I ain't going to no wedding!" grunted old Ricks. "I don't want you
young fellers to git in my way, that's all."

"Maybe you have to testify in that case in court," went on Tom, with a
wink at his brother.

"Ain't got to testify in no court."

"Why, you're in that case--I read all about it in the papers!" cried
Tom.

"Me in a case in court?" asked old Ricks, suspiciously.

"Sure. It was a terrible trouble, wasn't it?" went on Tom. "I am mighty
sorry for you, really I am, Mr. Ricks."

Now as it chanced, Mr. Ricks had had some trouble with a neighbor over a
fence that had blown down between the two properties. The neighbor had
threatened to sue him if he did not put the fence up again. The Rovers
knew nothing about this, but it had been in old Ricks's mind for a week.

"If anybody sues me he'll git the wust of it!" growled the stationmaster
savagely.

"It's a terrible mess, that's a fact," went on Tom. "The papers said he
had threatened to get after you with a shotgun!"

"A shotgun? After me?" exclaimed old Ricks, and turned slightly pale.

"And they say you poisoned the cat," put in Dick.

"And caught the dog and starved the poor animal to death," added Sam.

"It ain't so--I never teched his cat, nor his dog nuther!" roared old
Ricks. "He's a blamed fool, he is!"

"Hush! hush!" whispered Tom, solemnly. "Don't speak so harshly of the
dead."

"Dead!" exclaimed the startled Ricks. "Who's dead?"

"Didn't you know he was found on the railroad tracks dead?" asked the
fun-loving Rover. "Of course they say you let the freight train run over
him. But we know you wouldn't be so wicked, Mr. Ricks."

"Dead? On the tracks? Me let the train run over him?" half-whispered the
stationmaster. "I--I--didn't do it! Say, this is awful! Who told you
this?"

"Haven't you read the newspapers?" asked Dick.

"That comes for being too stingy to buy a morning paper," added Sam.

"Of course the local papers didn't dare to print the truth," said Tom.
"But you'll find a full account in the New York _Blizzard_ and the
Philadelphia _Bazoo_. Your picture on the front page, too, entitled,
'Did He Do It, or Did He Did It Not.'"

"Say, I ain't done nuthin', I tell ye!" almost shouted old Ricks, who
was too excited to realize that the boys were making fun of him. "If
them blamed city newspapers say I did I'll sue 'em fer damages, that's
wot I'll do. I ain't teched Ham Ludd, nor his cat, nor his dog nuther!
And it was the wind blew the