The Washington herald., 1913-07-06

Corrigan became the central unit Of Q mass
Of men eager to lay their hands upon him In
two minutes the men were waiting. with Cor.
rigan stretched out on the floor in front Of them.
Slowly, piece by piece Billy emptied his
pack Of meat. Not until every drop of blood In
his body had thrilled ut the sight Of their tor.
ment did he speak.
"Boys, you drove me out to die" he said
then, "and not q man among you with the
exception Of Reedon and MacTeevish offered me
q bite to go on, or a grip OF the hand to cheer
me in the fight. So you know that you can
expect nothing from me unless you pay for II.
I've got meat--so much OF 1t that it'll give each
of you pound day for weeks. It's hidden
where you couldn't find II In q thousand years.
If you don't accept my terms you can kill me,
and take this; but you will be starving again
tomorrow. There is one price for oil Of YOU
except Corrigan. / won't hold you up as ]
should, for there is still left in me q little OF
that something call love OF my fellow men.
But you've got to pay. My price Is n hundred
dollars a pound-in gold"
a 'It's cheap at TINT ~ cried a husky voice.
and man half dead staggered forth. my God.
give It to us--and give II 10 us quick" rr
'You others-do you accept the price?" de-
manded Billy.
ROAR of assent drowned his voice. The line
- of men rolled forward, but Billy sprang
in front of them and stood over Corrigan, his
hand raised. 70"
It's worth more TO me than oil the gold you've
got. You haven't forgotten what ] told Cor.
rigan-that the day would come when he'd pay
me back pound for pound In flesh and blood
for the death of Kazan. Pound for poundi Do
you understand? And in flesh and bloodi Do
you understand? And he's going tor you
starve, all Of you. ] know that Corrignn killed
Emmett. He killed another man before Emmett.
And he killed Kaznn I have figured II oil out
carefully. men, and I am giving Corrigan the
benefit Of doubt. believe that Kazan weighed
forty pounds, half starved. I am calling It
thirty. In that corner over there you're going
to build cage for Corrigan. You're going to
put him In It. like an animal He's going to
have just enough meat TO keep him alive. Day
his own flesh and blood he has paid me back
that thirty pounds Of gold weighed up to the
ounce on Reedon's camp scale. Then Corrigan
Is going to balance the beam. stark naked After
that you're going to take Off the gold, and when
more the beam swings even, with Corrigan
on his end. he has paid the price. And when he
has paid III tell you where the meat Is, and
there'll be five thousand pounds for you-free for
the taking. Now--all together! Does II go?"
Again q storm Of wolfsh voices filled the
room.
Billy waited moment longer
Freedom and MacTeevish- you're pardners"
he called. There's no price on the meat for
you. You're pardners with quarter interest
between you in the profits. SO come over and
lend me a hand Somebody bring the scales
two of themw
On his knees Billy weighed out the meat
slicing It down to the quarter ounce; and at
his side, on another scale, Reedon weighed out
the gold
IN the corner they built a cage for Corri.
gan. 1t was done when Billy came back the
next night with his second load of meat He
turned over the weighing-out Of the pack to
Reedon and MacTeevsh and went up to the
cage. None heard what he said, or saw what
he did, for all were crowded round the meat
pack. From his pocket he drew a bit of meat
as large as his three fingers and thrust It
through the bars of the cage on the end of his
knife.
Hello, Corrigan," he tainted softly Heres
your support"
He tossed the meat at CorriUansa feet