Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 173 — page 6: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

neither didit help him. Bill hads —~- —_—- oe Her evidence did not hurt the prisoner any, gested the irl’s testimony because he thought it probable e dead man and the living sport had had re- lations before either of them came into Needle Bar, and by the girl’s evidence he would be able to prove it, Like a skillful lawyer he sought to find a motive for the deed. All the witnesses having been examined, the judge signified that if the accused had any re- mark to offer, now was the time to ‘‘spit ’em out. Thé Fresh of Frisco now faced the jury, who held his fate in their hands, ready to plead for his life, for he saw that he wasindeed ina des- perate situation. Ashe ran his eyes over the taces of the twelve stern, bearded men, from the expression upon their features he concluded that there was not much chance for him, but he made an abio speech, though, for all that, brief asit was. The only evidence to connect him at all with the murder was the fact that he had ked up a weapon similar to the one by which murdered man mustehavs come to his death —not the very weapon itself, for, as he solemnly declared, he had that in his pocket in the saloon at the very time when the blow had probably been struck, and he wound up the speech by asking what reason he had for killing the man, an utter stranger to him—a man, in fact, whom he had never seen until his eyes bad rested upon the body lying so still in the moonlight; not plunder, for the valuables upon the body had not been touched, and then, if he had done the deed, would he have been fool enough to show the weapon with which the murder had been eommitted? It was a plausible argument, yet seemed to make no impression upon the jury. The strong point against the prisoner, and one that no ‘amount of argument would remove, was the presence of the odd little dagger in his pocket. It was now Keno Bill’s turn, and he “‘ went for” the Californian ‘‘ red-hot.” ‘*How do we know that these hyer two men, the dead one that can’t speak and the live one who can, didn’t meet afore they ever struck this hyer town? How do we know that thar wasn’t an old grudge atween the two and it was settled hyer by the one man tackling the other from behind, and then, arter he was keeled over, putting the knife into him? Of course he didn’t go through the man; it wasn’t plunder that he was after, but satisfaction. Ain’titas plain as the nose on a man’s face that thar was plenty of time for this leetle job to have been done and for the man who did it to sneak into the keno saloon afore the trouble took place about the drinks? That is what I want to know! And asto the man fetching out the tool that did the job from his pocket, that was done to throw people off the trail. That is jest whar, in my opinion, he was too cunning or his own good, but to put it all right down into a nutshell, the man was killed with a leetle knife. That man’-—-and here he pointed his jong, bony forefinger directly at the prisoner— ay Fy the knife; thar ain’t another one like it in The Bar, and if thar is, let it be trotted out and prove mea liar! He’s got the tool, and if he didn’t do the job, who did? I say that he is ~ California J ohn, the Pacific Thoroughbred. . | guilty, and I call upon you, fellow-citizens, to | ut him through as an example to the rest of he world that no red-handed murderer can find any place in this hyer town!” hen there was a whir in the air, and a sinall paper parcel fell into the wagon right at tle | ju pa feet. o one had the slightest idea of the direction from which it had come; no eyes had witnessed the throwing of the parcel; 1t had seemed to drop right down from the skies. The judge stooped and picked it up; it was a small package, carefully wrapped in heavy brown paper. Upon it was an inscription, which the captain read aloud. ‘* Evidence for the prisoner; open it, judge.” Expectation was on tip-toe as the old man re- moved the wrappings and held up to view an- other peculiar little dagger, exactly like the first. rapped around the handle was a folded ape which the judge opened and read aloud. t ran as follows: “You have got hold of the wrong man. the blade that did the deed. Look upon the steel and see where the spots of blood still stain it. It was no murder, but the hand of justice striking down its legally sentenced victim. lease the ac- —_ and look elsewhere for the hand that did the act, Great was the astonishment of the hearers as they listened to this unexpected information. The judge passed the note to the jury, and they examined it carefully, and then whispered to each other; the letter produced an entirely different effect from what the writer of it an- ticipated. Instead of diverting suspicion from the Fresh, it only fixed it still more strongly upon him! ‘*Don’t you see, thar’s a gang of ’em,” ex- claimed one of