The Washington weekly post. (Washington, D.C.) 1878-1916, 1900-08-07
Ute H7an A2Ao Laughed Last

| known that something had happened Af-
4 ter that Trimbls got positively gay. He
1 laughed q good DEAL and his eyes follow
/ ed Miss Minnie about the room as II she
/ belonged TO him and ne was proud Of ii.
/ AT 3 o'clock in the morning they were
/ lined up for the Virginia reel forty cou-
pies Of them. TTimble and his sweet
! heart stood at the far end OF the line.
| The boss fiddler gave a scrape or two and
I opened his mouth 20 call the first figure,
when a shout rolled down the room.
Hold UP. there, Nv turn 10 dance.
Bill Raglan stood In the door, hali-
drunk and white in the face. With hlm
vas Red Symonds. OF Fort COncho. Sy-
mOndS held sawed-Om shotgun ana Y
was pointed straight down the row Or
dancers He was drunker than Raglan
and was saying nothing. The men ana
women stood as IL cut out OF rock Rag
. Ian walked slowly down the room, MS eye
fixed on Trimble- When he got 10 him ne
slipped his hand behind him. drew hts pis-
tol and damned II against Zeke's lips.
You cowardly coyote" he said. "this Is
the way YOU try TO steal my girl, Is u?
Say word and you're corralled right
As he talked he jammed the muzZie
against TTimble's face again and again,
and II left white rings on the flesh. No
body moved. Then with a slight wrist
motion, he raised the weapon little ard
let the end OF IL fan on Zeke's forehead.
bringing the blood. He looked hard at the
girl. laughed and walked out Ten sec
Onds later. as the crowd surged 70 the
door, the rattle Of hoofs was heard. Rag
Ian and SymOndS were gone into the night.
The people tried TO resume the reel. but
there was no heart In them. Minnie Scots
stood with both arms about her dads
neck and cried on his shoulder. Trimble
went up 10 her and tried to say some
thing, but she only clung the closer, and
old man Scott growled:
Git away. No man like you kin talk 20
my darter"
The young fellow looked around. He
met glances of contempt from the men
In the eyes of some OF the women was
pity. in the eyes OF the others disgust
Then il came 20 him that they had brand
ed him as a coward He got as white "a
chalk, picked up his pistol. buckled II to
him and went out He was not at Bar {
ranch next morning Some wages were
owed 20 him. but he did not stop TO collect
them. Raglan staid on the Running W
ranch for a month. He did not hear from
the girl nor she from him. He talked a
good deal about his successful invasion OF
the dance and his cowboy associates made
much of him. Then he. too. tired of glory
and went away. The Diamond men no.
tieed that Miss Minnie was, more quiet
than OF old, but that was the only change
in her. .-
One afternoon in summer old Buck
got back from Alpine with the ranch mail
and handed her a newspaper, directed 20
ner In sprawlng hand. She opened IL
wonderingly and saw that il was a COPY
Of the San Angelo star. Her eye was at
tracted by a circle Of black Grawn around
a short article on the front page. This Is
what she read.
stage Robbers Up Against IT,
1.-TWO knights of the Road Laid out BY
One Man.
''Ye scribe learns from good source Of
a fight that occurred last night IN which
two men lost their lives The stage to
Stockton, which has been held up ten
times this year, was held up again last
night. ten miles from here. The stage was
driven hv Sandy Mcpherson, the prompt
and reliable mail carrier. and had but one
passenger. a man named Trimble, a COW
boy This man, We scribe IS informed
when the robbers said Hold up your
hands, jumped TO the ground ierked his
was shot within five, or possibly seven,
feet of the stage door. He was hit in the
head The one at the front of the horses
was shot through the stomach, the .45-cal-
her bullet striking him In the body. lie
fell with a groan and died before help
as Red Symonds a well-known
gambler of this place. and William Rag
Ian. brOnchO-buSter, formerly employed
by the Running W people In Jem Davis
County. Raglan was killed first. Trimble
was hit in the arm. We SurmiSe that the
Stockton stage will now be let alone"
When Trimble reached the Diamond
ranch, in response to a letter, he said TO
old Buck
ut was pretty hard TO take, but had to
take 1t. If I'd made a move, Symonds
would have turned loose that shotgun an
killed half the women In the place. | been
trailn' them fellers for two months ."
Minnie did not say anything, but she
looked a good deal
Copyright. 1900. Daily story Publishing Company)