Daily Los Angeles herald., 1883-09-25

drunk"
II don't mean you, you idiot.
mean the man. Suppose maj
should come to you drunk o.
borrow q knife or a tomahawk ol
a pistol and you forget to tell hin
it was loaded, and"
"How could you load tom
ahawk?v
II don't mean the tomahawk,
and / didn't say the tomahawk;
said the pistol. Now, don't you
keep breaking in in that way, be-
cause this is serious. There's
been a man killed."
"Whatl In this town."
eyes; in this town."
"Well, go on; l won't say a
single word"
"Well. then, suppose you for
got to tell him to be careful with
it, because it was loaded, and he
went of and shot himself with
that pistol-fooling with it. you
know, and probably doing it by
accident being drunk. Well,
would it be MURDER"
'tNo--suicide."
''No, no; l don't mean his act.
/ mean yours. Would you be
murderer for letting him have
that pistolY'
After deep thought came this
answer:
"Well, l should think I was
guilty Of something may be
murder. Yes; probably murder,
but l don't know"
This made me very uncomfor-
table. However, it was decis-
i've verdict. l should have to set
out the real case; there seemed to
be no other way; but I would do
it cautiously, and keep a watch
for suspicious effects. l said:
81 was supposing a case; but 1
am coming to the real one. Do
you know how the man came
to be burned up in the Gala
boose?"
mo"
Haven't you the least idea?"
"Not the least"
"Wish you may die in your
tracks Il you have?"
Eyes. l wish l may die in my
tracks"
"WeIl. the way of it was this.
The man wanted some matches
to light his pipe. A boy got him
some. The man set fire to the
calaboose with those very matches
and burned himself up"
"Is that so?"
''Yes. it is. Now is that boy a
murderer, do you Think"
"Let me see. The man was
eyes, he was drunk"
Very drunk?''
"Yes."
"And the boy knew it?''
Eyes, be knew it?'
There was a long pause. Then
came this heavy verdict.
eff the man was drunk and the
boy knew it, the boy murdered
that man. This is certain"
Faint, sickening sensations
crept along the fibres of my body,
and | seemed to know how a per
son feels who hears his death
sentence pronounced from the
bench.
/ waited to hear what nv
brother would say next. l be-
lieved | knew what it would be,
and | was right. He said;
81 know the boy"
| had nothing to say, SO l said
nothing simply shuddered.
Then he added:
Eyes, before you got half
through telling about the thing 1
knew perfectly well who the boy
was; it was Ben Coontzp
| came out Of my collapse as
one who rises from the dead. +
said, with admiration:
"Why, how in the would did
you ever guess itY'
"You told it in your Sleep"
! said to myself: How spIen-
did that is! This is a habit that
must be cultivated "
My brother ratified innocently
on:
"When you were talking in
your sleep you kept mumbling
something about matches, which
| couldn't make anything out Of;
but just now when you began to
tell me about the man in the cal
aboose and the matches, | re-
membered that in your sleep you
mentioned Ben Coontz two or
three times. So l put this and
that together, you see, and right
away | knew it was Ben that
burned the man up"
| praised his sagacity, effu-
sively.
Presently he asked:
Are you going to give him up
to the law?"
"No," | said; "I believe that
will be lesson to him. | shall
keep an eye ON him, of course, for
that is but right, but if he stops
where he is and reforms it shall
never be said that I betrayed
him."
How good you arer'
"Well, / try to be. 1t is all
person can do in a world like
this"
And now, my burden being
shifted to other should ers, my
terrors soon faded way.