The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1896-05-23
An At TEhIP'1ED SUICIDE.

Bill Burt rested his horse a moment
1 at the crest of q foothill oyerlo oking
Sta keville. There was vet a glow on
/ The top of the ragged peaks which was
more than q hundred miles from the
sangre de Cristo range, but the twi-
light igh & had faded in the valley and the
clustered lights Of StakeYille glosyed
fheerily in the distance. fl
Bill Burt looked long and earnestly
In the direction Of Stakeville. Dis
mounting he leaned against the
gnarled stump Of a pine and slowly
filled a blackened briar pipe.
There is StakeYille, and it looks
good for a man who has seen nothing
but COW punchers and greasers for six
MONTHS said Bill, as he impa tiently
kicked a loose stone and sent it Ia ttlblg
down the slope. That brightest light
there is Tom Carney's joint Bet that
Tom is back of the bar right this Mn
ute. Can almost smell that hot Scotch.
Six months? That's long time with
cut a drink. Bet I'm drunk before
5midnig hit. y .S M
For half an hour Burt pulled away
silently at the black pipe. Ills eyes
were fixed on StakeVille, whose lights
cleaned brighter in the gathering dark
hess, but his mind was on the past. In
memory he reviewed the last ten years
of his life. Thirty-tWo years old did
not rest lightly on. Bill Burt. True,
the Well-built shoulders and powerful
limbs showed no signs of life's desper-
ate battle, but the black curly hair,
which fell in abundance from beneath
the faded SombrerO, was fecked with
gray and the tanned face was that of a
man well advanced in the forties At
twenty-five, elected by a big majority
to responsible legal Office in popu-
lous Eastern city; at tWenty-f0ur a
member Of the legislature and one of
the acknowledged leaders of the house;
at twenty-five a drunkard and 6. self
constituted outcast from the scenes Of
his early triumphs. ,Ayear later Burt
was on the frontier, and Tor six years
led wild and desperate life Ms Il cow
boy, prospectOr, ranger, guide ana for
several months as faro dealer. These
six years had been spent III a losing
struggle against whisky Once in reach
of liquor, Burt was drunk. Suddenly
he would disappear, and for months
would be. buried on the plains or in
the. mountains. Here he was safe.
When there was no whisky to be had
Bill Burt had no desire for it; but the
return to camp or a town meant a pro-
tracted debauch. .
, s'Six months is a long time" reflected
Bill as he placed his foot in the stirrup
and headed his pony toward Statewide
''Mebbe I've gotten over it. Eli take a
chance anyhow. But you can bet I'm
not going to stay away from any sa-
looms or other places Of entertainment
on that account. A man who can't
stand off liquor when he is stacked up
against it might as we'll quit. If I find
want drink I'm going to take it. II
i don't want it there is no sucker in
Statewide can force it down me-
Bill Burt found that he wanted a
drink, and that he wanted several Of
them. Long before midnight he was
drunk, and an hour later celebrated his
return to civilization by ''winging" a
man and incidentally by demolishing
part of the back bar of Tom Carney's
cafe, At the end Of a week the savings
Of six months hard work had been
squandered. Bill aWoke one morning
fevered, penniless and desperate.
''There is nothing in this kind of a
Life for me-, said Burt as he surveyed
a swollen face and red eyes in the
fragment of glass which decorated
his room in a lodging house. Fl might
as we'll end it now as any time"
He picked up his gun and examined
it carefully. Standing in front Of the
glass, he placed the muzzles against his
forehead He held it there moment,
lost in thought, and then placed it
back in his belt ES
That's no way for a man to. de-
said Bill Burt "A man is a coward
to kill himself, especially when he is a
big husky brute like me. How can I
fix it? I have it." and Burt smiled
grimly. Il remember last night that
some one said Big Jake was in town.
Jake is a bully good shot. Guess can
fix it to have Jake shoot me. 1t would
be water on his wheel, and let me out
of a bad job SS 5@
Big Jake was in town, and Statewide
was on it's good behavior, so far as he
was concerned. No one knew how
many men Big Jake had killed, but
&