the jury, in a whisper to his neighbors. ‘‘ I heered tell on sich things afore. This camp is beginning to amount to something, and thar isa gang goin’ to come down onto us. We have got hold of this feller, and the rest are trying to get him off.” This is / | Jury emphatically dissen _"o ——-—-—- — — e. And so the whisper went round among the twelve who held the life of the prisoner in their hands, and each and all nodded their heads gravely. The time had come for the regular con between the rascals of the town and the peaceable and honest citizens, which nearly al- ways forms part of the history of all new towns, and these representatives of the good men of - ore Bar braced themselves to meet the or- eal. The same idea that occurred to the jurymen came also to Keno Bill: it was a cunning trick — the part of the sharp’s confederates to save Instantly he moved that the jury should de- liver their verdict. The judge charged the jury, and his speech bore hard upon the prisoner. The jury put their heads together and con- sulted for a few moments, then the foreman rose, a huge, brawny miner, with a tawny beard like a lion, and a reputation which was none ee What a "” J at say you?” said Ju Lynch. ** We find the prisoner cults of Spender in the first degree.” A slight scream escaped from the lips of Miss mero, ‘Oh, no, he is innocent!” she eried. CHAPTER IX. A SQUARE GAME. CALIFORKXIA JOHN sat in his prison-pen, the little room in the back part of the keno saloon building, meditating upon his peculiar position. Death seemed about as near to him as it had ever come, although this time it came robed in the guise of the law, but it was none the less dreadful—none the less certain forall that. Af- ter all his bold and carefully planned efforts to escape, the end seemed near at hand. Four-and-twenty hours more of life only had he, according to the decision of the twelve who had passed upon his fate. He had been con- victed of murder in the first degree and sen- tenced to death—to be hanged by a rope likea dog, but, in their wisdom, the jury had recom- mended the judge to grant the prisoner a res- pite of twenty-four hours, instead of having the sent-nce executed immediately, as is usually the custom of Judge Lynch’s court. Asthe foreman of the jury remarked, in his blunt, matter-of-fact way: “Yor honor, thar ain’t much doubt in the minds of this hyer jury that this man did the trick, but as the prodf ain’t jest as clear as it might be, we think that it is only fair to give the man another chance for his money. Some other cuss might have done the job, although we don’t think that is likely, seeing this man had the tool right on him, and as for the other one w’at was chucked into this hyer wagon, it r’ally looks asif there was a gang mixed up in this hyer thing, and if it is so, the quicker we kin bu’st it up the better for this hyer town, But, as L sed, we all want to give the man a good squar’ show, and so we all think that in- stead of stringing him up right away, you might give him a day or two, so that he might be able to find the feller w’at did the job, if it wasn’t him.” The Fresh asked if they were going to set him at liberty, or allow him to search under careful guard for the true culprit, but the judge and ted from this implied proposition. It would not be wise to allow him the slightest chance to escape, so the judge an- swered that such a thing could not be. The prisoner must remain in close confinement, while his friends could prosecute the search. ‘* Friends!” cried California John, with bit- ter accent. ‘*‘Why, 1 am a total stranger in this hyer town. I don’t know a soul in the burg. The only acquaintances [ have made hove been at the muzzle of a cocked revolver, and it isn’t at all likely that men whose toes I have trod on, and whom I have challenged to a duel on sight, = likely to step forward now to fight my bat- tle.’ ‘Waal, I would, for one!” roared the mule- skinner. ‘*The more I fight with a man the better [like him. I willdo anything J kin for you in reason, and don’t you forget it!” The judge shook his head. ‘*Tt’s no use talking, prisoner. You are one of the kind of men whom we don’t dar’ to let | PD goatlarge. Any man that has got the grit to walk into The Home of Alcibiades, and bluff the boss to his teeth, and smart enough to get the ‘drop’ on him right in his own ranch, is too ‘tarnel smart for us to take chances on. No, sir; we'll have to lock you up, but ’ll give you my word, as an honest white man, that [ will do all 1 kin for you.” Well, judge, you might just as well hang me first as last, and not keep me in suspense,” John remarked, ‘‘If you were to give mea chance to work on this thing myself, perhaps I might be able to strike a trail.” ‘We are afeard you will strike a trail that will lead you clear out of this town, and outen our hands, too,” the judge retorted. California John was removed to the selected prison, a strong guard was placed