LITERATURE.

Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 1923, 23 April 1880, Page 3

LITERATURE.

A JUDGE LYNCH COURT. [By Wyoming Kit.] A canon ;in the mountains, near the prosperous mining town of Douglas Creek, in Wyoming Territory. Grand and picturesque the peaks rise up on either side, towering far up toward the clouds, which hang in groups of golden beauty overhead. The crystal water of the creek, from which the town took its name, danced merrily over Its rocky bed, its plashing blending in rippling melody with the soughing of the breeze through the lofty pines. Scattered hero and there over a grassy plat were a number of determined looking men, dressed in the garb of mountaineers, conversing in low, earnes t tones, as though their attention was engrossed by some matter of more than ordinary import. A little apart from the rest, closely guarded by two brawny mountaineers stood a youth apparently not over eighteen years of age, with features of remarkable beauty and form of the most perfect mold. Near him, coiled upon tha grass, lap a rope, in one end of which a noose had been artistically formed. Thera could be no mistaking the scene—Judge Lynch was about to hold a court. The youth had arrived in the camp but three days before on the stage from Laramie city, and had registered at the hotel as Harry Forrest. Ho told the inquisitive landlord (all Western landlords are inquisitive) that he was the son of a wealthy merchant in the ‘ States,’and was on a tour of pleasure and observation in the mountains. He circulated freely among the rough element, which is a marked feature of every mining camp, and on account of the unusual beauty of his face was dubbed ‘ handsome Harry’ by the denizens of the town.

Douglas Creek, like every other mining town, was infested with a large number of the * sporting fraternity, ’ otherwise known as professional gamblers. Among these was a fine-looking, well-dressed man named George Watson. He had turned up in the camp about three months previous to the date of which I write, with plenty of money, which he spent with a lavish hand. His open-handed generosity had made him a favourite with all, and his skill in manipulating the cards could be attested by everyone who had faced him at the gambling table.

It was soon observed that ‘Handsome Harry ’ was closely watching Watson’s every movement, and several friends called the gambler’s attention to the fact. To each one he replied that there was a familiar look on the youth’s face—an expression that he had seen before, though when or where he had seen it his memory failed to divulge, ‘ I don’t know what the boy is watching me for,’ he would say, yet a feeling of uneasiness which he could not hide would manifest itself, and it was noticed that since Harry’s advent in the mines he began to drink heavily. On the morning of the day on which this story opens Watson became intoxicated, and while sitting in the El Dorado saloon began to joke good-naturedly with the inmates. A young miner had just finished the reading of a letter which he had taken from the postoffice, and while returning it to a dainty white envelope Watson said :

‘A letter from your sweetheart back in the States, eh, Tommy ! I’ll bet any man in the house ten to one that I’ve called the turn.’

‘That’s just what you’ve done, Wat,’ replied the miner. ‘ It’s from my girl in Michigan, and a prettier or better girl don’t live. If I ever strike pay-rock in this claim of mine I’ll scoot back there quick, and give some preacher a chance to make a few dollars. ’

‘ Clear gone on her, I see, Tommy ! Well, I’ve been there myself, I had a sweetness once, and I feed a gospel sharp for a two minutes’ speech, but the felicity of the same didn’t stick six months. Oh 1 but she was a daisy, though, a high-toned beauty, but 1 never cared a curse for her. You see her old man had just bushels cf shekels stored away, and a man’s a precious fool that won’t tackle matrimony when It’s burled in a mine of ready-coined gold. The old bloke didn’t seem to cotton at all to his dear son-in-law, so when I got a grab at the pot I jumped the game and carried the swag with me. The old rooster’s dead, I reckon, and I suppose the high-strung daughter done as most disappointed females do—supped a dose of cold poison, ’ The sharp crack of a revolver echoed through the room, and Watson fell quiverin death, shot through the head, while Handsome Harley’s voice {rang out; * Die 1 you thrice-acoursed villain, die! and remember Edna! ’

‘ The gal’s brother, fur any amount o’ dust! ’ cried a gambler, as the crowd rushed up toward the youth. He was at once disarmed and secured, a meeting called on the spot, and, by unanimous approval a lynch court announced for 2 o’clock at the usual place, about five hundred yards down the cannon.

At the appointed hour the crowd, with their prisoner in charge, repaired to the snot. Watson had been speedily buried, and Harry had persistently refused to offer any explanation of the cause of the murder farther than to say : ‘He deserved it all, the villain! Hang me as soon as you choose,’

‘ I make a move that Tobe Allen be elected jedge of this ere court,’ cried one of the assembly, and the motion was unanimously carried. Allen, a tall, sun-browned mountaineer, with a face almost covered with huge black whiskers, stepped forward and seated himself upon a rock. He was dressed In the habiliments of a hunter, nearly every garment being partly or in whole formed of buckskin, and a brace of formidable-looking revolvers of the Colt pattern ornamented his belt. He called for order, and said :

* I app’int Doo Woods, Lengthy Johnson and Arkanaaw as officers o’ the court. It’ll be their duty to preserve order, an’ if the kid’s foun’ guilty to execute the sentence o’ the court. The rest o’ the crowd ’ll act as the jury, an’ I want every one o’ you to buckle down an’ take in every word o’ the witnesses’ music an’ give the lad every chance you kin—far darn me 1? I don’t kinder like his looks. Lot yer verdic' be a just ’un, accordin’ to the facts an’ evidence.’

