1
00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:10,640
Speaker 1: 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
I won't give you no more. I won't. You can

402
00:24:10,960 --> 00:24:13,160
jug me if you want to. You can't prove nothing

403
00:24:13,240 --> 00:24:15,440
on me. And you know it. Have you found the

404
00:24:15,480 --> 00:24:18,200
body of the chicken, Well, you got to have the

405
00:24:18,279 --> 00:24:21,680
corpus what you call it? Ain't you huh? Ain't five

406
00:24:21,759 --> 00:24:24,240
hundred enough? I bet the chicken never cost mother Smith

407
00:24:24,279 --> 00:24:28,480
more than one hundred and fifty. I was only thinking,

408
00:24:29,039 --> 00:24:35,480
began Filo Gub. Don't think, then, said Wixi. Five hundred

409
00:24:35,480 --> 00:24:40,519
dollars seemed to Filo began again. It's all you'll get

410
00:24:40,559 --> 00:24:44,039
if I hang for it, said Wixy firmly. You can

411
00:24:44,039 --> 00:24:46,559
give mother Smith what you want and keep what you want.

412
00:24:46,640 --> 00:24:51,440
That's all you'll get. Filo Gubb could not understand it.

413
00:24:51,960 --> 00:24:54,839
He tried to, but he could not understand it at all.

414
00:24:55,519 --> 00:24:58,720
And then suddenly a great light dawned in his brain.

415
00:24:59,440 --> 00:25:02,279
There was some this chicken thief knew that he and

416
00:25:02,440 --> 00:25:06,200
Missus Smith did not know. The stolen chicken must have

417
00:25:06,279 --> 00:25:10,240
been of some rare and much sought strain. So it

418
00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:12,960
was all right. The thief was paying what the chicken

419
00:25:13,079 --> 00:25:15,799
was worth, and not what Missus Smith thought it was worth.

420
00:25:15,799 --> 00:25:19,559
In her ignorance, he slipped the money into his pocket.

421
00:25:20,319 --> 00:25:24,160
All right, he said, I'm satisfied if you are. The

422
00:25:24,279 --> 00:25:28,759
chicken was a fancy bird, ain't it so? The chicken

423
00:25:28,880 --> 00:25:32,160
was a tough old rooster. That's what he was, said Wixy,

424
00:25:32,240 --> 00:25:35,839
staggering to his feet. I thought he was a hen,

425
00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:39,839
said Filo Cub. Missus Smith said he was a hen.

426
00:25:41,160 --> 00:25:45,480
Wixy laughed as sickly laugh. It ain't much of a joke.

427
00:25:45,720 --> 00:25:48,720
That's why everybody called him chicken, because his first name

428
00:25:48,799 --> 00:25:53,960
was hen. Filo Gubb's mouth fell open. He was convinced

429
00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:56,720
now that he had to do with an insane man.

430
00:25:57,599 --> 00:26:02,400
Wixy moved toward the oak drying floor. Well, so long part,

431
00:26:02,839 --> 00:26:05,640
he said to Filo Gub, give my regards to mother

432
00:26:05,680 --> 00:26:09,359
Smith and say, he added, if you see Sal, don't

433
00:26:09,400 --> 00:26:11,559
let her know what happened to the chicken. Don't say

434
00:26:11,599 --> 00:26:14,880
anybody made away with the chicken. Sea Tell Sal that

435
00:26:15,039 --> 00:26:20,519
chicken flew the coop himself. See who is sal, asked

436
00:26:20,559 --> 00:26:25,640
Filo Gub. You ask mother Smith, said Wixy, she'll tell you,

437
00:26:26,039 --> 00:26:29,480
and he went out into the dark. Filo Gubb heard

438
00:26:29,559 --> 00:26:32,359
him shuffle across the drying floor, and when the sound

439
00:26:32,400 --> 00:26:35,440
had died away in the distance, he put up his revolver.

440
00:26:36,960 --> 00:26:41,200
Five hundred dollars, he said, and he routed Missus Smith

441
00:26:41,240 --> 00:26:44,079
out of bed. He did not tell her the amount

442
00:26:44,079 --> 00:26:47,039
of reward he had made the chicken thief pay. He

443
00:26:47,079 --> 00:26:49,559
asked her what the most expensive chicken in the world

444
00:26:49,680 --> 00:26:53,480
might be worth, and she reluctantly accepted ten dollars as

445
00:26:53,519 --> 00:26:57,240
being far too much. Then he asked her who sal

446
00:26:57,519 --> 00:27:03,599
was sal queried. Missus Smith, the chicken thief declared the

447
00:27:03,680 --> 00:27:07,759
statement that you would know, said mister Gubb. He said,

448
00:27:07,799 --> 00:27:12,960
to tell her, well, mister Gubb said, Missus Smith tartly,

449
00:27:13,559 --> 00:27:16,200
I don't know any sal and if I did, I

450
00:27:16,200 --> 00:27:19,000
wouldn't carry messages to her for a chicken thief. And

451
00:27:19,039 --> 00:27:21,160
it's past midnight, and the draft on my bare feet

452
00:27:21,200 --> 00:27:23,200
is giving me my death of cold. And if you

453
00:27:23,319 --> 00:27:25,440
think this is a pink tea for me to stand

454
00:27:25,480 --> 00:27:29,279
around and hold full conversation at I don't. And she

455
00:27:29,599 --> 00:27:38,079
slammed the door and of the chicken