Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1905-06-23
SORT or A SAD CASE.
A story Of Justice In California In the
Early Days.

|
| spread like veil of golden gauze over the
foothills of the Sierra, deepening into
| purple shadows In the canons and fading
into paler but Opaque blanket where 1t
stretched away toward the west above
the valley of the San Joaquin. Passen-
| gers on the coach rolling down the Yosem-
| lite stage road through the forest caught
glimpses of the lower hills and the shore
| less sea Of yellow haze beyond them, and
regretted that they we're soon to leave the
cool, bracing air of the mountains and
plunge beneath that sea of dust and smoke
into the quivering heat Of the plains. They
| threw back their shoulders and inhaled
deep draughts OF air laden with the
| pungent odors of pine and fir, and felt
that 1t was good to be alive.
The coach rolled over the thick carpet
Of dust, laid by the long rainless summer
upon the road, silently save for the creak
ing of harness and the occasional grind
Ing of the brake; and the stiffness of after
| noon In the forest was broken only by the
| tapping Of a woodpecker fitting acorns
into the holes he had drilled In dead trees
during the summer or by the rustlng fall
of cone from lofty sugar pine Yosem-
| lite had exhausted the explanatory vo-
cabulary Of the garrulous, and awed the
| Judicious Into reverent silence, and even
| the man from Philadelphia had ceased
asking questions OF the driver.
A deer crossed the road and trotted
|
| shadow lifted among the red-brown
trunks Of the pines, and Rock Gridley
| only pointed toward II with his whip The
| passengers whispered and gazed at the
graceful animal, but made no sounds that
| might alarm it. They felt the brooding
| stiffness OF the Sierra, and unconsciously
| Tell into the mood OF the autumn after
noon. When the whiplilke report of rifle
shot, faint and far, but not to be mistaken,
came echoless to their ears, they felt
vague resentment at the intrusive sound.
The coach swung around a sharp bend
at the foot OF steep grade, and the
| horses were at a walk, when a man step
ped from behind tree into the road and
held up his hand He was a red-bearded
giant, massive and powerful He wore
only blue shirt, open at the throat and
chest, and overalls. His feet and his head
were bare; and his hair, the color of the
| Sequoia's bark, was tousled like an
urchin's. In his right hand he held rife
Rock Gridley's foot was on the brake
and he had the team well In hand In an
instant the coach came to a dead stop, and
| the passengers had the first thrill Of an
adventure with stage robbers, which most
| OF them half hoped for and more than
half dreaded from the hour when they
| first took seat in California stage coach
At first glance the blonde giant pre-
sented formidable figure. but the menace
| Of his huge form and his weapon was
peheu ny MS rudy JOCunu NlSaBe, ana
! the passengers felt like apologiZing for
their tremors when they saw, Instead Of
a mask, the wide. blue ewes and frank
smile Of the mountaineer.
'Howdy. Rock! was the strangers
greeting to the driver.
Hello, Wes," responded Gridley.
Whats up?"
Seen anything Of en- Injun as you come
along?"
Reckon so. Teller went down into the
gulch this side Of Chinquepin. Moccasin
tracks crossed the road at Frenchys
oak After him?"
Kind OF; but guess he's hittln' the high
places an wont come back. There's an
other one in the road down by my shack.
Watch out and don't run over him.
Rock"
Accident"
kind Of"
Going back?"
Might as well.''
The big man climbed to the box beside
the driver, and the coach went on down
the grade. At intervals there was a low
rumble OF the big mans voice, unintelligi-
bic TO the passengers, to which the driver
responded with occasional grunts and
mods; but none Of the passengers ventured
to ask questions, although their curiosity
was excited to a keen pitch by the vague
hints conveyed in the first brief coloquy
Perhaps mile farther on the road dou-
picu spur OF the mountain and came into
a straight and comparatively level stretch
of few hundred yards. Perched above
the road was cabin OF implanted boards
and opposite, In q clearing, was a rough
shed In the middle OF the road, between
the shacks. lay dark. huddled object an
insistent blot In a patch OF intense yellow
sunlight.
The passengers leaned out over the sides
OF the coach, stared at the dark figure, and
talked In low, hushed tones. but the driver
and his companion seemed to pay no heed
to 1t and made no comment as they APP
preached. The leaders swerved, pricked
their ears forward, and blew short blasts
through their nostrils when they came
near the object, and Rock Grldley spoke
to them sharply and set the brake bring
Ing the team to a halt.
Two of the passengers jumped out and
stepped quickly towards the body, while |
the others gazed at 1t in awed fascination.
Wesley Lee, the red-bearded giant, de- |
scended deliberately and walked over to |
the group.
THE man is dead" announced one of |
the passengers, turning keen look upon |
Wesleys grave countenance.
Il lowed he might be-" said Yves. soft |
ly.
He's been shot Here's a bullet hole |
in the back of his head"
You don't say! Now, that's curious.
amt 1t? Rock. this gentleman says the
head. / kind OF s'picioned that myself"
Rock looked calmly down at the body.
nodded, and cheerfully asserted: Deaderin
hell was what he said.
Wesley lifted the limp figure easily In
his huge arms and placed it upon the
bank at the roadside. 1t had lain in the
road face downward, an awkward sprawl
OF BODY, dressed In calico shirt and
faded overalls, with a mass of coarse hair
covering the head and concealing the
sides OF the face. Laid upon its back, II
was seen to be the corpse OF an evII-look
Ing Indian, and Rock Gridley at once |
recognized 1t and named it. Lame
George" said Rock.
"Um-uh" said Wesley. IT'S George.
sure enough"
You seem to know the man." broke in
the alert passenger. who had been taking
Keen note of everything. Probably YOU
know who murdered him. This doesn't
look much like an accident"
Il m not saying he was murdered" re-
piled the big mountaineer slowly. ''but
II does look bad, for fact. / amt maxi
ing any charges, stranger, but there was
another lnJun here, an he's skinned
Rock seen him scootin through the bresh
up yender. Seems like there was ground
for suspicion. "
The inquisitive tourist agreed with sig
nitcant emphasis that there was ground
for suspicion, and he might have gone on
TO palmer speech but for the drivar,s |
4 DruDt call NJ GAN ohoo rdpt . |