Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1886-04-17

= What should a man know of his pardner?"
ais this all you have to say ?r asked the I
Judge, impatiently feeling, perhaps, that
dangerous sympathy Of humor was begin !
ming to bumanize the court
"Thats So" continued Tennessee'S part !
ner. alt amt for me 10 say anything agtu | {
him. And now, what's the caseY Here's ,
Tennessee wants money, wants it bad, and
does MT like To ask IL of his old pardner.
Well, what does Tennessee do? lie lays for
a stranger, and he ietches that stranger.
And you lays for him, and you fetches hlm |
and the honors is easy And put II tn you, |
ben' a far-mnded man, and to you, gentle
men, all, as far-minded men, ct this is nj
so."
"Prisoner," said the Judge, interrupting
shave You any questions to ask this man 90
"No! nor' continued Tennessee's part
ner, hastily al play this Yer hand alone.
To come down 10 the bedrock, it's lust this
Tennessee, thar, has played it pretty rough
and expensive-like on a stranger, and on
this Yer camp. And now, what's the fair
thing? Some would say more some would
say less. Here's seventeen hundred dollars
in coarse gold and a watch, its about all my
pile,-and call it square" And before
hand could be raised to prevent him, he had
emptied the contents of the carpet-nag upon
the table.
For moment his life was in jeopardy. |
One or two men .sprang to their feet, several
| hands groped for hidden weapons, ana
| suggestion to "throw him from the window
| was only overridden by gesture from the
| Judge. Tennessee laughed. And apparently |
| oblivious of the excitement Tennessee's |
| partner improved the opportunity to mop |
| his face again with his handkerchief.
| When order was restored, and the man |
was made to understand, by the uSe Of for |
clble figures and rhetoric, that Tennesspe's |
| otlense could not be coudoned by money,
his face took more serious and sauguinary
| hue, and those who were nearest to him
| noticed that his rough hand trembled slightly
| on the table. He hesitated a moment as be
| slowly returned the gold to the carpet bag.
L aS hn hln moi vat ntNti h.4
| elevated sense Of justice which swayed the
| tribunal, and was perpleNed with the belief
| that he had not offered enough. Then he
| turned To the Judge, and saving, "This Yer
| is a lone hand, played alone, and without my
| pardner,' he bowed to the Jury and Was
about to withdraw, when the judge called
| him back "lf you have anything to say to
Tennessee, you had better say it now" For
| the first time that evening the eyes of the
| prisoner and his strange advocate met. Ten
neesee smiled, showed his white teeth, and.
| saying, "Euchred, old man." held ont his
| hand. Tennessee's partner took it in his
| own, and saying, "I Just dropped in as
was passin' to how things was eettu
on let the hand passIvely tall, and adding
: that cit was warm night again mopPed
, | his face with his handkerchief, and without
: another word withdrew.
D The two men never again met each ot her
!. | alive. For the unparalleled insult of "A bribe
o offered to Judge Lynch-who, whether big.
: | oted, weak, or narrow, was at least iuCOr.
n ruptible-iirmly fixed in the mind ot that
s mythical parsonage any wavering determi
= | nation of Tennessee's fate and at the break
@ | of day he was marched, closely guarded, 10
Il | meet ii at the top of Markley's Hill.
How he met it, how cool he was, how he
+ refused to say anything, how perfect were
$ the arrangements oi the committee, were all
o | duly reported, with the addition of a warn.
8 ing moral example to all future evil doers
: in the Red Dog C3nJ'iOH, by its editor, who
9 | was present, and to whose vigorous English
I l cheeriuily refer the reader. But the
4 | beauty of that midsummer morning. the
g blessed amity of earth and air and sky, the
r | awakened lite OF the free woods aud hills
: the joyous renewal and promise of nature
Q and above all, the infinite serenity thai
: | thrilled through each, and not reported, as
: not being part OF the social lesson. And
| yet when the weak and foolish deed was
!, done, and lite, with its possibilities aud re-
Q sponsibilties, had passed out of the mis-,
I shapen thing that dangled between earth
0 and sky, the birds sang, the flowers boomed
r the sun shone, rs cheerily as before; and
r possibly the Red Dog CLARION was right
Tennessee's partner was not in the group
that surrounded the ominous tree. But A.
