The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1897-03-26


old man as his eyes became accus.
toned to the dim light in the cabin; ''et
| it hain't so, fer fact"
And then the others crowded up to
| look in, and see what Uncle Bill had
seen; the body of the woman on the
| floor, near the rear of the room, with
her throat cut, and the body Of Willie
Pray near the door, lying in pool of
blood, which had evidently flowed from
a wound in his side.
Don't crowd that thar door, men,
want ter see," said the old man, as he
caught hold of Pray's hand. 'That
gals gone, but this here boy seems ter
be kinder warm yit. Give a hand, a
couple o. yo'uns, an let's see wat a
leetle fresh air'll do"
They took him up gently and bore
him to grassy place in the shade of
some trees. Here they laid him tender
ly down upon a bed of blankets, and
after moistening the lips with liquor,
they began examining the wound.
They had just reached this stage Of
the proceedings when there was a di-
version. 1t came from the party who
had gone off to capture the Mexican.
They rode along, the unfortunate greas-
er being tied to lariat attached to the
saddle-bow of one of the men. He was
running along uttering protestations,
his face actually pale with terror.
mo sabe, senors; no entender, Senor
Caballeros."
1"Here he isl! called Jake Breen, as
the company came to a halt. We've
got the scoundrel."
And then they all crowded up to
where the wounded and apparently
dead man lay upon the blankets. As
the last party came up they approach
ed the feet of the wounded man. The
Sheriff led the Mexican up, the others
making room for them.
''Stand back, men, an let us have
air. This yer corpse seems to be re-
vivin' some;" and Uncle Bill put his
arm under Pray's shoulders to raise
them up.
And just then a strange thing hap
pened. The wounded man opened his
eyes and stared round in a daZed sort
of way. Then fixing his gaze straight
before him and raising himself up with
his arm outstretched, pointing his fin
ger toward the trembling Mexican, he
said in an almost indistinct, hesitating
whisper:
"You-you-kined-h and then he
seemed to gasp for breath, but he made
another effort and added: "Jake
Breen," and then would have dropped
from exhaustion If the strong arm of
Uncle Bill had not been at hand to ease
him gently down.
When the name was mentioned it as
tonished the men as much as if they
had heard thunder from a clear sky.
The ones on the outer edge of the circle
had not heard the name at all, but had
seen the action, and supposed that Pray
was pointing to the Mexican and not
to the burly figure of Breen, which
loomed up behind that unhappy indi-
vidual. They, therefore, naturally
crowded up closer, and their scowling
faces boded no good for the descendant
of the Aztecs.
Those who were close enough to hear
the whisper were so astonished for a
moment that they could not grasp the
situation. There were two men who
did, however, understand what it
meant, and when the one, Uncle Bill,
looked up to speak the other, Jake
Breen, had allowed himself to be
crowded out of the circle and was al
ready on his horse.
'tHe says it was Jake Breen; stop the
coyote" called Uncle Bill, and those
near to him sprang to their feet for
some of them had been down on one
knee, some on both, so as to watch the
wounded man. Those who understood
finally got out of the crowd and by
their repeating, 'He says it's Jake
Breen," got the others to understand.
But those few moments of delay
were enough. When Breen saw the
finger pointed toward him he knew too
well what it meant. He had supposed
the supposed corpse the eyes were open
and the lips moved to speak. He had
had too much experience In Judge
Lynch's court to await further develop
ments. He permitted the other anxious
spectators to crowd him out, and he
quietly and quickly got into the saddle
of the lawyers horse, which was not
only the nearest to him, but the best
one in the lot. 1t was near the corner
of the hut that he mounted, and when
the others realized the situation he was
already started on his way to the south
ward.
1t took only a few moments to have
a dozen riders following on the trail,
headed by the lawyer on Jake Breen's
horse.
"Say, you 'unsw called Uncle Bill, to
those who had not yet started, "'tain't
no use fer us to jine in thet thar chase
One had better ride down to Uvalde an
tell the folks, an one had better go to
Clark for doctor from the post an an
ambulance. The rest can stay here till
mornin' an hear from the other fellers.
Thet sun amt half a hour high, an
wen she drops yer know hit ends the
chase unless they're mighty clost on ter
him, ez thar amt no MOON"
What the old man meant was that
there could be no chase after sunset.
There is no twilight in Texas, and when
the sun sets one passes directly from
daylight to dark. One might make his
way by starlight, but he couldn't follow
a trail in the shadows.
The sun rose next morning in clear
sky and soon afterward the pursuing
party were up to the ranch.
did you get yer boss, squire" in
quired Uncle Bill.
eyes,"
Wizard you find him?"