The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-12-17

1
$500 to a man who called at the shaft
this afternoon to see me about buying
it. He represents a syndicate that is
buying up all this gulch. Wei go the
day after tomorrow" and he shook
her off with an impatient gesture and
retired
The heartbroken wife sat in her chair
and rested her elbows on the table, her
hands over her face. 1t was an agon-
! izing hour for her; it was a new ex-
| perience. She had conceived the pur
pose of her husband. The converse
| ton in the dark with the stranger. her
husbands determination not to go
| away until the day followng-it was
all too apparent. Her husband had as
sumed another nature-he would COM
NIT robbery. But upon whom was her
husband designing? Where was the
rich sluice box he would rob? How
could she prevent 1t. To follow her
guard and possibly defer the robbery
to an uncertain date. She must warn
the owners of that rich sluice box, but
how?
In the hours of restful slumber ma
ture rebelled. Ranking in the true
heart was a foreign element which
stirred all the manly, noble spirit which
had for lifetime abided within, and
nature arose in Indignation to crush the
wicked intruder
mo, no, I shall not do it. I need
| money, but Mac and Harry must not
be the victims of our plot Pete; L won't
do it, This came from the lips of the
man who lay asleep in the bed near
where the young wife sat.
She stepped to the side of the bed
and placed warm, fervent kiss on the
| lips which had just uttered the words
| which proved the superior nature of
the man she loved, This declaration
H., t., Pon re
she wanted. for she knew Harry and
| Mac. Then it occurred to her that
! after all maybe he would regret his ac-
| ton and in the morning hasten to tell
| his companion of the night before that
he had changed his mind. 1t was then
| far from her purpose to tell her hus-
! band that she was aware of his ex-
pressed scheme. She would leave the
gulch with her husband and never re-
| call the incident. But she erred in her
| calculations. In the morning at break
| fast. her husband repeated the story
| about the agent of the syndicate who
| wanted to buy the claim. All that day
| John moved about in apparent misery.
| He was restless, nervous and impatient.
| He was cross and answered his wife
| in tart monosyllables But she knew
ALL and within herself she forgave him.
| She would prevent the robbery.
| At dusk John left. saying that he
|
| and would be back at 10. AS soon as
he was out of sight the little wife took
| off her skirts. put on a pair of her
| husbands overalls and an old canvas
| coat, shouldered the shotgun and has
| tened to the claim worked by Harry
| and Mac.
When John and the stranger ap-
preached the shaft they noticed a figure
walking up and down the length of the
| sluice boxes They admitted that they
We're outdone. They dared not attempt
the job in the face of such disadVant.
ages Their only course lay back or
| them-the return trail
Say that is only a kid, I'll bet. and
we can scare him away" said Pete.
who was bent on robbery now that so
much progress had been made towards
the elimination of their plans HI
| there. partner!" he called to the little
sentry, chow far is it to Silver Bow
| This by way of a sounder.
| No response, and Pete called out
! repetition; still no answer. Neither
man carried a gun and both thought
the Waterman was armed: in fact, they
saw the outline of something on the
shoulder of the silent sentry. Pete
y~ntured a few steps nearer the NINE
and John followed. They were now
| close enough to distinguish the figure.
and they agreed that it was only
| boy.
The sentry walked toward the men
| and came up within rs feet of them
and turned about and started to retrace
setps. when. quick as flash, Pete
| picked up a rock and threw it al the
| figure There was a stifled cry of pam
| and the guard fell in a heap. In an in
| slant Pete was at the side Of the I'M
| sconscious form, and the first thing ne
! did was to take the shotgun and hand
it to John. Then he bent over the
| form and turned the face upward.
It's boy, and he's not hurt much,
said Pete. Lets gag him so that he
can't make fuss when he comes to-
| Give us your handkerchief, john
John held the gun in one hand and
with the other drew from his pocket
red bandana. do you know who the
kid is?" asked John. who stepped clos
er to the figure. He looked straight
into the face. 1t was not such very
dark night Even darkness is kind to
some people and this was the bright
est night John ever saw in al! his 81
years; he looked closely: his eyes
pierced the shadow of the distance be-
tween them and the face of the fragile
| and limp form. He stepped back FEW
| feet, raised the gun and fired both bar
rels into the heart of the man who in
| his moments of desperation tempted
| him to commit crime, crime Whlch
his own wife had nearly lost her life
in the effort to prevent.
John and his dutiful wife left the
gulch, but not until Harry and Mac
| had heard the truth regarding the
dead man found near the rich sluice
| boxes.
Every cent of the cleanup was pre-
scented to Johns wife. They returned
| to their Missouri home and the only re-
minder Of their stay in Montana is a
log cabin. whose roof is caved in. "a
rustic monument of pioneer days in
Horse gulch, a tributary of Highland
| pulch. 90 miles south of Butte.