, 1888-10-02

work. The rainy season had set in, and a
sky heavy with clouds hung over the val
ley A strong wind came down from the
mountains, driving before 1t a drenching
rain The night was black. and a half dozen
lanterns carried by the mob did but little
toward dispelling the gloom about them.
In the eastern outskirts Ct the town
stood a tall eucalyptus tree. and toward
this they dragged their helpless victim.
They were soon there and the rope thrown
over a limb.
Jack had stood the ordeal without n
murmur. lie looked defiance at the
crowd around him, and when the sheriff
asked in a thick voice if he had anything
to say before the moose was placed about
his neck he replied firmly, Nothing"
String i'm up, then, boys" yelled the
sheriff, lets git rid of i'm nB soon rs we
can; it's too id wet and cold to be
foolin' around here.
The moose was quickly adjusted about
Jacks neck. around him was a living
circle and at the other end of the rope
stood a dozen sturdy men, anxiously wait
ing for the sheriff to give the signal to
settle back on it. He was but a single
step from eternity, The half dozen Ian
terms luttered and gasped in the rain and
surrounded the victim with n weird.
CHASTITY halo. When l count three.
boys" said the sheriff, pull back on
i'm" and Immediately he cried one"
and then two, - his voice had Just begun
to swell into the three" and the men at
the end of the rope with tightening
muscles had just begun to brace them.
selves for q 'long pull and a strong pull"
when there was the chatter of galloping
feet and the rush of a black lady through
the lines into the middle of the circle.
Before the half paralyzed mob could re-
cover its senses the sheriff's daughter
had cut the ropes that encircled her
lovers neck and bound his hands. She
shouted to him to mount the horse in
front of her. lie was up in an instant.
and before the men sent sprawling in the
mud by the horse had recovered their
senses Jack and the sheriff's daughter
were rafting away through the darkness
with the speed Of the wind toward the
mountains. Several shots were sent into
the darkness after them. but they went
wide of the mark.
From that night to the day her remains
were discovered Zarifa Martinique was
never seen by the inhabitants of the San
Joaquin valley, nor could the retreat of
her lover, who became a notorious out
law, be discovered. Three fingered Jack.
as Raymond came to be known in after
years, became the terror of the San Joa-
quin valley. and no less han seven of the
men who had attempted to lynch him
were sent to their graves by bullets from
his rifle. Eight years ago he was capt
ured in n desperate saloon fight in Red
Cliff and hanged for his crimes. Before
his execution he sent for Jose Martinique,
and in an interview told him that his
daughter had lived with him five years,
then died, and that he had buried her re-
mains in the mountains near his retreat,
where nobody could find and disturb them.
On the gallows he cursed Martinique
roundly, and charged him with being the
cause of his turning his hand against the
law and the people.
Jose Martinique became demented and
roamed among the mountains, continually
searching for the grave of his child. His
body was found one morning at the
bottom of Sulphur Gulch, where he had
died of exposure and exhaustion.-Chi-
cago Herald.