The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-09-27

An oath, the crash of an overturned
table on the floor. rush, a scuff1e, 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 gam
bier and bad man, stood for a moment
or two with his revolver in his hand,
still smoking, and looked around at the
|. grave, set faces of the men who had
witnessed the murder. It was as if he
| hoped, but hardly expected, to hear
some word said of exculpation if not
| approval, but no man spoke.
Then his face changed. With a sui
| len scowl he broke the silence himself
| Il call you all to witness" he said,
that Jim brought this on himself"
| Still no man spoke. A bystander
| might have wondered If their silence
might perhaps be connected with the
| fact that Henderson's gun was still in
his han 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 the4oecasion fit, and that may
| not have been the cause. Henderson
/ spoke again. Didn't he draw first?
he demanded, angrily.
Neither Slow to Draw.
well, 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 1 cheated?" demand
ed Bud. still more angrily.
Yes, he said that" said Billy read
lily enough.
well. don't that mean fight in this
town?" pursued Henderson.
ut sure does" admitted Billy and
those who listened felt that the case
was closed. There would be legal pro-
| ceed1ngs, 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 call
ed on to testify who did not realize
that Bud Henderson had lowered his
standing in the community, rather
than raised it, by his latest achieve
ment. 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 a bad man"
was generally considered an evidence
of distinction among his fellows, to
whom goodness and badness conveyed
a different meaning from that which
obtains in some other parts of the
world.
Regarded as Square Man.
Bud was gambler So were his
cronies, and among them he had been
croY1 roll fIlnl
He paid his losses uncomplainingly,
and exacted his winnings without pity
So much was a common virtue. But,
over and above that, he had been look
ed upon as one who would never take
unfair advantage of a brother profess
sional. What he might do if there
were suckers" in the game was an
other matter, with which the ethics of
his circle were not involved.
But big Jim Waters was a gambler
Also and though he had not achieved
distinction as a fighter, his reputation
in other respects was fully equal to
Henderson'S He, too, was an uncom-
planning 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 conspicuously reliable.
Therefore it came about that, al
though 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 as to whether Waters charge
was justifiable, and although he did
not, at that time or any other, express
any opinion on that subject, there was
just that quality of reserve in his tone,
when he replied to Henderson's ques-
lions, that gave the impression that he
was not wholly satisfied. And the
others, remembering that Waters usu-
ally meant what he said, and seldom