Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1917-08-03
The Horse Thief F.
Cir!
By DONALD CHAMBERllN


The human heart beats much the
same among the good and the evil
This is story Of girl, rough, un.
couth, but an outlaw among outlaws,
who made a sacrifice which, though
in a bad cause, should entitle her to
the name of heroine.
When the state of Colorado was a
wild country, filed with wild people,
man there was who, starting under
the title of road agent, degenerated to
the condition Of common horse thief.
Human laws may be inherited, but
they do not originate by accident. In
new country q horse or q mule is
an absolute essential. Consequently
one who steals horse is given the
greatest Of all punishments. While a
man may deliberately shoot down an
other in the street or over card ta-
BILE and not be called to an account,
the man who steals horse is strung
up to tree by the neck.
Ryan was the only name known for
this person who had slid down so far
in the scale of crime. He had become
such thorn in the side of the settlers
Of the region he worked that they de-
cided to drop everything else to run
him down. It was long chase, but
at last they got him in a gulch the
sides Of which were unscalable. The
mouth Of the gulch was guarded by
the committee. If there was any
egress they did not know it. There
was an outlet for good climber near
the upper end of the gulch, but in or
der to escape by that route the fugi-
tive would have to expose his body to
the fire of any one in the center of the
gulch. r
While the settlers were laying their
plans for the capture they We're ap-
preached by the girl who has been
mentioned above. -,
"Air y lookin' fer Ryan," she asked.
Since she might be interested in
Ryan's safety, she received no positive
reply.
Zoos If y. air reckon I can help y
locate him. Look a-here!'' -.-.
She pulled up the sleeve of her cali
co dress and showed some shocking
marks on her arm: then she lowered it
at the back Of the neck and showed
more of them.
Ryan give me these" she said in
bitter tone.
care you his wife?''
'I'm his gal. He came to our house
onct when a posse was chasin' him.
hid him, and when he went away 1
went with him. And these scars air
what got fer what 1 done fer him.
Do y wonder l want to turn him in ?"
The men Of the committee looked at
one another. This might be case of
a girl who had saved desperate from
death, had trusted herself to him and
had received the reward that might
have been expected from a hardened
criminal. That she should desire re-
venge was not remarkable.
"Well, what do you propose?" said
the leader of the committee.
''See that rock up there?
'"The one next the big treey'
eyes. He's goin' to hide till after
dark and then climb up there and git
away. He's hidin' up near the head of
the gulch. I'll go and tell him that
y're comm up to take him. That'll
scare him so that he'll try to git over
the rock by day. Y kin shoot him
when he's between y and the skyline"
The committee held a consultation.
Some declined to trust the girl; some
did not like giving up hanging the
man instead of shooting him. But
they all wished to be through with the
job and get back home. So they told
the girl she might go ahead and tell
Ryan the story. They would be ready
to pick him off as soon as they got a
clear view of him.
She went off up the gulch muttering
maledictions on the man who had re.
turned evil for good. The men took
position where they could get good
view Of the rock and any one who at:
tempted to climb it. There they wait
ed, some one of their number keeping
watch and his gun cooked ready for
the execution.
About an hour after the girl had left
them they saw the figure of man
slowly climbing the rock. But it was
indistinct and the man on guard pre-
ferred to wait till it passed over the
upper edge Of the rock when it would
be between him and the light. Just
as it landed on the summit it turned,
looked down into the gulch and threw
a kiss at some one there. The man Of
the committee who held his rifle to his
shoulder fired, but the weapon was
knocked up by one of the committee
and the shot went skyward.
"It's the gall! exclaimed the man
who had interfered.
'You gol burned fool, you've let the
rascal escape. What makes you think
it was the gal?"