Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1885-11-24
A DEADwooD INCIDENT


IN Dsadwood. 10 the heart of winter.
when the snow buric. the miners Ia the
cabins. % the ~iad and ice slAy them on
The road. ell that j. bes, and all that j.
worst IN these isolated men comes 20 the
surface.
Bil Rag,dale. dssperado. gambler,
crack shot. the most unscrlpuloas claim.
Jumper in the digsins'. found himself.
much 10 hi, Own surprise, converted by
force u cifcumstances into a nurse. Tie
had shoi several men, and been fired q, ~
odd times himself. and through al main.
,aiaed a fcclinx of comparative IN liasr.
ence Therefore 20 watch. and work,
anl hope for The lie q man 10 whom
he had 10, spoken more than dozen
times. was enough 10 surprise Blll Rags
dale. o. nybody Who knew him. The
even, bad come Abou, Ia ,hi, way
Oae night when the darkness had
nearly worn iiself threAdbAre. and the
gray Of the morning was peeping through,
Bil. ADD dozen Of hi, companions,
were seized with desire 10 wiad up
their NOISY eArol,Al with dance.
In the corner. sleeping, with her heal
oa a bench. Wa woman whose occa.
patton IL was % Assis, the bArkeepct IN
miai,ieling 70 the bibaloa' desires Of the
miners. and 10 play the hurty. gurdy
when these frrociou, bacchAnal. wished
20 timber their joints With their clumsy
dance
One Of the men went up 20 the woman
and kicked her roughly with his boot.
"See here. Col Molly. give Us tune
out Of ,ha, oli masic.boS Of yours h.
cried.
l.iquor and fatigue made the wreiehed
creature inscnslble. even 20 this ruieness.
Seeing that she did not move, the man
gave her an impa,ien, shake. then ,wi,,.
ed hi, hand IN her hair, and by i lifted
her % her feet. The mea laughed very
uproarioasly a. she screamed and struck
out wildly at her pcf,ecaior, bat Bll. in
whom some latent spark Of chiyalfy
seemed suddenly awakened, .prans 70
her assistance with an oath and a men.
ace. Every man ia the crowd naturally
considered this interference an infringe
men, upon bis established liberties, and
the indomi,Able 1911 was surrounded by
bis late companions. Who had suddenly
converted themselves inio execu,ioners,
each determined 10 defend hi. code Of
lAwlessness.
A dozen revo. ere. in the hands Of as
many blear-eyed. british men. were
aimed more OF less uns,eAdily al Rags.
dale, Who eaugh, his breath, made a
moyemen, toward. his belt, found his
revolver missing, and threw up his hand.
with an instructive gesture pro,es, OF
hslplessne.-when the door burst sud.
denly open, and man bounded 10. A.
be did 30 a bullet carried OF his high Eel,
hat, two more buried themselves in the
woodwork Of the door. and the res, whis-
tied pas, him into the outer 1ir.
A second later, the man who had
struck the woman dropped dead on the
floor. Then the smoke rose and showed
Bill in possession Of the dead mans re-
yolver.
1--WE 20, the drop on ye," said Bill
covering the nearest two with bis reyol-
yer. "Pa, up yer guns, an take Big
Jim out o here"
Then he grasped the strangers hArd
which .,ill held the smoking revolver.
"Say. stranger. put it thar" he said
81 don't know who you be, but there's
nu,hin' ye can't have II ye want II. Let
10. Nell, an gii up" he said roughly ,C
the woman. who still eroaehed on the
sawdus, floor. elutohing bis leg
Several Of the men had carried Big
Jim into a back room. which the bar.
keeper grumblingly prepared for them,
The newcomer picked up hi. perforated
bat,
III don't know who was in the right,
he said. II only saw an unarmed mar
defending woman against dozen armed
men. WAS dirsc,ly In the line Of iheil
FIRE, and don't krow tina, helped yOU
any more than helped myself"
The young stranger settled down tC
the diggings. and from ,ha, day out h'
and Bill were friends. They saw buI
little Of each other, for "lIoston," a. Bill
had chris,ened the newcomer. seldom
entered Rsg.dale's haun,s, but nov ant
then the burly gambler took occasion Il
give his proiege a warning word. wher
be saw the young man was likely to b
bitten BY prOspecior more experienced
than he. Gradually there sprang up be
tween them . sort Of rough comrsdeshiP
which existed without much demonstra
ton, and which, perhaps, they botl
would have been little ashamed to oon