Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1915-09-07

ting rid of Arkansaw Bill. It was
moved that in case any one put q hole
In him the fine should be RENTED.
The motion was carried, but since any
one bent on putting hole In the des-
perado was liable to get hole In him
self the remission Of the fine did not |
especially improve matters. No one
seemed inclined to tackle him. An |
drew bunker proposed simultaneous
attack upon the enemy, agreeing to
fire the first shot But his proposition |
did not meet with favor; one or more |
lives Of good citizens were liable to be
paid for that Of a villain. It was con-
sidered advisable that some stratagem
should be devised by which he could
be eliminated without fine.
In the first place no one was suf1-
ciently inventive to produce such a
stratagem. and In the second the con-
sensus Of opinion was In favor Of a
fair fight even If it was desirable to
eliminate one Of the combatants. 1t
was finally proposed by Mr.. Hunker
that each man tackle Arkansaw Bill
until some one Of them downed him.
This proposition meeting with favor,
Mr.. Hunker offered himself az the first
victim. 1t is to the credit Of the 9TH
ers that they declined to accept his
offer, averring that lots should be
drawn to determine who should be
first, second, third. and 50 on till the
six members of the committee each
had a place In the proceedings.
Six numbers were written on as
many bits Of paper. from one to six in
elusive, and placed in hat. Then the
men successfully put hand In the
hat and drew a number. He who
drew No. was Abe Billings, man
with q wife and four children. Hun
ker begged to be permitted to change
numbers with him, but Billings would
not consent, and the meeting. each
man having promised secrecy, broke
up. Billings was to choose his own
time for doing the job and was not re-
quired to give any notice to any one.
In case he was killed in the attempt
he was to make. the man who had
drawn No. 2 was to make another, and
so on till Arkansaw Bill or the six men
shout. be eliminated.
Twenty-four hours passed, and both
Abe and Bill still lived. During the
second night after the lots had been
drawn several shots In quick success
sion were heard coming from the d.
rection of the quarters occupied by
the desperate. Every man Of the COM
mittee believed that Bill or Abe-per-
haps both-had bitten the dust. Every
one Of them got out Of bed and hurried
to the scene Of the fray. Abe's cabin
was lighted. His children were run
ming about in their nightgowns, but
neither their father nor mother was
visible.
One by one the committee as 1t
passed Abe's quarters asked the chill
dren what had happened, but getting
no coherent response hurried on toward
Arkansaw Bills cabin. They met Mrs.
Billings coming away. Asked what
had occasioned the firing. for reply she
turned and led them to Bills house.
There In the doorway lay body. Some
one struck match, held 1t to the
mans face and lighted up Bills ashen
features.
"Who did itT' asked Hunken.
II did it." replied Mrs. Billings calm
". II called him to the door and shot
| him."
where's Abew
Again for reply she turned and led
them this time to her own home. Co
ing to a door that opened to the cellar
she unlocked 1t and Abe came forth as
much wonder stricken as the others.
what have you been up tor he
asked his wife angrily.
ave saved you from being muir
dered."
Then all saw that she had rid the
place Of Its incubus without danger to
herself or any one else. Each and
every man grasped her hand and exon
Grated her from blame.
The orphan asylum was never built,
for It was not needed. The lot and the
material that had been purchased were
used for church, which helped amaz-
ingly in the civilization Of the town.
Deadshot has long since become one Of
the most thriving and cultured cities In
the west. 1t is no longer called Dead
shot. The name has been changed In
honor Of the woman who rendered the
orphan asylum unnecessary.
Ben Franklin's Chain
In his old age Benjamin Franklin's
health failed him to considerable ex-
tent. He suffered from govt and the
stone, which, with complications,
eventually carried him of. But he was
always exceedingly cheerful, even
when suffering. and, as one Of his
friends has recorded, full Of anecdotes
and learning" Even at this time In
his life he added to the already extern
sive list Of his inventions. continuing
among other things most curious
chair which, when desired. could be
converted into a stepladder for the
purpose Of reaching the higher shelves
In a library. AS far as known. only
one Of these chairs was ever actually
constructed for his own particular use.
and this Is owned at present by the
Philosophical society Of Philadelphia.