The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1922-02-16

| ,t4 . l.. b -
it inside the waist-band Of his worn
! Jeans trousers. Dale felt the srir
OF rough hands on his shoulders and
arms. He fully realized his great
danger; but he strove to keep all signs
of fenr out OF his countenance. and
he was not unsuccessful. IS
4 81 presume this is what you cali
taking the law into your own hands.
isn't try lie said with a smile that
! was forced. 49, - .3l5 s. ss@
| ''Edzactly!!''' snapped old Bail. 'tWe
ketclled ye; fo the law. and we held
We TO the law, ,ald we turned re over
to the .law,;; ana Sen, by comics. the
law turned We loose the very next
day! And zen the shurint he comes
out here and arrests -four O. US! Ef
] the law Won,.. try We and punish We,
TO- a-shoptirl' my son Adam in cold
+, blood, BIZ comics, We'll try ye and
| punish veto a,doin. It, But We
I needn't be. skeereti none at all. Ye're
plumb shore to cit jestice. I'll prom-;
Use. ye jestice." &,
/ "Yon've evidently overlooked the.
fact that another man confessed to
the killing, and that that was why
they liberated me-" said Dale. -
TITS some cussed frame-up," snarled
the leader OF the gang. NO man on
earth don't like no other man, we'll
enough TO- that. Asides, you're the
one 'at killed my son Adam, by gon-
II MIG. nn6 ,,D,,,rn tho ny,n SAT- ,nuct S,,f.
fer fo' it. Right here .onder this here
:! warnut tree we're a-goin' to hold cote
and have yore trial, by jedge and jury,
and you'll shore, git what's a-colnln'
-" - 3st {'&s n 80 zss'' n, ~ /"
Bill Dale cut in With some bitter
! ness: and sou'll be the judge, and
your plans have already been laid; and
I'm to be hanged by the neck until
dead; ch? Welt. You'll pay dearly for
it, promise y6n., We always have
to pay for what we get, you Know.
/ The Morelandsfand the Littlefords Will
be quick to settle the account. You
know that" s4sS.,$ Fl r. -s,t=.>,
! no" old Ball disagreed hdtIy, II
don't know that W. W. .4e H. - ...:
He turned to the others. % f.
"Sct down, boys. It's the same price
rs standin'. Tie jury will please set
over thar" pointing TO his right. "The
pris'ner and his gyards will please, set
right over thar pointing to his. left.
"The hon'rable jedge, which same is
me, will please. set right thar" indi-
eating 4 spot at the base Of the gnarled
walnut. ~"The rest" he finished, Twill
set anywhar they d-n pleases. Set
down, men," III. --.,-@sz -. &c..
/ His orders We're obeyed. Dale found
himself sitting on the ground between
two pairs of lmountaineers and facing
a line of twelve. mountaineers--the so
called jury. TO his left was the self
appointed judge, and to his right
l0unged score or more of men whose
attention was then being turned to-
ward q jug OF fiery new whisky that
had never been near to Il revenue
stamp or anything else that was hon
est. The jug travelled rapidly from
one hairy mduth to another ~ =
Old Ball passed the jug to a men,
Der Of the Jury" and announced:
SWELL dammit, cO'te's open now"
"Kitty, kitty, kitty!'' tainted Walt
Turner. "'Porc little kitty"
- The mockery began. 1t was ridicu.
lous, ana yet it was grim. Adam
Ball's father himself furnished most
of the. EVIDENCE; also he acted as
prosecuting attorney. OF course there
was no counsel for the defense, and
it wouldn't have helped if Dale had
had proyerbial 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 swccter. It became worse than
! travesty. -. e. b. -
Night fell during the wOrdy and
profane harangue Of the Ball leader.
I and it was ordered that a fire be built
at once. At once a fire was built, dry
brushwood being used, and in its red
and Pickering glare the faces Of the
hillmen looked !doubly dark and doubiy
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. f.. i, .,...,
The twelve nountaineers rose. IN
steadily and went to the creek, and
there one OF them uncovered another
Jug Of fiery new whisky that was alien
Ito revenue stamp. They drank
heavily aud returned to the walnut
tree court without mentioning the
trial. < l}g.=e .&,.s... p.
The foreman was a Torrey, and a
particularly bad one. His. swarthy
face, with its high Cherokee cheek
bones and its thin-lipped mouth, was
ultra-cruel, ultra-vicious., He entered
the circle Of red and pickering freight
slowly. smiling cvilly, and the other
eleven crowded up close behind him.
4 lie cleared his throat, spat between
two fingers at the fire, and turned to