The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1921-10-07

Jaw, shet upl Ye can tell 1t at the
trial." growled old Ball. Then to his
kinsmen.
wen hold Dale right here, boys,
ontel the shuriff he's sent after comes.
And Wen not move Adam, which same
Is accordin' to law. / reckon Shuriff |
Tom Flowers'll find different job |
from what he expected to find; won't |
he, boys? Say, wisht one o. you |
fellers'd 81 me a good, big ehaw o
| tobacker. Be burned eff don't. Adams |
death, It has made me feel sort O.
bad, by comics, and tobacker's allus
a consolation
"Bill Dale, you hain't got a chaw o.
tobacker on ye, have ye-bought to-
hacker, store tobacker7 It's a burned
sight better'n homemade, says. Ye
say We don't chewl Chew-h-ll
Whyn't ye say 'chaw,' like mani I
allus knowed We wasn't no count, no
how. Nobody at don't chaw tobacker
amt no count. - All right, Jim
Ike" to his nephew, ''Pll take chaw
O. yores, then. And I'll take topably
big chaw, Jim Ike, cause Adams
death has made me feel sort o. bad,
and tobacker's allus consolation"
The sounds of the shooting had car
ried far, and 1t wasn't long until the
scene Of the tragedy was crowded with
Balls and Torreys, Littlefords and
Morelands. Major Bradley and Hayes,
too, were there. Every man Of them
was armed; very little thing might
easily turn the place into shambles.
The major saw this, and he was
afraid. He drew the leaders Of the
Morelands and the Littlefords aside,
and finally prevailed upon them to do
their utmost toward keeping peace un-
, til the coming of the sheriff.
At first John Moreland and Ben Lit
tleford were for taking Bill Dale from
the Balls and Torreys who guarded
him. If they had to depopulate the
whole Ball settlement, Jerusalem Cove
and Hatton's He'll to accomplish IT.!
Happily, the majors counsel prevailed.
Sheriff Tom Flowers was tall and
t 1.-The smooth-faced man. He arrived
d with Luke Moreland at noon, after
! hours of hard riding. He saw the high
i tension, and Immediately steeled him.
g self to handle the situation. After
I; riding straight to the center Of the
/. gathering and there hating his horse
d he said evenly:
"In order that may know who to
!, arrest, must know something Of the
circumstances. Only one man must
7. speak at time. No playing bad with
= me; and remember that, gentlemen
Til certainly drop the fellow who
s starts playing boss with me, il it's the
n last move make on earth. Now some
: body gently use his powers Of speech
T. Major Bradley, more soldierlike thar
ever, went forward. "As the attorne!
of Mr.. Dale, who stands accused o.
$ killing Adam Ball." he said to the Of
ficer, ~ beg leave to state that m,
client will do no talking at present
Dale understood, and he did no
open his mouth.
But old Ball had something to say
and he proceeded to say it:
/, "He killed my son, ADAM" pointing
to Dale, Gin cold blood. Me and abou
dozen O. my kin was on our wa,
Il over Long ridge to look at bee tree
y when we heered three pistol shots. w
81 was right up thar" pointing to tn
VI northward, "and we come a-runniI
III over here to see, by comics, what wa
ri the matter. Well, by comics, we foun,
~ Bill Dale shar down on his knee
"a aside O. my son, Adam, who was a
vi dead as hi or deader; and Bill Dial
al was a-sobbin' and a-sobbin' about i
II And eff he never killed my son Adam
81 what was he a-sobbin' and a-sobbiI
n about, / ak you that7 And my so
II Adam, he had rifle, by comics, bu
he never shot none at all. He wa
II with us up to few minutes before, an
u he hadn't shot none all mornin
Nj Shurifr Flowers. wisht ye'd gr me
4 good, big chaw o. tobacker, by goI
81 MES, cause my son Adam his deaf
"a it has made me feel bad"
IN Major Bradley stopped caressing hi
gM well-kept gray imperial, walked over
"a the dead mans rifle, picked 1t up an
" put its muzzle to his nose. He scente
fresh powder-smoke. Then he face
u old Ball with strange. hard glitte
In his blue eyes.
In "You are a liar, sir" he said with
e. peculiar politeness.
n A stir ran quickly over the Bal
I'M and Torreys. Sheriff Flowers calle
he out:
INF "Quiet, there r. and there was quie
all He continued: where Is MFR. Dale
ar revolver
The Balls had 1t. They produced
II 1t had three empty chambers whe
IL should have had but onel
"Pass 1t tome butt first" ordere
ok the laws representative. He kne
that many man had been shot viii
rs taking a revolver parrei nrst, and