



Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdpcanada.net









THE BAIL JUMPER

BY

ROBERT J. C. STEAD




LONDON
T. FISHER UNWIN
ADELPHI--TERRACE




_First published in_ 1914.

[_All rights reserved._]




CONTENTS

  CHAPTER I--A FRIEND AND AN ENEMY
  CHAPTER II--SECRETS OF SUCCESS
  CHAPTER III--TWO ON THE TRAIL
  CHAPTER IV--CROTTON'S CROSSING
  CHAPTER V--UNDER SUSPICION
  CHAPTER VI--THE ARM OF THE LAW
  CHAPTER VII--ONLY A BARNARDO BOY
  CHAPTER VIII--A MYSTERIOUS ACQUAINTANCE
  CHAPTER IX--A FUGITIVE
  CHAPTER X--PLAYING THE GAME
  CHAPTER XI--A FRIEND IN NEED
  CHAPTER XII--LOVE--OR LAW?
  CHAPTER XIII--GROPING
  CHAPTER XIV--THE SACRIFICE OF SILENCE
  CHAPTER XV--STILL PLAYING THE GAME
  CHAPTER XVI--KIT MCKAY
  CHAPTER XVII--THE HOMESTEAD LINE
  CHAPTER XVIII--RIGHT ABOUT FACE!
  CHAPTER XIX--THE LIGHT AT LAST




THE BAIL JUMPER




CHAPTER I--A FRIEND AND AN ENEMY


    "We have felt the cold of winter--cursed by those who know it not--
    We have braved the blizzard's vengeance, dared its most deceptive
       plot;
    We have learned that hardy races grow from hardy circumstance,
    And we face a dozen dangers to attend a country dance;
    Though our means are nothing lavish we have always time for play,
    And our social life commences at the closing of the day;
    We have time for thought and culture, time