[George D. Keeney, A Sage-Brush Alibi, The Overland Monthly, February 1875]

 

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A SAGE-BRUSH ALIBI.

            "YOU ought to remember Mat Kingman, Rudepath?" said the judge, turning to me, as he lighted his pipe by the fire.

            " No ; I have only heard of him. He left the country shortly before I came in, I believe."

            "Well, I have been here in Nevada for a good while, and first and last have had something to do with many of the worst scamps we have ever had in this State ; but, for coolness and tact, I put down Mat Kingman as highest by a few spots. The best thing I ever knew of him happened a little less than four years ago, not long after I was elected judge of this district. Manley remembers it. He was district attorney then, and was sold worse than the rest of us, by a little."

            Manley by whose fireside we sat, and who was laid up with inflammatory rheumatism smiled as he threw back his head and blew rings of smoke toward the ceiling.

            "Well, Judge, let's have it, then," said Norton. " I reckon it will be fresh to all but Manley; and he isn't well enough to make much of a fight against it. Vauxhall, pass the matches." "Yes; tell it, Judge," said Manley. And he did, as follows:

            "Kingman first came on this river a little over four years ago. No one seemed to know anything about him, but everyone put him up for a sport the first day he came. He was well-made, but rather slight, if anything; had dark-brown hair and beard, and a pleasant gray eye. He always dressed plainly but well; there wasn't anything about him in the least conspicuous. He was always gentlemanly, always cool, and he never drank. I have often known him to sit at a faro game by the hour, betting and keeping cases quietly and pleasantly all the time. No matter whether he was winning or losing, he was just the same.

            " He was at Willard's place one evening, when a sport that they called Pizon -- a mighty bad man from Colorado, with a big reputation as a killer -- insisted that he should drink with him. Kingman declined pleasantly, adding that he never drank; but Pizon had been losing, he was drunk and cross, became terribly abusive, and finally shook his six-shooter in Kingman's face. Everyone expected to see some nasty work right then and there, but they didn't. Kingman turned pale in an instant, but said, with a smile, 'Some one had better take this man away; I can wait till he's sober.' Two or three of the boys stepped in between them, and took Pizon into the back room; then Kingman walked off.

            "It was a strange way for a man to act in this country ; and, though Kingman blanched and took the abuse, I reckon that no one thought him afraid -- there was something about him that told you he wasn't. Look out for the man that stands his ground and gets white in a fight; he's dangerous. A white heat is hotter than a red.

            "The next day Kingman and Pizon met in front of Shotwell's. They stopped face to face, and Kingman said, very quietly: 'Pizon, you were drunk last night and abused me. Now you're sober; take it back.' 'I takes nothing back,' said Pizon; and, as quick as a flash, Kingman struck him a blow in the mouth, which sent his teeth through his

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lips and staggered him. Each man went for his gun, but before Pizon could fire, Kingman struck him over the head with a six-shooter, laying his forehead open to the skull, and tearing the skin down in a flap over his eyes. Then he struck again, and Pizon fell like a sack of quartz, insensible. Kingman was arrested and held to answer, but somehow the matter blew over, as such matters so often do here, and nothing more ever came of it. Finally, Kingman bought an interest in Ward's faro game. They ran it together for awhile, and were making money; but, while Kingman was up on the South Fork of the West Fork, fishing, for a few days, some of the boys managed to steal the bank's cards from behind the bar in broad daylight, fix them and return them to their place without Ward's knowing it. Well, that night the boys broke the bank, and when Kingman got back, Ward had gone to Montana. Kingman spouted his watch and some other tricks, but the first night or two he lost all he had raised on them ; in fact, his luck seemed to have turned, and everything he touched went against him. About that time the Ribbon-rock District, out north of here, was struck; the surface indications were awful rich, but it didn't last.

            "There was a little widow living here then, by the name of Callen -- a simple, confiding little thing ; minded her own business remarkably for a woman, and was heavy on going to church. When Tom Callen died, he left her about a thousand dollars. It was all she had, except the little house and lot where she lived. She lent that thousand dollars to Kingman to open a mine with in the new district. I reckon she was in love with him; anyway, she trusted him. In a month the claim had petered, and the money was all spent; then Kingman came back to town.

