The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1875-06-01

+ thousand dollars, which had been played
, into his hands by the kind.hearted pro
prietor. From that moment the TWO be-
came fast friends
When the gambler fell i'll, Monsieur
Durdon was by his side constantly, and
under the careful nursing OF the grateful
Frenchman he recovered When Mon
sieur left his bedside, he found that hi;
} claim had been jumped by unpracipled
! partes,and he was deprived Of the means
Of making livlihood. "Nevare mind,
said Monsieur smiling, IL will find an.
other N, importe." Ard so he did, for
Bat Harmon bought out rich claim and
presented il to him. In spite Of prosper.
ity, Monsieur Durdon did not seem tc
} grow happier Whatever was on hi,
mind was slowly dragging him down, and
much as he loved his friend he would moi
tell him bis secret The old jaunty air
had disappeared, the hair grew grayer
and his whole appearance was far differ.
ent from what it was when he first came
to Kinball's Placer. 1t was noticed that
whenever stranger came to the camp,
Monsieur was among the first to inquire
for news from the outside world. He
also procured all the newspapers he could
get, and would devour their contents with
a feverish intensity.
One night Monsieur Durdon entertain.
ed party of friends at the Widow Car.
rolls. Wit ran high, and the "wiuc"-
polite for "red eye" and "wine juice
passed freely. 1t was proposed by one Of
the party that each should tell story.
Nick Wagner, herculean son oftoil, led
of with thrilling tale in which bars
"catamounts' and "injuns" figured extcn.
sively. When the applause had subsided,
Bat Harmon was called upon to spin his
yarn. The gambler thought moment
and then said "Gentlemeu, don't
know as | can tell you anything interest
ing. You know that men of my profes.
sion generally see great deal OF the
world-it is all shuttle and cut with US
and should tell you anything of my life
1t would seem commonplace to you. If
was TO spin yarn with woman in tho
case, | think it would come nearer your
expectations. Well, here goes It is
now three years since was in Suter
County, and it was at Marysville what
happened there AN going to tell you or
course you all know what kind Of place
Marysville is, and you know how one half
Of its people live. Well, was establish.
ed 10 business there, and did lively
trade, though l am rather ashamed to
acknowledge it, Among the regular fre-
quenters of my place was a man who
called himself Tom Wilson. This Tom
Wilson had suddenly appeared in Marys.
vile with large sum Of money and be
Immediately plunged into dissipation. He
was tall, broad.shouldered fellow. rather
fine looking but face that Beat the devil
for cunning and rascalty never liked
the fellow, and hated to see him enter my
place-though of course | could not keep
him out. This Wilson brought with him
woman whom lie called his wife She
was, without exception, QUO Of tho hand
soonest women ! ever behcld She was
tall and slender a pure brunette, and
bore evidence Of hayirg been well brought
up. She spoke very little English, and
that made Inc suspicious that there was
something wrong. However, whether
right or wrong she seemed to live but for
her companion she was desperately in.
fatuated with him"
Bat paused moment to light segar,
and glancing at Monsieur Durdon, who
seemed intensely interested, went on
The two had been in Marysvile about
three months. when one night, Wilson
entered my place and took q seat at the
rouge a noir table He had been drink.
ing, and was in wicked mood He bet
heavily on the red and lost, He played
on, betting on the red every time, alter
nately wining and losing, until. at last, he
was loser Of all ne had to the bank
Crazy with rage at his bad luck he nc.
cused the dealer Of foul play, aud, draw
ing his revolver. shot him dead. A rush
was made for him, and. before he could
raise his arm again, the pistol was knock
ed from his hand, and he was thrown
heavily to the foor He fought like a
tiger, but it was no use. he had TO cave.
Some of the boys we're for taking him out
and hanging him up at once, but, on my
advice, they took him to the old loft and
locked him up, to await a regular trial.
If the thing had been fair fight and no
favors asked, it would have been all right,
hut the chap went rushing up his puddles
the wrong way, and it served him righ.
! n ba mi nj. .at u
shock to his wife--poor thing-but they
broke it TO her as gently as possible.
There was but one opinion regarding
Wilson, and that was, that he should die.
If jury could not be found to prove him
guilty, he was going to hang anyway.
His wife asked permission to see him and
they let her in. The meeting between
them was very affecting, and more. than
one stout heart grew tender al the sounds
Of her sobs anl cries. was outside the
door when she came cut She seemed
utterly heart.hiuken As she turned from
the door, | noticed a curious looking ring
upon her finger knowing that many OF
the Spanish settlers were IN the habit of
wearing rings with their family arms or
rubies engraved upon them, supposed,
at first iha. hers was one of them.
Thinking to get some clue to her identity
through the ring, | leaned down as she
paused moment, aud took good look
at it. ! never saw anything like il be.
fore, and it was certainly not of Spanish
or Mexican origin. 1t was plain gold
band, with a beautifully designed crown
in place Of the usual seal, and Oh each
side Of the crown, on the band, were en-
grayed eagles
Harmon paused again to fill his glass.
Monsieur Durdon moved further into the
shadow His hand was pressed tight
against his side, aud he was pale deadly
pale ilannon resumed his story.
"At midnight a committee Of citizens
deliberated together, and it was decrecd
IL