Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1890-08-29
sen.ion Of beng caught so easily. forha

spTang away like startled 1eas 'or he
Bang! bang! rang the rev e1L, -
form u n. ana y; as they fired at the fleeing
sn;t M ny !nen dashed forward in pur,
n sn'' oe Their shots had apparently taken ken
aion erect e Tor the robber fled swiftlv
70 ,, * aor a ume at rate that promised
20 distance his pursuers. who e' lant
illng on him from time to time in tho
nope OF bringing him down With a 1,,17
Iee. Suddenly the robbers pace seomad
~ ~ siacken, and the miners saw tbot
tney We're beginning to gain on MIN
"A moment later the flying figure disan.
peared behind clump of mines and
then appeared again in a few seco N.Y.
o o,us lar1her down the canyon. Meyers
o oud the others in the chase,
h auu oelofe fourth of mile more had
been covered he was within twenty ,,
yards OF the fleeing highwayman.
nalt or L fire!" Numbered Movers.
AZ ~ 'na !, instant the fugitive slipped and
Tell. Before he could regain Ills foot.
ing Meyers was standing over him With
a revolver at his head. AVA
.Ss9rrender!" he sterniy said.
II have got tot" replied the other.
but for Gods sake, Meyers, why did
you not let me escaped"
Meyers started at the sound Of tho
others voice, and as he turned his face
toward him, Meyers released the hold
winch he had taken on the others col.
lar and, staggering back, exclaimed in
husky voice: "Good Heavens, Char
iey =, never thought of it being you?"
Inc other men now came up, seized
Baker, bound him securely, and de-.
prlved him of his weapons. Old Tom
never said word; he was too
much overcome by this unexpected
discovery Tor speech. for he had formed
strong attachment for this quiet
young fellow. He was left in CHARGE Of
one OF the men while the others re-
turned to the man they had left living
IN the canyon. When they arrived
there one OF the miners knelt beside
the PROSTATE man to see if he could dis
cover any signs of life.
Its Nate Brooks, fellers," he said:
and he's stone-dead - shot plumb
through the hearth
It'll be apt to 60 hard with Charley.
then, said Old Tom, gloon1ily. "But
we must tixup something to get Brooks
body to camp on"
10 this the others agreed, and a rude
litter was soon constructed. out OF pine
boughs, on which the form of the muir
dered man was laid, and then the
march to camp was begun.
In little while they came up with
Charley and the miner who was guard
ing him, and they compelled him to
walk along beside the litter to camp.
They took the body and their pris-
oner directly to "The Bowl" where the
whole population of the, camp assem-
bled every evening to drink bad
whisky and swap yarns. When the
body of Brooks was exposed to the
gaze of the miners they were for hang
ing Baker at once, but cooler counsels
prevailed, and it was decided to give
him trial then and there, and if con-
victed he should suffer the penalty of
the crime at once.
A count was taken and all the men,
bers of the camp We're found to be pres
ent except Ran Saunders. His bar
keeper said Ran had taken his rifle and
gone out hunting and might not be
back before the next day, so it was de-
cided to proceed without him.
A Judge was chosen, half dozen
jurymen We're selected from among the
miners, and the Court was ready for
business. The miners who had cap
tured Charley told their story, and then
the Judge asked the prisoner if he had
to say in his own defense.
Nothing at all, men," he replied; 81
am guilty, and 1 suppose l deserve
punishment for my crime. Listen and
l will tell you how ithappened.. Brooks
and Saunders were coming along the
canyon toward camp together when l
held them up, or rather tried to-. had
q cloth over my face. so / had no fears
OF their recognizing me. I called to
them to throw up their hands; Brooks
did SO, but Saunders reached for
weapon. I had revolver in each hand
and / fired them both. Brooks fell
without aAgroan, while Saunders uttered
a cry of pain anG fled. / suppose, as
he has not returned. you will find him
somewhere along the canyon. I al
ways liked Ran, and I tell you this so
you can go and rescue him. After he
fled I ran forward to where Brooks lay,
and the miners, discovering me, gave
pursuit. The rest you all know, and I
am ready for my fate"
In a moment the jury announced that
Baker was guilty of numbering Brooks,
and the Judge, calling up all the So
lemnity he could command, sentenced
him to be hung as soon as the prepare
tons could be made, and that meant in
a very few minutes.
ooh. Charley" said old Tom Meyers,
the young man; I'm
mortal sorry yer done this. What
made yer do it, Charley? Ivow yer
had no need to-"
Don't ask me, Tom! I can't tell
you now! Perhaps some day you'll
know all about it, You have always
been good friend to me, Tom, and I
thank you for it.
Tom shook the young fellows hand
warmly and then turned and walked
away, while a couple of big tears
plowed their way down his rugged
features. 1t was evident that he