. they turned to disperse attention was drawn
! | to the singular appearance of a mntionlesS
| donkey-cart halted at tho side of the road.
As they approached, they at once recognized
; the venerable "Jenny' and the two-wheeed
] cart as the property of Tonnessee's partner,
e ] used by him in carrying dirt from his
4 claim and few PAGES distant the owner OF
? the equipage himself sitting under a buck.
| glowing face. In answer to an inquiry. he
said he had come for the body OF The "ds-
| eased ~ /" If 1t was all the same to the COM
! | mittee." He did MT wish to " hurry any
l | thing; he could "wait" lie was not work
, | ing that day : and when the gentlemen were
& done with the diseased" he would take
him. "Efihar IL any present." he added, in
. | his simple, serious way, "aS wOnld care to
) iine In the fun'l, they kin come" Perhaps
= | 1t was from sense of humor, which have
: already intimated was a feature OF Sandy
!, Bar,-perhaps it was from something even
better than that but two-thrds ut the
Q | loungers accepted the invitation at once
3 1t was noon when the body of Tennes se @
!. was delivered into tue hands Of his partner
! As the cart drew up to the fatal tree We
T. | noticed that II contained a rough, Oblong
| boS,-apparenty made from section of
. sluicing,-and nalf filled with bark and the
!. | tassels OF pine. The cart was further deco
! rated with slips OF willow, and made fragrant
with buckeye-hossoms When the body
3 | WAS deposited in the box Tennessee's part
y ner drew over II piece OF tan red canvas, an Il
y | gravely mounting the narrow seat in front
I with his feet upon the shatls, urged the little
: donkey forward. The equipaga moved
slowly on, at that decOrous pace which was
hapitual with Jenny even under less
y | solemn circumstances. The men-haIf curl
ously, hail lestingly, but all good -humOredly
b -stroiled along beside the cart; some in
advance, some little in the rear of the
: homely catatalque But whether from the
l narrowing OF the road or some present sen SO
|
$ pany tell To the rear in couples, Keeping
Q step, and Otherwise assuming the external
show OF a formal procession. Jack Folins-
bee, who had at the outset played a funeral
l. march IN dumb show upon an Imaginary
o | trombone, desisted, from a lack OF sympathy
ana appreclauon,-uot having, PERHAPS
| your true humorists capacity to be content
! | with the enjoyment OF his own fun
o The way led through Grizzly canou,-hy
| thls time clothed in funeral drapcry and
= shadows The redwoOds, burying their IN oc-
casoned feet in the red soil, stood in Indian
: | hle along the track, trailing an unCOuth
o DenedictiOn from their bending hougbs upon
= the passing bier. \ hare, surprised into
helpless inactivity, sat upright and pulSaiinp
In the ferns by the roadside as the Coyfegp
! | went 10y. Squirrels FASTENED TO gain "A se-
I cure outlook from higher bOughs; and the
8 blue-Jays, spreading their wings, nuttered
before them like OutTiders, until the ont.
skirts OF Sandy Bar were reached, and the
solitary cabin OF Tennessee's partner.
viewed under more favorable ciTcum-
! stances, II would not have been a cheerful
i place The unplcturesque Site the rude and
unloVely outlines the unsavUry details
9 which distinguish the nest-building of the
Z Californla miner, were all here with the
dreariness OF decay superadded. A few
, | PAGES from tho cabin there was a rough en-
closure, which, in the brief days of Tennes-
sees partners matrimonial felicity, had
been used as a garden, but was now over.
| grown with fern. As we approached il we
; were surprised to find that what we had
taken Tor a recent attempt at cultivation WAS
Nj hon