The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1893-07-07

could be none other thnn 4. GfDoB, had
first looked sneering1y at the ten cents,
but had shown some small sign Of pity
upon hearing the ominous cough Of the
attenuated vagrant He set forth
bottle and glass.
Help yerself." said p. Gibbs. While
Blake was doing so, Mr.. Gibbs went on:
bad cough o. yourn. Y mightn't
guess IL, but that same cough runs in
my family. 1t took OFF brother, but It
skipped we."
Hero was bond Of sympathy be-
tween the big law-defying saloonkeep-
er and the fral topper from the east.
Busted" Blake drained his glass and
presently coughed again. P. Gibbs
again set forth the bottle and this time
he drank with Blake. Before long, by
dint Of repeated fits of coughing, on the
part of Blake, the sympathy Of p. Gibbs
was so worked upon that he invited tho
three miners in the saloon to join him
and the stranger.
Blake slept in corner Of the saloon
that night He left there the next
morning, a curious expression of rcso-
luton on his face.
During the next three weeks he was
now and then alluded to in p. Gibbs
saloon as the coughing stranger"
In the middle of the third week, at
nine o'clock in the evening, when the
lamps in p. Gibbs saloon were exert
ing their smallest degree of dimness,
and the bar was doing good business,
the door opened and in staggered
Busted" Blake. His staggering on
this occasion was manifhstly not due to
drink. His face had the hidcous con-
cavities OF q starved man and the un-
certainty of his gait was the token Of a
mortal feebleness. His emaciation was
painful to behold. His eyes glowed like
huge gems.
The crowd Of miners looked at him
with surprise as he entered.
''The coughing stranger" cried one
"The coffin stranger, you mean," said
smother.
"Busted" Blake lurched over TO the
bar. His eyes met those of P. Gibbs on
the other side, and the latter reached
for whisky bottle.
Blake fumbled in his pocket and
brought forth piece Of soiled paper.
which he laid on the bar under the
glance Of p. Gibbs.
Keep that!" said Blake, in husky
voice, whose service he compelled with
much effort "And keep your word, too.
That's where you'll find her."
p. Gibbs picked up the paper.
what do you mean?" he asked.
'"That womnn's name there! It's thu
name of my widow; the address, too,
Of photograph man who will tell you
where she is. Get the money to her
quick, before the governor comes down
on you with the troops to close you up.
And don't let her know how 1t comes
about. Pick out q man to take it to
her, let him pay his expenses out of it
"a man you can trust-and make him
tell her made it somehow, mining or
something, so she'll take it. Yor
know"
creasing amazeDent, opened wide his
eyes and drew his revolver. He spoke
in strangely low, repressed voice:
Stranger, do you mean to say"
YES, that's it." shrielsed Busted"
Blake, turning toward the crowd Of in
tensely interested on-lookers, "And /
call on all Of you here to witness, and
to hold him to his word. That's no
mere bluff, he says, in his notice there,
and I'm the sneaking hound that in
formed. Ny widows entitled to his
five thousand dollars. I did it in To.
peka, and for proof see this newspa-
,er!"
P. Gibbs fred shot from his revol-
yer through the newspaper that Blake
pulled from beneath his shirt Then
the saloon-keeper brought his weapon
on level with Blake's face-
ITS good your boots is our said P.
Gibbs, IRONICALLY
But he did hot fre Blake stood
perfectly still. swsitinR the shot, and
feebly laughing. "o'7H-.
So the two remained for some mo-
ments, until Blake suddenly sank to
the floor, >quite exhausted He died
within half-hour, on the saloon floor,
his head resting in the palm OF P.
Gibbs, who knelt By his side and tried
TO revive HIM. F" u n'' ,'h1 - ..H
At the next dawn man whom they
called Big Andy started east; and the
piece Of paper that Blake had handed to
p. Gibbs was not all that he took with
him. The United States marshal ar
rived and duly closed Gibbs saloon.
which reopened very shortly afterward.
minus the FIVE thousand dollar offer.
And Big Andy found the widow OF
Busted" Blake, TO whom he told bit OF
fiction, in accounting for the legacy
conveyed by him to her, that would
have imposed upon the most incredulous
legatee. When she had recovered from
the surprise Of finding herself and her
child provided with the means of sur
viving the possible loss of her situation,
she forgave the late Busted" (" and there
was q flow of tears unusual TO board
ing house parlor and unnerving to Big
Andy.
Presently she asked Andy whether he
knew what her husbands last words
had been.
Yep" said Andy, II heard IN plain
and clear. Pete Gibbs, the other ex-
! 4 I, I'll l.. noAo