The Ordway new era., 1908-02-28
bloodshed was not lacking in tn.

hu. II there was aught of hatred or
ea"i'y IN the heavy air OF the impro.
,'sea courtroom for others be ...des
the high'minded counsel for law and
order Mary Williston seemed serene.
unconscious OF 1t. She held her
nead proudly. Most OF these men she
Knew She had done mans work
among them for two years and more.
III her mans work of riding the ran.
ses she had hal good fellowship with
many OF them. After to-day much of
'''s must end. Much blame would ac.
crne to her father for this DAVIS work
among friends as well as enemies. for
the Iear OF the law.defiers was an
omhi'present fear with the small own.
cr' stalking abroad by day and by
hisht. But Mary was glad and there
was new dignity about her that he.
came her well. and that grew out of
this great call to rally to the things
that count.
AT the far end OF the room they
found the Justice of the peace en-.
throhed behind long table. His hon
or Mr.. James II. McAllister, more
commonly known as Jimmie Mac. was
ranchman on small scale. He
was ignorant. bur of an overweening
conceit. He had been a justice of the
peace for several years and labored
under the mistaken impression that
he knew law: but Gordon. on short ac.
quaintancc. had dubbed him old Ne.
cessi'y, In despairing irony. after a
certain high light of early territorial
days who knew no law"
The prisoner was brought in. His
was familiar personality. He was
known to most men west of the river
If not by personal acquaintance, Ger.
tanly by hearsay.
Then came the first great surprise
OF this affair of many surprises. Jesse
Black waived examination. II came
like II thunderbolt to the prosecution.
II WAS not Blacks way OF doing bust.
ness. and II was generally believed
that. as Munson had so forcibIy
though inclegantly expressed 1t to
Billy Brown. He would fight like
hell to keep out of the circuit courts.
He would kill this incipient Nemesis
In the bud. What. then. had changed
him? The county attorney had rath.
or looked for "A hard.fought defence
shifting Of the burden of RESPONSE.
bility for the misbranding to another.
who would. oi course, be OFF some
whore ON II business trip. to he absent
an indefinite length of time: or It
might be he would try to make good n
trumped-up story that he had but late.
ly purchased The animal from some
Indiana cnltlc.Owncr from up countrs
who claimed to have n bill.ofsale from
l.angfOrd. lie would not have been
taken aback had Black calmly pro.
duccd n b!l-nf-salc.
The absouicncss of the surprise
flushed his cican.shaven face a little,
although his grave immobility of ey.
preston underwent not Il flicker. II
was a surprise. but II was good
surprise. Jesse Black was bound over
under good and sufficient bond to ap.
pear at tn" neXt regular term Of the
circuit court in December. That much
accomplished. now he could buckle
down for the big fight. How often had
D''ii III llt SHlltlHD
sands Of the really remarkable decis.
ions of Old Necessity" and his kind
This time. as by miracle. he had es.
capped sands and shoals and sunken
rocks and rode in deep water.
y wave of enlightenment swept over
lin Munson.
Boss" he whispered. that gal re-
portcr's Il hummer
How so?" whispered Langford.
amused. He proceeded to take an In.
tcrestcd. II has:y. inventory of her
charms. What IA petite little person.
age. to he sure. Almost too colorless.
though. Why. Jim. she cant hold Il
tallow candle to Williston's girl
Who said she could?' demanded
Jim. with fine scorn and much re-
licvc,: to find the boss so unapprecia-
tive. Eden might not be lost to them
after all. Strict justice made him
add: "l'ut she's wise one. Spotted
them blamed meddlin' hoss thieves
right trom the word 20. Yep. That's
a fac
What blamed mcddlin' hoss
thieves. lin? You are on intimate
terms with so many gentlemen o. that
stripc-at least your language so leads
us to presume-that | can't keep up
with the procession"
AT the bridge yistidy. ! told you
bout it. Saw 'em first at the Bon
Amy-but they must a trailed me to
the stockyards. She spotted 'em right
away. She's u cute'n. Made me shet
nv mouth when ! was blabbin too
much Jest before the fun began. Oh.
she's a cuten."
who were they, JIM
"One of 'en. I'm thinkin. was
lake Sanderson, II red-headed devil
who came up here from hell. reckon,
or Wyoming one of the two. Nobody
knows his biz. But he'll look like