The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1905-01-06

a BEETLE BRowED MAN WITH " GUNS.
great bearing on our future. The writ
er and the missive were forgotten in
one hour.
There was a shadow over us, howey-
er, but we felt it not. There was q
grim specter on u trail, but the echo
of his footsteps did not reach our ears.
We had just passed the Square Deal
poker parlors when we met Major
White, who was wiping his mouth
with the back of his hand. He in
formed us that q beetle browed man.
with two guns on him, had just asked
n where we could be found and
@Nether Arizona would miss us much
.1 we were to be laid away. 1t wa the
majors opinion that the man meant
business. II he advised US to return
to the Office and get our guns before
starting for church service. The advice
was needed. When we next appeared
on the avenue we were heeled.
As is known to all our local read
erS, we lead the church chOir-that is.
we come in on tie basso profunGo il
Il way to awaken the conscience OF
!. every sinner under the roof. We were
| making our way toward the sacred
edifice and wondering whether old jim
Hewson would get drunk and disturb
the service when a stranger turned in
from Coyote street and stopped US in
our tracks. 1t was the beetle brOwed
man, and his face wore a smile. He
softly inquired if our name was Jim
Eellso, and when we replied in the
affirmative his smile broadened and he
observed:
'Then you are the critter / am look
ing for, and you can get ready to die!
l am Bloody Bill of Montana. You
must have got my letter some time
ago"
We started to ask William why we
shouldn't keep right on living, but both
his hands went back to his guns, and
we could read "shoot" in his eye. That
he meant to whiz from six to twelve
bullets into us at close range there
could be no doubt. We acted upon in
stinct. He was two or three seconds
ahead of us, but the four guns came
out as one. Where we got the adj
vantage was on the trigger, but it was
only by a hairs breadth. As William
went down his bullet passed through
the rim of our hat.
Only, the two shots were fired. VIII
liam was not killed outright. but lived
SE about half an hour. DR.. Johnson
IS sent for, but said from the first
THAT it was a hopeless case. William
was conscious to the last. In TIE
presence of several reputable witnesses
he stated that he had come q distance
of over 200 miles to remove us and had
just arrived that morning. AS to his
motive, he had decided to kill five great
men during the year 1904, and we were
on his list. He had nothing against US
personally and was a constant reader
of the Kicker. 1t was simply that we
run the United States in a way that
marked US for a victim.
We do not like TO remove our fellow
men. There is something about it that
sGddenS is for days after, and it gives
us a reputation that we by no means
crave for. Many and many an evening
We nav S-N Jus" wa A"'
yard and read the epitaphs on the head
stones and sighed that it had to be so.
We hoped to stop short at the tenth.
hut the eleventh., twelfth and thir-
teenth came as we hoped On. Last
year, when headstone No. IA was rear
ed, we almost decided TO run instead
OF shoot thereafter. The fourteenth
has become the fifteenth. and our heart
is heavy. While Bloody Bill was firm
~ bent CT shooting us down, we have
forgiven him. We lament bis unti1ne-
" fate. We would shat he had gone
about his everyday life with a song in
his heart instead Of seeking us out for
slausnter. We have done all that we
capsA hirn except to trail tire arhutus
his headstone when it is set up.
I'VE hope that he is happier in the
which now records him as an emf
nent citizen. We are sure that if we
had it to do over again he would turn
his attention to some one else-some
one who is not lightning on the draw.
His personal effects await the order OF
his relatives, If he had any.
M. QUAD.