The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1874-07-09

CAA1tyI L CD1clUueu, -tuGE Nu6y lc2Nl
the neighborhood. I bear letters frou
good houses in New York to severa
| persons in this vicinity, some OF whom
may be known to you, and which vii
prove can bear out my offer"
drew my letters from my pocket anJ
read the addresses: tfCaptain Hiram
Dsnks, Msjor Julius Bumper, Sheriff
Goilopy, Colonel VanwOort,. Captain
HimpusD-
i s'Tnat's me-" said a rough lOOkini
man. ''Give it here"
he wasn't much after my idea of 2
captain; but, as it could do no harm
gave him the letter. Heread it, and
handed it to the captain, a leader o.
tbe band, who read il also.
yves; that's all squa- enough" said
4 the latter; "but tile Vigilantes out
here don't vally New Workers, and
l don't work according to New York
I laws"
4 .'Nor they don't want no New York
money" said voice from the rear.
An asserting murmur Endorsed this
4 sentiment, and felt things were look
ing very black for my hosts. They
were evidently Of the same opinion,
for Joe smiled sadly and said: "It
ain't OF no use, squire; we're just as
much obliged, though. wouldn't say
no more, or you'll maybe get into
trouble yourself. If things is ready,
Pm ready" he continued turning 20
the leader. IsF llFI-l
Well, we shan't keep YOU awaiting
long, Joe Rlakey," responded the lat
ter; 81 hear the young men a-eoming
back; they have been choosing a tree"
sWith horror, exclaimed; "Inever
dreamt of such eold-biooded work as
thfs! Look here, captain; the only
reason don't offer money is, because
/ believe should do more harm than
good by It; but, If you hang these men,
you Will send me away with the feel
ing that I have their blood on my
hesd, for they suspected your visit,
and believe that. but for my pres
ence, they would have made their es-
cape tonight. If you won't listen to
anything else, you might think of
Ghdt.n
Twas pleased to see that my words
made some impression, for instead Of
answering me In his calm, cruel style,
the captain turned to his gang, and a
low but earnest discussion took place
At last he turned round, and, in a very
stern voice, quite different to that in
which he had previously spoken, said:
"Hear me, stranger! The Vigilantes
are quite sorry for your position, and
respect your feelin's; but this is their
decision, and warn you that If you
question it by single word, you will
ruin the man you most seek TO help
Joe Blakey, you are considered by
this honorable court the best of the
two, but you are very bad for all that.
Your life is spared on condition that
you heY cleared out from here in six
hours, and are not found within a
hundred miles Of here ever after. OF
course we give you time to go the
| Journey. Phil MarlI, we know yer a
murderer, and treacherous one-you
die! These is the sentence. Boys!
string up Phil Marll. If you want to
see justice done IN these western parts,
stranger, come out with US; if not,
goodbye" alsa,
1 turned deathly sick, as the process
sion left the shanty, Joe and being
its only occupants. One man, how
ever, turned back, and said: "Oh,
Squire, you must excuse my neg lect;
but 1 am Captain Himpus, and live
at Three Greek Farm over yonder.
My wife and the young ladies' will
be glad to see you; and If you will
stop month with US, we shall be all
the more pleased. It will introduce
you to all our best citizens, and I'll
answer they will be happy to have
you among them.n
stammered out few words, and
he hurried off to be present at the ca
tastrophe. We saw no more of them;
but, after q few moments OF almost
agoniZing silence, we heard band OF
horsemen ride past the cabin, and
could even hear their voices in laugh
ter. ] looked almost timidly at Joe,
who heaved heavy sigh, and break
ing silence for the first time since his
reprieve, said: "They've done with
Phil; there was worse men in the
room than him, when the Vigilantes
were here; though L don't deny,
Squire, that we hey been hard wretch
es." He paused, as il taking mental
retrospect of the wretched portion of
\ kis. ttses ita--sl very ruddSnIy changing
his tone, said: ''Now, squire, must
90, and that right away. know
where they've hung Phil; 1 shall cut
him down, and leave some money
with old Padre Francisco to have him
buried, and all that; but before go /
have something important to say to
you" a a-
"Do you require -" L began, put
ting my hand into my breast-pOeket,
for 1 thought he wished to borrow
money; but he waived his hand and
said: .tNo; quite different. 1 have
plenty of stamps, and II hadn't got
to clear out now, should soon be the
richest man in these diggings. You
saved my life, stranger, and hewitt
made no fuss about it. You came
down from the mountains by this
long guIch at the back, suppose ?"
assented. A"Tbought So" be contin-
ued. "Well, stranger, about half a
mile up that gulch, a smaller gulch
turns off-you'll know it, because it's
the first on the left you come to
that gulch contains the richest lead of
gold in Colorado, and it's o fortin' for
q man in a single season. can't
touch it now, but hev got the claim,
and 1 hereby give you over that
claim. Work y, and you're a mill
ionaire." / strove to thank him, and
to offer him the proceeds, or half, but
he silenced me, and said he didn't
want to hear any more of the place.
"You stop in here, squire" he said,
"while I go and do what I've got to
do for Phil"
So he went, and I sat alone in the
shanty until dawn, when he returned,
looking as cold and impassive as ever.
He mounted his horse-the Vigilantes
had left one for him, and my own,
out of several-and rode away, and
never saw or heard of him again
unless Joe Baker, from Colorado, who
was shot at a saloon in Nevada, was
my friend, as some of my mining
acduaintances declared to be the
case.
l had mining aequantances, and
followed the counsel given me, and
worked the gulch, which, by the bye,
1 purposed to call Annabella Lauren
tina Gulch, after my oldest daughter ;
but which the people about, and even
the county surveyor, would call Ugly
Barney Gulch. Why, or who Barney
was, 1 had not the least idea. But, as
BIaky averred, it was the "richest
lead" in Colorado; ]. took many thous-
and dollars from it that summer, and
then sold it 70 company for many
thousand dollars more. 1t is exhaust
ed now but its original purchasers
were enriched. No amount of gold,
however, would tempt me to reside
in a country whero Vlgilantes, with
their Lynch law, are a permanent
institution, and where / used al
twilight to fancy saw the phantom
of the ill.favored Phil MarlI lurking
among the shadows and holes at the
foot of the ravines.
PIety Knocked Into ri.
Horace Greeley used to affirm thai