, 1921-10-15


"HE day was cruelty no. with IN
warranted gusts OF wind which
swept the red aust IN fierce ed
dies IN at one end of Main Street and
out at the other. and waitzed fantastic
ally acroEs the prairie When they had
passed. human beings opened their eyes
again to blink hcpeiessiy at the white
sun. and swore or gasped. a. their ma
ture moved them Their were very few
human beings In the streets, either IN
Houston Avenue. where there were
clearinghouse. or In the business
quarter on Main Street They we're all
at the new courthouse. and every one
possessed Of proper civic pride wal
either in the packed courtroom itself.
Or 1tnnding on the high steps outside.
or pacing h long. freshly kaisomined
corridors. whero there was shade and
less Dust It was an oventfui day IN
the history Of zepata City, The court
house had been long IN coming. the APP
preparation had been denied again and
again: but at last 81 stood n proud and
hidsous fact like a gray prison. tower
Ing above the bare. undecorated brick
stores and the frame houses on the
prairie around It. new. raw. and cheap,
from tho tin statue on the dome to the
'Nt~ 01 - at1G &hIaA
with tho sur. Piles OF lumber and
s~oaroidins and the lime beds the build.
ers had left stfn lay on the unsodded
square. n the bursts OF wind drove
the shavings cross Il. as they had done
since the arst day Of building. when
tho Hon Horntio Macon. who had
worked for the appropriation. had laid
the cornerstone and received the HON
age OF his constituents.
II seemed a particularly happy and
appropriate circumstance that the nrsi
business IN the new courtroom should
be Of itself Of an important and mo-
mentous nature. something thst dealt
not only with tho present but with the
past of zepnta, and that the trial OF &c
celebrated an individual as Abe Barrow
should open the court-house with ectat
as Emma Abbott, who had como all the
way from a Antonio to do IL. had
opened the new opcra-house the year
before. The District Attorney had said
It would not take very long to dispose
OF Burrows case, but he had promised
II would be an interesting II brief trial,
and tho courtroom was nlied sven TO
the open windows. where men eat
crowded together. with the ~perspira-
ton running down their faces. and the
rcd dust settling and turning white
upon their shoulders
Abe Barrow. the prisoner. had been
as closely associated with the early his
tory OF Zepata as Colonel Macon him
self, and was as widely known: he had
killed in his day several Of the zenata
oitzens. and two Visiting brother
dospcrndoes. and tho corner where his
gambling-house had stood was still
known rs Barrow's Corner, to the re-
greet OF the druggist who had opened n
shop there. Ten years before. the muir
der OF Deputy Sheriff Welsh had led
hiyz to tho -penitentiary. and a month
yrsvious to tho ,,pening Of the new
c0urt-house he had been freed. and
arrested nj the prison gate to stand
trial for the murder of Hubert Thomp-
son. The fight with Thompson had
been a fair hght-so those said who re-
membered it-ard Thompson was a
man they could well spare; but the
cnse against Barrow had been prepared
during his incarceration by the new
and youthful District Attorney. Judge"
Henry Harvey. and as It offered a ht-
ting sacrifice for the dedication Of the
new temple of Justice. tho people wero
satisfied and grateful
Tho courtroom was a bare Of n
ment as h cell from which the pris-
oner had just been taken. There was
an initiation walnut clock at the back
Of the Judges ir-eloth sofa, his re-
voiviuE chair. and his high desk. This
was tho only ornament Below was the
green table OF the District Attorney,
upon which rested his papers and law
books and his high hat. To one side sa,
the jury. r-anch-owners n prominen,
citizens, proud OF having TO serve on
this the irst day: and on tho other the
prisoner in his box. Around them
rows, crowded together on implanted
benches: hack Of them more citizens
standing and a Few awcd Mexicans; and
around all the whitewashed walls
Colonel John Stogart, OF Dallas. the
prisoners attorney. procured obviously
at great expense. nc ono knew by
whom, and Barrow's wife. q thin yel-
low-faced woman 1. n mean-ntting
snowy gown. sat among the local CO
iebrities at the District Attorneys
elbow. She was tho only m in the
room
Colonel Stogart's speech had been
good. The citizens were glad It had
been so good; It he'd kept up the gen
erai tone Of excellence, and II was well
that the pest lawyer of Dallas should
be present on this occasion. and that he
should have made what citizens OF
zcpata were proud to believe was one
of the efforts OF his life As they said,
n courthouse such as his n was not
open for business every day. It was
also proper that Judge Truax. who was