The daily Alaskan., 1914-01-06
William Tnpps
 Old Mother By M. QUAD Copyright, 1913, by Associated Lit erary Press.
By M. QUAD

William was wicked.
 When pick out one man from mining camp made up of 300 run aways, debt jumpers, cutthroats, gam blers, horse thieves and murderers and call him wicked I mean for the reader to infer that he was right up and down bad.
 Which was exactly the case with William Tripp
 Wicked! We'll he was that! Such a swearer as William was! He would begin as soon as his eyes were open in the morning and keep up steady fire until 10 o'clock at night. And he was cheat and liar.
 You wonder that we didn't run him out or hang him.
 We'll. somehow we always intended to. but always put it off to a more convenient date. The success Of i bouncing man depends good deal on who the man is. On our first gen tie hint to William Tripp that unless be was packed up and out of camp in- SiGe of thirty minutes his anatomy would be riddled with bullets he pro | duced a couple of revolyerS. backed up against the Red Eye saloon and calm Iy observed that he was aching for a l little excitement. I think his actions at that particular time had something to do witt our giving him the rope and seeking to get along with his ec- centric traits of character.
 "I move" said Elder Beacon one night when we were talking about Williams had ways. "that the com mittee get the drop on him and then run him into the hills
 Just so. but who were the commit tee? That was another point we could never satisfactorily determine, and that was another reason why William con tinued tU abide with us.
 Shoot? Well. you never saw such an eye and such nerve. Just as far as he could see the bowl of a pipe in a mans mouth he could smash it with bullet. Almost every hat in camp had an air hole made by one of his bullets. and. though was prejudiced against Will liam. l had to admit that he respected mems heads in shooting at their hats.
 But there came a L1lt in William Trips mad career. and it happened in a Cuee- way. A fire in his tent one night burned up a lot of his traps, and he had to make a ride of thirty miles on Colonel Cooper's old mare to replace them with new. The morning he rode ont of camp was the last time we saw him. but We heard from a dozen diff ferent ones just what happened. About twelve miles from our camp was the Overland trail, and just where our own trail struck in was a pretty little val ley with plenty Of water and wood It was f0vorite camping spot with i'm migrants. and the day William Tripp reached it he found half a dozen wag- ons and as many families halted for a breathing spell
 The deyiltry iD Williams nature buO- 1 bled over when he struck Chat valley
  | Children were playing around. women were washing and mendinC. and the | brawny men were repairing wagons and harness and whistIing over their work. William drew rein and gazed uDon the scene for a few minutes, | Then he out with his revolver Seated before one of the fires was an old wO- man with her knitting in hand and a pine in her mouth. It was long shot, but the evil one urged William to try l it. and try he did.
 1 What happened?
 Something even worse than murder The bullet went straight for the old womau's head and crashed into her 1 brain Then something awful follow ed. Size rose to her feet. whirled around to face the shooter, and true as you live she seemed to look at him 1 for thirty seconds before she tottered | forward and Shrckpd out:
 civilian, Oh. my son William!'
 Then she pitched forward on the grass and was dead iH 3 second. and ] the red blood ooZed out and made a l terrible stain on the green grass.
 And WilIiam-what did he do? He was like oue turned to stone. The old woman's words plainly reached his | ears. and he must have recognized her face. In the awful moment in which he sat gazing at the corpse on the grass it must have flashed across him that his poor mother had made that long journey with neighhors for no other purpose than to hunt him up-he the boy who had left her years ago 1 md had been the subject of her night ly prayers ever since. Wicked as he was he must have felt her devotion | and sacrifices.
 And then?
 He sat there in his saddle, his eyes fastened on bis mothers corpse, and