:31.399 --> 00:14:34.879 that he up and quit her, said Wixy. That's what 242 00:14:34.960 --> 00:14:39.039 she'll think. And what if she does, says sand Lunt, 243 00:14:39.639 --> 00:14:42.480 She and him has been bordin with mother Smith, ain't they. 244 00:14:42.840 --> 00:14:45.600 Ain't mother Smith been handin the chicken money when he 245 00:14:45.679 --> 00:14:47.919 needed it because he said he was workin up this 246 00:14:48.120 --> 00:14:51.000 job with us. I bet the chicken owed mother Smith 247 00:14:51.039 --> 00:14:53.559 a hundred dollars. And when he don't come back, then 248 00:14:53.679 --> 00:14:56.840 what Sal will say she ain't got no money because 249 00:14:56.840 --> 00:15:01.440 the chicken quit her, and mother Smith will, well, what, 250 00:15:02.320 --> 00:15:06.399 asked Wixy. She'll send word to every crook in the 251 00:15:06.480 --> 00:15:09.240 country to spot the chicken, and you know it, and 252 00:15:09.360 --> 00:15:12.759 when word comes back that there ain't no trace of him, 253 00:15:13.519 --> 00:15:17.840 you've lost your nerve. That's what ails you, said Wixy, scornfully. 254 00:15:18.879 --> 00:15:23.440 No I ain't, Sandlot insisted, I've heard plenty of fellers 255 00:15:23.480 --> 00:15:25.960 tell how Mother Smith keeps tabs on anybody that tries 256 00:15:26.039 --> 00:15:29.480 to do her out of ten cents. Even why maybe 257 00:15:29.519 --> 00:15:32.320 the chicken promised to come back that night and pay up. 258 00:15:32.600 --> 00:15:35.440 I bet he did, and I bet he was sour 259 00:15:35.519 --> 00:15:37.840 on Sal, and I bet mother Smith knew it all 260 00:15:37.879 --> 00:15:40.279 the time, and that when he didn't come back that night, 261 00:15:40.320 --> 00:15:43.440 she sent out word to spot him or us. I'll 262 00:15:43.440 --> 00:15:48.960 bet you you've lost your nerve, said Wixy, drunkenly. You 263 00:15:49.080 --> 00:15:52.840 never did have no nerve. You're so scared you're seeing ghosts, 264 00:15:54.120 --> 00:15:58.600 all right, said Sandlot, rising. I'll see ghosts then, but 265 00:15:58.799 --> 00:16:03.399 i'll see them by my You can go good bye, 266 00:16:03.960 --> 00:16:08.840 said Wixy carelessly, and finished the last drop in his bottle. Goodbye, 267 00:16:08.919 --> 00:16:14.120 old Sandlot. Goodbye. Sandlot hesitated a moment and then arose, and, 268 00:16:14.279 --> 00:16:17.200 after a parting glance at Wixi, struck out across the 269 00:16:17.320 --> 00:16:20.440 drying floor of the brickyard and was lost in the darkness. 270 00:16:21.279 --> 00:16:24.559 Wixy blinked and balanced the empty bottle in his hand. 271 00:16:25.759 --> 00:16:30.600 He's afraid, he boasted to himself. He's a coward, afraid 272 00:16:30.639 --> 00:16:34.440 of dark, afraid of ghosts. Lost his nerve, I ain't afraid. 273 00:16:35.480 --> 00:16:40.879 He rose to his feet unsteadily. Sandlot's coward, he said, 274 00:16:40.919 --> 00:16:42.960 and threw down the empty bottle with a motion of 275 00:16:43.000 --> 00:16:47.080 disgust at the cowardice of Sandlot. The bottle burst with 276 00:16:47.159 --> 00:16:50.879 a jangling of glass on the loose board roof. Philo 277 00:16:51.000 --> 00:16:54.320 gub raised his head suddenly. For an instant he imagined 278 00:16:54.360 --> 00:16:57.840 he was a disembodied spirit, his body having been dissolved 279 00:16:57.840 --> 00:17:01.120 in Benzene. But as he became wider awake, he was 280 00:17:01.200 --> 00:17:05.400 conscious of a noise