Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1898-10-18
The Shadow Of The Grsenback
By ROBERT BARR
rcopyrish.. 1888, by the Au,hor.l

L
| from the man ON the barrel. He laugh
cd long. bot no one joined him, AID as
be noticed this his hilarity died down,
becoming in a measure forced and me.
ehanical. The lawyer methodically fold
cd up his papers. As some Of the jury
| glanced down at the face Of the dead
man who had originated this financial
scheme Of post mortem vengeance they
almost fancied they saw . malicious
leer about the half open eyes and lips.
An awed whisper ran around the assem-.
blage, each man said to the other under
his breath. Fifty thou sand-dol-
lars, a. IL the dwelling ON each sylla-
BILE made the total seem larger. The
same thought was in every mans mind
"a clean. cool little fortune merely for
the crooking of Q forefnger and the cor
rect leveling Of pistol barrel.
The lawyer had silently taken his de-
parture. Sam, soberer than he had been
for many days. slid down from the bar
rel, and with his hand ON the butt Of
his gun sidled, his back against the
wall, toward the door. No one raised
finger to stop him. All sat there watch
ing him "a IL they were hypnotized. He
was no longer q man In their eyes. but
the embodiment Of q sum to be earned
IN . moment for which thousands work.
ed hard all their lives and In vain to ao-
cumulate.
Sans brain on . problem was not 20
quick ~ bis finger on o trigger, bUt II
began to filter slowly into his mind that
he was now face to face with danger
against which his pistol was powerless.
Heretofore. roughly speaking, nearly
everybody had been his friend; now the
hand of the world was against him,
with most powerful motive for being
against him-a motive which he him.
self could understand. For mere frac-
tion Of $50. 900 he would kill anybody,
10 long as the deed could be done with
reasonable safety to himself. Why,
then. should any man stay his hand
against him with such reward hang
ing over his head' As Sam retreated
backward from among his former
friends they saw In his eyes what they
had never seen there before, something
that was not exactly fear, but look OF
furtive suspicion against the whole hu.
man race.
Out In the open air once again Sam
breathed more freely. He must get
away from Salt Lick and that quickly.
Once ON the prairie he could make up
his mind what the next move was to
b., He kept his revolver in his hand,
not daring to put il into its holster.
Every sound made him jump and he was
afraid to stand In the open, yet be
could not remain constantly with his
back to the wall. Poor Buller's horse.
fully sccousered. cropped the grass by
the side Of the road. To be . horse
thief was, Of course, worse than TO be
murderer, but there was no help for 1t;
without the horse escape was impossi.
BILE. He secnred the animal with but
little trouble and sprang upon its back.
As be did so q shot rang ont from the
saloon. Sam whirled around in the sad.
die, but no one was to be seen nothing
but thin film Of pistol smoke melting
in the mir above the open door. The
rider fired twice into the empty door.
way, then with q curse turned toward
the open country and galloped away,
aud Salt Lick was far behind him when
night fell. He tetbered his horse and
threw himself down on the grass, but
dared not sleep. For all be knew. his
pursuers might be within few rods OF
where he lay, for he was certain they
would be ON his trail AS soon as they
knew he had left Salt Lick. The prize
was too great for no effort to be made
to secure it,
There is IN enemy before whom the
strongest and brayest men must sue.
cumb. That enemy is sleeplessness.
When daylight found the desperate, he
had not closed an eye all night His
nerve was gone and perhaps for the first
time in his life he felt thrill Of fear
The emptiness Of the prairie, which
should have encouraged him. struck
chill of loneliness into him. and he
longed for the sight Of a man, even
though be might have to fight him
when he approached. he must have
comrade, he said to himself, IL he could
find any human being in straits rs ter
rible as his own; some one who would
keep watch and watch with him through
the night But the comrade must either
be ignorant of the weight Of money that
hung over the desperado's head or there
must be- price on his own. An inno-
cent man would not see the use OF keep
ing such strict watch. A guilty man. on
learning the circumstances Of the case,
would sell Sans life to purchase his
own freedom. Fifty thousand dollars
in the desperado's mind would do any
thing. and yet he himself Of all the co.
600, 900 people in the land was the only
one who could not earn it. A comrade,
then. innocent or guilty, was imp6ssi-
BILE, and yet was absolutely necessary II
the wanderer was to have sleep.
The horse was in distress through
lack of water, and Sam himself was
both hungry and thirsty. His next halt.
ing place must be near stream, yet
perhaps his safety during the first night
was due to the fact that his pursuers
would naturally have looked for him
near some water course and not on the
open prairie.
Ten days later Mike Davlin was
awakened at in the morning to find
standing by his bed gaunt, haggard
living skeleton, holding candle in one
hand and pointing cooked revolver at
Mikes head with the other.
"Get up" said the apparition hoarse.
ly, "aud get me something to eat and
drink-drink first-and be quick about
il. Make no noise. Is there anybody
else in the house?"
"No" said Mike, shivsring. "You
wait here, Sam, and I'll bring you
something. I thought you were among
the Indians or in Mexico, or In the Bad
Lands long ago"
"I'm in Bad Lands enough here. I'll
90 with you. I'm not going to let you
out of sight, and no tricks, mind, or you
know what will happen.
"Surely you trust me. Sam, " whined
Mike, getting up.
~ don't trust any living man. Who
fired that shot at me when was leav-
ine?'
$50 help me-" protested Mike, u
dunno wasn't in the bar at the time.
| can prove wasn't. Yer not looking