St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-09-01

Treadles quite readily complied. Then
said Smith, never changing the position
Of his gun:
''Yo9 are the d--dest sneak and
cut-throat [ ever met Those people
over there" nodding his head in the di-
rection of SebastOpol, 'think you are
saint, and | rather calculate that you
have played them for all that there was
in it; if don't mistake very much you
took most of their money last night and
finished up the job this afternoon, and
about couple of miles or so beyond
here you was calculatin' to meet one of
the country with her. l rather
think, too, that the last time
that you was down to Wynonna that
you traded off most of the boys lots
without their knowledge, and that you
have got the money for them slowed
away about you. faint none of my
business, you may say, to know all
about it. since it amt my corpse that
you are buryin', but l was allus kind
of guardian angel for poor fools, and IN
this case when | saw you ropin' in the
poor girl, | made up my mind that l
would have to interfere one of these
days, just for the good of society in gen.
eral. Now l know that you have
played the girl false, and | know that
there amt any way in which you can
be made to do what's right; if you mar.
ried her you would run away inside of
the river with her, you would
chuck her overheard just as soon
as you got tired of her. and be-
sides all that you have got a lot of
money that don't belong to you. HUI
man nature is powerful wicked some
times when the devil gets up into the
chariot and begins to crack his whip
about the legs of the man what's pull
ing the thing along. l don't believe
that you can regenerate cuSS after he
once gets into the harness of old Nick.
If the Lord don dispose of him think
it's the glorious duty of society to make
an example of him for all the little kids
that are growing up. Now, | rather
think that / represent society. in these
here parts, and that it is my duty to
give the little youngsters over there"
nOdding his head again in the direction
of SebastopOl, "a powerful example of
what tumbles down upon man when
he is sneak, thief, liar, breaker
of women'S hearts and mean
Ornary skunk on general principles.
Now, just to let you down easy, Treadles,
I'll tell you plainly that yOu have only
got five or ten minutes to live, and that
you are never going away from this
spot until the crack of doom. And may
the Lord have mercy on your soul. Take
it easy now, the boys back there are
hunting for you already: they rather
believe now what l told them. 1t is a
good deal better that | should dispose
of you than you should fall into their
hands, and you needn't worry a bit
about the girls waiting for you. Sheis
down at my cabin, crying her pretty
eyes out, and she will be safe with her
mother before you are cold. If you have
any PRAYERS to say, pray quick"
And TreadleS, cOnsumate deceiver to
the last, fell on his knees and prayed
not to the God above, but to the stern
faced man who sat opposite him. He
prayed for the sweetness of life and all
its endearing pleasures; he struck the
string of the emotions with a powerful
hand: he writhed, and mOaned, and
wept; he tore the grass madly with his
hands, and beseeched for mercy; he
called up his own past, and of his
mother. and of his sister, and of his old
home in the far East; he cited laws
with the tongue of a jurist, and painted
murder in its blacklist colOrs he swore
solemn oaths of reformation; he prom
iSed all that the widest Imagination
could think of; the face of his
judge did not change: the gun
barrel did not waiver hairs
breadth from its original line.
Smith might have been made of stone
for all the sign he gave of hearing or
needing the trembling wretch at his
feet. When all had been said that could
be said; when Treadles had disgorged
the money that he had so wrOngfully
retained; when he had confessed crime
after crime that he had never been sns-
pected of; when he had damned his
own soul in his frantic efforts to gain
some respite, the form of the tall 'front.'
tierSman rose and turned as if to leave
the spot. A great wave of light swept
over the face of TreadleS. Smiths back
was turned towards him, he leaped to
where one of his pistols lay, and caught
it with a savage clutch, and as he did
so and half drew up to accomplish his
purpose. Smith half turned back and
shot him dead.
Then he went away, not to his own
c. bin, but back to the narrow trail that
ran by the great river, and down to
long -fOrgOtt0n SebaStCpol. The distance
he had gone was not so great when he
came upon party from the settlement,
and their angry voices and flushed
1dCCO COIllI Gal llob lloNt ScllOs
At sight of him, they came forward, and
forgetting his past counsel, began, one
and all. to denounce the missing
Treadles. Smith listened without a
single reproach as to their previous
opinion of him. When they had finished
and had urged him to join them in the
search, he laughed, and softly patted
the barrel of his gun. 1T amt
no use boys, Treadles is gone for good"
And what roar of rage went up when
they heard that; but Smith continued,
looking back towards the forest where
the squirrels and the Oriole were fitting
and the partridge drumming withi.a
heavy, lazy sound. "He's over there
asleep, and he won't wake never more.
[ was waiting for him when he came
along, and he concluded to stay there.
I've got your money. The girl is at my
shack. Let's go home" II. l. C.