The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-06-15

| ever, be sure that you get Dunys pure
malt and nothing else. Insist on having
| what you ask for, and accept no inferior
| imitation.
held out to him a sack OF ore. Bill smiled
after the fashion of the evil ONE but when
| he went 10 diving into the rock as big
/ change came over his face as landslide
| makes in the side Of mountain. In an
other minute we were all examining some
/ Of the finest specimens OF gOid-pearlng ore
/ that was ever found in California. There
wasn't any doubt about It. Bill Johnson
salt was merely spice for mighty fine
pudding.
Then the venom in William Us nature
showed itself in his face. but his words
We're uncommonly pleasant. That's
/ mighty fine mine yer have, he said, and
/ am mighty proud that 1 am the man
| that's put yer in the way OF slch eXtraor-
| binary luck. l knoWed L Wuz givn' yer
/ a great thing, but bizness in other places
wouldn't allow me to put IN my time on
| that, and besides / TUX a big fancy to yer,
/ ez L allus did TO smart young men, and
/ wanted yer to come out ON TOP ov the
/ heap. Bein' az I'm a partner In this we're
great luck, supposin' we do little cele-
/ bratinI Let's likker up and then have
little soshul game to commemorate the
Freeman evidently thought little wills
| ky would be a welcome change from the
| rain water he had been dabbhng IN, and
| pretty soon there was lively tOur-handed
/ game In progress punctuated with orders
| for various kinds of refreshments. But
/
/ not to say scattered. / knew that VIII
/ liam, of the tribe of Johnson, was up TO
some evil job, for he was getting the
| youngster, whose strongest beverage be-
/ fore he crossed the mountain had evil
| IDENTIFY been coffee, TO do most of the
drinking. ably assisted by the other two
4 players; but the storm outside seemed TO
i be putting up some kind of a bad job on
i us all, and pretty soon the crowd COM
/ menced to thin out, and 1 could hear the
mingled sound of profanity and splashing
1 water as the miners stepped out by token
| of which / judged that the backWater Of
| the creek was visiting US, and so l saun-
/ tered over to my bar window and fasten-
| About the time the fun over in the card
party's corner began to get hilarious, the
| water began TO creep across the floor in
| black rVulets, like mOccasins seeking
/ holes, and the last of the uneasy guests
sidled out, excepting my interested COM
| 1t was a good time Of year forstnem 10
| leave but a glance at Pizen Bits coun-
| tenance gave me to understand that 1t
wouldn't be altogether to my interest 10
make such suggestion, and, besides,
| the proprietor, who was peacefully snOo2-
| ing up in his cabin on the hillside, would
| give me an everlasting farewell II l turned
| out paying patrons. 50 1 stayed, with
one eye on the window one on the party
| and both ears out for the storm. The
rivulets on the floor had spread out, and
/ pretty soon we had good foundation
for natatorium.
Talk was getting pretty loud around the
card table. and young Freeman's face held
/ a better flush than his hand could raise.
/ But even he noticed that II seemed to
be rising time, and he remarked; Don't
want (h.c) to get my feet wet. Lesh go up
/ in the balc'ny." And BIfs mouth curled
up in the corners while they tossed the
| small table up on the larger one, and fol
| lowed after with their chairs Booze had
made them all reckless, and Bill had
| an object worth taking risks for.
The candles fickered along the walls
and the black water eddied beneath them.
| They had the table decorated with some
| large bottles, to save ordering; and, while
l sat on the edge of the bar and longed
/ for home, sweet home, the game went
| on. Bits yellow face looked more dem
on-like than ever, and the shadows Of
| the players made fantastic figures in the
dim light on the water But 1t was
| triumphant devil that was looking out of
| his eyes, and ] knew that the Twilight
mine was mighty near within his clutches
Two Of the players had dropped out on
a hand of Williams deal, and were trying
4 to look intelligent and interested, In spite
| Of the loads they were carrying. Free
mans brow looked troubled, and his face
| had kind Of whitened. WELL" said Bill
! deliberately, stacking his pile Of chips
| which had absorbed all the others, Il
| thought you wuz a man oV nerve. Sup
| posin' yer are busted? Wot's the matter
! with the Twilight I'm a gentleman, an
1 got san'-an' s'posed Their was others
wot Wuz present. Eff yer hev a good han
| thar's a mighty fine chance fer yer to
show it. 1 hev here a leetP fortshun in
/ a
! part en- the Twilight. Jest to show yer
that I m true sport an that no gent this
side of hell kin run er bluff on Bill John
son, whether he's from Cahforny or Hi
| noy, I'll put up them valyables agin yer
| interest in the Twilight. / didn't want
| to skeer anybody" he added, contempt
uously, as he saw Freeman's face grow
a little winter but / hain't bin us't ter
| doin bizness with enybody but men, an
| never had eny experience with chicken
| lievered cusses wots afeared Of the dark"
M, IN araFs Co.
1 it was almost black and his voice had the
snap of a steel trap In it, as he quietly
said: Il take the bet. And don't want
| anything but fair play, either" and he
laid a new revolver, not long from some
store in Sacramento, on the table.
Now, Bill was an expert with that weap-
| on and so his smile grew a little more
sardonic, as he hitched around till one
| of his numerous destroyers was within
| easy grasp. AS for me, l slid along the
| counter and opened my private exit some
what There are times when we wish to
| be alone And, as the window slid up
/ I heard a peculiar roar-a deep growing
above the minor rackets of the storm, that
made me wonder.
About that time Pizen Bill johnson met
| with the second of the three surprises
| to which he was treated that night He
! felt reasonably certain, being fairly So
/ Der, that he had successfully fixed the
| cards; but, somehow, that best laid plan
didn't work, and Freeman spread out four
aces and a king TO Bits three kings a
i lack and a ten. For a moment the men
sat there and glared at each other, while
1 reached for the window, and as I did
so the meaning of that growing roar
/ flashed upon me.
/ Suddenly there was a movement at the
ta.1ie ri ns sg IN 30 Ia9 c gSipw gnt end
| sounded like the ripping Of a buzz-savv.
Eyer would play Plzen Bill, would ye''-
but a mighty roar drowned the rest, and
/ felt the building twist and shake and
more than once, as / scrambled up the
/ hillside, the muddy water reached after
me and clutched me.
The next morning, while l and the pro-
| prietor Of the late Golden Oriole were
/ straying along the side of the gulch, try
/ ing to get an idea Of the damage the wa
/ ter spout had done, happened to glance
up the side Of the hill, and saw Ed ward
/ Freeman, ESQ, sitting on a pile Of rock
and calmly wringing out an exceedingly
i damp coat.
/ Guess this fool was born to be hanged -
l he observed after receiving my congrat-
| ulatiOns. II saw Bill JohnsOn's hat hang