Bob Chesters Grit | Page 8

to Foster, he said:
"Tell me all you know about this business."
"Thank you, your honor, I will:
"I happened to be in the police station when the boy was brought in. He
told a straightforward story about having been on the way to deliver
some groceries, when he was hailed by one of three men, who asked
him a few questions, and then offered him a dollar if he would hold an
envelope, which was supposed to contain twelve hundred and fifty
dollars, for a few minutes. The thought of earning such a sum of money

so easily evidently caused the boy to forget all discretion. But as the
minutes went by and the two men did not reappear, the boy grew
restless, and finally suggested that he hand the envelope to Officer
McCarty here, and that he be allowed to go about his errand of
delivering the groceries. Then----"
Interrupting, the magistrate turned to Simpkins, and demanded
suddenly:
"Is that true?"
The question was so unexpected that the countryman was surprised into
answering truthfully, and replied:
"Yes, sir."
Realizing that the turn of affairs was making them appear ridiculous,
the officer who had suggested that Bob be allowed to plead guilty, and
receive a light sentence, if he would divulge the name of the two
swindlers, hurriedly exclaimed:
"But the boy has a bad record, your honor."
"That is not so, your honor," retorted Foster hotly. "When I found that
the sergeant was determined to hold the boy, I went to the man for
whom he works--his name is Len Dardus--and made inquiries about
him. Mr. Dardus is his guardian, and though it was evident that he had
no love for the boy, the worst he could say about him was that he took
a half hour to deliver an order that should have been delivered in
twenty minutes. As to his associating with bad companions, that is not
so, for his guardian said he was never out at night, always preferring to
read."
"If the boy is such a paragon of virtue, why didn't his guardian come to
court himself and try to help the boy, instead of leaving it to a
reporter?" sneered the officer who was trying so hard to make a case
against Bob.

"I tried to get him to come," exclaimed Foster, "but he refused on the
ground that he could not leave his store."
"You reporters are certainly good ones at putting up a plausible story,"
retorted the officer contemptuously.
Striking his desk a sharp rap with his gavel, the magistrate exclaimed:
"When I want to hear from you, sir, I will let you know. You would
make a far better impression if you and the sergeant and every other
available man connected with the precinct were out searching for the
two swindlers, instead of trying to send a poor, almost friendless, lad to
prison. If you arrested half as many criminals as you do innocent men,
it wouldn't take long to rid this city of crime."
So stinging was this rebuke that the reporters were busy writing down
the words of the judge, and before they had finished, the magistrate
said:
"Does your guardian treat you well, Bob?"
"Why, sir, I suppose so, sir; but he scolds me a lot. He seems to think
that every time he sends me out to deliver an order, that I should come
back within a quarter of an hour, no matter whether I have to go one
block or twenty."
"How much does he pay you?"
"Two dollars a week, sir."
"What do you read at night?"
"About farming and ranching out West, sir."
"Then you want to go out West?"
"Yes, sir. I'm going just as soon as I have money enough. I have saved
ten dollars already towards going."

"Huh! What becomes of your charge that the boy has evil associates,
Mr. Officer?" snapped the magistrate, as he heard Bob's reply. "Any
boy who earns two dollars a week, and has managed to save ten, surely
can't have any bad habits.
"Bob, you are discharged. The disgrace to which you have been
subjected of being arrested and brought to court is an outrage, and I
wish there was some way that you could obtain redress from the
officers who subjected you to it, but unfortunately there is not."
Reaching into his pocket, the magistrate drew forth some bills, from
which he selected one of the denomination of five dollars, and handed
it to Bob.
"Put this with your ten dollars," he continued. "It will help some toward
getting you out West, and now you go back to Mr. Dardus, and tell him
that Judge Bristol said that your arrest was an outrage. Clerk, call the
next case."
If Bob had been bewildered by the circumstances