| Show 0 a l bael D AT THE I 1 A S T O 0 R Y O 0 f T H E P L A 1 N a BY E HOUGH AUTHOR OF jhb STORY OF THE COWBOY 1903 if D attleton Att teton conta f new CHAPTER continued there must be some motive shown for the supposition of such an act as murder what motive can be shown herec certainly not that of robbery the horse of the missing man came back alone its lariat dragging as we shall prove it had not been ridden ince the lariat was broken you all know as we shall prove that this man juan was never 1 to ride a horse we shall prove that he walked sixty miles to the very spot where the horse had beeri tied and that he scorned to touch a horse on his whole journey he wanted no horse he stole no horse that was no motive to be subject to the law as you very well know a man must be mor alev responsible he must know right and wrong I 1 shall show to you that when this man was a child he was struck a severe blow upon tr head and that since that time he hat esver been of sound mind his brain ner recovering from that shock r bw which actually broke in of his skull since that time he has had recurrent times of violent ity with alternating spells of what seems a semi idiocy this man s mind never grew in some ways his animal senses are keen to a remark able degree but of reason he has little or none he can not tell you why he does thus or so this I 1 shall prove to you I 1 you gentlemen of jury you who hold this man s life in your hands are you going to hang a man for murder when it Is not shown a murder has been donea and would you hang a man who Is more ignorant than a child of right or wrongs Is that fair pla gentlemen we are all here together and one of us Is as good as another our ambitions are the same we stand here together for the best interests of this growing country this country whose first word has always has been fair play isow Is it your already formed wish to punish this mana I 1 say no I 1 say first give him his chance As franklin ceased and seated him self the silence was again broken by a rising buzz of conversation this was proving really a very interesting show this trial it must go on yet a little further call william haskens said the prosecuting attorney standing up with his hands in his pockets william haskins william haskens william Haskins 1 come into court cried out the clerk from his corner of the store box no immediate response was made some one nudged curly who started up who mea he said 1 your name william asked the judge reckon so said curly my folks used to call me that I 1 usually go under the road brand curly though he took his seat on a stool near the store box was sworn with his hat on and the prosecuting actor ney began the examination what Is your why curly what Is your occupation what how do you make your livings gunchin cows not that I 1 low it a any yore d d business where do you reside where do I 1 lived yes well now I 1 don t know my folks lives on the brazos an I 1 ve been dav tn two years now I 1 take up a claim on the smoky out here I 1 low III go north right soon to byomin maybe how old are youa oh I 1 don t know but I 1 low about twenty four or twenty five aang in there where were you last wednesdays 9 were you one of the posse sent out to search tor cal Greathouse 9 yep me and cap franklin there who elsea why juan there him he was the boss for us where did you goa about sixty miles southwest into the breaks of the smoky what did you finda we found a old camp hoss had been tied there and broke bis lariat bushes was broke some but we dian didn t see no blood as I 1 know of never mind what you see well now answer my question now say friend you don t want to get too gay answer the question mr has kins said the court well all right judge do it to oblige you the most we saw there was where a fire had beep looked use a right smart fire was plenty abes alyin there did you see anything in the what business is it a now now said the court you must answer the questions mr has kins all right judge said curly well I 1 dunno hardly what w e did see any mor n what I 1 tole all the boys when we first brought juan in I 1 tole you all very well said the prosecutor what did you seea anything like a ddn s figurea we object said franklin but curly answered well yes it did look e a feller a kayin there but when we touched it never mind D d the prisoner see tilts figure shore what did he doa well he acted plumb loco he get down an hollers madre de dios he hollers I 1 low he auz plenty scared did he look well when we roped him he dian didn t make no kick never mind he saw the figure in the what do you know about ita you gasn wasn t there no but I 1 am going to make you tell what was there you are huh well you crack yer whip I 1 like to see any feller make me fell anything I 1 don t want to tell that s right curly said some one back in the crowd no bluff goes not in a hundred said curly now now now began the judge drowsily the prosecuting attorney counseled of craftiness at this june ture foreseeing trouble if he insisted take the witness he said abruptly cross camine doense said the judge settling back now curly said franklin as he took up the questioning again please tell us what juan did after he saw this supposed figure in the ashes well of course juan acted plenty loco you know that very well now what if anything did you do to this alleged body in the what did I 1 do to ita said curly why I 1 poked it with a stick what happened 7 I 1 say arst give him his chance why it fell plumb to pieces did it disappears 7 shore it did gasn wasn t a thing left did it look like a man s body thena no it just looked like a pile ashes bore no trace or resemblance to a man thena none whatever you wouldn t have taken it for a body thena nope course not was any part of a body lefta nary thing any boot hat or bit of clothing 7 not a single thing fur s I 1 c d see well now curly said franklin please tell us how long you have known this prisoner ever since we was kids together he used to be a mozo on my pap s ranch over in san saba county did you ever know him to receive any injury any blow about the headd well ole hank bw artzman swatted him over the head with a sort laid him out some did he act strangely after ing that blowe why yes I 1 reckon you would your self he lit him a good lick it was tor ridin hank s favorite mare an from that time to now juan ain t never been on horseback since that shows he s loco any man what wall s Is loco part the time juau he s bronco but all the time he s loco he has spells of violence 9 shore you know that you seen how he fit that injun oh keep him to the line protested the prosecutor now say insisted curly it you want something they ain t none you said a word about yet tell you something you see juan he bad a sister and this here cal greathouse he I 1 object yo donoh I 1 object cried the state s attorney springing ing to his feet this is braingin the dignity the law into ridicule sah into ridi cule I 1 object er yawned the judge sud denly sitting up journ court mr clerk we will set tomorrow to morrow morn in at the same place at nine clock who is in chaffee of this prisoners 9 there ought to be some one to take care of him I 1 reckon I 1 am judge said curly he is sort with me while bill s under the weather well take him in charge some one and have him here in the morn 3 all right judge said curly quiet ly take care of him it was three clock of the after noon the thirst of a district judge had adjourned the district court franklins heart sank he dreaded the night the real court as he ad bitted to himself would continue it session that night at the cottage bar and perhaps it might not adjourn until a verdict had been rendered CHAPTER the verd ct there came over the town of eells valle hat night an quiet afat few men appeared on the street nobody talked or it any one did there was one subject to which no refer ence was made franklin finished bis dinner went to his room and buckled on his ver smiling grimly as he did so at the thought of how intimately all law is related to violence and how relative to its environment is all law he went to Batter sleigh s room and knocked entering at the loud invitation of that friend ned me boy said batter sleigh ye ve yer side arms on this evenin ye give up the profession of arms with reluctance tell me ned what u the campaign fer the evenin 7 well said franklin I 1 thought I 1 4 step over and sit awhile with curly this evening he may be feeling a lit tie lonesome quite right ye are me boy said Batter sleigh cheerfully Q alte right an if ye don t mind just jine ye it s lonesome I 1 am beselt the night Batter sleigh busied himself about his room and soon appeared arrayed as was franklin himself with re volver at his belt ned me boy he said an officer an a gin ileman should divver appear abroad without his side arms at laste methinks not on a night like this he looked at franklin calmly and the latter rose and grasped the hand of the fearless old soldier with out a word the two strolled out to gether down the street in the direction of the shanty where curly was keeping his prisoner to be continued |
