ght get possession of the
boy, and permanent possession at that. Had not Ralph sworn that he was
Simon Craft's grandson? Had not the jury accepted Ralph's testimony
as true? And had not the court ordered judgment to be entered on the
jury's verdict? Well, if the court had declared the boy to be his
grandson, he was entitled to him, was he not? If the boy was able to
earn anything, he was entitled to his earnings, was he not? If he was
the child's grandfather, then he had authority to take him, to govern
him, to punish him for disobedience--was not that true?

Old Simon rose from his chair and began to walk up and down the room,
hammering his cane upon the floor at every step.

The idea was a good one, a very good one, and he resolved to act upon
it without delay. He would go the very next day and get the boy and
take him to Philadelphia.

But suppose Ralph should refuse to go, and suppose Bachelor Billy,
with his strong arms, should stand by to protect the lad from force,
what then? Well, there was a law to meet just such a case as that. He
knew of an instance where a child had been taken by its grandfather by
virtue of a writ of _habeas corpus_.

He would get such a writ, the sheriff should go with him, they would
bring Ralph to court again; and since the law had declared the boy to
be Simon Craft's grandson, the law could do nothing else than to place
him in Simon Craft's custody. Then the old man went to bed, thinking
that in the morning he would get Sharpman to prepare for him the
papers that would be necessary to carry his plan into execution.

He derived much pleasure from his dreams that night, for he dreamed
of torturing poor Ralph to his heart's content.

When Bachelor Billy left the court-room that Monday evening with his
unconscious burden in his arms, he remained only long enough in the
court-house square to revive the boy, then he took him to the railway
station, and they went together, by the earliest train, to Scranton.

The next morning Ralph felt very weak and miserable, and did not leave
the house; and Bachelor Billy came home at noon to see him and to
learn what news, if any, had been received from Wilkesbarre. Both he
and Ralph expected that a verdict would be rendered for the defendant,
in accordance with Ralph's testimony, and neither of them were
surprised, therefore, when Andy Gilgallon came up from the city after
supper and informed them that the jury had so found. That settled the
matte