Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1905-03-11
DAILY SHORT STORY
A WoMAN's RUsE.



loving wife and their little ones to seek
| his fortune in the west. BiXby became
| a prospector in Colorado and bought a
claim which he worked with a man by
the name of Clark One day Clark took
Bixby to a little pocket of rocks near
! the mine and showed him where he had
| placed some articles he did not care TO
keep on his person. There We're some
money, a revolver, a gold pencil case. a
bunch of keys and a picture of wO-
man.
Il want you 10 know where these
things are in case anything happens to
me-" Clark said, and, having covered
| the pocket with a broad, fat stone, left
no sign of the concealed articles.
Some time after this Clark was taken
| i'll and having no relative to leave any
| property to. made Il will leaving his
| interest in their claim to Bixby, though
/ there was then no great apparent value
| in the hole they were sinking Clark re-
! covered. but the Will was not destroyed
| One day Bixby left the claim for q
| day 10 buy provisions, and when he
| came back he found that Clark had
| been murdered during his absence
| There was no trace of the murderer,
and BiXby was much puzzled as TO who
had done the deed. Bixby went on dig
ging and finally struck very valuable
| ore. Then he filed Clark's will.
He had been suspected of Clark
Z l.,
had Il motive he was arrested. He
could not prove that the murder was
committed during his absence, and no
one else was known to have an inter
est in Clark's death. Persons who had
sold him and Clark the claim they had
worked when it was thought to be of
little value, hoping that if BiXby was
hanged they might get it back, manu-
featured evidence against him, and
he was convicted. The usual efforts
were made by his lawyers to save his
life, but they were all failures, and
finally they told him he must prepare
for death.
II was only a few days before the
execution was to take place that
young man, an effeminate, apparently
half witted fellow, entered a saloon
at the county seat where Bixby had
been tried and was to be executed.
Going 10 the bar, he called for a drink
and in payment offered a revolver.
The barkeeper while examining it no
ticed scratched upon the handle Jar
ii Clark fln mama Of tho man Nvbn
had been murdered. The barkeeper
took the revolver in payment for the
drink and Immediately sent it TO the
authorities. The young man who had
offered it was arrested, and on his per
son We're found two of the other articles
Clark had buried, the gold pencil case
and the picture of woman. The
man could give no account of himself,
and since Clark had shown the picture
to several persons they were enabled to
identify it as his property Bixby was
released and the young man was put
on trial for the murder of Clark.
BiXby's lawyers advised him to spare
no pains to convict the accused, thus
vindicating himself. but Bixby declar-
Ctl ALtil lis IliISlOL NuIIt It-u SAldllGlGu
his nerves and he would go east to
be nursed back to health by his wife.
The prosecuting attorney had objected
to his being permitted to depart Blk
by, however, got away before any legal
move could be made to detain him.
He had had plenty of time to reach
safe distance when the young man
who was about to be tried sent for the
prosecuting attorney. When that Off
cial appeared the prisoner said to him:
I'm not man. I'm a woman and
the wife of the man you hoped to hang.
Ny husband wrote me where Clark had
concealed certain articles. l came here,
found them and produced the revolver
for the purpose which has been achiev-
ed. l had arranged it all with my Eus-
band"
The astonished official ordered the
prisoner TO be examined by Il woman,
who found her claim to be true.
And now" said Mrs. Bixby, II be-
lieve the picture Of the woman Clark
hid with the other articles to have
something to do with the murder. Re
lease me, and l will endeavor to find
out
about the task she had assigned her
self. Il was not long before she discov-
cred the picture to be that of a woman
who had left her husband for Clark.
THE erring woman's husband was ar
rested for the murder, but he was not
brought to trial. The sympathy of the
people was III favor of one who had
simply avenged wrong in a way that
-,
oner confessed that he had long looked |
for Clark and when he found him gave |
him fair chance for his life But, |
fearing arrest on charge Of murder, he /
had fed as far as possible from the |
scene OF his revenge.
There was a great deal of sympathy /
for Bixby, who had come so near being /
hanged for a murder he had not COM |
mitted, and a great deal of admiration
for the woman who had saved him. He /
rom n fua1 n, bfdiper iii HE ,r-ffo l., 4 49,