The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1883-04-14

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/ Oh, says Joe, I've been here a few
days; then he added, Il am pretty
| drunk tonight and | want to shake this
ground Help me to do it. will youp'
All right, SAYS /. .Bar-keeper. here:
you get little back room where my
pard and can talk things over a bit. ;
| As | did SO [ iingled some coin in my
| pocket and added, We have cot the
| dust, and we want to tackle some bug
juice and talk over old times. All
| right, says he; here, Tom calling to a
Niger }, show these gentlemen back
| ROOM
'.The other fellows who had followed
doe IN TO the bar wanted to go ont with
/ us, but | looked around and saws: No,
not if the court knows herself; this is
my ante, and | want to keep you out.
The fellows were for kicking mp row,
but the barkeeper says: Now, men. |
don want no fighting inside; 90 out on
| the street it You want to fight
HE came from behind the bar, aud
an ugly-lookin@ fellow. who, I suppose,
was the %5ounccr.' came ont of = corner
of the room, ready to take hand in the
/ threatened scrimmage, while we slipped
into the back parlor and ordered our
| drinks. Then we drew out our pipes
1 and began to smoke. | could see that
Joe was pretty drunk and very free to
talk. Where is your pard EfderP'
| says |. Joe kind of turned away his
head and says: Bill, L don't know
where he Is, so help me - then he
| stopped. He didn't seem to want to
| say God, and I have thought since he
| had better have said the devil You
| see, he added, Elder wandered off and
| got lost. | haven't seen him for some
time He was bent on prospecting in
new spot
4 saw that Joe hung down his head
while he said this, and somehow, though
he was an old side pard, | didn't be-
| lieve him
Il said: Joe, it's rather funny that a
man should wander off in that. way and
you not know where he is gone.
Then Joe said: I GU know Elder was
queer duck anyway, a puny sort of a
cuss, not much fitted to rougl4ing 1t.
He had fever down there in the gulch,
and was sort of out of his head some of
the time He used to rave at times
about finding gold higher up in the
mountains, and so one day when I had
gone down to the nearest camp for SEINE
grub he wandered away, and | haven't
seen him since nor heard from him
Il looked up kind of suddenly and
caught Joe's eye. | says to him, Joe,
you and have been friends for nigh ON
to six years, but | believe in my heart
You re lyin'. He says to me, no Jabe,
honest to God amt Between whites
Joe and me had been drinking pretty
freely, and as looked at his face / be-
gan to fear he was going to have the
jim-jams. Yes, said he, poor Frank,
he and me. never was cut out to get
along well together. He was pretty
fiighty, and you can bet your life have
got quick temper, and used to some-
times take him down when he got ON
his high horse-My God! there he is
now. he suddenly exclaimed. looked
around the room but could see nothing.
/ was a little full myself, and I says
rather sharply, 'D-n it, Joe, you're
drunk No. says he, there's Elder
looking at me. He's got Gretchen s |
stiletto sticking in his heart Then
he suicided, did he, Joe?' | said look |
ing up. No, said he. he didn t-oh!
keep him off, he'll throw that dagger at
met |
Then Joe fell out of his chair. rolled |
over, aud had IA tit. | called in the bar |
keeper, and we got the man over to my |
room. | called doctor and we brought |
him to- He was sick for a number of |
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ually came to know a little. he told me |
the whole story of how he killed Elder. |
He said he felt easier after he had told |
it, and didn't care whether they lynched |
him or not / told him very few people |
knew Elder in this part of the country, |
and | didn't think anybody would take |
the trouble to tie him up on q cotton /
wood. [ told Joe he had done very
mean by Elder, but as long as he lived | |
never would peach on him. After he /
was dead | could not answer for it. | |
thought he ought to give Elder s friends |
half his property after he (Joe) was |
dead that is if he could ever find any of |
EN-. Joe said he was dreadful sorry, |
and would do anything L told him. HeI
felt worse about Gretchen's stiletto
than ANYTHING else. [ asked Joe what he'll
meant to do, and he said he meant to COL
back to the place and bury Elder, but
he wanted me to go back with him. In |
a few weeks, when Joe got stronger,we
went back and dog-gon my skin it the |
first thing we saw when we got into the |
hut wasn't bed made mp in the midi
die ofxthe floor and something init that
looked Just like man. | was sober as |
a iudre and hadn t drank drop for |
sons days, | went mp to the bed and |
kaockest TnvtfiSt down onto the figure, |
The whole thing collapsed. and the bed |
was a.; straight as ever We looked an |
der the bed and hunted all around and |
ahcut tle cabin, but couldn find MOTH |
ine..t % nobody. Nell we got Elders
stiff out of the water, and it Hooked |
and slnelled horribly We buried it an
der pile of stones, and Joe says, Now,
a-n him. he can't come to life again.
THAT night Joe and | slept together.
but somehow it seemed all night as it |
there were three ofus instead of two, and |
in the morning when we had got up and
washed we looked at our bed and it |
looked inst as if there WAS man there /
again
..NelI. to make long story short,
joe sold his claim to Yankee in Cali
fornia gulch for big money, The Yam /
kee never saw any ghosts or didn t care
for them if he did. He took out a loto
ore, made quite nice pile, came down
to Denver and got killed IN a saloon |
firht Joe went back east and found |
that his German girl had died of heart |
disease on the very night he had killed /
Elder with her dagger. Then he had |
kind of sneaking euriosity to 60 back to /
the old hut again and alone. started
TO go wilh him, but got drunk and was
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