            "He told the widow what had happened; that he was broke and out of luck. But she didn't take on a bit ; she told him she was sorry, for it was all she had, and she couldn't exactly see how she could get along without it very well ; but that it was all right, she knew he had spent it trying. Then Kingman told her that if he lived she should have her money in thirty days. A week after that, the express was stopped at night by two men with handkerchiefs over their faces, about a mile this side of the crossing of the Middle Fork, and between $6,000 and $7,000 in coin and dust taken. The driver could only describe the robbers as two men of about medium size, in dark clothes, with white handkerchiefs over their faces. Three days before, Kingman had started away on his roan horse to go fishing, as he said, and had not returned prior to the robbery. A gambler by the name of Wright left town sometime during the afternoon before the robbery, but returned late the same night it was committed. Wright was known to be a bad man, and had left Montana on warning of the vigilantes. He was of about the same size as Kingman -- a little heavier. The next morning Morton -- he was our sheriff then -- and his deputies went out to where the robbery took place. They found the broken treasure -box in the bushes near by, but nothing in it of value. Near it they found a small sledge, which had been stolen from the blacksmith's shop at the Middle Fork, and used to break open the treasure - box. About fifty yards away, one of the deputies picked up a white handkerchief, and close by it were the prints of a man's boots in the sand, but nothing could be made of them. They managed to follow the foot -prints until they led to a little clump of cedars; there another man's track came in, and they found where two horses had been tied. All the indications were fresh. One of the horses had rubbed on the cedar to which he had been hitched, and left a few hairs

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from his neck and mane. From this hair found sticking to the bark, this horse was evidently a light bay, with black mane, and his track was small. The track of the other horse was larger, but nothing was discovered to indicate his color or any peculiarity; the sand was too soft to leave a clear print, and the track could not be followed after it struck the road, as the dust was deep. Suspicion fell upon Wright at once. The hair found sticking in the cedar bark corresponded to that of the horse which he had ridden, and this horse had a small foot.

            "Wright was arrested, but nothing taken from the treasure -box was found on him. He blustered some at first; but when Morton told him about the hair he had found on the tree, took him over to the stable and allowed him to compare it with that of the horse he had ridden the night of the robbery, and told him that the tracks corresponded, he weakened. The next day the grand jury indicted him. The handkerchief found near where the robbery took place was a plain linen one, and had only one mark upon it – a Chinaman's laundry mark. At one of the wash-houses the Chinamen recognized the mark as one they had put upon Kingman's clothes; they had some of his washing there then, marked the same way. Upon this evidence alone, a warrant was issued for Kingman. Morton and a deputy met him the morning of the second day after the robbery, just this side of First Water, ten miles east of here, coming this way.

            "Kingman gave himself up without hesitation, and said he would not attempt to escape. He had no arms about him and very little coin, was mounted on a clay-bank horse, and had no blankets. He told Morton that his roan had gone lame, and that he had traded it, together with his blankets and six-shooter, to a cattle-man that he met in Buck Valley, for the clay-bank. Kingman waved an examination, and went to jail. An indictment was found against him in a few days, and, as he could not give satisfactory bail, he remained shut up until his trial took place, a week later. He employed Sid Shepard to defend him, and that little widow, Mrs. Callen, raised $500 on her house and lot, and paid Sid's fee.

            "Everyone was sorry for this, and some of the women went over and remonstrated with her. She took it all very quietly, but told them that their protest came a little too late, as the mischief was already done ; that if it were not, she would have it done right away, and suggested that the house and lot were her own. Kingman and Wright were kept in separate cells at opposite ends of the jail, and all communication between them prevented. Wright was very much depressed and anxious about his trial; Kingman seemed perfectly self-possessed, and free from all anxiety about anything. Manley, here, had much doubt about being able to convict either of them, for, with the exception of the absence of the parties from town at the time of the robbery, the strong resemblance of the horse -hair found sticking to the bark of the tree near where the robbery was committed to that of the horse which Wright had ridden that night, the fact that the track of the horse which had rubbed himself on the cedar was about the same size that Wright's would have made, and the fact that the handkerchief found on the ground had the same laundry mark as Kingman's clothes, there was little, if anything, to rely upon; and juries in this country are fierce to give prisoners the benefit of the doubt, you know. But one day Wright called the sheriff to his cell, and asked him if he thought the court would enter a nolle as to him, provided he would furnish testimony sufficient to convict Kingman ? Upon this hint Morton and

