Waterbury evening Democrat., 1895-04-04
FROM AMBUSH.
An old Quarrel Renewed That Lod to a
 Certain Death.


 An old Quarrel Renewed That Led to a
 Certain Death.
 Down hero in tho foothills of the noun tain rango is n hamlet That means a stora, blacksmith shop, Il church, a shoe maker and three or four huusCs-pCrhApG 80 residents in nll. It was founded 90 years ago For half n century people havo bean riding in from a distance nf oiSht or ten miles la make their purchases ur call for mail or visit tho blacksmith. On rainy days crowd of farmers sit about the store tO gossip, and again when the wealth CT is pleasant the men work at hOmC and the women ridn in and mako n few pur- chaS"S and visit for awhile at tho samc place. Yesterday wns n rainy day. Old men, men nf miLdl ago. hnys uf Iii and Is came t0 town. There wcrC mules to hc rrshod, boots to ho mrntlcd. tea and tn bacCo tu br purchased Now and then ono confidently inquired for mail nt the post office and was handed out lrttnr or tho weekly county paper. There were peace and good nature for half a day. Every body shook hands and made friendly in quirirs and felt at peace.
 At noon th"ro Was less jollity, lGeS j0k- ing. The bottle of Euunshinc whisSy had been handed about until two or three men worO drunk, two or thrcn moro silly and reckless, the remainder churliSh and i'll tempered. Men who had shaken hands like brothers at 8 u'cIurk in tho forenoon wcro looking aSkanco at each other at monday Not only that, but they wcro silent and misunderstanding over tho incidents and events of tho past half dozen years and gropinG for something to raise quarrel about By and hy one of tho long hairvd. angular mountainCCrS-One of a pair who had sat close beside each other f0r nm hour without spCAkinC-tiudS tho excuse sought fur and turns and makes hitter remark. It k bitterly re srntCd. Next instant both are on their feet and have knives in their hands, Be fore they can usr thCm however, other | men spring forward and separate them, and ono is led away. An old wound has been opened. honor impuSned. Some said 1t wCro better tO let them fight 1t out then and thcrc; others said reconciliation might Do effected While they wero Argu ing ono of the principals walked out to whero his mule stood dejoctsdly In ths | rain md mounted and rOd0 away. The | crowd looked after him, but no man called him n coward. What they whispered tS each other was:
 Toms gwinc home to git his gun and ! ambush Dan! Dan better not go homo to- | dayr'
 | They not only whispered 1t to each oth CT, but to Dan, who still held his wicked looking knifo in hand and used it to cut . silver from the barrel on which he sat as he replied:
 "Ycs; Tom will ambush mo on the road l We'd hev better fit 1t out right yero. | From that moment ho was a doomed man. Ilc fully realized it, and he dld not 1 bluff or blustcr or souk to conceal his true ] feelings His way was lonely one. No ] one else rodo that way To remain in town | overnight would subject him to general contempt. To rcqucst any one to ride homo with him would make him n coward | in tho eyes of all When the rest went, he must go. Tom would be waiting for him | in some roadside thicket or behind some great rock, but he must go forward just the same. He heard them talking about a reconciliation, and thcir words brought 0 smile of contempt True, a quarrel had | sometimes been patched up, but if both principals lived on 1t was sure to break out again. After the lie had been passed and knives drawn 1t was foolish to talk of peace. He must not even sanction such talk, or the boys would whisper to each other that he was afraid.
 Two o'clock, 3 o'clock, 4. It was the same leaden sky, tho samo monotonous batter of raindrups. After o'clock the men had avoided Dan. They knew what he knew-that ho was q doomed man. i When the mark of death Is placed on q living man, he must live out his hours | alone. All living mon pass him by. At o'clock half u dozen men mounted and rode away. As they did so they looked over their shoulders to sec if Dan was coming. IIe saw them do 1t and waited | foT hR after them.
 Two miles away the trail he must take branched off the main road. At that spot be halted for n moment. He had paid the storekeeper a small balance ho owed him He had gone to the blacksmith and squared accounts He had scrawled a brief missivt to his wife, telling her what to do after hIs death. Was there anything further! Was he quito ready! He had not offered his hand nor said goodby to any of the men, but that was not expected of him Yes; he was ready, and he picked up the lines and urged his mule forward. It wa: three miles from the main road to hi: home The way offered a hundred spot: for ambush. In some one of the coverts tho assassin would be lying with cooked rife to send bullet through his heart I It mattered not which one. Death would como just the same. He might dismoun and leave tho trail, but that would b. cowardico. He might turn back and reacl ! home by a long circuit but that would b' oowardice again. Nol He would go tC his death liko a man-as his father an( grandfather had done before him, ns hil wifo and children up there in tho humble cabin would wish for him to do. Life wal sweet, but
 A tongue of flame. a cloud of blue smoke, the crack of a rife nt the corner O the great black rock, and the frightened mule galloped away leaving a corpse be hind on the path-a man shot through tn, heart. No one came out to look at thu body. Some ono moved away through tn, sodden forest. but thers was no one to ruI after him, no ono to catch flceting glimpsss It was murder from ambush, they said and they said nothing more; no arrest ! no trial, no re.ribution; just a corpse il ehs path and a widow and three fathcrlcs ehlldrsn in tho cabin two miles away.
 .-.. ~, QuAr.