The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1892-02-17

1 Oily SSOA y SNoNIOu AAAoIGA AAOAAAAN0 As@~-
better prepare hisself fer tn worl' t. come
an tn life everlastin. Wy, boy, Phil
| Holmes ID send i'm cloud chasin an be
back hyar wavin tn red rag o. defy plumb
| in our faces b'fore tn Teller had his talk
half did. D'you want t go, my whisker-
| less young friendf"
| Tootsy pondered; be hated TO be thought
wanting in nerve, but finally wilted, and
| requested the barkeeper to give the gentle
| men what they wanted
The next day is a red letter mark in the
| history of Adamsville Several of as
were sitting on the steps in front of the
Hotel Bliss, still discussing Phil Holmes,
when the mail carrier from Woodruff
came along. Say, you feliers," he sang
| out, II s'pose We heered bout tn weddin
in high sassiety over t. Woodruff"
We hadn't, and were curious to learn
"W'y, Phil Holmes an Spanish Dick
was hitched las night, Jedge Bowker
of1ciatin."
But this was not the end of the matter
When the stage from down the gulch stop
ped at the Hotel Bliss at noon there was
another sensation of high degree. Instead
Of the usual cargo of seasoned mountain
GERS there was woman-not only that,
but the woman was of kind we had not
gazed upon for many day-a lady No
only lady, but very pretty one, and she
had child, little curly headed tot Of
four or five, with her. Will Borden, the
manager of the Lady Alice mine, was sit
ting next 20 me, and / heard him draw his
breath sharply. Then-there was nobody
belonging to the house about-he rose,
lifted his hat and advanced to assist her
with her baggage, which courtesy was ac-
cepted with a smile that made every man
Jack of US long to kneel down and worship
the newcomer.
They entered the "ofice" little in
closure just off the barroom, and we could
hear them talking although we could not
distinguish a word. Then Borden called
to me and went in. The lady was stand
ing by chair, and her face wore an anx-
ious expression, which was very near tears
Borden looked puzzled
Lawrence" he asked, do you remem-
Der any one here by the name of Phil Har-
mon? This lady IS his wife and is seek
ing him. He was here up TO nearly two
years ago, but she has not heard from him
since"
/ did remember such man, holding as
did the exalted position of postmaster. /
remembered that Phil Holmes sometimes
got letters under that name, but that was
his own affair. l looked at Borden a mo-
ment, trying to convey with my eyes if
possible the information | possessed, but
of course this effort was failure. Then
asked Mrs. Harmon to describe him, which
she did. saw fiendish, murderous light
come into Borden's eyes There were few
seconds of painful silence. Then Borden
spoke:
Madam, Lido remember him now,
butt
please tell me at once. sir. Is he
dead?" she asked quietly.
"Pm sorry to say, madam, that-he is,
faltered Borden. He died of heart fail
ure last year"
She did not cry In fact, / thought she
looked relieved, as if a great load of doubt
and sorrow had been lifted from her mind.
l excused myself and went down to the
office.
In about an hour Borden entered and
signifed that he wanted to see me in pri-
vate. We withdrew TO a corner. There
was a set expression about his eyes and
mouth had never seen before.
Lawrence" he said, Il think we both
understand this. Holmes, it is, of course?"
! nodded and he went on: ''She-that poor
girl-has just told me about it all. 1 sup
pose she actually had to tell some one, her
heart was so full. Lawrence, that scoun-
drel is the worst human fiend that ever
made a true little woman's life mis-
cradle Hanging is too good for him.
But''-and Borden's usually pleasant
voice sounded very dangerous-"that isn't
the way she'll be widowed. l said heart
failure Do you understands"
understood. We looked at each other
a moment, and then Borden went out,
mounted his horse and started for Wood
ruff.
Borden had lied about the date Of
Holmes demise, but there was few hours
later no doubt about the fact and the man.
ner of it. The gambler died that night
of heart failure, as I knew he would. Bor-
den is dead shot; Holmes, meeting him
at Woodruff, was unlucky enough to get
into a quarrel with him, and Borden was
the quicker with his gun.
Spanish Dick? She didn't care. She had
the dead mans money and there were plen-
ty to take his place in her affections"
There was "A cloudburst the next morn
ing and several bridges were carried away,
so Mrs. Harmon and her little girl staid at
Adamsville two weeks. Will Borden must
have become quite well acquainted with
her during that time. for a few weeks later
he had pressing business in the east, and
not long after that | got their wedding
cards.-R l.. Ketchum in Argonaut.