Evening star., 1897-01-09

they should shoot him with that kind of
gun-it-just breaks-my heart" and she
leaned her head upon the bar and wept bit
terly.
Presently she lifted her head. dried her
eyes and continued:
''Why, Bob wouldn't NV killed coyote
he killed Jesse James, the braves man al
ever lived, an the deadest shot, he dun 1t
with As, an eff he'd a come down to clear
out the Chronicle, which he woulden', he'd
shooter. an he'd a-had you all jumpin' thu
the winders an scootin' fur tn wiliers
fore yer could wv raised ham
WELL" said l. glancing toward the rear
of the room, to make sure he was still
there, "Bobs all right. He's good fel-
low-now."
hal known Ford. He was the first man
to whom 1 was introduced upon my first
visit to the camp. He had peeu our guide,
and had shown Judge Rocker and ne the
camp ny candie-light. 1t was upon this oc-
casion that l noticed his nervousness Ii d
man came in and left the door open. Ford
would slip back and shut IT. If ere was
d mirror ever the bar, he always kept his
eyes on 1t, not to see himself, but to OBJ
serve those who passed to and fro behind
him.
Aid of Mirror.
In pleasant way, 1 asked him if ne was
expecting some ore. He answered, smiling
sadly, that he was always expecting some
one. He had saved his life once in Kansas
City by looking into a mirror. A friend of
the man he had murdered entered the
room, saw Ford's face in the mirror, and
instantly reached for his gun. Ford, lift
ing his glass, saw the man, and the me-
ment their eyes met the man weakened and
passed on. My friend, the judge, from force
VI habit, l presume, began to question Ford
about the killing of Jesse James, and the
fellow told US that he had been led to be-
lleve that If he killed James, whose friend
and messenger he had been he would be
the greatest man in Missouri. That meant
great deal to this boy of twenty-five, foT
outside of Missouri there was little worth
striving for. And then, to justify his cow
ardly act. he related that it had been pIan-
ned by James that bank should be roDted
shortly, and Ford had been told that he
was to enter the bank with James, who
would quietly shoot him, as he had begun
to mistrust the KID" All this Ford pre-
tended to believe. He was confident ;hat
he would have been murdered in d li;le
while If he had not put bullet through
JeSse's back while he was hanging 4 pic
ture.
Kelly, the tough citizen" who removed
Ford, seemed, strangely enough, to regard
The killing of this man much as Ford had
looked upon the killing of Jesse James.
Ford was an open enemy of society, ana
only month before his death had closed
all the business houses and put the camp
to bed at 9 pm. The morning paper had
suggested that Ford be informed that he
would be expected in the future, to re-
frain from shutting up the town, leave the
for that he swore he would kill off the
working force from the editor-in-chief
down to 'Freckled Jimmie" the devil.
Cowardly Act.
However, Kelly was wrong. He was con-
demned even by Ford's enemies for his
cowardly act, just as the public had dis
approved of the murder of Jesse James.
All agreed that the removal of Jesse would
facilitate the movement OF trains in Mis-
souri,, and that Fords absence would add
much to the peace and quiet of Creede
camp, but no man admires a coward. So
Kelly was arrested and later, when he ran
up against Judge now Representative
Bells equity mill, he was surprised to re-
ceive life sentence in the pen.
On the morning of the day following the
killing half hundred people assembled
in store room, where religious services
were held. They brought Ford's coffin and
placed it upon bench, and then the
preacher got up and preached funeral
sermon. He was not very enthusiastic, l
thought but he had tough client and a
hard case. He took for his text, if he could
be said to have taken anything, the line
which Ford had written upon the white
paper, Charity covereth a multitude of
SINS and made the most of it,
When he had finished an express wagon
backed up to the door, they put the dead
idn III, anu the Wafon wound away up
the trail to level SPOT above the town,
where the unwept and unfortunate girl had
been buried the day Ford died, where fii
about were new-made graves, where Joe
Simmons and 'Slanting Annie" slept side
by side.
The autumn winds blow bleak and chill.
The signing. quivering aspen waves
Above the summit of the hill,
Above the unrec Jrded .aves
Where halt, abandoned burros feed
And coyotes call-and this is Creede.
CY WARMAN.