Snooks. One eye was blackened and one side of
his face was scratched. His clothes were badly torn and soiled. He
looked as if some one had tried to murder him.

"There!" he said, holding the bills up to Philo Gubb after counting
them. "There's twenty-five dollars. You take that and find out what I
have done, and what's the matter with me, and all about it."

"What do you want me to find out?" asked Mr. Gubb, fondling the bills.

"If I knew, I wouldn't ask you," said Snooks peevishly. "I don't know
what it is. I'd go and find out myself, but I'm in jail."

"Where did you say you was?" asked Philo Gubb.

"In jail," said Snooks. "I'm in jail, and I'm in bad. When the marshal
put me in last night I gave him my word I'd stay in all day to-day,
and it ain't right for me to be here now.

"'Dog-gone you, Snooks!' he says, 'you ain't got no consideration for
me at all. Here I figgered that there wouldn't be no wave of crime
strike town for some days, and I went and took the jail door down to
the blacksmith to have a panel put in where the one rusted out, and my
wife made me promise to drive out to the farm with her to-morrow, and
now you come and spoil everything. I got to stay in town and watch
you.'

"'Go on,' I says, 'and take your drive. I'll stay in jail. I got a
strong imagination. I'll imagine there's a door.'

"'Honor bright?' he says.

"'Yes, honor bright,' I says.

"So he went," said Snooks, "and he's trusting me, and here I am. You
can see it wouldn't do for me to be running all over town when, by
rights, I'm locked and barred and bolted in jail. I'm locked and
barred and bolted in jail, and well started on my way to the
penitentiary as a burglar."

"As a burglar!" exclaimed Gubb.

"That's it!" said Snooks. "I can't see head or tail of it. You got to
help me out, Gubb. See if you can make any sense of this:--

"Last night I went out for a walk with Nan. She's my girl, you know,
and she's going to marry me. Maybe she won't now, but she was going
to. She works for Mullen. We got back to Mullen's house about eleven
o'clock, and Mrs. Mullen always locks the door at half-past ten,
whether Nan is in or not. So, being late, we had to ring the doorbell,
and Mr. Mullen came to the door to let Nan in, and when he saw I was
with her he shook hands with me and asked me to come in and have a
cigar, and sit awhile, but I told him I had to hustle up some news for
to-day's paper, and he let me go. That's how pleasant