The Savannah morning news., 1903-07-19
Continued from Last Sundays News.
XXXII.
IN WHICH THERE Is SOME
SHOOTING

IN W MIN 10 sum +
SHOOTING.
Billy sat in a chair and boiled. He
did not calm down until after daylight
and then he found that his depression
had vanished. He was fun of vigor
He went out and looked over the prop
erty very carefully. The entire lay
out. he found. had weighed on his
spirits. and this last ungrateful cpl
sode had made him sick of the whole
misera BILE business. He ought never TO
be tied down. He could see his mis-
take clearly enough now. If he was
gonig to stick to gold hunting, it ought
TO be as a prospector, not a miner A
prospector enjoyed the delight of new
country. of wilderness life, of the
chase, and then, when civilization came
too near. he could sell his claims TO
the miner and move on to a virgin
country A miner on the other hand,
had TO settle down in one place and
attend 10 all manner of vexatious de-
tails. Billy felt a great impatience to
shake himself free. With the thought
came wave of anger against the men
of the town. After all what had he
TO gain by staying? This outfit was
q fizzle nothing could be done with
it in the future He might save some
thing of the wreck by grubbing about
in the debris. but grubbing was exact
ly what he wanted 10 get away from.
He looked over the works again. He
was astonished TO find how little Of it
he cared for personally. There re-
manned not much more than the West
erner's outfit. when il was winnowed
f.,t.,- h. har- lr hTaol rH Al
saddle, clothes. his weapons and the
beautiful trotting horse. Billy could
not let that go. The camp outfit they
could have and welcome. He kicked
the rubber stamper into space, scat
tering potential literature about the
landscape n my things he hesitated
over, but finally discarded. The heap
was not very large when all was told.
He began to experiment with the
blackboard. Billy was a master Of the
celebrated diamond hitch. After an
hours earnest work. he drew back
triumphantly to observe to himself
that all he wished to take with him
was securely packed on the vehicle.
Then he coupled in his grays, and led
out the beautiful trotting horse. He
was glad that he had lately paid the
English groom his wages: which indi-
vidual he remembered seeing, the night
before, dead drunk in a corner. Billy
made himself some coffee in the empty
cookies shack, and was ready to start.
He did not know exactly where he
would go; that was a matter of de-
tail but somewhere West in all prob
ability-somewhere in Wyoming. where
Jim Buckley was hidden up in the
mountains, living a sane sort of life,
removed from the corroding influences
of civilization. He did not realize that
in this impatient shaking off of re-
sponsibility, he was little better than
a moral coward. Even Billy's worst
enemies would have denied the jus
tice of that epithet.
He climbed in, deliberately unwound
the reins from the long brake handle,
clucked to the horses and took his
way, whistling, down the narrow trail.
The beautiful trotting horse follow ed
g1ngerly, tossing his head. At the en-
trance to town, Billy's whistling sud-
denly ceased. The street was quite
bare and silent. Not even from the
Little Nugget saloon or the new dance
hall came the faintest sound of human
occupancy. A tenderfoot might have
argued that this was indicative of deep
sleep after last nights festivities but
Billy knew better. At O'Clock in the
morning. after excitement such as that
of Il few hours before, the normal en-
suing pow-wow would still be raging
uftdDdttus ne reached uIlQeI the seat
for his Winchester, the new 1882 mod
Ell of his prosperous days. and laid
il softly across his lap. and caught the
end of the long lash in his whip hand.
Then he resumed his tune exactly
where it had been broken off, looking
neither to right nor left. and jogging
along without the slightest appearance
of haste or uneasiness. No one could
have called Billy Knapp a coward at
that moment.
Near the first cabin the whistling
broke off again. A little figure stumbled
out into the deserted street, weeping
and afraid. Billy pulled up. 1t was
the Kid
They're goin' to shoot YOU" he
sobbed. from behind the Little Mug
get. without givin' you a chanst!
mel he walled. Billy's eyes began TO
sparkle. The Kid tried to hold within
the others reach his little % caMbre
rifle, his most precious possession.
Here, take thisl" he said.
Billy laughed outright, a generous,
hearty laugh with just a shade of
something serious in it, Thank We"
We right yere. you Kid. Yore a white
man, you are, and yore jest about the
only white man in the place" He cast
his eyes about him in the blackboard
at his feet. "Yere We be-" he said,
Juggling at a pair of huge silver-orna-
mented Mexican spurs and leaning over
to give them to the boy; Jest remem-
Der me by them thar they has my
name on EN-; and. look yere," he went
on with a sudden inspiration, "you-all
gets up gulch to my camp and takes
what grab you finds and lies low un-
til yo' paw an tn rest gifts over bein
mad. l don't know but what they does
kill you, if you shows up afore that"
And he laughed again to see the boys
face brighten at this prospect of escap-
ing the immediate wrath to follow.
The little scene had been enacted in
the middle of the silent street, so ST.
lent and so empty that the principal
actors in it experienced an uncomforta-
bic emotion of publicity, perhaps a
little like that of an inexperienced
speaker before the glare of footlights
The Kid. followed friskily by Peter.
scuttled up the gulch. Billy stood up
in his blackboard and faced the in
scrutable row of houses.
'Yo' d coyotes!" he yelled, thar
goes the only man in the whole out
fit. Shoot! yo' Siwashes, shoot!' and
he brought his long whip like a figure
across the TANKS of all four horses
at once
Bang. reverberated a shot between