The Cunning Gendarme
(page 3)
But this man seemed earnest, and Milosh wasn't a bully. He noticed a wedding ring on the Gypsy's right hand. It pinched his ring finger the way a ring does when its been worn many for years. Not stolen. It was bent and scratched from hard work.
"I'll tell you what..." said Milosh. "Where do you live?"
"Just outside of the square," said the stranger. "It's not far."
"I'll give you to the count of ten to get out of here. And I don't want to see you out after curfew again. Understand?"
"Yes sir!" said the second Gypsy.
"And if I see you again tonight..." Milosh warned. "You see that guy in the ditch?" waving his pistol toward the other Gypsy.
The second Gypsy recoiled when he saw the motionless body of the man in the ditch. Milosh looked him sternly in the eye. "If I see you out here again after curfew, I'll shoot you full of holes like I did him." Milosh paused a moment, then said, "One..."
And with that, the second stranger bolted into the darkness. The night was silent once again, except for the sound of rustling leaves... and the man snoring in the ditch.
the end