The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1872-06-29
THE BOYS DEFENSE.
A CAPITAL STORY.

The scene was in Sacramento street, in
front OF a well known hotel. 1t was
twenty-five years ago, and San Francisco
was III her infancy.
I Quite a crowd had gathered on the
street, and the centre of attraction was a
big fellow, who stood with "a newspaper i'll
his hand, raviug and cursing
whats the matter, Wolf?" asked "a
new conner, who was evidently familiar
with The iraGe man. ~
'.Matter - retu-ned Wolf, for that
was the mans name, ''matter enough
IN rough euoogh i'll be for some folks
Tie young whelps that prints thls paper
has gone and Published scmeibln' bout
me. o, III fix 'em. They had better
90 an hi | themselves after tel minutesi
it'll y easier fur 'cm 49,
Wolf was noted desperaGo, who, il
was said, had killed more than twenty
men, and bat few knew him who did not
fear him. he was at ihat time cEict Of
a gang of lU;lcrs and gamblers that were
ne arly always to be found loaliug in the
vicinity alluded 10, and disIuI blng the
peace Of the whole neigh boIhood daily
with riotous conduct. 1t there was any
law III thuse days it was seldom executed
! against such characters, aud IN the lull
| consciousness that they were feared by
every body they did pretty much as they
! Pleased.
The newspaper which had given dead
ly offcnse 10 Wolf was a liutle weekly
| journal, and its offic. was in the second
, st pry of building ON the same street
/ wi,n the hotel l have mentioned, and
only few rods distant. 1t was publish
] ed by two young meu--or, might say,
! b y, for they were only eighteen and
tw,n years old, respectively
Dar ell and K"ynes- The paper and
its youthful pruprietors were well known
! in the city Ol San Francisco.
The article VIII ch had excited the
wrath of the rutfian " off was a bold
/ dcnunciation of himself and his crowd for
| their lawless conduct, and 1t particularly
mentioned him by name, characterizing
| him as IA clustering bully" 1t was the
work Of DarreI, Il fearless boy hailing
| from one of the Western States. Before
! leaving his home in the Mississippi Val
! ley, he had acquired fair education, SO
that he could at least edit "a newspaper in
those early days aud he possessed, be-
sides, that courage and daring which
maybe natural in the fist place, and
" hich are more thoroughly developed by
exposure to danger and hardships -
Young Haynes was qniIe different kind
of person in point Ut courage, being of an
unusually timorous nature.
To return to the scene on Sacramen-
to street. Working himself up 10 bis
very worst mood-and his best was bad
enough, Heaven kHows-Wolf tore The
paper to atoms and started for the publi-
| cation Office. He was followed by Il
curious rabble, most of whom were eiated
with the prospect of mur der, though there
were s1me present who would have rcmon-
strated with the evil hearted man, had
they dared.
ID ust you WATCH sail Wolf, as he
reached the door, ''if you want to see
their bloody carcasses tumble out o the
winder 1t won't b. long | don't spend
much time on such feilprs"
| Ii was the intention of the cruel hearted
man TO actually cut the throats of The two
boyish journalists and throw their bodies
out of the window FOR the Grsstilic'tiou of
iiIe crowd and the further exaItation OF
his already fearful name, So, tie mob
on she street awaited the issue with fever
ish expectation, as Wolf, 1ourishing his
knife and revolver, entered the rude frame
building and rushed up stairs.
All unconscious OF their danger. the
two young editors were busily pursuing
their work IN their primitive office. If
dley had heard the nois3 without, they
had paid no attention TO it, suPposipg it
was merely a street row such as ihey
were accustomed to hearing eveIv dag
Darrell was sitting at rude table wrIt-
ing, and Haynes was at the counter ar
ranging some papers for tie mail
Il Th y heard the CHATTER of heavy boots
on thJ stairs, but thought it was some
Rough miner coming up 10 subscribe for
! the paper. or, perhaps, 10 see a lawyer
who occupied a couple cf rooms on the
same floor for the building was only a
two story one, and the second floor was
occupied exclusively 10y them aud an
attorney-their rooms being separated
from his by narrow halfway that was
1 reached by the ni5nI vi stairs alluded TO.
s'Ah ha! I've got you, my young
1 imps'' exclaimed the desperado, bursts
ing in: y --. -. ..-.-a 81.
Haynes recognized him and turned
pale. Being at the counter, which faced
the door and extended across tho room,
he was naturally the first mark OF Wolf S
vengeance | BIB aa'
'.Yeyoung deviisl'' he hissed. scowl>
ing like mad man, "ye'll never write
nor print nothin' more bout me !" Here
1 he fourished his knife aud revolver above
his head. ''Ive got a sure thing ON both
| on yeIp Saying this he looked about
him, with a careful scrutiny, 10 see that
there was no means Of escape for the quiet
youth AZ the table, who, of course, would
not jump over the counter and try to pass
/ ! j