The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1895-07-04
QUICK TRIGGER LAW.

for time the terminus Of the railroad,
and the toughest kind Of a frontier town.
Strangers came and went, or came and
left their bones behind. One had the right
TO come and go at will. One had the right
60 kill or stand up and be killed. If man
drank at the bar and paid for it, or he lost
at cards and settled the score, he was
looked upon as o. Z. If he gave his name,
he was called by it; If not, he was referred
to in some other way. If he shot man,
he was expected to treat the crowd. If he
was the victim of bullet, he was expect
ed to die promptly and remain quiet in
his shallow grave. There was but one law,
and that was the gun. In one saloon 1t
was the custom to shoot man in the
back, in another to kill him as he drank
with you at the bar, in q third to stand in
the front door and fire. Customs varied,
but the law was always the same-shoot
your man before he shoots you.
One day, coming from no one knew OF
cared where, there appeared man of 80
who attracted immediate attention. He
was quiet spoken, mild hammered and
drank sparingly. He did not tarry long in
one place. Twice day and at 10 O'Clock
at night he made the rounds of the town,
and men soon came to remark that he was
looking for some one. He gave no name,
and pretty soon they spoke of him as the
Shadow By and by, when it was real
lied that he meant to stay right there I'M
til his victim came along the name was
heightened to the death Shadow" One
day, when three or four men in the Eagle
saloon were speaking of the stranger, the
bartender brought his fist down on tbs
boards and exclaimed:
''He's waiting for some one to turn up
here, and when the right party appears
there'u be shooting match. I tell you
he's man as has bin wronged, and he kin
never feel right while the other man hvesp'
Days and days went by, but the Shadow
waited and betrayed no impatience. Most
men sized him up for what he was and let
him alone, but there were two or three
who declared he was tenderfoot and
would go down in his boots at sight of a
gun on line with his eye. Railroad Jack
took it upon himself to test the Shadow,
and the result was a bullet through his
head and grave on the hillside. There
were no more tests. Only one man had
been killed, and that was no record, but
the mans grimness and quietness and
persistency made other men afraid of
him. When it was generally believed that
he was waiting to kill some one who was
expected to turn up in the town sooner or
later, everybody hoped the other man
would be game, and that there would be
q
the public square.
Days grew to weeks and the sixth week
of his stay had almost gone when the
Death Shadow entered the Pawnee saloon
one night at 10 o'clock. An hour before
his coming a stranger had entered, and
after q drink and a smoke had fallen
asleep with his chair tilted against the
wall. There were other men asleep, others
playing cards, men at the bar or walking
oh No hod IN fo
particular stranger When the Death Shad-
ow entered, hush fell upon the place. II
had been thus for many nights His ad.
vent seemed to bring death nearer to ev
cry one present. He did not look around
him as was his won't His man was there,
and he seemed to know it before he en-
tered. He sat down before the stranger
who s1ept-sat down and leaned his elbow
on the table and looked into the sleeper's
face. The crowd gathered at the bar be.
hind him, but there was no blinking OF
glasses, no talking aloud. Now and then
one man whispered to another, but the
hush of death was over all That was tbs
! man. He had come at last. Now he
would kill or be killed.
It was a long ten minutes before the
sleeper awoke and saw the Death Shadow
before him. Those who watched say they
saw look of mortal terror in his eyes as
he realized the situation. His lips grew
1ivid and then pale, and as the paleness
covered his face it changed to the palIor OF
death For two or three minutes he did
not move a finger. Then he gasped and
opened his lips, and after many efforts the
words came forth:
"You-you herel"
eyes, am herel" was the quiet reply.
The stranger trembled in every limb,
| but of a sudden he sprang up, pulled his
revolver and fred full at the face of the
man before him. The bullet was aimed
too high and was buried in the wall.
There was but one shot. When that had
been fired, the stranger let his pistol fall
to the floor and sat down and covered his
face with his hands. The Death Shadow
had not moved when fired at. He uttered
| no word until the men behind him were
wondering if he had fallen asleep. By and
! by he quietly arose and said
eyes, I am here. I have been waiting
! for you. Gomez
| ''You will give me a chance?'' walled
| the stranger as he stood up.
| Bring it alongP' said the Death Shad-
| ow as he pointed to the pistol and passed
| out.
The other waited a moment and then
| followed, carrying the weapon in his hand.
| Down the road toward the gully walked
| the Death Shadow through the gloom of
| the night-in his footsteps walked the
| stranger with the pale lace NO one 1ol-
| lowed them. The men left the saloon for
| the middle of the street and stood, with
heads inclined, to listen. The footsteps
grew fainter and fainter and finally died
away in the distance. There was no sound
of voices-no exclamation of triumph-no
call for mercy. By and by two pistol shots
rang out The listeners held their breaths
and waited, but that was all. They whis-
pered to each other that the Death Shadow
had given the other man fair show, and
they wondered which one had fallen. When
daylight came they hurried down the gull
1y. The stranger lay there dead and cold,
shot through the heart, but the other was
not to be found, dead or alive. He had ac-
| compIished his mission and departed.=