The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1902-10-17
Z 0 . Q . Q Q % VVVVV~
IN 7 II E :
; DEVILS 5
; CALDRON 5
a CopyrIsHV' I"UI' =
SoAe4OAG@0% 9%0% Q . O.
= vp By George Neville y = v

Se%e%o%e~o~o~o~o%o~
.r,o prisoners are out! They've
broke iailT
rbo crv was picked up by score of
,.os md carried down the long, mar
~. main street OF Cimarron-to the
.,rbIipg deus where players dropped
-%,,r cards and grabbed their guns;
t,o dgncehall, where the music stop
.l with a crash; to the office of the
T,r1sor hotel. where travelling men
.n1lerlv lost interest in lively yarn;
= +ba III lighted shops, where mer-
,,,nts locked safes and tills and pre-
aal IL ioin in the man hunt. There
rss need Of many deputy sheriffs in
Son MIGUEL county in those days.
II Vas 9 o'clock when the alarm was
.,'rdad 1t was midnight before truth
All fiction had been sifted and the
r.open IF Cimarron knew the worst.
rccrv ahlebodied dependable man in
a., mountain town had been sworn in
oifber ms a member of the sheriff's
no.so cr Of the patrol which guarded
n the town.
ON cot in his Office lay Heynman,
Nh, county iailer. lie was encircled
Ir stern faced men. \ notary public
ras taking his last statement, setting
n f,rtl mat Randall Wolfe, Jose Roday,
Manual Sanchez and Filipe Moutez
had clicked and gagged him while
matf#e their escape from the San
4 MIGUEL county Jail Later, at the cor
mers inquest, the attendant physician
testified that had Heynman been in
ordinary health the fracas with the
de.rgradocs would not have proved
fatal. hut the poor fellow was a
"uager' who had come to Colorado
for ITS health. The gag had caused a
lcaW~hage.
Tie fu4itives had been sentenced
fors'X months or less on petty charges,
and public opinion laid the exploit at
the door of Wolfe, handsome, daredevil
Randall Wolfe, who had dropped into
Cmalron from no one knew where,
with plenty of money and a fondness
for shooting at lamps in store Win
d0vS Soon after his arrival he had
married one of the most beautiful
Mexican girls in the vicinity, and they
had settled down to Il somewhat bo-
hemian housekeeping in picturesque
cabin among the river willows. All
this had happened months before
Wolfe had shot the lamps in Browns
drugstore, thereby starting a conflagra-
ton and landing in Jail. And now
Conchita, she of the gSeat wistful eyes
and the 1.-the, graceful figure, had dis
appeared from the cabin among the
willows. People said that in her hour
Of disgrace she had gone back to her
own people, who lived across the state
line
Two days, and three. slipped by, and
one posse after another rode YEARLY
into town until only Sheriff Mcguire
and few picked men hung desperate
y on the trail of the outlaws. These,
Too, were becoming disheartened when
in tile steel gray of an early dawn they
followed wood hauler's trail to the
Devils caldron.
A circular pit was this, its bottom
reached only by rocky paths such as
mountain goats or fugitives alone
would tread. On one side the walls
dropped sheerly full fifty feet, and at
one point a clear mountain stream cut
its way through solid rock.
Mcguire had ordered the horses
staked mile back in the thick timber,
and as the posse drew close to the pit
lie motioned his men to halt. Then,
dropping on his hands and knees, he
cawlcd to the edge of the precipice
and peercd over. What he saw sent a
thrill Of eyultation along his nerves.
Near the smoldering fire lay the three
MeN.raus. while on the rocky ledge,
slightly above them, lay two other fig
uroS, one Of whom he could easily
identity, even in the daWn's uncertain
light as the Stalwart Wolfe The fifth
figure he studied carefully, but it was
hidden by wrappngs of gaudy blan-
Refs But Mcguire. recalling the sullen
Mexican wood hauler they had passed
lar down the rayine the day before,
knew that the outlaws had been pro-
Udcd with food and tidingS from the
outer world. Then, turning his gaze
OIL the zgzag mountain trail ending
Wh.a two feet of his hand, the sheriff
smiled grizzly. His prisoners were
neatly trapped.
Rn. the smile died suddenly. The
liia figure. the one at Wolfe's side,
stirred restlessly, the red ard purple
blanket was tossed aside, and a beauti-
l1lIy carved arm was thrown above a
mass of raven hair. 1t was Conchita.
Mcguire drew back. To shoot men
down in cold blood was one thing-he
mad done it before-but she was a wo-
man, woman who had done nothing
out love too well this man of race
not her own. The sheriff had seen the
Ifearms scattered about the campfire.
and if the outlaws fought the girl
would be in the midst Of it.
lie crept back to his men. There
was whispered conference. Eight
men carefully looked over their guns.
lhen, dropping on their stomachs, they
silu noiselessly to the edge of the cal
ufon and surrounded it. The steel gray
asht had changed to rose color when
Naguire's voice echoed sharply down
lle rocky walls of the pit. The fugi-
yves sprang to their feet.
Night as well come up and sur
Itluef Wolfe Wa'yn pOt Won Sllr-