Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1912-08-10
THR InDGMRNT or con.
(By Dudley Graye)

Wy DhAANy RNHJNff
Nick Burley was the village sot I'M
married. unincumbered and possessed
Of an independent income, he indulged
himself In gaming until he went broke,
in drink until he went TO the dogs, and
In evil company until he went to the
gallows where God made bare his arm
to vlndicate and make a man Of him.
On a drlzzly night In autumn Nick
went to his uncle's store about an
hour before closing time to borrow
money TO pay debt Of honor" When
be mentioned the name Of his creditor
his uncle grew purple with lndigna-
ton and declared he would see them
Roth in torment before he would lend
n cent for such purpose. Nick stag
gered away applying himself TO his
bottle for comfort. In the wet night
outside he met a friend to whom he
Offered drink. The friend refused
the drink, but remembered the bottle,
which was a square pint flask, half
full OF dark red whlskey in which
7loated four or five thin strips of lem
on. About an hour later Nick's uncle
and another man passed Nick on a
corner near the Baptist church. Nick
was talking to the man to whom he
owed the money, striving to placate
him with promises full of wheedling
maudlin humility, The man was OBJ
durate in his demands With a nasty
oath he declare that Nick was a liar,
his father a liar, his mother a liar
and, TO be brief, his whole family con-
nectlon and ancestry unworthy OF
trust or credence.
Nick Strengthened up with pitlful
show OF drunken dignity. "Wha'sher
shay bout me shall ri'' he hiccough-
cd. "Bu'sher mustn't talk bout my
muzzher. III ge' my knife an cu'sher
heart in two for that"
The next morning a small boy found
the body of Nick's creditor lying in
shallow, red gulley near the town. A
knife protruded from his breast, and
the blade was In his heart Nearby
was square pint flask in which sew
eral strips of lemon floated In few
ounces OF dark red whiskey. The
knife was Nick Burley's. In the mud
about the body were footprints, and
these led TO the door Of the little one
roomed cabin where Nick slept Nick
lay across the bed in all his clothes in
the profound stupor Of drunkenness
His white shirt was stained with
blood, his shoes were caked with mud
Of the same color as that where the
body lay, and the mud was streaked
with blood The marshal removed
one of the shoes. II III exactly in the
tracks that led away from the body.
Burley came to his senses that night
in the town Jail, The next day the
magistrate committed him for trial
without bail, charged with murder in
the first degree,
There was talk of lynching; but
Burley protested his innocence. or
this his mother, an aged Methodist OF
the saintliest type, was first conylnc-
ed. Her outspoken conviction con-
vince others. Still others came TO
hope for the sons acQuittal through
sympathy for the mother. The great
er number believed that Burley had
committed the crime, TO which his
mind had been stirred by the insult to
his mother while drunk and uncon-
scions OF hls dreadful act
Burley's lawyer projected the de-
fense along this line. II the man was
unconscious OF his act, was he really
guiltyg The district attorney piled up
the evidence. The bottle picked up in
the gulley was iteniifled by the man
60 whom Nick had offered a drink, a
score Of men swore that the knife
found in the heart Of the murdered
man belonged to Burley, Burley ad-
mittod II himself His uncle reluctant
ly testified TO the threat he had over
heard, Then there we're the shoes,
The argument based on Nlck's cond.
iion was met with the declaration
that we're II allowed, any man who
wished to commit murder might get
drunk and do so with impunity The
Judge re-emphasized this in his
amnrunllraIlrunallar-luIn