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Manley came up to my chambers, and, after a long consultation, we thought it best to allow Wright to turn State's evidence, provided he would tell where the money was, or his part of it. Wright agreed to do so. His statement was, that he and Kingman had planned the robbery the day before Kingman left town. It was agreed that Kingman should go fishing for a few days, and then meet Wright a mile above the crossing of the Middle Fork at eight o'clock on Monday evening, each taking circuitous routes to get there ; that they met as agreed, stole the sledge from the blacksmith's shop at the crossing, went a mile down the road, hitched their horses among the cedars, and, when the stage came along about ten o'clock, they robbed it; that they then came down the road, this way, to the creek, and struck across the hills, north-easterly, about five miles to a deep arroyo. Here they stopped to let their horses breathe, and divide the treasure ; then they parted, he coming back to town, while Kingman struck down the arroyo, saying that he would remain out for a day or two longer for looks. Kingman rode his roan horse that night, Wright said. Wright went out with Morton and raised his 'plant;' he had buried it at a point about a mile down the river from here. It amounted to a trifle over half of what the express had been robbed, I believe, but he swore he knew nothing of what Kingman had done with his share, and that he had not seen him since they parted at the arroyo. This made out a case against Kingman that it would be hard to beat.

            "When Sid Shepard told his client that Wright had turned State's evidence, Kingman ground his teeth, but did not rave or buck any. After thinking for a few moments, he turned to Sid, and said: 'Wright and I had some words about a little money he owes me, and now he is going to take his revenge, it seems. They'll make a strong case with his testimony against me; without that, the matter wouldn't amount to anything; but they can't convict. Send me the list of trial jurors ; we must pick out some liberal-minded fellows, if we can. Tear Wright's testimony to pieces the best you know how when you cross-examine him. Impeach him, too ; you can find a hundred men in this town to swear he's a liar. Don't let anyone know that I have any idea of getting clear; I'll surprise them.'

            " Two weeks from the day of the robbery, we took up the case of The State of Nevada against Kingman, and no one seemed to doubt that he would be convicted ; certainly Manley did not."

            " Nor the Judge, either," replied Manley.

            "Well, I admit that I looked upon Kingman as already convicted. We had a list of unusually good jurors to select from, and I knew how strong the testimony would be. We got started upon the trial early in the day. Manley reserved Wright as his last witness. He was a little nervous upon the stand, but told a straight story about the robbery by himself and Kingman. Kingman sat nearly in front of him, looking him full in the eye with as calm and unexpressive a face as I have ever seen. There was nothing there to indicate what his thoughts were, but he was evidently listening to all that Wright was saying.

            "When Sid Shepard took the witness on cross-examination, he raked him terribly, went into his life in Montana, and made him admit that he and the prisoner had a quarrel about money shortly before the robbery, but he could not shake him on any material statement which he had made on his 'direct.' Just as Shepard was closing his cross-examination, Kingman rose and stepped a few feet to the table, where sat a pitcher of water and a glass. He poured out a lit-

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tle water and drank it. While he was drinking, Wright answered the last question, and I told him to stand aside. As he took his first step down from the stand, Kingman hurled the tumbler at him with a force which seemed sufficient to send it through a brick wall. It struck Wright full in the face, breaking his jaw horribly, and he fell with a groan of pain and fear. Morton put the handcuffs upon Kingman at once, and I ordered Wright to be taken to the hospital.

            "It was now three o'clock; the prosecution closed, and, as we had been engaged in the trial since morning without intermission, I ordered a recess for an hour. Manley went over to his office, and, just as he got there, a stranger rode up. He was a plain-looking man, rather heavily built, with brown hair and sandy beard. He wore a gray shirt, broad -brimmed hat, a pair of overalls, and army shoes. His horse was a bronco, very wild and vicious, but he managed it like a vaquero. Evidently they had traveled for some distance, for the horse showed hard riding, and both man and beast were covered with dust. 'Is this Mr. Manley?' said the stranger. Manley told him that was his name. 'I saw your sign on the door,' said the man, 'as I came into town. I'm a stranger here, and want to consult a lawyer ; as soon as I put my horse in the corral, I'll come back.' 'Very well,' said Manley, ' I'll wait for you.'