The officers designated to">k their post at the side of the prisoner, and the mass jury silently gathered around the seat of justice. ‘Nobby Dyer!’ The person addressed, a flashily attired young man, wearing a grand display of breast-pin and watch chain, stepped to the front. Said the Judge : * Nobby, do you sw’ar that ye’ll give us a squar’ story on this killin’ business, an’ ladle out nuthin’ but solid facts, so help you God?’ ‘Yes, Jedge.’

‘Turn ’er loose, then!’ ‘ Well, gents, I’m the day gin slinger at the El Dorado; guess you all know that, though, fur I’ve had business dealin’s with all o’ you. Wal, the deceased, come into the saloon this mornin’, I should judge about seven o’clock —’twaa just after I’d mixed your first cocktail, Jedgo ; about seven, wasn’t it ?’ ‘Just about that time ; go ahead.’ ‘Well, as I said, Wat come In an’ begin to gin up purty lively. I seed ho was taking on more’n usual, so I camped on his whisky a little, an’ didn’t put more than about half the usual amount into cash cocktail. Ho kep’ a hitting at the juice, though, till bo begin to fetl party comfor'.ably happy, an’ then ho turned to an’ begin to chaff tho boys kind o’ good natured, you know. Wat was allers full of fun when he had a good dose o’ tho fluid up his nose, and I never knowed him to pull a gun or act a darned bit ugly with anybody. He war settin’ with his back towards the door when the kid, thar, come in an’ leaned kind o’ careless like agin the pool table. Wat began to let loose a game about some gel that got sweet on him afore he left the States, when I noticed tho

kid turn sort o’ pale and grit hia t;eth 1 _ I was jist about to taokle the lad an’ ask him what racket ho was on when Billy Harvey called fur a toddy. Jist as I turned roun’ toward the sugar drawer I h-aerd the gun go off, an’, lookin’ ronn’, I seed that it war this kid that had turned ’er loose. I set tha toddy up to Billy, an’ when I seed that Wat had got his medicine dead sure, I hopped over the bar and took the pop away from the kid an’ asked him what ’n thunder ho wanted to raise a row in the house fur ? Ha didn’t say anythin’ ’eept somethin’ about the villain, meaning the deceased, a deservin’ all he’d got, an’ I couldn’t get no more out o’ him. That all I know, gents, ’cept that the shot war a daisy! I’ve seed my share o’ sich rackets, but I never saw a man git it neater than Wat did ! ’ ‘ Did the kid deny the shootin’ ? ’ ‘No. Jedge; he jist the same as acknowledged it,’ ‘You are sure that Han’soma Harry fired the shot that croaked George Watson ? ’ * Perfec’ly sure, Jedge.’ ‘That’s all, then.’ A number of witnesses were called, and all conoborated the ba-keeper’a story. When the evidence was all heard the Judge turned to the accused and said : • Harry, hev ye any witness fur yer defense? ’ ‘ I have none, sir, but the Almighty ! ’ ‘ Well, I don’t suppose he’d pay any ’tention to a aupeny from this court. Ye’ve heard the evidence, ’an ye mus’ sea that it hits ye purty straight. The punishment fur permiscuons sheetin’ in these mountains lays in the end o’ that ’air rope. You air a stranger to every one hyar ; but its purty ginerally put up by the boys that ye air a brother o’ the gal that Wat war’ a chinnin’ about we’n ye slung him hia medicine. In somo parts thet mont be edged in by fly law sharps as a extenoatin’ aaroumstance, but I can’t advise ye to hook a hope onto it hyar. You,hevao far refused to open yer mouth regardin’ the matter, but I’d advise ye to put in a word aLre the case goes to the jury. If you want ter testify in yer own behalf now’s yer time to »;ng yer song 1 Hev ye anything to perdnoe ?' Harry stepped forward and faced the stern-looking crowd. With a clear and fearless eye he glanced over the assembly a moment, and then began to speak in a voice in which not a tremor could be detected :

* Gentlemen, I stand before yon as a convicted murderer, for I can read my fate in your cold, determined faces. I have read enough, and heird enough, about how such cases are disposed of in this wild country to know that in a few moments I will hang suspended from a limb of one of those trees ! I was fully convinced of this when I fired the shot which blotted a monster from the face of the earth ! Before you carry your sentence into execution I will tell my story, and then when I am dead some of you may perhaps feel a little sympsthy for Harry, as yon call me. Do not for a moment think that I talk to consume time and delay the execution, for I truthfully assure you that 1 do not fear the death which awaits me.

