Waterbury evening Democrat., 1895-05-09
THE DEATH SHADOW.
He Quietly Waited Until the Right Man
 Came Along.

he 0uietiy waited until the Right Man
 Came Along.
 It was no ones business who he was, not even to ask his name Ellsworth was for time the terminus of the rg,ilruad and the toughest kind of a frontier town. Strangers came and went or came and lrft their bones behind One had the right tu come and go at will. One had the right to kill or stand up and hc killed If man drank at bar and paid for it, or If he lost at cards and settled the score, he was looked upon as O. K If he gave his name. he was called by it; if not. he was rCfrTT,Sl to in some other way If he shot man. he was expected tn tr,Ht the crowd If h, was tho victim uf a bullet he Vv.lS CXI,>'tCU to die promptly and remain quiet in his shallow grave. There was but Unr law, and that was the gun In one saloon il was tho custom to shoot a man in the back; in another to kill him aS he drank with you at the bar; in a third Ia Stn:r,l in the front door and flrc. Customs varied. but the law was always the samC-sh,nt your man before he shoots you.
 Ono day, coming from no one knew or cared where, there appeared n man of 80 who attracted immediate attention. He was quiet spoken, mild hammered and drank sparingly. He did not tarry long in ono place. Twice day and at 10 o'clock at night he made the rounds of ihC 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 i! was realized that he meant to stay right there until his victim came along the name was heightened to the Death Shad Ow." One day, when thrrc or four men In tho Eaglr sal0on were speaking of the stranger, the bartender brought his fist down on the boards and exclaimed:
 Hes waiting for some one to turn up hcrr and when the right party appears thcrcll be sh"oting match! tell you hes n man as has bin wrnn:y,'l, and he kin never feel right while the other man livcS!"
 Days and days went by, but tho Shadow waited and betrayed no impaticnCc- Most men sized him mp for what Ec was and lrt him alone, but thcrc were two or tEr,v who dcclar,d Inc was n trndcrfnnt and would go down In his boots nt sight of a gun on line with his eye Railroad Jack took it upon himself to test tho Shadow, and tho result was n bullet through his head and a grave on the hillside Thcrc were no more tests. Only one man had been killed. and that was no record, but the mans gT'imncss and quictncSs and per sistcnCy made other men afraid of him When it was generally believed that he was waiting Ia kill some ono who was cX- pectcd to turn up in the town sooner or later, cvCryl,uly hoped the other man would bc game and that there would hr n duel with knives or a shooting match on the public squar
 Days grew tO wr'k>, and the sixth week of his stay had almost gon" when the Death Shadow entered the Pawncr saloon Il. T. E. his coming q stranger had Cntcrri, and after drink and smoke had fallen asleep with his chair tilted against tho wall. There wCyr other men asleep, uth- CTS playing cards, men at the bar pr walk ing about. No ono had raSOn to note this particular stranger. When the D,1th Shadow cntCr,d, n hush fell upon tn" place. It had been thus fur many nights His advent seemed to bring death nCarrr to every one present. He did not l"nk around him aS was his wont. His man was thcrC, and he seemed To know it hc. forc he entered He sat down hrfnr,' the stranger wh" slcpt-sat down and leaned his elbow on tho tahl" and lrnk,Ntl into the slecpcr'S face Tho crowd gathered at the bar behind him. hpt there was n 'clinking of glasses. no talking aloud Now and then one man whi~ir~rd tn another, hut the hush of death waS over all That was thI man H,, Lad Gu:nG at l2<t \,w he would l-ill or hc killed
 It was q long ten minutes before the sleeper awokc and saw the death shadow sitting before him. Those who watched said they saw look of mortal terror in his eyeS as ho realized the situation. His lips grew livid and then pale, and as the palcncss covered his facO it changcd to the pallor of death For two or thrcc minutes | ylG N l.. n and opened his lips, and after many efforts the words camo forth:
 "You-you hcre!"
 "Yes, am hcro!" was tho quiet rcply.
 The stranger tremblcd in every limb, but of a sudden he sprang up, pulled his revolvar and fircd full at the face of the man befOro him. The bullet was aimed too high and was buried in the wall. ThCrU was but one shot When that had been fired, tho stranger let his pistol fall to the floor and sat down and covered his fac0 with his hands. Tho death shadow had not moved whom fired at He uttered no word until the men behind him were won dering If ho had fallen asleep. By and by he quietly rose and said:
 "Yos, I am here havo been waiting for you. Como!'
 "You-you will givo mo chanco!' walled the stranger aS he stood mp.
 Bring it along" said tho death shadow as he pointed to the pistol and passed out. The other waited moment and then followed, carrying the weapon in his hand, Down tho ruad toward the gully walked tho death shadow through the gloom Oi night-in his footsteps walked tho stranger with the pale face. No ono followed them. 1 Tho men loft the saloon for the middle of the street and stood with hoads inclined to listen. Tho footsteps grow fainter and fainter and finally died away in tho dis tance. There was no sound of voiccs-nC l exclamation of triumph-no call for mercy. By and by two ri>;nl shots rang out. The listeners held Ihuir brcaths and waited, but that waI all They whisIcAd tO each l othSr that tho death shadow had given the othor man a fair show. and they wondered which ono had tl.!cn. When daylight l came they hurried down tho gully. The | stranger lay there dead and cold, shot ! through the heart, but tho other was moi to be found, dead or alive. He had accom- 2 pllshed his mission and departed. | NJ. QUAD.