The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1897-08-21

were conycrSln' about, Dut Iolts was
tnIlSin' as sensible as any man could
when suddenly his eyes opened wide,
and sort o. scared expression came
on his face and he lifted his hand and
pointed 10 the sky.
"'Look at the shipsl' he says. Look
at the pretty ships sailin' in the sky!
Don't yo' see 'em? Ships! Shipsl
II looked where he pointed and
couldn't see even yaller hammer or
bluejay.
~ don't see no ships says.
Don't see emit says Potts. why
dune We. whar's yer eyes? Can't yo'
see 'em? Why thar's thousands and
thousands OF emf
"He stood looking at the sky Tor
awhile, and then he got sane again and
went right along with what we were
sayin. You bet l cut the conversation
short and got away from there. ain's
got no use for crazy people
"But the old man was crazy enough
this mornin', he continued. As | said,
he's had one Of his girls liyin' with him
and last night he tried to give her 4
whaling, and she ran away and came
down TO where the boys were workin
nj the Point. The old man came down
this mornin' loolSin' for the girl and
him and the boys had fight. The girl
skipped out while they was scrappin',
aud then the old man chased her two or
three miles with an AK, tryin' TO ketch
her. But he didn't ketch her, and when
he came back he was just ravin
maniac. lie passed by the shop, going
down river, and he was the widest
loollin' mortal you ever see. He had the
AK in his hand yet, and he was swingin'
I IL and tall<in' and yellin' to the sky,
and | reckon he'd have killed anybody
that got in his way. ! know I'd "a shot
him If he'd "a came at me; and George,
my boy, he was about scared plumb %
death / tell you, that's why he pulled
out so early, / reckon. | shouldn't be
surprised il some OF his half-breed boys
laws him cold one Of these days; for II
they don't he'll surely kill some OF
them. He"
The narrative was cut short by the
sudden appearance OF man. lie
scrambled up from the trail that led
from the river, and ran out TO the mid
die OF the platform IN front OF the shop.
The horses, peacefully engaged in pick
ling up the few remaining straws of
their morning feed" scented him, and
then saw him, and snorted. No won
der, for the man was strengthening
being.
A tall man, Observation-Disclosures and well
made. On his head, a woman's ragged
straw hat, beneath which long black
hair hung down TO his shoulders. \
rough shirt, villainously dirty, partly
covered the upper portion of his body
partly, / say, because it was torn open
at his throat, showing his hairy breast
and had no sleeves, which left his long
sun-burned, muscular arms bare. From
his waist down he was covered by n
pair OF old pants which came only tc
lis ankles, and his feet were shoeless
In his right hand he held an AK, and OF
his gaunt, grizzlcd, haggard face, In
which burned two fierce hollow eyes
were the shadow Of insanity.
For a moment he stood still, his grea
chest rising and falling with the tide
|
Then his fierce eyes, wandering an'
ever restless, caught sight OF the TIVE
men under the shed Of the old shop, ant
were at once fixed upon them with Al
intensity not pleasant. For yet an
other moment he stood thus, and then
/, with quick, catlike steps, he starte'
towards them.
a | q ~ M 90
b pale and attempted TO rise, but wa
B.. pulled down to huddled heap. The
e Clark's hand went to his back poke
, and pulled out an old Colts revolver
{ lie had drawn his knees up close 20 hi
{ chin, and now he laid the barrel of hi
pistol upon his knees, the muzzle o
a IL pointing downhill towards the slow
r ly-advancing lunatic.
a with his finger resting lightly upo
< the trigger; with his thin lips parte
! so they showed the tobacco-staine
a teeth, between which his pipestem wa
y held so tightly that IL was crushe
e fiat; with his gray eyes filed with th1
cold, steely light that tells Of an NJ
q swerving. Implying determination
h Clark waited.
Behind the man upon which the gu
Ii was trained the great canyon OF Yub
n ,ay-a strange, impressive backgroun
y for the tragedy the man at the plul
q box felt was about 70 take place.
i But there was no tragedy. When I'll
> man came within n few yards OF hi
q Clark calle1 out:
J don't come any nearer. Potts, {
I'll shoot"
IS Potts stopped, looked az Clar
+ ateadily for moment, then whirl,
n md went down the trail on the oth'
side Of the platform the trail that i
10 towards the Chinnmen's camp up II
n river. As re disappeared down the sie'
T. bank Clark let down the hammer of h
gun and said:
e How'd you like Mr.. Potts?"
L. Then he became aware OF the fact III
h. no had ruined HIS pipcStcm and wit