The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1908-01-15

, was crowded. Men not able TO get In
ploughed back through the cutting
wind and snow only to return present
ly to see if the situation had changed
any during their brief absence. So
sll the work OF yesterday was gone
over again
So close was the pack of people that
The fire roaring in the big stove in the
| middle of the room was allowed to
sink in smouldering quiet. The heavy
air had been unbearable else. The
snow that had been brought in on
tramping feet lay in little melted
pools on the rough flooring. Men for
got to eat peanuts and women forgot
to chew their gum-eXcept one or two
extremely nervous ones whose jaws
moved the faster under the stimulus
of hysteria Jesse Black was telling
his story.
Along toward the LIST of last July,
| took hike out into the Indian coun-
try to buy few head o. cattle
trade considerable with the half
breeds around Crow creek and Lower
Brule. They're always for sellin' and
if it comes to a showdown never hag
gle much about the lucre-it all goes
for snake-iuice anyway. Well, I landed
at John Yellow VOLTS shanty along
about noon and found there was 9th
ers ahead of me. Yellow Wolf always
was popular cuss There was Char
lie Nightbird, Pete Monroe, Jesse Big
Cloud and two or three others whose
mugs | did not happen to be onto.
After our feed, we all strolled out to
the corral. yellow Wolf said he had
bought likely little bunch from some
English Teller who was skipping the
country-starved out and homesick-
and hadn't put EN- on the range yet.
He said j r was the English feller's
brand. | didn't suspicion no under
hand dealins. Yellow VOLTS always
treated me white before, so | bar
gained for this here chap and three or
four others and then pulled out for
home driving the bunch They fed at
home for spell and then | decided to
put EN- on the range On the way
fell in with Billy Brown here. He
was dead set on hayin the lot to fill in
the chinks of the two car loads he was
shippin', so up and let's him have
EN-. | showed him this here bill-o'-
sale from Yellow Wolf and made him
out one from me, and that was all
there was to it. He rode to Velpen
and / turned on my trail"
1t was a straight story, and appar-
emily damaging for the prosecution. 1t
corroborated the attestations of other
witnesses-many others. 1t had a
plausible ring to it. Two bills of sale
radiated atmospheric legality If there
had been dirty work it must have orig
inted with that renegade half-breed,
Yellow Wolf. And Yellow Wolf was
dead. He had died While serving
term in the penitentiary for cattle
rustling. Uncle Sam himself had set
the seal upon him-and now he was
dead. This insinuated charge he
could not answer. The finality of it
seemed to set its stamp upon the peo-
pie gathered there-upon the ~ good
men and true, as we'll as upon others
Yellow Wolf was dead George Will
liston was dead. Their secrets had
died with them. An inscrutable fate
had lowered the veil. Who could
pierce it, One might believe. but who
could know? And the law required
knowledge
We will call Charlie Nightbird,"
said Small. complacently
There was little waiting silence
GREATNESS, palpitating silence
is Charlie Nightbird present?'
asked Small. casting rather anxious
eyes over the packed, intent faces.
Charlie Nightbird was not present At
least he made no sign of coming for
I, ward The face of the young counsel
/ for the state was immobile during the
brief time they waited for Charlie
| Nightbird- whose dark, frozen face
at that moment turned toward the
cold, sparkling Sky, and who would
never come, not if they waited for
him till the last dread trump of the
last dread day.
There was some mistake Counsel
had been misinformed. Nightbird
was an important witness. He had
| been reported present. Never mind
He was probably unavoidably detained
by the storm. They would call Jesse
Big Cloud and others to corroborate
the defendants statements = which
they did, and the story was sustained
in all its parts, major and minor Then
the defense rested.
Richard Gordon arose from his
chair. His face was white. His lean
Jaws were set. His eyes We're steel.
He was anything but lover now. this
man Gordon. Yet the slim little court
reporter with dark circles of home
sickness under her eyes had never
loved him half SO we'll as at this mo-
ment. His voice was clear and de-
liberate.
Your honor. ! ask permission of
the court to call witness in direct
testimony. assure your honor that
the state had used all efforts in its
power to obtain the presence of this
witness before resting its case. but
had failed and believed at the time