Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1922-06-29

Balls futhef nllnSelt furnished most
OF the evidence also he acted as
prosecuting attorney. OF course there
was no counsel for the defense, and
II wouldn't have helped II Dale had
had a proverblal Philadelphia lawyer
on the grounds; all the proof and elo-
Quence and pleading in the world never
would have changed. in the slightest de-
gree. the sentence that had been cut and
dried for Bill Dale. The mock trial
was being held solely because the
Balls and Torreys felt that by hold
ing It they were insulting the majesty
of the law and making their ven
geance sweeter. 1t became worse than
q trayesty.
Night fell during the wordy and
profane harangue of the Ball leader,
and 1t was ordered that fire be built
at once. At once fire was built, dry
bruShwoOd being used, and in its red
and pickering glare the faces of the
hnlmen looked doubly dark and doubly
wicked. Then the judge begged a
chew OF tobacco and deliberately kept
the whole twist, and told the jury TO
go out and bring back a verdict with
out losing time.
The twelve mountaineers rose I'M
steadily and went TO the creek, and
there one OF them uncovered another
jug Of fiery new whisky that was alien
10 revenue stamp. They drank
heavily and returned TO the walnut
tree court without mentioning the
trial.
The foreman was Torrey and
particularly bad one. His swarthy
face, with its high Cherokee cheek
bones and its thin-lipped mouth. was
ultra-cruel, ultra-viclous. He entered
the circle of red and pickering freight
slowly, smiling evilly, and the other
eleven crowded up close behind him.
He cleared his throat. spat between
two fingers at the fire, and turned to
the Judge
Gentlemen o. the jury" growled
the ruling Ball, "have ye reached a
verdict"
1--WE have, yore honor" very prompt
ly answered the Torrey who was fore
man. And we ha' found the pris'ner
guilty O. the wust kind o coldblooded,
premedltated mudder in the fust de-
gree, yOre honor"
Old Ball leveled q knotty foref1nger
toward Bill Dale.
go the KILN o. my son ADAM"
he pronounced sentence, you sh'l
hxv no oil n
limb o. this here warnut tree, by gon-
MES. at sunrise In the mornin'."
Although he had we'll known what
the sentence would be, Dale went sud-
denly ashen. Then he took q firm
grip on himself and began TO reason.
He could not hope, he decided, that
the Morelands and the Littlefords
would find him before the sun rose.
They would miss him, of course, and
they would suspect foul play and look
for him; but finding him in that Wild
erness-it was impossible. 1t became
plain TO him that he would have to
save himself If he were saved. He
believed his best chance lay In his
proving that he was anything but a
coward; the worst mountaineer, he
knew, admired a brave man.
SO he turned slightly toward the
self-appointed Judge and asked calm
y:
as there anything really game
about your"
"Shore. by gonnies" quickly. I'm
all game. I'm the Teller at showed
Wildcats how TO fight. What about
III"
"Ill see II you're all game" Dale
said, and he smiled when he spoke.
I'm make you this proposition: III
fight any ten of you, two ut a time,
with five minutes rest between fights;
If whip them all / go free, and IL
] don't whip them all / hang immedi-
ately. All parties 10 be barehanded,
no guns and no knives. Are you that
gamer"
Ordinarily, II would have been a
thing we'll nigh impossible to do. much
as Dale knew OF the pugilistic ART
great as was his strength and endur.
ance. But now most of those about
Dale were drunk and therefore weak
ened, and he believed he had a chance
II old Ball accepted.
But Judge Ball didn't accept. Doubt
less he remembered his son Adams
fight with Dale.
The CANT be no fghtin' in COTE
he said. you sh'll hang by the neck
ontel dead, at sunrise In the mornin'."
There was a humble Of approva.
from the others. Doubtless they, too,
remembered that the young man whom
they held a captive had once whipped
Black Adam Ball, the mountaineer
Goliath, with his bare hands. They
did not have the one good trait that
Dale had hoped they possessed; while
they must have admired him for his
courage, they were afraid TO fight him
without weapons. Dale recalled the
fact that the Balls were not originally
hlllfolk. but lowlanders who had taken
10 the mountains I'm order 10 avoid
being forced TO fight during the civil
war, a people without a principle.
The Cherokee Torreys, of course, were
even worse.
kitty, kitty. kitty" Walt Turner
called tauntingly again. Gle walked
int A. - III ,,roarf<ffo Kitty ~