The Project Gutenberg EBook of Forty-one Thieves, by Angelo Hall

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Title: Forty-one Thieves
A Tale of California

Author: Angelo Hall

Release Date: November 2, 2006 [EBook #19695]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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Forty-one Thieves

_A Tale of California_

ANGELO HALL

Copyright, 1919
THE CORNHILL COMPANY
BOSTON

DEDICATED TO J. H. K.

A PARTNER OF WILL CUMMINS AND A NEIGHBOR OF ROBERT PALMER

CONTENTS

I. Dead Men Tell No Tales

II. The Graniteville Stage

III. The Girl or the Gold?

IV. A Council of War

V. Old Man Palmer

VI. Two of a Kind

VII. An Old Sweetheart

VIII. "Bed-bug" Brown, Detective

IX. The Home-Coming of a Dead Man

X. The Travels of John Keeler

XI. The Snows of the Sierras

XII. The Golden Summer Comes Again

XIII. The End of the Trail

XIV. Golden Opportunities

XV. Three Graves by the Middle Yuba

XVI. When Thieves Fall Out

XVII. Brought to Justice

XVIII. The End of J. C. P. Collins

XIX. The Home-Coming of Another Dead Man

XX. The Bridal Veil

FORTY-ONE THIEVES

CHAPTER I

Dead Men Tell No Tales

In the cemetery on the hill near the quiet village of Reedsville,
Pennsylvania, you may find this inscription:

WILLIAM F. CUMMINS
son of Col. William & Martha Cummins
who was killed by highwaymen near
Nevada City, California
September 1, 1879
aged 45 yrs. and 8 months

Be ye therefore also ready
For the Son of Man cometh
At an hour when ye think not.

It is a beautiful spot, on the road to Milroy. In former times a church
stood in the middle of the grounds, and the stern old Presbyterian
forefathers marched to meeting with muskets on their should