o, and
killed her four babies, and hid in the haystack until they found her
three days later, and sent her to the asylum. And so forth, and so
forth.

All the good folk met in groups at home or in the streets, so that
within an hour after breakfast there was not a soul in all Spring Valley
did not know that the town marshal had just been killed by some unknown
person for some unknown reason. The news seemed dulling, stupefying. The
clerks who opened the drug stores around the public square, the only
shops open of the Sunday, were slow in their sweeping out that morning.
Pedestrians on the streets walked slowly. The entire life of the town
seemed slow. The sluggish, arresting solemnity of death sat upon all the
little community.

Spring Valley had no daily newspaper, and even the weekly _Clarion_, a
production of some six pages, had its trials in making a living there,
so close was the village to larger towns which reached out and covered
most of its commercial needs in this time of telegraph and trolley. The
editor of the _Clarion_ was, naturally, the correspondent of the largest
daily of the near-by metropolis. Twice in all his life he had had
opportunity for a first page story in the great city daily. His first
metropolitan opportunity was when the aforementioned farmer's wife had
killed her children, some four years ago. And now here was something
quite as big. Editor Anderson sat at his own breakfast table for more
than half an hour pondering on the opening sentence which he was going
to write in his dispatch to the morning daily.

By eleven-thirty he had written his story, and had taken it down to the
station agent for transmission by wire; and that worthy told him that as
soon as Number Five got by he would begin to send the message. "I can't
stop for anything so long as that now," said he.

It was somewhat longer as written than as printed, but Mr. Anderson
described the murder of the city marshal in the following terms:

The progressive little city of Spring Valley, Jackson County,
this state, was electrified this morning by the startling news
of the murder of the well-known city marshal, Mr. Joel Tarbush,
a man of sterling qualities, who has held the office for many
years, and who had endeared himself in the hearts of the
community not only for his discharge of his official duties,
but for his kindliness of heart. The funeral will occur
tomorrow afternoon at half-pa