When Gerald Buxton’s shotgun was fired by him, and the report rang out in the still night, it awoke several persons, who wondered what it meant. No one gave the matter further thought, however, until an old lady, facing the main street, looked through her bedroom window and saw the citizen chasing his boy, who toted a gun over his shoulder. At the first streakings of daylight she hurried to the Buxton home for the explanation. Within the following half hour the majority of the population of Beartown knew that an attempt had been made to rob the post office during the night. Then followed a hurrying thither, for no one could be satisfied until he had viewed the scene and talked with the postmistress herself.
It was the confusion and hurly-burly below stairs that awoke Mike Murphy early. He would have left at once to join Alvin and Chester if Nora had not forced him to eat breakfast before bidding them good-by. It must be said that the Irish youth did not require much urging to detain him that long.
He found he was attracting unpleasant attention. It was Nora who took pains to let it be known that but for him all the money in the safe would have been stolen. Mr. Jasper, the owner of the large sum, scrambled through the crowd, snatched up his big envelope and hurried off without so much as thanking Mike, who cared naught.
“You needn’t tell me,” said the keeper of the other grocery store to the husband of the town milliner. “That redheaded Irish chap is one of the gang.”
“How do you account for his preventing the other robber from carrying away the money in the safe?” asked his neighbor.
“Plain enough; they’d had a quarrel. He wanted it all for himself.”
“Why didn’t he take it then?”
“The widder and others bounced down on him afore he had the chance.”
“I don’t see why if the other villain run away this one didn’t do likewise.”
“He’ll do it quick enough, never you fear.”