beneath him. Wixi was shifting twenty 281 00:17:05.480 --> 00:17:07.759 or thirty bricks that had fallen from the kiln upon 282 00:17:07.839 --> 00:17:10.839 a truss of straw used the last winter to cover 283 00:17:10.920 --> 00:17:13.440 new molded bricks to protect them from the frost against 284 00:17:13.440 --> 00:17:17.519 their drying. He was preparing a bed. He muttered to 285 00:17:17.640 --> 00:17:20.640 himself as he worked, and Philo Gubb, placing his eye 286 00:17:20.680 --> 00:17:22.920 to a crack between the boards of the roof, tried 287 00:17:22.960 --> 00:17:26.839 to observe him. The darkness was so absolute he could 288 00:17:26.920 --> 00:17:31.440 see nothing whatever. He heard Wixy stretch out on the straw, 289 00:17:31.519 --> 00:17:34.200 and in a minute more he heard the heavy breathing 290 00:17:34.240 --> 00:17:38.039 of a sleeper. Wixy was not letting any cowardice disturb 291 00:17:38.160 --> 00:17:41.720 his repose at all events, and Philo Gubb considered how 292 00:17:41.759 --> 00:17:45.559 he could best get himself off the roof. The sleeping 293 00:17:45.640 --> 00:17:48.839 man was immediately beneath him, the latter was a full 294 00:17:48.960 --> 00:17:53.119 ten yards away. Every motion made the loose boards complain. 295 00:17:53.880 --> 00:17:56.640 Looking down, mister Gubb saw that the top of the 296 00:17:56.720 --> 00:17:59.359 kiln reached within a few feet of where he lay, 297 00:17:59.400 --> 00:18:02.480 and that the partially removed sides had left a series 298 00:18:02.559 --> 00:18:07.519 of giant steps. Mister Gubb loosened his pistols in his belt. 299 00:18:08.240 --> 00:18:10.400 Now that he had the chicken thief so near, he 300 00:18:10.519 --> 00:18:14.400 meant to capture him with the utmost care. He slid 301 00:18:14.440 --> 00:18:16.279 one of the boards of the roof aside and put 302 00:18:16.279 --> 00:18:19.799 his long legs into the opening. Thus made feeling for 303 00:18:19.839 --> 00:18:22.640 the kiln until he touched it, and when he had 304 00:18:22.680 --> 00:18:24.880 a firm footing on it, he lowered the upper part 305 00:18:24.920 --> 00:18:28.400 of his body through the roof. Five feet away, a 306 00:18:28.480 --> 00:18:31.480 cross timber reached from one pillar of the roof to another, 307 00:18:31.559 --> 00:18:34.359 and just below that was one of the steps of 308 00:18:34.400 --> 00:18:38.680 the kiln. Philo Gub lighted his dark lantern, and casting 309 00:18:38.720 --> 00:18:42.200 its ray, saw this cross piece. If he could jump 310 00:18:42.240 --> 00:18:44.799 and reach it, he could drop to the lower step 311 00:18:44.839 --> 00:18:46.799 and avoid the danger of bringing the side of the 312 00:18:46.880 --> 00:18:50.839 kiln down with him. He slipped the lantern into his pocket, 313 00:18:51.119 --> 00:18:55.039 reached out his hands and jumped into the dark. For 314 00:18:55.079 --> 00:18:58.359 an instant, his fingers grappled with the cross piece. He 315 00:18:58.400 --> 00:19:01.759 struggled to gain a firmer, and then he dropped straight 316 00:19:01.839 --> 00:19:05.319 upon the sleeping Wixi. He alighted fair and square on 317 00:19:05.359 --> 00:19:07.880 the murderer's stomach, and the air went out of Wixi 318 00:19:07.920 --> 00:19:12.559 in a sudden whoof Philo Gub, in the unreasoning excitement 319 00:19:12.559 --> 00:19:16.079 of the moment, grappled with Wixy, but the unresistance of 320 00:19:16.119 --> 00:19:19.480 the man told that he was