The Arkansaw traveler., 1882-12-17
THE LANDSLIDE CASE
RS MARK TWAIN.

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 icrnior. The mountains are very high nd steep about Carson. Eagle and Wa snae Yalleys -veD high and very steep and se when the snow gets to melting of ..si in ,ke spring. and the warm surface. earth begins to inoisten and soften. the s.sas,rous land-slides commence.
 General Buneombe vas shipped out to Nevada n the voice of territorial officers be nl;ed States attorney.
 One morning Dick Sides rode furiously
 . to General bunoombe's door. in Car s1H CIfy. and rushed into his presence s..hour stopping to tic his horse. He ,eemed much exciied He told the gen. e-ai that hc wanted him to defend a suit Tor him. and would pay him s,oo if he C hie3 ed d victory. And then. with vio-
 tn, gestures md world of profanity. he cured out hiS sriefs. He said Ii was ,-et,y well known iha; for some years he ssd been farming tor ranchisg. as the riere customary term isl. Tn Washoe dis iTIct. and making successful thing of 1t: and. Furthermore. Il was known that his
 anch is situated righ, in the edge of the alley and thar Tom Morgan owned a -.~nch immediately ahoxe II. on the moun- an. And now the trouble was that one ri these hated and dreaded laad-slides d come and slid Morgan ranch, fences.
 ~bins. cattle. barns and everything down n top of his ranch. and exactly covered , every single vestige oi lis property to depth of about SIN feet Morgan was
 possession, and refused 10 vacate the premises said he was occupying his own o.oin. and no, interfering with anybody es-and said cabin was standing on :he same dirt and same ranch II had d.
 ays stood on. and would like 10 see any 7ady make him vara.c
 Ard when reminded him. said N des. weeping. ,ha, |, was on top of my fanoh. and that he was trespassing, he Tad the internal meanness to ask me why oldn: siay-on my ranch and hold pos -ession when see him coming. Why .idn'i stay on it: The blathering lun- l;ie !, And. by George, when l heard nat racket and looked up that hiii it was .,s, like the whole world was . ripping and tearing down that mountain side 'rees going end over end in the air rocks
 s big as house jumping about thous- and fee, high and bursting into ten mill ton pieces cattle literally turned inside oui and coming head on with with their ; alls hanging out between their teeth asi took one glimpse of that specktiole. i, enetal. and Ii, out n the country in three -nps exactly.
 Rut what grinds me IS that Morgan ' angs on there and won't move of n the T~ach- says it's his'n and he's going to <eep it-likes i, bet,er'n he did when it was higher up the hill. Mad. Well. I've been so mad for two days couldn't ind " way to town-been wandering around the bush in starving oondition-goi .nything here to drink. general. But ] n here. now. and I'm going 10 law. You rear me 7"
 The innocen, general was amazed. ie said he had suspected before that the Heople of tha, territory were fools: and TOW he knew il. '' But" he said. rest easy. res, easy. and collect the witnesses :: Tor the victory Is just as certain as if the conflict was already overr Sides wiped away his tears and left.
 Al two in the afternoon Referee Rooms cour opened, and the remorseiess old Joker appeared. throned among his sher- ifs: his witnesses and a @packedr jury. and wearing upon his face a fraudulent solemnity so awe-inspiring that some of his fellow-oonspirators had misgivings that maybe he had not comprehended. after all, that this was merely a joke. An unearthiy stiffness prevailed. for at the slightest noise the judge uttered sternly the command:
 Order in the court..-
 Way for the United States attorney r
 The witnesses were called-legislzsosx, high government officials. ranchmen. miners, Indians, Chinamen. negroes. Ihree-fourths Of them were called by the defendants, Morgan, but. no matter. their testimony invariably went in favor of the plaintiff, Sides. Each new witness oulv added new testimony to the ahssrdity of a mans claiming to own another mans property because his farm had slid down on top Of 1t. Then the Morgan lawyers made their speeches, and seemed to make singulariy weak ones-they did really nothing to help the Morgan cause. And now the general, with great glow Of tri- umph on his face, got up and made a mighty effort he pounded the tadle. he banged the law books, he shouted and roaIed and howied, he quoted from ev- erything and everybody. poesry, sarcasm, statistics, history. pathos and 6lasphemy. and wound up with . var whoop fur fee speech. freedom q the prsss, f1ee schooaa and the glogious birh of America and fhe principles cf eternal justice. [App,anss.]
 Ex-sovsnor Roep leAnod kis head upaa his hAnd fnr sosne minunsk thiIa. inG pseebandlv, sad tAe seim audiannu vaoA hsaaahles6ly foe hb dscisicu. IT. he gee - and s1ood 0er4 viah handod hsAA and shoagAt assin. Thsa he walhsd