Bad Bart's face was on a poster. It was a "Wanted: Dead or Alive" poster. It showed him with a black hat and a brown beard. Who wanted Bart? The sheriff wanted Bart. Bad Bart was a bandit!
Bad Bart had robbed a train. That made him a train robber. Many bags of cash were gone. Where had they gone? Bart took them. He hid them in a cabin. Someone had built it on Big Bald Hill.
Bobby Joe Burns had been born in that cabin. Bobby Joe's mother still lived there. She was not home the day Bart broke in and hid the loot. Bobby Joe lived in a cabin at the bottom of Big Bald Hill. When Mrs. Burns came back, she did not know that Bad Bart had been there. She did not know that a robber had left behind bags of money! Bobby Joe did not know, either.
Bad Bart bit into a slice of bacon. His face had no beard. His hat was now brown. Bart hoped that he no longer looked like a train robber. He needed to get the loot back! A bag of money could buy a ticket to go south of the border. He could buy food and new boots. He made his way back to the little cabin.
Bad Bart got a big surprise. This time, the lady in the cabin did not leave. He watched her take a broom and sweep the porch. He saw her churn butter. He smelled the aroma of baking bread. She stayed busy. How could he sneak in and take back the hidden money?
He decided to burn a leaf pile. He heaped brush and leaves away from the cabin. Then he set them on fire. Hidden in the trees, he waited for the woman to come out and put out the flames.
The smoke and the blaze soon got her attention. She did not want the flames to burn her cabin. She ran with a bucket of water to throw on the blazing fire.
"Now I'll sneak inside and reclaim my loot!" Bad Bart bragged.
He had pulled up the boards in the cabin floor and had just pulled a bag of cash from beneath the cabin, when the front door broke in. Bad Bart's mouth dropped open. It was the sheriff!
Paragraphs 10 to 16:
For the complete story with questions: click here for printable