Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1902-01-24

WIZ "iN WIS NNl NANH i"i'
nn trial does srrui stIange-passlha
straugc. But. OH. those were the day.
wl.cu wobicn' Had women's rights q
r~erfaciinn Tor affcr the trial and Che
SENTENCE cf draih Ind been passed
and all fnfhcr lsasiry. $50 ihai the boys
might GOT lose any Sleep brt he up d.
good iimc TO scc the ln~nging-tht
court un his way 20 DIS cabin saw hci
'plncliiy" taking 1oNu q pair OF blank
chs rom cHc cloibesiinc.
lluiud worked 40 niai, and got mp a
issi rate scaG0ll ty ilc little grave
yard. ln fact. any eve 20 look at IL
wonil barc sailNt was equal TO tile
scafoi6s ~ a rilep older civilization.
i'out uooS suU goJ. Shedr
"All right. Tom; bout noon
Thought ia kinder like to let the
boys Il; in from round about. They
don't have much to muse ON. you
know"
"Ail right. Tom: bet 'em elt in."
10 was n warm day to be so late IN
the fan. There wcr, four OF ua on the
scanold- Shed. Hound. tie dog and
myspif. shed had sent Hound TO ask
me TO say something. or 40 least hclp
sing. But @ was AWFUL 90 be there.
Tho dog kept rolling his hig. woody
head up against Sheds tied legs and
whining md whining all tho time, as
81 it were lie aud moi quiet and passive
OLD Rod Shed that wns TO be hanged.
There was an Immense crowd. n
queer. curious crowd. IL came up so
CLOSE that It inmmed against the new
scaTold iil It crc-skpd and creaked.
The men. MS remember them now.
ncari, al had their mouths open as
they looked up M us. [ distinctly re-
call looking away down In one mans
throat. ] counted his teeth as I stood
there and tried to keep from thinking
and breaking down. Sonic Indians sat
on a Hill \ little way or watching Us,
and Waymire, Il Of the big lawyers
OF san francisco, sat on his horse,
with his soldiers not for beyond,
watching the Indians. for Waymire
was then 4 distinguished young officer
In the army.
Thcrc was q little commotion close
by. and the scaRold again creaked as
q tail. icnk. sunburned and slender
man. al rags ana hat and shoes, with
an OK whip under his arm, pushed The
dog aside and. stepping TO the very
edge OF tile scaftold, said hastily:
p" 'Scuse mo. gentlemen, my steers Is
strayed. AMI ] thought that some Of
you a-comin' In to the hungin' might
8-seen 'cm-a hallfacc an n brindle-
emlgrant steers. Purity poor steers, but
all me an my folks have got, an I've
got Ito find en-. Didn't see en-, no
b%o1y-two steers, two emigrant steers.
n hallface an a brindlef'
No ono spoke. The man whose teeth
! had been counting shut up shop for
n second. and | managed to get my
eyes away from him and or to the
dusty old omlgrant, who was about
backing down from tho scaGfOld 10 the
ground. Now. the way that he spoke
told me that lie was n sort Of preacher
or exhorter at least. whispered this
to Hound.
81 say. chip In here. An right. Shed
chs"
IAN right Tom. Let 'em chip"
The mnk man let his bat fall dow
by the dog, and his knees fell on th'
hat with a thump. Then Hound want
cd 10 kneel. too. for be did not Ike biz
Job. I can toll you that, but his RICH
hand was holding on 90 the gnarly an'
twisted uoose. and he knew better thai
let 70 Of IT. SO lie looked at Shed, an,
nc snid;
"You don't mind. ShedY'
81 don't mind, Tom"
And so he PUT tho moose around tn
mans neck and Kindly looked an
waited a second to sac IL it was al
right
"Hurt you. StadT"
NO; don't hurt; don't hurt now
Tom"
And then Tom went down on hi
knecs. and the boys bowed their head
and cried. You could hear them CRY
Why. the very old dog seemed to fe'
the atmosphere OF pity and the Patio
{ Of the cen
But let us end this. Tho old en-
grant arose. His hat lay before bin
5 and Hound stopped to pick 1t up.
! "Give MS that hat" said a husk
voice below.
D Hound handed down The hat
I "'Bout done, Tom whispered She'
c "'Rout done. Shed Jlst q minut
now" answered Tom as he raised u
' wrh the hat, heavy from the collie
] ton. shed saw this and said;
4 Tom"
"Vcll. ShedT"
lend mo % dollar TN -till'-
"why. shed. here! IN chip in Il
]. both. SrcT'
D "Thanb o Tom An now. TomT
l. wen. SDcdY'
5 "Youn SEQ me put away, ehg'
"NVhy. there. seer That's the gray
e all ready. Shed"
It THANK you, Tom, thank you. an /
all ready"
q Then such a crash and Jerk! The dc
e sprang down to the ground and 0cga
q to howl. and the men fell back, f.
II back and down, rs II shot by grapesh
and canister.
.e Around and around swung the hui
and heaving body. and then It sudde
C ly stopped. stopped right still, and wi
the facc lifted and the head a lit
% sideways Il laoked straight at TO