The Brookhaven leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1883-1891, 1883-12-06

The pale-blue eyes Of the little man.
who bore the not uncommOn name Of
| Smith. tsinkled never 20 slightly be-
I hind his spectacles at the remark. hut
be groaned dismslly and shook his
head
MY dear SIR" he exclaimed in dep
recating tones. ''you surely would not
cOmmi, the awful crime of murder. even
to prevent the loss of the filthy lucre
wh Oh yOu-hem,- claim to have ac-
CURED through your own honest eff
forts "
Claim 10 have acquired2 What the
deuce DO YOU mean by thai?' clustered
Macarthur. as Ned and myself glanced
at the little man in some surprise. for it
seemed 10 strike Us simultaneously that
there was a sort of unconscious signit-
canoe in Mr.. smiths tones.
Yet il was, perhaps. a mistake. a.
well as the fancy that McArthur's
bronzed face changed color never -
little. even as 'he other spoke.
Mr.. Smith shrsnk back into his cor
ner as though terrified at the others
threatening manner.
Indeed. / meant nothing at all. my
+ dear friend he answered, in apparent
alarm. i
But his protestation was cut short by
! the sudden and abrupt stoppagc Of the
stage. and a terrified yell from the
krow-boy who drove.
Almost at the same moment a man
sprang from either side Of the road with
a legclcd rife.
The first one that stirs gets ball
through his head. said the taller of
the t,,o. a heavily-bearded fellow. the
very counterpart Of the ruffian in q
border play.
Nv own revolver was in the small va
lisp. which held Ned's and nv own
worldly goods Even if | had carried
it on nv person. it is more than likely
that with the muzzle Of a rife staring
me full in the face. should not have
attempted 70 Use il.
Ned was unarmed. 50. as il then ap-
peared. was the little -colpor1eur And
the valiant Macarthur dropped oR the
bottom Of the coach with a CRY Of ter
ror. which was feebly echoed BY Mr..
Smith.
7 In obedience to a gruff command,
Macarthur handed his reyOlvers TO the
smaller of the two rJad-agents, who,
seeming to be ASSURED that no weapons
were worn BY any others of the party,
caused u to alrght.
Ned and myself submitted to be
searched with the calmness Of despair.
We had about a hundred and fifty
Soycreigns between us. and bill Of ex-
change on bank n Cape Town. which
the tall ro5ber took from us. while his
companion, with cooked hat and pre-
s@ntcd rife. did the intimidating. Ne
Arthur alternately raved and swore. As
he was relieved Of his belt. The little
man wrung his hands and raised his
voice in meek supplication, while his
specialized eyes were fixed, a though in
= sort Of fascination, upon the rutiian
who held the presented rife.
Now, then, gig-lamps, what have
g2u got about YOU was the jocose
And little Mr.. Smith piteously en-
/ treated that the muzzle Of the loa1ed
rife be turned aside from bis affrighted
face.
at mtght go off, " he said, in tremu.
lous tones, land it makes me so nery-
Gus TO have deadly weapon pointed at
me. Do, please, take it away
With a hoarse laugh the road agent
tossed his rife into the hollow of his
arm.
'All right, my little man" he said.
carelessly. Go ahead, Bill"
This TO his companion who APP
preached Smith for the purpose Of
searching him.
Then there was a transformation
scene, indeed. The small man straight
cned up like lightning. and with quick
ness that seemed almost incredible.
showing his hands in the side pockets of
his linen coat, he drew them out with
! cooked revolver in each.
Crack! and the shorter ruffian stag
gcrcd and fell, shot through the heart.
Crack. and his astonished companion,
with yell of mingled pain and rage,
sprang for his rifle, which lay beside
him on the ground; but he was too late.
| Before his fingers closed upon its
! shining barrel he tumbled forward to
the earth with ball through his brain.
! The whole affair was over in ten sec
onds. Mr.. Smith repOcketed his pis-
tots, and taking off his spectacles re-
garded our astonished faces with a
! benevolent smile.
times, after all, gentlemen he re-
marked.
And | noticed a curious change in
his voice and manner SO, too. did
Macarthur, who stood for a moment
/ looking at him with seeming perplex-
ty in the midst of his evident stupe-
faction.
Meanwhile, Ned, who was Of a
practical turn, began taking from the
capacious pockets of the taller Of the
two outlaws the valuablcs and money
of which our little company had been
despoled. at the eager suggestion of
! the two diamond brokers. who had been
literally paralyzcd with terror during
the entire scene through which we had
passed, both Of them having been re-
lleved Of large amounts.
/ Of course they insisted upon receiv-
ing their own property first. Then
came ours. And, at the same time,
from bit Of wash-leather in the same
/ pocket rolled a diamond, of such pc
( culiar shape, size and colOr-for it was
( one Of those rare gems, a perfect rose
diamond both Ned and myself
uttered simultaneous cry Of astonish-
ment and delight, as we'll we might, for
/ 1t was our stolen diamond
you are in luck, gentlemen"
quietly remarked Mr.. Smith, who had
been watching the whole procedure,
while Macarthur stood looking on with
| cOYetous ewes II see that this is the