Sun River sun. [volume] (Sun River, Mont.) 1884-1885, 1885-02-12

pointed towards them, began to spea'
in hoarse whisper, which, in that
silence, made yer blood run cold.
HE did it," she said, pointin at the
door. "Don'tlet him escape. He de-
serves to hang johnson did IL. II
was because oh v'--and she sank
back again.
Everyone hurried up to tho bed, but
the doctor motioned 'em back. mo
good, boys" said he, "shc is gone
now, sure and she was dead.
I said everyone hurried up to the
bed. No. Sid johnson did not. Whom
he heard his come from her lips, be
had started o step toward her, and
stopped again. His face was rs pale
a. the dead woman's. He raised one
hand asif to speak, and his lips moved,
but not sound came from his throat.
Then he turned round and walked in
Il dazcd and staggerin way out Of the
door, and the crowd divided to let him
pass back to his cabin.
johnson! Sid! the open hearted,
CHEEKY friend Of the whole camp! II
seemed impossible Still, dyiL'
wonan's words was strong evidence.
But it warn't any Of our busines. We
had full confidence in our Vigilance
committee, an we were all glad,
guess, to leave the responsibility OF
the affair to them. Their was to have
bin. a kind o variety entertainment
that night which some O tho boys
had bin gittin' up under Sids lead.
But Sid didn't come out Of his cabin
MI day, an the camp didn't feel hun
CRY for no shows just then.
Next mornin' Johnson's body was
hangin' from that limb o. tho loft
hand tree. 80 7-77' had done its
work quietly enough during the night;
an though everyone in camp fell
broke up an unsasy about it, no one
dared to murmur agin the Vigilantes.
After that Craig an mo concluded
we'd shift our cabin. We didn't
think it was healthy so high upon tho
hills. ic; the death rate had been too
heayey of late there. So we NOV. d
down the gulch Il ways. Once or twice
we went up to the old cabin to fetch
away things we'd left behind, an we
always noticed as Wiley's door WIS
shut. But VIC didn't think much of
it, as he had never gone about an,
more'n was necessary, or jest to see
the woman next door; an now that
she was none it seemed nat'ral as he
should shut himself up q bit. So it
may have bin two or three weeks be.
fore people began to notice his ab.
sence much; then some men who lived
on the opposite side Of The gulcl,.
said, down in a saloon one day, as he
hadn't seen any smoke from Wilc:'s
cabin since the day Of the murder.
Then the boys took to watchin', an
next day a gang went up to SOC what
was up. Tho door was locked, an
when it WAS broken in, the cabin was
empty an showed no sign Of having
bin lived in for weeks.
l went up to my old cabin while
they were in thsr' maybe dozen Of
them. So I went in too. His blank
cts were gone an his rife. Half a
side OF bacon was lynn on the table
an q knife by il, as il he had cut of
q piece the last thing to take with
him. A sack half full Of beans was
layin' on it's side in the middle OF the
floor, As il he had helped himself to
those, too, an the place was Uttered
with coffee.
But there was another thing there,
which just made every ono of us feel
sick when we saw it,an' it broke ur
our Vigilance committee. 1t was
packet of letters, all postmarked
Iowa. and written by Mrs. Halring-
ton (she called herself Harrison in the
letters, but we knew the writing to
Wiley before they came to Gulch City.
But the horrible, skcery thing about
'cn was, that they were not addressed
to him us Wiley, but as "AIr II. John
son" Some notes of his, too, in tho
cabin were also signed "R. j." and
"Robcrt Johnson" Poor Sid!
Inquiries were made to the town in
Iowa, and after three OF four months
we got news that Il man called John
son, answering to Wilcy's description,
had been wanted ther' by the police
for year and more, for some big
robberies which he was supposed to
have committed, with the help OF q
woman called Harrison. The mur-
derea woman had evidently known
Wiley for years by the name OF John
son; and the question was, WHICH
JOHNSON DID SHE MEAN?