around it, and then the crowd broke up. Old Captain Joe—although acting as Judge > f a X » | nem ~~ rr eee Lynch—was a good square man, and he did his. best to keep his word to the prisoner. In the first place he set out to discover who it was that had thrown the parcel which had fallen so unexpectedly in the wagon, but, not the least thing could he find out about the mat- ter. As near as any one could guess the package had been thrown from the roof of one of the neighboring buildings, but, which one was a puzzle; and as the shanties—they were nothing more—were built after the fashion common to the Western frontier, one-story high, with a lain flat roof sloping to the rear, and a false ront of boards osm Bi up like a second story where the sign was generally painted, any ex- pert climber could mount to this roof, and, con- cealed behind the false front could easily have thrown the parcel into the wagon. But, as the mass cf the people of the town of Needle Bar were satisfied that California John was the true culprit, it was little wonder that there was no zeal for further search. But Juhn was wrong when he declared that he stood alone and friendless. Such men make friends everywhere, and after his commitment a his plave of confinement he held a regular vee. , Keno Bill had taken upon bimself the task of guarding the important prisoner. Jake Hair- in, who had been informed that he would be eld personally responsible for the safe-keepi of the doomed man, remai ‘ed in the room wi him constantly ; then there were two men lac’d on guard outside the door in the rear of the building, avd two more at the door which led into the keno saloon, so that if the prisoner had attempted to overpowe> the sheriff, his cries would instantly have brought assistance, After the court had adjourned and the sheriff and the prisoner had taken up their quarters in the little room, an hour or 50 was passed in con. versatiop, ‘‘swapping lies,” as irpin would have described it, and then, as time commenced to hang heavily on their hands, the genial mule- skinner suggested a leetle game of poker t¢ help the lagging minutes pass more swiftly. The Fresh, nothing loth, warned the sheriff that he was a ‘‘chief” when poker was con- cerned, but Hairpin was not to be bluffed; he a allowed that he was a big Injun, too, on that y: An hour’s experience convinced the son of Hualpais, though, that his ‘‘ medicine ” was not ae enough to buck a attended his opponent. fore that hour Jake had never been willing to allow that the man existed who could deal more dextrously from the bottom of the pack, or slip more cards uy his sleeve or down into his boots than he; but now, in his heart of hearts, he owned that he had met his master. For instance, growin: desperate, and it being his deal, he determine} at one bold stroke to retrieve his heavy losses, so be skillfully snaked an ace from the pack, ot it down safe in his boot, and then, ringing ina ‘cold deal” on his smiling antagonist, gave him three aces, a ten-spot and a tray, while at the same time he dealt himself four kings and an eight of diamonds. He rea- soned that the Fresh, bellasee that he had an invincible hand, would play it for all it was worth, and that he, with his four kings, would scoop in the wealth, And the Californian did bet as if he believed his hand could not be beaten. Finally the mule-skinner, pianking up the lass, of his ducats, cried out: “T’ll call you, jest fer greens, though from the way you are bettin should reckon you had an inviucible hand.’ at #0 ‘* Right you are, my friend; nothing beats four aces at a poker,” the Fresh replied, and to the utter dismay of the sheri!f his oppo- nent laid down four aces on the table! Hairpin glared as if be had seen a ghost, There, sure enough, on the table, was the ace of spades which he had supposed was hidden away in his boot-leg. ** Darned if there hain’t been cheatin’ round this board!” he cried, unable to contain himself. ‘* How in blazes did you git four aces?” ‘Well, you dealt me three, and I caught another in the draw,” was the smiling reply. ‘‘Pardner, I don’t want to say that you don’t lay a fair, squar’ game, but hyer is an ace w’at dropped to the floor when I was a-dealing the papers,” and Hairpin fished the card out of his boot and laid it on the table. : ‘Dear me! how curious! Why, there must have been five aces in the pack,” the Fresh ob- served, at the same time raking in the spoils. The sheriff heaved a sigh but spoke not. It was no use to contend with such a man. Just at that time Doc Si made his appear- ance, ee CHAPTER X. A STRANGE OFFER. ‘“WaA-AL, wot in thunder do you want?” Hairpin growled. He was not in a good humor. It was evident that the Doc had been drip} ing freely, although not enough to render him, incapable of knowing what he was about, ‘*] want a few minutes’ private conversation with this gentleman,” the medical sharp re. OO) im = COME ‘Ss inst the luck which.