The Lafayette gazette. [volume] (Lafayette, La.) 1893-1921, 1894-09-08

paved street lined with aceQuids, now
dry, but containing a few Lombardy
poplars whose pivotal leaves were too ,
languid to dutter. go still WA the
night air. There were no lights In the
streets, and in the most of houses they
had been extinKuished as soon as the ::
firing began; the few that remained
shone through windows opened to ad-
init the cir Ind fell in Rectangular
patches on the bare adobe footpath be-
tween the buildings and the ncequsa.
These desultory illuminations made
though, from the splendid starlight,
summer nights in Arizona are never
really SO.
We were guided to the Harmony by
the tramp of feet and the sound OF
voices at the lower end of the street,
and as we walked toward IL and en-
teredsthe darlkened space which sue
ceeded the illumination from solitary
window, we stumbled over what, on ex-
amina ton, proved to be the body of a
man, lying where he had stumbled
over the edge of tho uceguid in crossing
the street. We turned him over, and
Davis, on examination, found that he
wat dead. being shot through the base
of the neck. We left him lying where
we found him and hurried on to the
Harmony, which, together with the
portion of the street directly In front
of it. must, when we got there, have
contained every inhabitant of the viii
lage, even to the last Cinnamon and
dog.
Davis forced his way through the
outer crowd that jammed the entrance
to the door; those recognizing his per.
son tried to fall back and admit him.
followed Davis. and finally found my
self inside the Harmony-a bar, gam
bling house and consert hall COM
bined, and consisting of a single,
large, rectangular adobe room, dimly
lighted by few dirty bracket reflector
lamps, whose sicl<ly flames seemed
sinking for want of oxygen in the OPP.
pressive alcoholic air. The furnished
reflectors were set level SO that the
| limiting shadows from the base of the
| lamps almost covered the floor, 1eav-
| ing the lower angles of the room in
| feeble, uncertain half-light.
Lying quietly on a faro table was a
| gambler, shot through the lungs. The
| blood velled profusely from bullet
! increasing pool, which was now over
| spreading the "lay out" like a last
| moclking, sanguinary wager, offered
| ironically by one who had already 40
| copied the terms of death.
TO the left stood a rancher, leaning
against the bar, holding with his right
| hand his left forearm, which was bad
| ly shattered below the wrist
| In the dimly-lighted corner most re
| mote from the door, seated on a piano
stool, was a young girl, sobbing VIC
lently, as if in pain or in great grief
IN her despair, she had thrown herself
forward on to the piano and buried
her fair but dissipated face in a mass
of brown hair, drawn from mud,
shoulders it had served to drape, ant
now confined only by her white, barr
arms, which rested on the white. bar
keys. Her physical abandonment was
as utter as her moral hopelessnes
seemed complete.
After stanching the he,norrhage o
the man shot through the lungs, Davi
turned his attention to the girl Lay
ing his hand gently on her bare shout
der, which was trembling accompanies
ment to her violent, intermittent sobs
Davis asked her where she was hurt
She sobbed in reply that she did no