The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1913-06-03
Dandy Jim
BY ALICE cHEEvER

Dandy Jim, as he was called from
the fact that he was occasionally seer
wearing a boiled shirt. was very
good man. but he had very bad luck
He was walking on a trail in the
Rocky mountains from prospecting
tour to Denver and was feeling very
happy because he had dug up some
quartz that he believed to be valuable
and was going down to the city to
have II assayed.
Besides a pocketful Of nuggets, Jim
had considerable dust about him. and
be made up his mind that as soon as
he reached the stage road he would
But before he got there he met man
on an iron gray horse. ana the idea oc-
Cured to him that he would buy the
animal and ride TO Denver.
want to sell that critter?" he asked
the rider.
What you want to give for himT
Twenty dollars in dust" Jim Of
fered that to start trade. He
thought the horse worth three or four
times that amount.
''Donep' said the man, nimbly leap
ing Off the horse.
Jim looked his beast over and could
not find anything the matter with him,
SO he mounted and continued his Jour-
ney. He hadn't gone more than a
mile before he was surrounded by a
dozen men, each man pointing a re-
volver at him and calling on him to
surrender.
cit Off my horsem said one OF the
men.
Well. to make long story short. Jim
had paid for stolen horse But it
didn't avail anything for him to tell
how he came by 1t. for he was not
known to any of the party. and what
he said was considered a very thin
story. He was taken down the noun
tain to town where the owner Of the
horse and the rest of the party lived to
be dealt with, lie not according to law,
at least to be tried before Judge Lynch. |
Dandy Jim was a good looking chap
and not over twenty-five years old. He
was confined In a room in the house
of the owner of the stolen horse, and |
a young girl hanging up clothes in the
garden saw him standing at the win
dow looking melancholy and hand
some Either of these features in a
man is enough to win a girls heart.
and the two together are irresistible.
How this young woman. who was
the niece of the owner of the house
and was called Mag. made the ac-
quaintance of Dandy Jim was consid-
cred mystery by the simple people
Of the town. though it is easily ac-
counted for on the theory of "love
laughs at locksmiths." Be this as II :;
may. she had a conference with him ,
unknown to any one and set her wits
to work to free him from his sad con.
iition. Jim was to be given fair
rial before Judge Lynch the next Z
which meant that he would !
,e swung Off by noon.
That night Mag made second theft
# the horse-though she put him back {
n the stable before any one knew Of 4
IFS having been taken-and rode five
niles to the sheriff Of the county and c
legged him to interfere In the illegal t
rial and hanging that were to take +
lace the next morning. Mays mott n
cation was not official, and the sher- n
T was not disposed to save the necks a
Z horse thieves unless compelled to do :
0 officially. When Mag failed in this !,
be begged the sheriff to give her an .,
rider for the body of Dandy Jim, and h
he sheriff to get rid of her granted her 81
squest. The officer was not an edu II
ated man and asked Mag to write ii