Waterbury evening Democrat., 1893-07-05

first looked sneeringly at the ten cents,
but had shown some small sign of pity
upon hearing tho ominous cough of the
attenuated vagrant He set forth .
bottle and glass
sHelp yerself." said p. Gibbs. While
Blake was doing so, Mr.. Gibbs went on:
bad cough o. yourn- Y mightnt
guess It, but that same cough runs in
my family. It took of brother, but it
skipped r.e."
Here was q bond of sympathy be-
tween the big law-defying saloonkeep-
err and the frail 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 n corner of the saloon
that night He left there the next
morning, . curious expression of reso-
luton on his face.
During the next three weeks he WINS
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 a good business,
the door opened and in staggered
Busted" Blake His staggering on
| this occasion was manifestly not due to
| drink. His face had the hideous con-
cavities of q starved man and the I'M
certainty of his gait was the token of n
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 strangery" cried one.
THE coffin stranger, You mean, said
another.
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 n 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 meanT' he asked.
THAT woman's name there! It's the
| name of my widow; the address, too,
j 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 it comes
| about Pick out man to take 1t to
her, let him pay his expenses out of it
| "a man you can trust-and make him
tell her I made 1t somehow, mining or
something, so she'll take it You
/ know"
P. Gibbs, who had listened with in
| creasing amazement, 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," shrieked Busted"
Blake, turning toward the crowd of in
tensely interested on-loolSers- 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 sncaking hound that in
formed. My widows entitled to his
five thousand dollars. l did it in To-
peka, and for proof see this newspa-
perl"
| P. Gibbs fred shot from his revol.
l yer through the newspaper that Blake
pulled from beneath his shirt Then
the saloou-kecper brought his weapon
on a level with Blake's face.
| It's good your boots is onr' said P.
Gibbs, ironically.
But he did not fire. Blake stood
perfectly still. awaiting the shot, and
feebly laughing.
So the two remained for some mo-
ments, until Blake suddenly sank &c
the floor, quite exhausted. He died
within q 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
Il At the next dawn q man whom they
called Big Andy started east; and the
piece of paper that Blake had handed tc
P. Gibbs was not all that no 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.
II And Big Andy found the widow O.
Busted" Blake, to whom he told a bit Of
} fiction, In accounting for the legacy
conveyed by him to her, that woulG
1 have imposed upon the most in creduloul
lcgatee. When she had recovered from
the surprise of finding herself and heI
/ child provided with the means of sur
viving the possible loss of her situation
she forgave the late Busted" and therS
! was q how of tears unusual to 4 board
} ing house psrlor and unnerving to Big
Andy.
Presently she asked Andy whether h,
J knew what her husbands last words
, had been
Yep" said Andy, 81 heard m plail
J and clear. Pete Gibbs, the other ex
l ecutor of the viii, you know-Pete says
It's all right, partner; me an Andy
will see to it, and then your HUSBAND
S says: Thank Gawd, I've bcen som
4 good to her an the child, at last"
. Which account was entirely correct
When Big Andy had returned to Get
3 there City and related how he had per
5 formed his mission, he added:
I'D been such q lovely liar all through
. it's 9 shame had to go an spoil tn
. story by putin in some truth at tn
: finish"