The Washington times., 1905-04-09

and then nothing short of miracle
wound nave saved me from immediate
hanging, even If a quicker way wers
| not taken to end me-
W no should wish so i'll of n1e2
re answer to this came with the
u.her' ,,,, ana 1t framed itself as a question:
/ VINO was so strenuous that a search he
made? And the reply: Harvev
| Hecaiied his plain dislike of r,,yself
| ana Hngo frcm the time the camp drift
su eosether, There had been an incipjent
'pute petWeen US es to our respective
haWiln had settled It in way
taiat uiiquestionably had been to o,,r ,d.
vantage. 70 our ao-
ueeiief the Yankee meant To favor
: 10 "o i0t know, but such proved to
'he outcome, and Harvey had aIwav.
oeen sure ABOUT 1t. His dislike. nafurallv
a., SiiaIeo oy his partner, Reagan.
hdd never been ANYTHING nuite
@ct'ai hostility, for the fortunes Of
Ni' ~ the camp were at SO equally Iow
an coo tlat there was little 90 inr,ta =
'su@rrei' Dut 1T takes only a little to
''i'uale mean man to action Har.
Wy ana ReaSan wanted to be rid ~
.'ie Dulchmen so as TO get possession
W o"i ciaifn, or at least to share II with
.He others' and this was the wav thew
iiau taken to accomplish their desires
1t seemed abominable, weiI-night IN
| cIedipie' but here was the convincing
idct that somebody had tried to foist
upon me the crime Of robbing RawIfn:
ana Harvey and Reagan were the onrv
men IN camp who could have desired
such a thing.
ne claDolicaI plot would fave suc-
ceeoed II 1t had not been for the Yam
Aee confidence in me. He had saved
me from exposure and death. The gold
was MS property Every possible rea-
son lmpei!ed me to make known the
f2cts to him without an instant,s DELAY
IL mas taken me several minutes 10
get down this brief resume of NV
thoughts, but they all occurred in a few
seconds had little more than seen
the Dag before / had reached my con-
ciusions and was acting upon them.
IN this PERHAPS I belied what is pop
ularly supposed TO be the German char
aeter; but ii l acted quickly, nay, iIIl-
puIslvely, yet dill so with true Teutonic
method
First | pulled the blanket over the
bag which meantime had not so much
as touched Then I went to the en-
trance of the cabin and looked up the
tnlnly wooded slope on which the rest
of the camp was located
Rawiin and tie others were in sight.
Ihey could rot have got very far even
had they walked rapidly. but they had
come to halt and evidently were held
ing an argument.
Harvey appeared to be doing most Of
the talking, and even as l looked he
gesticulated and pointed in my direc-
ton
Trying again to persuace the YAM
kee TO search the cabin" thought L
After watching them a moment I
shouted ..Rawlin'' as loudly as I could
Come here I added. beclzoning, when
be faced me-
What ye want?" he yelled in his
high, thin voice
Come here was my only answer
He seemed to hesitate an instant and
then the whole party started with him.
Come alone or not at ali" I called
Rawlin halted abruptly The others
gathered around him and argued.
l knew him better than they did
More obstinate than mule. he was
persuaded to come alone by their very
opposition to such course.
l saw him turn to them, evidently
;peaking sharply Then while they re-
NAMED where they were, he came down
he slope at his habitually slow gait
'-Rev you decided to do the squar'
hing, smitty," he asked, AN give
Is p'fnts ab6ut yer pardner::''
He was then some yards away, and
made no reply.
Cause ef you hev,' nc continued,
you'd better speak up quick an plain.
m willin' to shoot every man in camp
uther than hev any sort OF injestice
one, but they's more of EN- than me;
hey hain't got my patience, an some OF
I'm might git the drop on me-
I've no evidence to give against my
rartner," said I, but I'm going to do
he square thing, sure enough Come
nside.''
His brovs knit with curiosity and
oubt; he entered the cabin and sat
own on tie bench.
Aim low he said, hold her stiddy,
n fire"
Looking him straight in the eyes,
L was badly cat up by the way you
alked, Rawlin. and as soon as you had
zone l came in here and lay on my
to think what I'd better do
The Yankee nodded.
Like enough I'd % done the same.''
le remarked.
L felt something under me, - L con-
inued, and as l spoke 1 suited action to
words and stretched out on my blankets.
1 supposed it was a fold of the cloth
md tried to smooth it, When 1 found
hat the cloth wouldn't smooth I lifted
and
My dust Sasped Rawlin, for I had
uncovered the canvas bag.
He leaned forward with his elbows on
lis knees, his long hands dangling and
lis lean fingers swapping, while he
tarcd alternately at the bag and me-
Presently he reached cut hand, and,
him, l took up the bag
rd passed it to him. Slowly he opened
|, glanced inside, ''hetted" it, drew
eng breath, and said:
Il reckon it's all there to u grain
Then he looked at me inquiringly, but
volunteered no statement.
How did Il come there, Smitty?" he
shed
You know as much about that as I
o BaWlin. / replied
Huh he snorted, you're either the
umHcSJ, most innercent babe thet ever
ot lost in The woods or you're the
lickest faher that ever | seen.
We'll, said l, sharply. what does
hat mean?'