The Wilmington daily Republican., 1895-08-28
QUICK TRIGGERLAW.

w plSp W tfNn I'VE psltI9s fsNnNHf& W.
for time the terfnipus Of the railroad,
and the toughest kind Of frontier town.
Strangers came and went, or onins and
left their bones behind. One had tho right
to come and go at Will. One had tho right
to kill or stand up and be killed. II q man
drank at tho bar and paid for It, or ho lost
ut cards and settled the score, he was
looked upon as o. K II he gave his name,
he was called by 1t; II not, he was referred
to In some other way. II he shot q man,
ho was expected to treat the crowd. II he
was the victim Of bullet, he was expect.
cd to die promptly and remain quiet in
bis shallow grave. Thero was but one law,
md that was the gun. In one saloon il
was tho custom to shoot man in the
back, In another to kill him as he drank
with you at the bar, in third to stand in
the front door and fire. Customs variod,
but the law was always the samo-shoot
your man before ho shoots you.
One day, coming from no ono knew or
cared where, there appeared man of 30
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. Ho gave no name,
and pretty soon they spoke OF him as the
"Shadow." By and by, when 1t was real
lied that he meant to stay right thnre un-
til his victim came along tho name was
heightened to the Death Shadow" One
day, when three or four men In the Eagle
II, ~
bartender brought his fist down on the
boards and exclaimed;
Hes waiting for some one to turn up
hcre, and when the right party appears
there'll be q shooting match. / tell you
he's "a mnn as has bin wronged, and he kin
never feel right while the other man livesl"
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 q tonderfoot and
would go down in his boots at sight Of a
gun on line with his eye. Railroad Jack
took 1t upon himself to test tho Shadow,
and the result was q bullet through his
head and grave on the hillside. There
were no more tests. Only ono man had
been killed, and TINT was no record, but
the mans grimness and quietness and
persistenoy made other men afraid of
him. When IL was generally believed that
he wns waiting to kill some one who was
expected to turn up in the town sooner or
lator, everybody hoped the other man
would be game, and that thero would be q
duel with knives or shooting match on
tho public square.
Days grow to weeks, and the sixth week
of his stay had almost gono when the
Death Shadow entered the Pawnee saloon
ono night at 10 o'clock. An hour before
his coming stranger had entered, and
after q drink and smoke had fallen
asleep with his chair tilted against the
wall. There were other men asleep, others
playing cards, mon at the bar or walking
about. No one had reason to note this
particular stranger When the Death Shad-
ow entered, q hush fell upon the place. 1t
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 ho seemed to know 1t before he en-
tered. He sat down before the stranger
who slept-sat down and leaned his elbow
on the table and looked into the sleeper's
face. Tho crowd gathered at the bar be-
hind him, but there was no clinxing of
glnsses, no talking aloud. Now and then
ono man whispered to another, but tho
hush Of death was over all. That was the
man. He had come at last. Now he
would kill or be killed.
1t was q long ton minutes before tho
sleeper awoko and saw tho Death Shadow
before him. Those who watched say they
saw look Of mortal terror In his oyes as
ho realized tho situation. His lips grew
liyid and then pale, and as the paleness
covered his face 1t changed to the pallor of
death. For two or three minutes he did
not move finger. Then he gasped and
opened his lips and after many efforts the
words camo forth:
"You-you here"
"Yes, am herel" was tho quiet reply.
The stranger trembled in every limb,
but of a sudden he sprang up, pulled his
revolver and fired full at tho face of the
man before him. Tho bullet was aimed
too high and was buried in tho wall
There was but ono shot. When that had
boon fired, tho stranger lot his pistol fall
to the floor and sat down Gnd covered his
face with his hands. The Death Shadow
had not moved when fired at. Ho uttered
no word until the men behind him were
wondering If ho hnd fallen asleep. BY and
by he quietly arose and said:
"Yos, am here L have been waiting
for you. Comep'
"You will give mo chanceP" walled
the stranger as he stood up
"Brlng it alongl' said tho Death Shad-
ow as he pointed to The pistol and passed
out.
The other waited a moment and then
followed, carrying tho weapon in his hand.
Down the road toward tho gully walked
tho Death Shadow through the gloom Of
tho night-in his footsteps walked tho
stranger with tho pale face. No ono fol-
lowed them. Tho men left tho saloon for
tho middle of the street and stood, with
heads inclined, to listen. The footsteps
grew fainter and fainter and finally diod
away in the distance There was no sound
of voicos-no exclamation Of triumph-no
call for mercy. By and by two pistol shots
rang out. Tho listeners held thoir breaths
and waited, but that was all. They whis-
percd 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 gul-
ly. Tho stranger lay there dead and cold,
shot through the heart but tho other was
not to be found, deud or alive. He had ac-
sompllshed his mission and departed.
Pittsburg Post.
Siberian Exile Statistics.
The number of unfortuuates bnnishad m