unconscious, and the correspondent 321 00:19:19.519 --> 00:19:23.599 school detective released him and stood up. He uncovered the 322 00:19:23.720 --> 00:19:26.960 lens of his dark lantern and turned the ray on Wixi. 323 00:19:27.759 --> 00:19:31.000 The murderer lay flat on his back, his eyes closed 324 00:19:31.000 --> 00:19:34.480 and his mouth open. Mister Gubb put his hand on 325 00:19:34.559 --> 00:19:38.480 Wixi's heart. It still beat. The man was not dead. 326 00:19:39.480 --> 00:19:42.319 With the dark lantern in one hand and a rusty 327 00:19:42.359 --> 00:19:44.480 tin can in the other, mister Gubb hurried to the 328 00:19:44.519 --> 00:19:47.680 pond and returned with the can full of water. But 329 00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:51.519 even in this crisis he did not act thoughtlessly. He 330 00:19:51.640 --> 00:19:54.079 set the dark lantern on a shelf of the kiln 331 00:19:54.200 --> 00:19:57.200 so that its rays might illuminate Wixi and himself alike. 332 00:19:57.880 --> 00:20:00.799 Drew one of his pistols and pointed it full at 333 00:20:00.799 --> 00:20:04.200 Wixi's head, and holding it so, he dashed the can 334 00:20:04.240 --> 00:20:07.599 of water in the face of the unconscious man. Wixy 335 00:20:07.720 --> 00:20:12.319 moved uneasily. He emitted a long sigh and opened his eyes. 336 00:20:13.440 --> 00:20:17.319 I got you, said Philo Gubb sternly. There ain't no 337 00:20:17.519 --> 00:20:20.000 use to make a move, because I'm a detecative, and 338 00:20:20.039 --> 00:20:22.920 if you do, I'll shoot this pistol at you. If 339 00:20:22.960 --> 00:20:25.799 you're able so to do, just put up your hands. 340 00:20:26.920 --> 00:20:30.000 Wixy blinked in the strong light of the lantern. He 341 00:20:30.119 --> 00:20:32.480 groaned and placed one of his hands on his stomach. 342 00:20:33.440 --> 00:20:36.880 Put him up, said Philo Gub, and with another groan, 343 00:20:36.960 --> 00:20:40.759 Wixy raised his hands. He was still flat on his back. 344 00:20:41.000 --> 00:20:42.720 He looked as if he were doing some sort of 345 00:20:42.839 --> 00:20:46.640 health exercise. In a minute, the hands fell to the ground. 346 00:20:48.000 --> 00:20:51.240 I guess you better set up, said Filo Gub. You 347 00:20:51.279 --> 00:20:53.240 ain't going to be able to hold up your hands 348 00:20:53.240 --> 00:20:56.920 if you lay down that way. As he helped Wixy 349 00:20:57.000 --> 00:20:59.359 to a sitting position, he kept his pistol against the 350 00:20:59.400 --> 00:21:03.960 fellow's head. Now, then, said Filo Gub, when he had 351 00:21:04.039 --> 00:21:07.680 arranged his captive to suit his taste. What you got 352 00:21:07.720 --> 00:21:11.440 to say, I got to say. I never done what 353 00:21:11.519 --> 00:21:14.960 you think I done. Whatever it is, said Wixy. I 354 00:21:14.960 --> 00:21:16.599 don't know what it is, but I never done it. 355 00:21:16.720 --> 00:21:20.440 Some other feller done it. That don't bother me none, 356 00:21:20.640 --> 00:21:23.519 said Filo Gub. If you didn't do it, I don't 357 00:21:23.640 --> 00:21:26.359 know who did. Just about the best thing you can 358 00:21:26.440 --> 00:21:28.759 do is to account for the chicken and pay my 359 00:21:28.839 --> 00:21:31.200 expenses of getting you. And the quicker you do it, 360 00:21:31.240 --> 00:21:35.519 the better off you'll be. Pale as Wixy was, he 361 00:21:35.599 --> 00:21:40.519 turned still paler when Filo Gubb mentioned the chicken. I 362 00:21:40.599 --> 00:21:43.960 never killed the chicken. He almost shouted. I never did it. 363 00:21:45.119 --> 00:21:47.559 I don't care whether you killed the chicken or not, 364 00:21:48.279 --> 00:21:52.039 said Filo Gub calmly. The chicken is gone, and I 365 00:21:52.200 --> 00:21:55.200 reckon that's the end of the chicken. But missus Smith 366 00:21:55.240 --> 00:22:00.640 has got to be paid. Did she send you, asked Wixy, trembling. 