Arizona state miner., 1926-10-16


tol or charge in naked-handed so
got my man.
And then-a figure emerged slowly,
cautiously, from the tangle of bushes
beyond the dump. He stood a mo-
ment Yes-there was life in the cabin.
A hand, waving a white cloth, had
been thrust from the window The
solitary figure stepped back into the
bushes. A moment more, and four
men emerged, walking in pairs, each
pair carrying between it a box
And then-far off to my right
sounded a light shot as of a pistol,
heavier one as of a rifle-and there
was a distant crashing of branches. |
had jumped invOluntarily at this
sound but my eyes never left the four
men by the dump. / saw the leading
pair straighten up, saw the nearest
flash hand toward his hip, saw the
trailing pair drop the box, turn
And the bowl below reverberated
with explosion. From the cabin, from
some place near the dump, from the
wOOdpile, Streaks of red fame laced
the dawn. One of the leading pair
went down with the slow motion of a
toppling building; he fell across the
box as Imply as bag of old clothes.
The other dropped his handle and spun
half way round before he pitched onto
his face. Behind him, man was flop
ping on the ground A scattering
burst of fire from the ridge to my
right, where my fellows of the posse
lay concealed, and he was still; /
could even hear between reverbera-
tions the hollow sound of the bullets
striking his flesh. 1t was over
and l had not acted, only stood aside,
an inert spectator. Or was it
over? Only three bodies lay down
there by the stream And the posse
was charging They came scrambTfng
down the ridge, weapons at ready.
Two or three stopped by the fallen
men, turned them over The rest
crashed uphill through the bushes
One of the trailing pair must have
acted more quickly than the other
leaped into the bushes at the sound of
the first shot, got away.
And still l crOuched under the spruce
tree, shame and self-pity added to my
inner hell. With all the rest, she had
sapped my manhood from me. the
moment of action had come and had
not even drawn my pistol to fire. -.
Others had taken my revenge.
Footsteps = quick, stealthy = were
IN nj tho loE
by reflex motion, l leaped suddenly
through the branches; leaped face to
face with-the man l had come for,
the young, spruce man whom I had
shadowed to my misery last night. 1t
was still the dusky dawn there among
the trees, but 1 knew him. His wide
black hat shaded his face, but 1 knew
him. Recognition and action came
together in the instant while his hand
was starting toward his hip.
Only, l acted not according to my
plan, but on instinct. l never thought
of my gun. / fought as l had been
taught to f1ght-on the field at Har-
vard in the rough, primitive football
of those days. dove at him in high
tackle, into which l put all my de-
sires of violence engendered by that
night My embrace caught him about
the arms, pinned them; my rush car
ried us to the ground with him under
meath. He was smaller than l by thir-
ty pounds; yet the moment l touched
him, / had a sense that he was cleo
trio with nervous strength. An in
stant, so, we struggled in desperate
silence. Then / felt him wilt in my
grasp, go limp. I raised my head,
looked into his face. He was my man
but l knew that already. His eyes
had closed. began to relax my hold,
and his hand whipped like a striking
snake at my belt. He had my gun
with the quickness of fear, of excite
ment of hate, l got his wrist, threw
my body across him to hold him down,
twisted his hand backward until he