Los Angeles herald., 1910-02-13
Continued from Page ~

1t arose, displaying the face of R.
Alonzo Struthers, black and swollen,
with chips sticgin' i'll it where he'd
hit the woodpile. He glared at Nor
row and his lips foamed like a crab
out of water.
lures.
when the kid seen me he says,
soft and weak, like something allied
his palate:
Don't let me kill him, Billy
"Struthers spit and picked splinters
forth from his complexion.
L told you for your own good. It's
common gossip says he. Everybody
is laughing at you, an
'Then 1 done leap for life for the
kid, cause the murder light blaZed up
white in his face, and he moved at
the man like he had something serious
in view.
"'Run, you idiot! I yells to Struth-
ers as I jammed the youngster back
into the cabin, All of sudden the
gas went out of him and he broke,
hanging to me like a baby.
at can't be-, he whispers. 1T can't
be- He throwed hisself onto a goods
box an buried his face in his hands,
an l went to the creek for pail o.
water.
81 never heard what Struthers said,
but it don't take no Nick Carter to
guess.
"That was the fall of the Fryin' Pan
strike-do you mind it? Shakespeare
George put us on, so me and the kid
got in ahead of the stampede. We
located one and two above discovery,
and by Christmas we had a streak
uncovered that was all gold. She was
coarse and we averaged six ounces a
day in pick-ups. Man, that was
va HoShpd aan6lp a1On o.
the drift face, where it looked like
gold had been shot in with a scatter
gun.
1--WE were cleaned up and had our
pokes' at the post when the first boat
from Dawson smoked round the bend.
"Now, in them days. mans aver
dupoise was his abstract of title. There
was nothing said about records and
patentees as long as you worked your
ground; but, likewise when you didn't
work it, somebody else usually did.
We had a thousand feet of as good
dirt as ever laid out in the rain but
there was men around drulin' to snipe
1t, and knowed it was risky to leave.
However l saw what was gnawin' at
the boy, and if ever a man needed a
friend and criminal lawyer, that was
the time. According to the zodiac,
certain persons, to the complainant un-
up, and l wanted to have the bail
money handy.
1--WE jumped camp together. I made
oration to the general gnat-bitten pop
ulace from the gangplank to the ef-
feet that one William P. Joyce, trap,
crap and snap shooter was due to
happen back casual most any time,
and any lady or gent desirous of wit
nessin', at first hand, a shutzenfest
with live targets, could be gratified by
infestin' in person or by proxy the
lands, tenements and hereditaments of
me and the kid.
"Well, we hit the Seattle docks at
a canter, him headed for the postal
telegraph, me for a fruit stand. 1
bought dollars worth of everything,
from crackerjack to cantaloupe re-
serving the local option of eatin' it
there in whole or in part, and return
ing for more.
"I ct and ct, and then wallered up
to the hotel, sweatin' different kind
of fruit Juice from every port. Not
wishing to play any favorites, I'd
picked up a basket of tomatoes,
gunnysack of pineapples and peck
of green plums on the way. Them
plums done the business. I'd orter let
bad enough alone.
Next day, when I come out of 1t,
Justus had heard from Denver. His
wife had been gone year, destination
unknown. Somebody thought she went
to California, so, two days later, we
registered at the Palace and the Frisco
police begin dreaming of five thousand
dollar rewards.
"It was no use, though, One day I
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