367 00:22:01.000 --> 00:22:04.359 Did Mother Smith put you on to me? She did so, 368 00:22:05.160 --> 00:22:08.559 said the correspondent school detective, And you can pay up 369 00:22:08.680 --> 00:22:12.680 or go to jail. How do you like that, Wixy 370 00:22:12.759 --> 00:22:17.839 studied the tall detective. Look here, he said, Suppose I 371 00:22:18.000 --> 00:22:21.200 give you fifty and we'll call it square. He meant 372 00:22:21.240 --> 00:22:26.440 fifty dollars. Maybe that would satisfy missus Smith, said Filo Gubb, 373 00:22:26.519 --> 00:22:30.720 thinking of fifty cents. But it don't satisfy me. My 374 00:22:30.880 --> 00:22:33.839 time's valuable and it's got to be paid for. Ten 375 00:22:33.920 --> 00:22:36.799 times fifty ain't a bit too much. And if it 376 00:22:36.839 --> 00:22:39.559 had took longer to catch you, I'd have asked more. 377 00:22:40.359 --> 00:22:42.799 If you want to give that much, all right, and 378 00:22:42.920 --> 00:22:47.319 if you don't, all right too. Wixy studied the face 379 00:22:47.359 --> 00:22:51.039 of Filo Gubb carefully. There was no sign of mercy 380 00:22:51.079 --> 00:22:54.519 in the bird like face of the paper hanger detective. Indeed, 381 00:22:54.559 --> 00:22:58.440 his face was severe. It was relentless in its sternness. 382 00:22:59.359 --> 00:23:02.359 Five dollars was little enough to ask for two nights 383 00:23:02.359 --> 00:23:06.839 of first class correspondent school detective work. Rather than take less, 384 00:23:06.880 --> 00:23:10.119 he would lead the chicken thief to jail, and Wixi 385 00:23:10.240 --> 00:23:13.160 with his third and half of the chicken's third of 386 00:23:13.200 --> 00:23:15.640 the proceeds of the criminal job that had led to 387 00:23:15.680 --> 00:23:19.480 the death of the chicken. Knowing the relentlessness of Mother Smith, 388 00:23:19.680 --> 00:23:23.519 that female Fagin of Chicago, considered that he would be 389 00:23:23.559 --> 00:23:26.960 doing well to purchase his freedom for five hundred dollars. 390 00:23:28.119 --> 00:23:31.680 All right, pal, he said, suddenly you're on It's a 391 00:23:31.720 --> 00:23:35.440 bet here you are. He slipped his hand into his 392 00:23:35.519 --> 00:23:38.799 pocket and drew out a great roll of money. With 393 00:23:38.920 --> 00:23:41.839 the muzzle of Philogub's pistol hovering just out of reach 394 00:23:41.880 --> 00:23:45.599 before him, he counted out five crisp one hundred dollar bills. 395 00:23:46.319 --> 00:23:50.000 He held them out with a sickly grin. Filo Gubb 396 00:23:50.119 --> 00:23:53.759 took them and looked at them, puzzled. What's this for, 397 00:23:54.400 --> 00:23:59.200 he asked, and Wixy suddenly blazed forth in anger. Now 398 00:23:59.359 --> 00:24:03.200 don't come any of that, he cried. A bargain's a bargain. 399 00:24:03.559 --> 00:24:06.160 Don't you come a pretending he didn't say, you'd take 400 00:24:06.200 --> 00:24:08.240 five hundred and try to get more out of me. 401 00:24:08.359 --> 00:24:10.839