            "In a few minutes, the stranger entered Manley's office. He told Manley that he was a cattle-man, and had a band near the upper end of Fox Valley, just over the county line ; that he had paid his taxes on his cattle for that year in another county. He wished to bring his band into the lower end of the valley, which is in this county, where the feed was better, and wanted to know of Manley whether they would be liable to be assessed in this county, if he should. Manley examined his receipts and advised him. The stranger cheerfully paid him his fee, chatted for a few moments, and, as he was about to go, Manley mentioned that the express robbery case was on trial. The stranger had heard nothing of the matter, he said, and so Manley told him about it. 'Well,' said the stranger, 'there don't seem to be any doubt about convicting him, and I'm glad of it ; if it was for me to sentence him, I'd have him hung to-morrow morning. I had trouble with one of his kind only a couple of weeks ago, but he got away, and took a horse, saddle, and bridle with him. He left his own, though, which were better, and his gun and blankets, too, so I am more than even. Now I must go and buy some tricks for camp use ; ' and he bade Manley good-day.

            "At the expiration of the recess, we took up the case again. Shepard made a splendid opening to the jury -- he always did well when pressed hard – then examined a few witnesses to contradict some of Wright's statements -- not very material ones, however -- and then called his impeaching witnesses. The case had excited much attention, and the courtroom was packed. Kingman was sitting by his counsel with his back to the crowd outside the rail ; occasionally he altered his position, but did not seem to be more anxious than during the earlier part of the day. Morton had taken off his handcuffs, upon his promising not to make more trouble. I had picked up my pen and begun to write an instruction to the jury, when I heard some one in the crowd exclaim, 'God! there you are!' and upon looking up, I saw a man, a stranger, in the very front of the crowd, outside the rail, with clinched hands and set teeth, while every line of his face betokened anger, looking fiercely at Kingman, who seemed to have lost, for the moment, his self-control, and had half risen from his seat, holding to the arms

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of his chair, his face wearing a timid, half - frightened look, such as I had never thought it possible it could wear. Every eye was at that moment fixed upon these two men, and a hush of expectation had fallen upon the courtroom.

            " I at once ordered the sheriff to bring the stranger within the bar, and asked him what he had to say why he should not be fined for contempt, in disturbing the proceedings of the court. He seemed embarrassed, and said that he had momentarily forgotten himself. 'I didn't go to do anything wrong, Judge,' said he; 'but, you see, that man' -- pointing to Kingman -- 'robbed me of $1,400 and a horse, saddle, and bridle, in Fox Valley, two weeks ago. I captured him then, but he got away; and coming so sudden -like upon him again here, as I did just now, you see it threw me off my balance a little.'

            " ' Where are you from ?'

            "'I live in California -- in Tehama County; but I'm taking a band of cattle through, that I bought in Utah. They're over in Fox Valley now ; I'm keeping them there to pick up a little before going on. The feed's short a little way ahead, they say.'

            " ' What is your name ?'

            " ' Rufus Garner.'

            " ' When did you say he robbed you ?'

            " ' Two weeks ago this afternoon, your honor.'

            " ' Are you certain about the time ?'

            " ' I know it. 'Twas the day after the big blow; that was on Sunday, two weeks ago yesterday.'

            "With a reprimand, I dismissed him.

            " ' I would like to have him arrested, Judge,' said Garner. 'I'll stay with him this time.'

            "I told him that Kingman was then under arrest and on trial for another matter, and that he would have plenty of time to get out a warrant before the case would be disposed of. He then stepped outside of the rail again, and began working his way through the crowd toward the door. He was the same man who had consulted Manley about the taxing of his cattle. Everyone seemed spell-bound, and it was not until I said, 'Proceed with the case, Mr. Shepard,' that anyone seemed inclined to break the silence by a motion; then Shepard picked up his subpoena, and, hurriedly writing a name in it, handed it to the sheriff, saying, ' Serve that man; be quick ! ' As soon as the examination of the witness then upon the stand was completed, Rufus Garner was called. Then Shepard got up and said : ' If the court please, before examining this witness I wish to make a brief statement. Until within the last five minutes, I never heard the name of Rufus Garner; I had never seen him, nor did I know that such a person was in existence. As to what his testimony will be I am as ignorant as any man can be who has heard what he has just said. The defendant is accused of grand larceny as well as robbery, it seems. We are trying the robbery case at present, however, and I feel it my duty to prove my client not guilty of this at all hazards, even though to do so I may be compelled to introduce testimony tending to show him guilty of the other.'