‘ In one of the moat beautiful cities in the State of Ohio lived a wealthy, inoffensive old man named Forrester. That man, now in his grave, was my beloved father ! He had a daughter, Edna, upon whom he doted, and she was, indeed, the light and comfort of his old age. People called her amiable and beautiful, and, as might be expected, there were numerous suitors for her hand, and the fortune which awaited her upon her father’s death. Among these suitors was a young man named Fred Marston, the son of a wealthy merchant of the same city, and upon him Edna bestowed the purest love of her innocent heart. The young man was somewhat wild and a little inclined to dissipation, and on that account father violently opposed the union, Marston promised to reform, and Edna, poor girl, trusted implicitly in him, and they were secretly married without her father’s consent. When the news was broken to the old man the shock so unnerved him that he was taken to his bed by an attack of nervous prostration. The newly wedded couple took' up their abode In the parental mansion, Edna positively refusing to leave her father in his illness. Faithfully she watched by his bedside, ministering to his every want with tender, loving hands, and praying earnestly that he might recover and bestow upon herself and hatband the blessing which she so coveted.

* Marston proved a bind and loving husband for a brief period, and then again fell into hie dissolute habits, frequently maltreating his wife in a cruel manner. The life of the young bride, which she had so fondly dreamed would be one continued gleam of sunshine, became overcast with the dark clouds of sorrow.

‘ One morning Marston was missing from his bed when Edna awoke, and a letter left upon his pillow informed tier that he had decided to for ever leave her and seek a home in the far West. Almost crazed with grief she flew to her father’s chamber for consolation from his dear lips, but when she entered the door wbat a horrible sight met her affrighted gaze !’ Here, for the first time, the speaker broke completely down, and covering his face with his hands began to sob violently. The crowd was listening with breathless attention, bending forward toward the youth as if fearing to lose a word of the story, ‘Brace up, lad; brace up!” said the Judge, wiping his eyes in a suspicions manner. ‘ Take all the time ye want, an’ reel us off the hull business.’

The youth rallied, and in a choking voice, his eyes suffused with tears, resumed ; ‘ Oh, gentlemen, there upon his bed, weltering in blood, lay her father, her idolized old father, dead, with a knife which she had seen in her husband’s possession, sticking in his breast! She screamed for help and then swooned away, and a brain fever held her a raving maniac for eight long weeks! * When she recovered she learned that the murderer of her father had robbed him of a large amount of money, and that the detectives had utterly failed to obtain the slightest clew to his whereabouts. When able to leave her room she sought her murdered father’s grave, and upon her bended knees above those loved remains she registered a fearful vow that she would not rest day or night until she had tracked the murderer to his hiding place and slain him as remorselessly as he had slain her only parent.

‘ From the letter left behind she inferred that Marston had gone West, and she at once set out in that direction. Fortune favored her, for at Omaha she learned that a man answering his description had left on the Union Pacific train about three or four days after the date of her father’s death, ticketed for Laramie City. She followed upon his track, and at Laramie City learned from the stage agent of his departure for this place. Ihe next stage brought her here as a passenger, like a blood-hound upon the murderer’s trail! ’

With a sweeping movement of the hand the youth removed his hat, and a wealth of golden hair fell in luxuriant beauty over the shapely shoulders. ‘ Gentlemen, I am Edna Forrester ! (I cannot call myself by his accursed name), and the man, the villain! the fiend ! I slow was my murderous husband, who has lived among yon as George Watson, and who was boasting and gloating over his damnable work when I sent his guilty soul into eternity ! Now, hang me—l am ready to die !’

‘ An’ i’m ready to blow the holy delights outer the fust crooked son of a gun that lays a ban’ on her !’ yelled the Judge drawing his revolvers. ‘Jist sift this matter down to a bang-up visitation o’ God an’ give us yer verdic’— ‘ guilty or not guilty ! ” The crowd had long before decided that matter, and ‘ not guilty ’ came forth in chorns, and then the deafening cheers made the old canon ring again and again. Edna was escorted back to the camp and placed in charge of the landlord’s wife, who soon clothed her in the proper habiliments of her sex. As usual, over any great excitement, wh'sky flowed freely, and the health of the lady was drunk again and again by the excited crowd. One enthusiastic individual was loud in bis suggestions that Marston should be dug up and hanged with the rope prepared for ‘ Handsome Harry,’ ‘for,’ he asserted, ‘if ever a man deserved bangin’ he does ?'

The lady disappeared as quietly aa ‘HaTy Forrest’ had appeared, and was never afterwards heard of in the mines.

Tobe Allen went East a short time ago but as he has not yet returned, we will not credit the silly rumors that are afloat that ‘ Handsome Harry’ knows what took the worthy Judge so far from home.