Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1891-10-01

steal our gold and you have got to leave
here at once" said Jack.
1--WE are going to leave just as we told
you. But, when you say we are murdsr-
ers, you lie!'' angrily answered Tomas,
partly turning to face his comrades to
have them verify his statement
Almost before the words had left his
lips Jack reached out his left arm and,
throwing it around Tomas's neck, drew
him backward till the Mexican's head
lay on his shoulder. As he felt the
stranglng grasp of the arm, Tomas
dropped his gun, and raising his hands,
| tried to pull the arm from his throat
His hand had hardly touched the arm
when Il long -bladed knife rose above his
face, grasped so tightly that the hand
that held it, with its taut muscles and
tense knuckles, looked almost as white as
marble. For an instant the knife hung
in the air that the fierce eyes looking
down over the upturned face of the
Mexican might pick the surest place to
drive it into the throat, drawn so tightly
backward that one could see the arteries
throbbing beneath the skin. But only
for an instant, and then, so fast that it
seemed like Il fash of light, it fell, and
entered the neck in the muscle just below
the left ear. For moment it stopped,
and then, as the Mexican's arm reached
out as if to push away the arm that held
it, the knife was pulled from left to
right. As it swept through the throat,
the arm that had held the head backward,
that the knife might have clean sweep,
was raised, and the man whose throat
had been cut stood alone. For an in
slant to those who had seen il, it seemed
like dream, and then, as in moment,
the dark, brown face grew ashen gray,
as if a painter had drawn a brush across
it. Tomas caught with both hands his
throat, and from the cash across it,
through his tightly-closed fingers, spurt-
ed jets of blood. At first slowly, as if
the hands were striving to hold within
the body the escaping life, and from the
lips came indistinguishable sounds, as if
pleading for help, while the eyes swept
the face of friend and foe imploringly.
Only for an instant, though. Then the
Jets of blood grew stronger as the
strength in the hands relaxed. The eyes
grew dim and CLASSY, and the body for
an instant tottered, as if no longer able
to stand erect. One or two steps, as if
blindly striving not to fall even in death,
and then, as the hands stretch out, grasp
ing at the air, the blood that they have
held back pours out in torrents, and
down, with the face into the dirt goes
what was once Tomas, the hunter,
Both sides are on their feet now, and,
as they stand, the Americans cover the
Mexicans with their guns.
"You had better go and go at once,
and leave your arms behind" says
Jack.
The Mexicans look at him for an in
stant, and then, with glance at the
body, they turn and start across the
desert. The Americans watch them un-
til they are out of sight.
The next day, when the pack-train,
which had been sent for, has arrived
and has been laden with the gold, it is
driven down the trail by the camp where
the body lies. 1t is still there, swollen
and black from the heat of the sun, while
the coyotes have Tapped up the blood
and eaten the face away, until where it
once was the white teeth and bones
glisten in the sunshine The mules
snort with fear as they sniff the carrion
smell in the air, and, though heavily laden
with gold, try in their fright to leave the
narrow trail.
The men pause for an instant to look
at the corpse.
"Old Tomas" one of them says; 81
always thought him pretty square and
rather liked him. Maybe, after all, they
really did intend to go home without try
ing to take the gold, as he said"
Maybe they did, said Jack; "but we
couldn't take chances on any mans
honesty with all this gold on our hands"
-[San Francisco Argonaut.