Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1908-04-23


asked Gordon.
Jesse Black"
Small was on his feet again, gesticu-
lating wildly.
Il object! This is all q fabrication,
put in here to prejudice the minds Of
the jury against this defendant. 1t is
n pack OF lies, and I move that 1t be
stricken from the record"
The little lawyer bowed his head to
the storm and shrugged up his Shout
ders. Perhaps he wished that he, or
his associates-one Of the unholy al
lance at least--was where the wicked
cease from troubling, on the far-away
islands OF the deep seas. possibly, or
home on the farm. But his expression
told nothing.
Gentlemen. gentlemen" expostu-
lated Judge Dale. Gentlemen! / in
sist. This is all out of order" Only
one gentleman was out Of order, but
that was the judges way. Gordon had
remained provokingly cool under the
| TRADE.
Again the soft touch. Small fell
into his chair. He poured himself
glass of water from the pitcher stand
ing on the attorneys table and drank
| q little OF it nervously.
II move" said the little lawyer,
that all this touching upon the per-
sonal matter of this witness and hav-
ing to do with his private quarrels be
stricken out OF the evidence as not
bearing on the case IN question"
| All in vain. The judge ruled that It
! did bear on the case. and Williston
picked up the thread Of his story.
We rode and rode hard-it must
! have been hours; daylight was coming
before we stopped. our horses were
spent. had no idea where We were.
From the formation Of the land, I
Judged We were not far from the river.
We were surrounded BY bluffs. l can
hardly make you see how clearly this
little retreat had been planned. 1t
was in a valey-one Of hundred
similar in all essential respects. The
gulch at the bottom Of the valley was
heavily wooded with scrub-oak, cot
tonwood, woodbine and plum trees,
and this tangle Of foliage extended for
some distance up the sides OF the
hills. In the midst Of this under
brush--a most excellent screen-was
a tiny cabin. In this tiny cabin
have lived closely watched prisoner,
from that day until | escaped.
The defendant stirred a little uneas-
lily. Was he thinking of Nightbird
with the dark. frozen face-who had
not answered to his call?
BLACK left me soon after. He did
not unbind me, rather bound me the
tighter. There was no one then to
watch me. He deigned to inform me
that he had found 1t rather inconven-
lent to kill me after the relief party
rode up, as then there was no abso-
lutte surety Of his making clean get
away. and being caught in the act
would be bound to be unpleasant, very
unpleasant just then, so he had alter
ed his plans a llttle-for the present.
He gave me no hint either that time,
nor either OF the two times | saw him
subsequently, as - what was to be his
ultimate disposal Of me. | could only
suppose that after his trial was well
over in his favor, and fear OF indlct-
ment for arson and murder had blown
over-if blow over it did-he would
then quietly put an end to me. Dead
men tell no tales. The shanty in the
gulch did not seem to be much OF a
rendezvous for secret meetings. 1 led
lonely existence. My jailers We're
mostly alf-breeds-usually Charlie
Nightbird. TWO or three times Jake
Sanderson was my guard
Then from the doorway came a
loud, clear, resonant voice. a joyful
voice, a voice whose tones fairly oozed
rapture.
"Hellity damn. The Three Bars s
gettin busy, Mousehair!'
Judge Dale started. He glared
angrily in that direction.
Remove that man" he ordered
CURLY. He liked Jim. but he could
not brook this crying contempt OF
court. Jim was removed. He went
quietly. but shaking his head reproach
fully.
Il never would a thought it o the
jedge," he murmured, disconsolately
Il never would a thought it
There was movement in the back
OF the room man was making his
way out, slipping along, cat-like, try
ing to evade attention. Quietly Cor
don motioned to the sheriff and
slipped a paper into his hand,
Look sharp he whispered, his
steady eyes on the shifty ones of the
sheriff. IF you let him get away. just
remember the handwriting on the
wall. It's our turn now"
Presently there was slight scufle
by the door and two men quietly left
the improvised courtroom.
: Day before yesterday, in the after
noon continued Wiliston, Il man
, aged to knock Nightbird down at the
, threshold as he was about to enter.
had secretly worked a cross beam
from the low, unfinished ceiling. There
, was nothing else in the room | might
} use for a weapon. They were very
careful. ! think killed him. YOU
honor and gentlemen of the jury.
am not sorry. There was no Other
way. But would rather 1t had beer
, the maker. not the tool. BY the time
! had made my way back to the Lazy
s l was too exhausted to go further
, so | crawled over to my neighbors
the Whites, and Mother White made