The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-08-23
THE AVENGlNG
4 OF JIM WATERS.
Being the Story of a Poker Game
in the Wild West in Which a
Life Was the Stake.

| An 0aIn, inc crash OF ap OVcr'uiheo
table on the floor. rush, scuffie, the
cracking sound of one, two, three pistol
shots, and big Jim Waters lay dead.
AS he fell his own revolver sounded again,
but he had lost his aim and the shot went
wild. Following this last sound there came
a profound silence.
Bud Henderson, professional gambler
and bad man, stood for moment or two
with his revolver In his hand, still smok-
| ing, and looked around at the grave, set
! faces of the men who had witnessed the
| murder. II was as If he hoped, but hardly
| expected to hear some word said OF ex-
culpation if not approval, but no man spoke.
Then his face changed With sullen
scowl he broke the silence himself. II
call you all to Witness" he said, "that Jim
brought this on himself"
Still no man spoke. A bystander might
have wondered IL their silence might per-
haps be connected with the fact that Hender-
sons gun was still in his hand and that
he was known to be expert In the use Of It,
There were others in the ROOM however,
who were ready enough to shoot when they
deemed the occasion At. and that may
not have been the cause. Henderson
spoke again. Didn't he draw irst2" he
demanded, angrily.
We'll. as to that" said Billy Ginter,
slowly, Il reckon It'd be hard to say You
want neither Of you slow to draw" Billy
owned the place and was recognized as
the leading spirit in most Of the deviltry
of the little Western town.
Didn't he say I cheated?' demanded
Bud still more angrily.
"Yes, he said that" said Billy readily
enough.
well, don't that mean fight In this town."
pursued Henderson.
1T sure does" admitted Billy, and those
who listened felt that the case was closed
There would be legal proceedings, as a
matter of course, but they would be purely
formal, and the character OF the testimony
to be given had been decided when Billy
Ginter spoke, At the same time there was
not a man among those who would be called
on to testify who did not realize that Bud
Henderson had lowered his standing in
the community, rather than raised it, by
his latest achievement The mere killing
of a man, more or less. was not likely to
produce that effect. He had killed other
men and it had not been held against him.
Indeed, his reputation as bad man" was
generally considered an evidence Of dis
tinction among his fellows. to whom good
ness and badness conveyed different
meaning from that which obtains In some
other parts Of the world.
Bud was gambler. So were his cronies,
and among them he had been generally
regarded as Square" man, He paid his
losses uncompiaininglv. and exacted his
winnings without pity. So much was a
common virtue But. over and above that,
he had been looked upon as one who would
never take unfair advantage Of a brother
professional. What he might do il there
were suckers" in the game was another
matter, with which the ethics OF his circle
were not involved.
But big Jim Waters was gambler also,
and though he had not achieved distinction
as fighter, his reputation in other respects
was fully equal to Hendersons. He, too,
was an accomplishing loser when luck
ran against him. and no man had ever
before heard him bring any accusation Of
foul play against his antagonist. And his
word had always been accepted as good
for anything he might say; while Bud
though no one had ever accused him of
falsehood. had not been looked upon as
conspiouously reliable.
Therefore it came about that although
Billy Ginter was the only one who happened
to be overlooking the game Of poker in
which the quarrel arose, and was the only
one, therefore. who might have been able
to offer an opinion az to whether Waters's
charge was unsuitable, and although he
did not at that time or any other. express
any opinion on this subject. there was
just that quality of reserve In his tone
when he replied to Henderson's questions,
that gave the impression that he was not
wholly satisfied And the others, re-
membering that Waters usually meant what
he said, and seldom spoke without good
grounds for what he said, were vaguely
dissatisfied.
However, it was up to Ginter to speak
the decisive word, and as he chose not to
speak there was nothing which any one
else cared to do. The legal proceedings
were therefore perfunctory to n degree.
1t appearing at the inquest that the de-
ceased had come to his death In a fair,
stand-up fight. and, moreover, that he
had himself provoked the fight by i'm
putting unprofessional conduct to Mr..
Henderson, the Coroner found that the
latter gentleman had acted in self-defence,
and no other officials felt it incumbent
upon them to take further action.
These things had happened near the
end Of the winter season, and as the town
usually awoke to new activity with the
coming of each spring, there was less
thought given TO the shooting of Jim Waters
than might have been the case at another
time. Certain mining interests in the
vicinity proved good, and something closely
resembling n boom" began. Strangers
came in considerable numbers, and the
sale of claims, which had been looked
upon as almost hopeless. became paying
industry
As an actual result, business was better
in Billy Gnter's establishment, where red
liquor ard chips were always obtainable
for cash. than ii had been for some time,
and he and the steady frequenters of the
place were sufficiently occupied with cur
rent matters TO allow the taking of of one
of their number to slip from their minds
And but for the arrival OF a stranger in
town it is altogether likely that there would
have been no man to tell about It..
The new man was unlike any one who
had appeared there before He was plainly
a consumptivs, and although there had been
other consunptives who had sought the
hpUefit of the mountain air and fharafora