“Shure ez yure a-sittin’ thar all o’ ye. My money ’s gone every pesky cent. ’N if I hed my way, I’d like ter see thet rascally scoundrel hang fer it. I’d never believed it o’ him!”
“Who?” they all asked.
“Ollie!”
CHAPTER XXXIX—THE MAN WITHOUT A SOUL
Uncle Jeb started, they all started in fact, but Ol’ Pop seemed oblivious of their evident surprise. Taking a fresh hold with his elbow he continued on, as though his recent statement was nothing extraordinary.
“Ter begin with,” he said, “I noticed as how Ollie took ter actin’ peculiar-like fer quite a spell back. He kept a-askin’ me if I wuz makin’ much money ’n if I saved much afore I run the Inn. I’d ketch him every so often lookin’ at me funny, but I didn’ let myself think much ’bout it. Then, I wuz taken with thet pesky red fever or whatever durn name they give it. Wa-al, when he hears the Doctor say I wuz gittin’ better ’n cud git out in a few days, I caught him a-lookin’ at me right nasty. After he gits supper he sits aroun’ agin eyein’ me, ’n it makes me feel so creepy, I go up ter my room ter git clean away frum him. I’m a-sittin’ in a rockin’ chair a-thinkin’ ’bout it and wonderin’ what in Sam Hill’s got in ter him. Thar I sit, rockin’ back ’n forth by the winder when I happens ter hear the door creak. I turn quick and the door is openin’ slowly, until finally it’s wide-open. Thar in the doorway stands Ollie, with thet silly grin what he’s hed on him lately. Not only hez he the grin, but also a gun, which he’s a-pointin’ at me, and a rope.
“Fer the minit I think he’s gone plumb crazy, but then I know as how I’m mistakin’ in thet, fer when he starts ter talk, it wuz as natcherell as the little bit he ever did talk.
“‘Ol’ Pop Burrows,’ sez Ollie, sounding like the cemetery bell the day thet Sheriff Biggs wuz popped off by Sly Pete Woozle, ‘I’m a-goin’ ter make my get away to-night!’
“‘Go ahead!’ I sez, ‘the better the sooner!’ I wuz thet chilly frum hearin’ the spooky voice on him, I gits all rattled as ter what I wuz talkin’.
“‘I intend to!’ he sez ag’in, jes’ like a funeral march. ‘But not afore yer tells me whar yer keeps yer swag!’