The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1888-12-29

he had hit upon. 1t was revealed to
me at midnight that very night. had
a bell on my door, and at that hour 1t
was vigorously pulled. In case of my
being wanted at the Office the messen-
ger was instructed to ring in a certain
manner. As this was not his ring I
waited for few minutes, when the
bell tangled more vigorously than be-
fore. slipped on my pants and went
down and opened the slide In the door:
Mcknight stood there, and when l
asked what was wanted he replied:
"Really, old fellow, l am sorry to
have troubled you, but l came to ask
your advice. l was handed very
queer letter after left you, and want
you to read it and tell me how to act.
I'll go up stairs with you."
told him that one of our men was
occupying the room with me that night,
and advised him to see me at the Office
next morning. He had planned to get
to my room and pounce upon me, but l
snuffed the game. He did not show up
again. He may have believed that l
suspected him, and was determined to
keep out of my way until he appeared
to strike the fatal blow. Next door to
me, on the downtown side, was va
cant lot. One day, week after last
seeing Mcknight, several dry goods
boxes were brought to this lot and
piled up in such way as to form
good hiding place next to my door. /
scented an idea as l investigated, and
that night, when within square of the
place, met couple of young fellows
and offered them a quarter to go and
displace the boxes, explaining that q
vagrant had taken up his quarters
there. They went with whoop, and
man rushed out of hiding and ran off.
1t was Mcknight.
The next day / was sent out of the
city and was gone two weeks. had
not been back two hours when dis
covered that boy was logging me
about. He was no doubt in the pay of
Mcknight, who would now be ready
for some other move. had no sooner
reached my room than made the dis
covery that the window bars had been
tempered with, two having been
wrenched out and all loosened so that's
little work would remove them. That
night asked friend to stay with me.
While l sent him to the room before
dark made my usual rounds and did
not turn in until eleven. If Mcknight
was looking for me he saw me. We
turned out the gas, placed our revolvers
at hand, and sat down near the window
to wait. At one o'clock Mcknight
climbed shed from the alley, entered
the insurance Office by back window,
passed through two rooms, and APP
peared at the window opposite mine.
When he had raised the sash he pushed
plank across the five feet of space,
and rested the end on my window
ledge. 1t was summer evening. and
my sash was up, but so quietly did the
man work that the lightest sleeper
would have heard no sound. He waited
and listened, and then came across. We
moved to the right and left, and he
could not see us as he put his face to
the bars. He must have been certain
that was asleep, for he began work,
and soon had an opening by which he
could enter.
Mcknight had come to kill me, but
did not thirst for his life. As he bent
to enter the window l fired over his
head and uttered a shout He straight
ened up, lost his balance on the plank,
swung half way round, and tumbled to
the ground. 1t was only from the Sec
ond story, and had he alighted on his
feet he might not have been hurt. But
he turned over and struck head first,
and never knew what hurt him. his
neck being broken by the collision.
When he was dead he was identified as
a New Orleans crook named Red Pete,
and when he wrote me the letter he
was in Joliet prison. His only weapon
was aknife, but one thrust of that would
have settled me forever.-N Y. Sun.
THE RACE FOR WEALTH.
Why Good Men and Women should Re-
fuse to Participate In 1t.