The Strange Odyssey of the Boy and the Stolen Buggy

Peter R. Fisher, a boy about 17 years of age, attended a dance at Boren Hall on Saturday night, but left the festivities and, after untying several of the hitched horses nearby, drove off in a rig that did not belong to him. The owner hastened to town and made a complaint before Justice Lawrence. Constable Green hastened away with a warrant for the arrest of the thief, who was then unknown. A farmer named Brown had, however, been on the trail and found the buggy where the road ran out. He followed the horse's tracks for several miles through the woods and through a new clearing and finally came upon it. The thief was not there, but he followed on to where the tracks went out into the road and found he had evidently gotten into a passing vehicle. Four miles further on, he came upon him in the middle of the road. He took him to his own home and put him to bed, seeing that he was a mere boy and not in his right mind. But this morning, Farmer Brown got up and found that his prisoner had flown. Farmer Brown then took down the dinner horn, whistled for his family dog, and went in the direction where he had come, overtaking the boy making for Winlock. He brought the boy to town this morning and went before Probate Judge Wickersham, who adjudged him insane and sent him to Steilacoom. The parents of the unfortunate boy say that he has been acting strangely for about two weeks and has been getting worse during that time.