Williston graphic. (Williston, Williams County, N.D.) 1895-1919, 1900-06-07
CHAPTER VI.

One morning in the month of July,
when Ronald returned from his to-
bacco field, he found a score or more
mcuntaineers in the front yard. They
were discussing an awful crime that
had been committed about dawn that
day. Mrs. Telplay, widow who lived
alone in cottage at the foot of the
mountain, was found brutally muir
dered. 1t had been generally known
that she kept quite sum of money
in an old hair trunk under her bed,
having always refused to take the ad-
vice Of her friends to put her savings
in more secure place. The trunk
was found to have been split open by
the bloody AK which had killed the
owner. and the money was gone.
Sydney Hart, tall, raw-boned
young man, with sharp black eyes and
big mustache dyed to match, sat
astride his line horse and told what he
knew of the affair. AS he talked he
famed his a1uilinc face with his
so1rbrero.
GAS soon as Jeff, that's her niger
house boy. came N to make the fires"
he was saying as Ronald approached,
che seed what hal happened. an run
out to give the ALARM"
Didn't nobody suspicion Jeff?"
ouered old Fanshaw, who sat on the
steps IN his stockings.
Don't be so blamed fast" snarled
the narrator, with frown. He could
not abide interruption. He was sort
| of leader of moonshiners, though it
had never been proven against him,
and he was accustomed 70 more re-
spect than he deserved.
"Well, go on" grun.ed Fanshaw,
you are about as good at tellin' .
thing as a one-legged man is at a
kickin' bee, You no so"ner max. a
start than YOU kick tie end o. yorc
spine up in the ground an thar you
are"
The crowd laughed i,nrulsively, but
the fierce glare of sgd Harris eyes
soon put an end to the raerriment
you must a-had razor soup fur
breakfast, "hc grunted. letting his eyes
rest on Fanshaw. and then he began to
smile. "Thar wasn't 10 use sus-
picionn' jeff" he proc-eded; "fur as
soon as the news got out Thad Will
liams straddled his mare an notified
the sheriff. Ratcliff is quick on trig-
ger, an he tuck Thad's mare an made
fur the spot armed to the teeth"
"Well, did he ketch the one that
did ito" broke in Dave Fanshaw, i'm
patiently, ane anyone could have seen
from his face that he was not one OF
Harris followers.
sgd bent his eyes on Dawes face and
sneered. "You are like yore daddy"
he observed, ''you want yore hog fore
it's barbecued. Yes, you bet he
ketched i'm; that's what he was out
after. About half a mile from the
| widows house he run across a young
stranger a-hidin' in q barn nigh the
| tale mines. He was too good a thing
to be missed, so Ratclitf arrested i'm
then an thar an made i'm turn is
pockets wrong side cut. He mad
fifty dollars in hard cash, an, more
over, his hands was red in streaks, an
he had blood on his handkerchief an
shirt-sleeves. he was young fellow,
an cried like baby; be said he hadn't
killed nobody, nur stole nobody's
money, but Ratcliff tuck i'm in tow.
He was sech little fellow that Rat
cliff lowed folks I'D get the laugh on
i'm if he roped or handcuffed i'm. so
he started on with i'm jest so. They
made it all right till they got back
heer a piece to the beginnin' O. Col.
Hasbrooke's swamp. Thar, at Swiff's
cabin, Ratcliff stopped TO git light
fur his cigar. Nobody ever heerd tell
O. him takin' prisoner to Jail with
out he had cigar stuck in his jaw.
He dom spend dollar a yeer fur CT
CARS, but he has to smoke one when he
jugs a man. It makes him look i'm
portant. He had jest called fur a
chunk O. fire, an Miz Swift was fetchin'
it out to i'm, when 10 an behold, the
little stranger showed he was up to
snuff. He lodged off behind a hay
| stack before Eatcliff could draw his
gun an was off into the swamp
like a skeered rabbit. A boss amt
wuth a tinker'.s dam in swampy land
an cane brakes, an Ratcliff amt as
timber as he wuz twenty yeer back.
And" the speaker broke off with a
laugh, ''the little skunk's in the
swamp yit. Me an these fellows is to
watch this road, an Ratcliff's gone
round t'other side to stir up the peo-
pie. They'll drive i'm this way before
long, an then the fun will begin"
"What do you mean by the fun?"
broke in Ronald sharply.
The gaunt giant on the horse
shrugged his shoulders and ben: .
critical. half-aggressive glance on the
questicner.
ooh. 1 reckon the boys won't want
to wait fur them blamed thievish law
yers in town to get whack at I'm an
finally git i'm turned loose. We haint
got much book l'arnin', but we know
when mans guilty, an we EsN
what lawyers H."