The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1893-07-09
ARACTER!
THE MAN VINO HAD SAND.
Remarkable Enough TO 10 Fiction. hut
True Story Nevertheless.

Truo Story Nevetthcicss.
y Tho under sheriff and his visitor sat in tn
shade Of . colonnaded piazza round the stut
GOOD pillars OF which twined trumpet creeper
and passion vines and gorgeous convolvuluse!
An unfriRhtened hummng bird whirred fror
flower TO flower busy sprlte in emeral
green with rubies blazing at his little throa,
Behind the two mon loling back In their an
tauated chairs and tanning themselves, yawn
cd tho cool. cavernous entry Of the county jail
In the perpetual twilight at the end Of the ston,
tunnel, between the first and second doors o
iron grating. leaned and looked out q favored
prisoner. the only turnkey. who from his dim II
coign OF vantage gazed, with tho comfortable
Indifference Of an animal Eliminating tobacco
ht the quiet village street outside. Nobody
came or went up down tho long arcade oil
trees. Across the road. in the little ofllce o!
the County Clerk. could be seen through the
open windows four or i've searchers patiently
plodding through the great volumes Of the
county records
On the tiny hamlet In which stand the Jail
and the oflce OF the County Clerk. the sun
shine snote down unpityinGly. 1t was about
noon. and the silence OF n Mexican siesta pre-
vailed In what might have been one OF the
villages OF Jalapa or Chihuahua All that you
could hear was the dreamy crow OF drowsy
eamecock. the clank OF dish now and then
In the kitchen OF the Jail. and the ceaseless
drone OF the bees as they foraged In the beds
Of verbenes and pansies and Reraniums un-
dulatinR in q sea Of blossoms all round the
austere prison that looked to be at least fifty
years older than Its actual age.
It was very hot. with merciless tropical
heat Gusts Of wind. no cooler for having
been blown from seaward, stirred up eddies OF
gray dust that went scudding up the silent
street It was not easy to breathe. and the
short, stout under sheriff had his breast bared
to whatever breeze might be blowing.
Yes" said tho under sheriff. as he wiped
his face. 1.-THE court did adjourn rather
quick. but Ave ong-timers was sent away
quiet and comfortable. Lcmme sse-there was
STn s ssS f Th 1t si #
to kill himself when he found he'd give him
cell away for about 7, dollars worth saysto
you got thrown down SO easy2' He let on
that he was hopping mad at my words they
tiSerf I ant no oId-timer S"''' says.
tion pulling-to Of your cell door at lock upl' I
says That made him look silly. You see
eS steaap w shG
We'll. Sheriff.. no says. don't crowd me too
White The they boys b al ha n' ws grs s dad
Say. il plead guilty It oushtn't 70 be G more
s mna fGape as s ySuns se eS9 in
e9uldn't have struck a, harder county than
Riehmond not II you had tried.'I says. You
that amt oystermen. why they're farmers
why it's like being between the devil and the
w Sn n he says. could do couple stand.
ing on my head. Sheriff. Any more would he |
supor that You eoudn't have wruns. no. oo Tot
with pair OF pinchers,
.n I'LL; Sheriff he sq ,; you never saw
the real stun. and he was dressed like reg.
lar swell that would hate to be found with
s% damned Wing hxs mea shs
spR says oasht e tie
no more than petty larceny; anyhow, he saws
,o M TIE IL two
and then he says; Well, Sheriff. whatever You
he a nons u Wh s and
mo,n 1Ie the beegar was that light hearted"
wasn't Is et 81 y! sSs; sort 0l sn'D
sms the u %s sheriff with
Miller Why. out West they would have have
he was turned in here, dropped to him for hav-
ing been here once before. 1 didn't say any
sn snHSs S1s hsPs rRsn us bstrs
the court sat says to him Going to plead
Xious conviction p says. '"' WIZ
s Ne isaf as In ss
A! Hight Se esis says.
YOU'RE mistaken. Sheriff. he says. as cool
Do you rememb Der the two fellows that tried
20 dig out ten years ago. says.
~ certainly remem Der reading about it. he
smithy and Whitaker p I says giving him
the wrong names on purpose.
=. No! he says. you're dead wrong. Sheriff.
Il was so-and-so and so-and-so.' giving me
You've I'VE get t pretty straigh. for man tina.
was thr mere at the fme says I'D
That was my cousin he says. Nobody
gould ever tell us apart. not even my mother
he say =, o and that was the nearest he would
having done bit at Trenton for lifting korse e
and wagons and harness, When we were going
different, places where he'd pinched wagons
Aad trucks. In front OF one place on the l,owery
man that he'd stole from, NeryeP, When we we
f R W Psss
tme %S IL Wonder n
getting b9ugsyY,, exclaimed the Visitor
You see. said the under sheriff commas
Dionately. the poor devils that get long bits
Why they're an9st sure to get soft" and he
whsn they Dc go soft. why. they cali them bug
aSt did Hd. Mo. ga sss TIL, ,ss tine
he good fellow gave deep drawn sigh. J
How ABOUT McIlvaney the chap that got l
.hot BY Officer King after he'd areda the on
,er. when he was Interrupted by him in robbinp
he Post Office down at StapletonY' {
The genial visage OF the under sheriff fairly
There's a fellow" he cried with enthusi- I
ISM, that has got sand. II you likci I've Q
handled q good many nervy crooks in NV u
line: but that McIlvsney is the king pin Of {
en- al Tor grit. You couldn't get that man to I
'Queal: no. not II you were to burn him with | t
.ed-hot irons and rub him with ,yltriol alter:
ooked when they turned him in here He was t
5rSSnght over in Irons from the hospital in I
IN bulance, the Captain and another otilcer a
icing with him to keep him company. When 0
SoTsd b t. e e., stone dead His face was drawn
losed. put my hand on his heart and IL IVES |