The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1912-05-22
TALE OF THE OLD
TIMES IN TEXAS
continued from First Page1

CONTINUED from First Page)
words. an he reached back"
/ grunt from the sheriff was the /
only answer He had heard that story |
/ told so often in these shooting scrapes |
/ that he was prepared for ii. It is |
phrase that bobs up eternally in shoot |
/ ing cases, and, with witnesses TO sub |
staniate it, il means "justifiable homi- |
eide in the eyes OF the majority OF
juries in the gun toating districts
H And it was thus that Emmett Foster
died and his murderer was arrested
Il When the pockets Of the fallen man
were searched, il was found that they
contained no weapon OF any kind But
he had reached back"-so Dune Smith
4 said. which was taken TO prove appar-
ent danger for Smith and SO Foster
had been sent crashing to meet his
Maker. For this is Texas justice.
Every week the red handed are being
turned loose that same terrific plea.
Il And it was that when Emmett
| Fosters body was carried out to the
i hill to be laid to rest, Dune Smith
stood on the corner watching the sad
/ little procession go by, and smiled, as
bad men smile. He had been turned
loose within four hours of the time
of his arrest, Immediately upon having
bond signed-for this is Texas law.
II
H When Emmett Foster had been laid
away and the little crowd of friends
that had gathered to remove their hats
and listen to the preacher speak the
last words of religion over the remains
Of the departed, the widow and little
son of the dead man made their way
back in silence to their sorrowful
home While Mrs. Foster had grieved
fearfully over this terrible sorrow, it
was grief that was not permitted to
have outward sway, for such was not
her nature. A few hot tears were all
that she was seen to shed. She in
dulged in no Mysteries. Her boy, just
fourteen years old. wept his heart out
for a day and the man who had been
both father and pal At the grave
side the mind of Mrs. Foster had been
made up; she had arrived at a purpose
and it was not her way to postpone
| the issue She looked at the face of
her dead husband, at her grief-stricken
son, and there was no faltering from
that time.
When they entered their home they
refused all company and for the next
hour, with her boy at her knee his
eyes brave and steady, she unfolded
the plan she had adopted at the grave
side, and he accepted it as the voice
OF MISUNDERSTANDING not the wis
dom of its directions.
| News travels slowly IN the country
districts. but it covers its ground well.
and what one person tells all others
will know if it is of sufficient interest
TO deserve the repetition
And so the country side came to
know. within a few months of the
death of Emmett Foster, that young
Luke Foster, only son of the deceased,
was the owner Of double barreled
shotgun that had been his fathers
:, pride, and that he was being steadily
and constantly coached in its use And
the story went that it was not rabbits
and birds that he practiced on, but
that he shot at tagets Of his own de-
vising, and that these targets We're
most unusually like the shape of the
body of a man.
This news went the rounds in mighty
short time and six months after the
death of Emmett Foster, every man
and woman in the country round knew
that the widow Of Emmett Foster was
training young Luke Foster to use a
shotgun 1t was the world-old story of
An eye for an eye, and a tooth for
a tooth" and the Widow Foster was
silently waiting for the day when her
boy would wipe out the blood debt.
Naturally this story came to the
ears of the gun man, Dune Smith.
Strange as it may seem, there are al
ways a dozen who will carry news to
a bad man where there is not one who
will do the same for a valuable citi-
zen. Dune Smith laughed a the story,
but it was noticed that there was little
mirth in the laugh. 4 fifteen-year-
old boy did not look formidable to a
man with several notches on his gun,
and noted for his speed and accuracy
with a pistol. Still, 1t secretly troubled
him. He feared no possible prowess
of the boy, but he did fear the spirit
of the Widow Foster Being a moral
z coward, but physically brave, as most
gun men are. the idea of a gun oppo-
nent was not dreadful in the least,
, even though that opponent might be
ever so formidable. 1t was the idea
of that lonely woman, sitting silently
in her little home and waiting for her
I boy to clean the slate, that secretly
chilled him. he would not have con-
I fessed it to his friends, but it was
obvious to himself. and bothered him
, more than he cared to own
The Widow Foster was in no hurry
She kept her boy at his practice, and
kept him always near her. while month
! after month slipped by.
1t was just a year after the death of
Emmett Foster, and the neigh borhood
had practically forgotten the occur
renee in the light Of more recent vfo-
lent affairs in which the As played its
usual prominent part. when affairs in
the lives of the principals of this story
reached a sudden focus. Turning a
corner in the village day, the
Widow Foster collided with a man
coming the opposite way. and as she
reeled and he reached out to catch her,
she saw it was Dune Smith She
caught her balance and struck up his
hand like a tigeress. He tried to meet
her eve, failed and went hurriedly on
his way. mounted his horse and rode
> home.
That evening word was brought to
him that half an nour after the col
Ilision on the street corner young Luke
Foster. astride a big family horse and
carrying a double barreled shotgun.
had ridden furously through all the
village. peering into every public
place. and openly hunting someone
Who that some one was no one asked
but every one knew.
Then Dune Smith knew that the time