St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1873-08-22

b>dfrC III the way OF costume or habit.
as l. the wont of the Scmi-outlaws of the
frontier. Now if sam Atwood had let
his hair grow until it fell down about
his shoulders if he had worn IL pair of
fancy cashmere pants. tucked into
pair of red-toppcd bootlegs: if he had
worn Il short coat. buttOned up to his
neck. an embroidered Mexican sOmbrero
on his head. and carried big ivory
hutted SiX-ShOoter. with carved barrel.
Slung To his hip if he had made fun for
the boys and regularly whooped it up
tOr the girls whenever he made Il win
ming at Il faro OF poker, he would have
sunk into the sum of things in ChPy-
enne, and nobody would have noticed
him. But his quiet. good behavior
made him an object of unusual note.
while his studied unSociahility excited
+ toward him that superstitiouS suspicion
which is 50 keen i'll the mind of the
trontier'Sman. By the way. this is one
of the hOrdereI'S peCuliaritieS. 1t makes
no difference to him what blood and
4 violence MAY have stained mans
hands, SO he depDrts himself as the hor-
derer thinks Il desperate should behave.
The crimes themselves go fol naught
but the perpetrators behavior under
the shadow of them is of vital import.
;" it happened that hecause Sam At
wood gambled and was known as
professional sporting man. and yet with
al drp"rtcd himself like a minister. ol
an Indian Commissioner under the pres
cnt regime. he brought upon himself the
argllS-rycS' suspicion and the Sullen
dangerous. diStlust of the rougher men
about him. 1t was very evident that he
Ia.
well that though there were hundred
murdcrerS III Cheyenne. known to he
such. still he WAS held hy ninety nine
ont of every hundred of his fellows t"
hr the greatest criminal in town. and
that his SuppoStiouS WTong-doing WAS
magniiird three hundred diamrters by
the mazy mystery his tariturnity threw
about him. But he didn't seem t" care
!, about it. He went his ways all the
same and kept his own counsel. IL he
had always done.
Murder. garroting. highway robbery.
and general carnival of hutchcry and
E and outrage. which was not III defiance
+ of the law simply because there was no
law To defy. had at last reused the in
>tinct of Sclf-prcSCrvatiom in mems hO-
sons and Il Committee OF Safety WAS
organized in Cheyenne. This Commit
tee of Safety had its originals do all
such institutions in that wild hunger
fur Justice which always at last SeiZe>
the souls of honest men where there Is IL
famine of the forms oflaw. Now what
ever of brutality and hloodthirstincSs
may hc laid at the doors of vigilance
committees however frigidly society
may condemn those methods of Justice
that ovcrleap the tortuouS and tedious
= processes of trial hy jury. dispense with
the Vaccinations of counsel. and con-
dense an arrest. Il conviction and an
execution into the space of an hour AT
midnight. one fact stands III bold relief
forever. and that Is. Ia wit Il Commit
tee of Safety never Yet hanged the
wrong man. nor let the right man get
e away. So much for the iutallihic in
>tinct of simple and exact justice there
i in the bosom of the human animal
when there IRE no jack-le% lawyers
about Ia insult witnesses and hroWhcat
courts in pursuance of what l. called
1 practice at the bar. 80 much for the
beauty of SayagcrN and its simplicity.
e Naturr ALWAYS tells the truth. and has
no need to hr sworn upon Il Bible or
confronted with the trrror> OF impri>on-
mcnt for perjury. Nor l. there amy
I cross S~-cNaminatiOn required.
. Well. the Committee of Safety he
/ came imhucd with the deep and >urly
. suspicious that were rife concerning that
/ .,rutccl SPHINX. sam Atwood. To those
p who understood the situation ii WAS
- plain that u good many hIun2rd faces
I. >cuW led omiu"uSly at sam H. he passed,
: Iud u good mauy hlaw:rl fingers itched
. ucIy"U>ll Io gIip one end of rope with
. Sans neck at the other end. 1t WIS
. plain that tine regulators wanted to get
hold nf him. and that they would tackle
: him rpnn the first Convenient pittcNt.
, The more hc-i,cpt his peace the more II
i rNaSprIattd them.
= .Iohu oldham WAS Il member of the
% committee. John had been bull
= Wharllcr since tifty-nine. varying his
: trcightiug experiences sometimes by Il
= trapping expedition. sometimes lay dliV-
% inc III the overland stage line. and
4 again 10y riding the pony express. Now.
: in Cheyenne. lie WAS keeping Il mean
- little saloon. He WIS short. thick-Set.
p red faced fellow. with hig iowlS and Il
4 corrugated neck. \ huge sandy mus
. tachc covered his upper lip. Il shock OF
a wiry and fiery hair was on his scalp. and
= his dull. hlcared. blue gray eyes looked
n moro>elv ont from beneath ugly. over
: hanging cliffs of eyebrows. He was Il
n rude. illitcrate brute. full of loud talk
t. and hOaSttUlneSS. and wIthal man
r. whose mcHnneS> WAS rather intensified
% than relieved 10y the quality which he
i called his courage. but which WAS moth
T. ing Int the strut and SWaggcr of the
t bully. John Oldham would fight. in
e deed. hut he infinitely preferred to
Il boast of the fights he had been i'll rather
n than stand up and take his chances IN
Y new ones He had conceived violent
: dislike for Sam Atwood. though the two
= had never passed IL word and knew each
: other only by sight. One night party
g of four. among whom WAS sam Atwood,
:. were sitting in a game Of draw-p"krr,
@ when John Oldham came into the room
II He walked up to the table and asked
= tor Il hand. Some of the party demur-
: red to Il ve-handcd game. whcrcat one
. of the players. fellow that went 10y
: the name of '.Chamcc." got up and sold
= his checks to Oldham and drew out OF
= the game. Oldham lost heavily and
: rapidly. and in dozen deals he went
Y broke in calling Atwood who held
four SKIES against his king full on scVenS
: He had lost altogether about four hun
o dred dollars. nearly all of which Atwood
had won. He showed his chair back
Il from the table. ran his hands down INTO
i his pockets. dropped his chin on his
= breast. and looked long at Atwood out
of his mean little bluc-gray eyes
t Finally he said:
"MIster Atwood. don't know much
e about YOU, but it strikes me that think