The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1891-04-16
useless, He would have been the last to

oflT II in such q case himself.
Suddenly attracted by the tumult ap
pearel Dolly, locking out at the worlt
from her great sun bonnet
Run away" said the Judge sharply
"this ere amt no place for little gels.
Dolly was M ohedieut little soul. anC
III an ordinary case would have obeyed
But baby as she was, something of the
significance of the scene came home tt
her: Jim standing alone amid that ring
of cruel faces.
She gazed pitifully at him.
go away. Dolly" said Big Ben
"youve nothing to do with him. He's
thief"
Dolly's eyes sought Jim's for denial
AS he met them with his own reck
less, defiant ones, a something else flashed
into them, and then and there he uttered
downright lie: Don't you believe em,
Dolly; amt nothing of the sort" And,
half involuntarily, he threw a wistful
glance at Big Ben.
Spite of his roughness Big Ben must
have had soft spot somewhere, for,
bending down to Dolly, he said gently:
There, you see, Dolly, 1 must have
been mistook. This ERE fellow, instead
CT being thief, is a wirtuous youth, an
;Lnicent angel, in fact. Now run away
So Dolly departed satisfied.
After she left silence and hesitation
fell upon the men. The little scene had
touched them. After whispered con-
sultation the judge, stepping forward,
cut the cord round Jim's wrist, saying
CURLY, Here, You young scoundrel,
we'll let you off this time. But clear
out of this; we don't want no thieves
here
Without word Jim turned on his
heel. Some men would have left the
place at once. Jim was made of differ
ent stuff. Expelled from the camp he
built himself cabin on the outskirts,
not trying to live the disgrace down, but
enduring it with the logged obstinacy
which was part of his nature. The
miners, even Big Ben, ignored him COM
pletely; for Ben, for all that instant of
softness, had certain rugged tibers Of
pride about him which led him to treat
a thief with merciless justice.
The effects of this severely letting
alone" system were not very apparent,
which was no doubt the reason of it's be-
ing carried on 50 long. If Jim had only
shown proper spirit of penitence he
would have been forgiven. But, except
that he was trife surlier, he went on
his way pretty much as before, even
Dolly being treated in public with savage
silence. But as she was not alienated
there Is reason to suppose that he mended
his manners when they were alone to-
gether. For together they still were at
times; and although muttered protests
went up from the camp on such occa-
sioEs not a man but had manliness enough
to refrain from making Dolly part of
Jim's punishment. So she and dim"
and Red Mustang had many a fine
scamper together over the prairie.
But there came time when Jim and
Red Mustang between them We're to do
a fine work-a time when sudden dam
ger doomed ont, and Jim rose to it like
the brave man that he was-when with
clenched teeth he subdued the demon
within him, and proved that on occasion
he was ready, not for all he could get,
but to give up all that he had. For a
savage ''whoop" rang out one night on
the unsuspecting camp. Men knew what
it was, and sprang to their feet with a
snarl of rage. Rifle in hand they rushed
out.
"Injin," said the judge, coolly loading
his rifle, and in the moonlight cleaned
the dusky painted figures. There was
little love lost between Injun and white
man. The 'man-and-a- brother" theory
had not been propounded on either side.
1t was war to the knife on both. "Steady!
boys, steady" said the judge, to whom
such scenes were by no means new.
Ready there? Now-at 'emr'
And sat 'em" it was. Down swung
the muskets, out flashed the shot, and
with a look that was not good to see
upon their faces the boys began their
work-butchery. The saw
ages swarmed into the camp only to be
cut down. 1t was soon over. But the In
dams had fought bravely, and, old, tried
hand as he was, an uneasy light had
leaped to the judges eye. "It was a
close shave" he muttered, wiping the
great drops of sweat from his brow as he
the fleeing band - ia close
shave. A little more, and The
pause was suggestive.
The day was already breaking when
The judge turned in home. "Hope the
little lass hasn't been scared" he
thought; and, involuntarily, a queer,
tender CLEAN passed over the weather
beaten face as he thought of his little
ass"
ODDLY" he said, opening the cabin
1oor. There was no answer. "Dollyp |
and then again little quicker, "Dolly~
Again that night the men We're aroused |
BY a cry-an awful Cry, wrung from a
strong man in pain; and when they hur-
led forward it was to find the Judge
With the fashion of his face all changed,
pointing to the empty cabin, on whosi
1oor shone the CLEAN of tomahawk.