            "Garner took the stand, and, after answering several general questions, he was asked if he had ever seen the prisoner before, and if so, to state the time, place, and all the circumstances particularly. Then he said: 'Two weeks ago last night, I discharged Joseph Rundell and William Smithson, two Mormon boys I had hired in Utah to help drive cattle, and the next afternoon I paid them off and they left. I had a roll of greenbacks -- about $1,400 -- and as I did not like to pack so much about with me while we were camped, I put it in an old oyster -can and buried it in the ground, right under the place where I

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spread my blankets and slept, inside the tent. That Monday afternoon, before the Mormon boys got ready to go, a stranger rode into my camp on a roan horse. He said that he had been fishing for a few days over on a little creek, a couple of miles away. I asked him to come to the ground and loosen his cinch, for the sun was hot, and he did. We sat down inside the tent and had talked a little while, when one of men came and asked me to give him a buckskin string to fix his saddle with. I left the stranger in the tent, and got the string and fixed the saddle. When I came back he had gone to sleep on some blankets.  I did not wake him; but pretty soon the Mormon boys said they were ready to go, and I could not settle with them without digging up the oyster-can under my bed. I did not like to wake up the stranger, and still I did not like to dig for the money while he was there, for he might wake up and find me at it; but, finally, I thought I would take the chances, so I took up the money as quietly as possible, and, after taking what I needed, buried it again. All this time the stranger did not stir, and I thought he was asleep. I went out and settled with the Mormon boys, and they went away. Then I went back to the tent. The stranger appeared to be still asleep, but opened his eyes as I came in. Then he sat up, and I lopped down on my bed, and we took a smoke. I thought my bed did not feel exactly right, but I reckoned I had not taken much pains in fixing it in my hurry to get through burying the money. Still, I did not feel exactly easy, and concluded that I would take a look at things the first chance I got. By and by the stranger got up and went out; then I looked for the money. The can was there, but the money was not. It made me pretty hot, but I concluded not to say anything until one of my men came up, unless the stranger should undertake to go away, for he was armed ; but I put some fresh caps on my double-barreled shot-gun without his noticing it, and laid it away where it would be handy. In about half an hour, one of my herders rode up on one of my horses -- a clay-bank -- just as the stranger was fixing his saddle, getting ready to go. As he put his knee against his horse's ribs and was pulling up on the cinch, I picked up the shot-gun, cocked it, brought it to my face and walked toward him. His back was turned at the time, and he did not look round until I was within ten paces of him ; then I told him to hold up his hands or I would kill him. He did not like to, but I had the drop, and he did it. Then I told the herder to go up and take his arms away, while I kept him covered. He did so, and we bound him with a lariat. I found my money on him, just as he had taken it from the can. We put him in the tent and fixed him so that we thought he could not get away. I did not know what to do with him ; it was fifty miles to town, and I did not want to spend the time to bring him in. I felt pretty well, too, about getting my money back, and, under the circumstances, I was half-inclined to let him go; but I thought I would keep him awhile just for luck. About dark, I unsaddled the stranger's horse and took him down to the corral. The herder was with me; he had left his horse hitched to a bush close to the tent, and, just as we were going to start back, the herder yelled out, "He's gone!" and, just as I looked up, the stranger swung himself into the saddle, and away he went on my clay-bank. My gun was standing up against the fence, about twenty feet off. I jumped and got it, and sent a charge of shot after him ; but he was too far off, I reckon, to have the shot hurt him, and he disappeared among the bushes the next minute. We had not any horse saddled at the time, and before I could have mounted he would

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have had a long start ; the country was a bad one to follow in, and it was mighty near dark ; so, as I had got my money back, and he had left his blankets and pistol, and a better horse, saddle, and bridle than he took, I concluded to let him go. In fact, I was rather glad to get rid of him so. The man that I have been telling about is that man sitting there,' said Garner, pointing to Kingman. In his further examination he described the roan horse left by the man who robbed him, even to the brand, as well as the saddle and bridle, so that there was no doubt that they were Kingman's. He was certain that the affair took place on Monday afternoon, just two weeks before; he knew it because it was the next day after the big windstorm. We had had almost a hurricane on that day. He had a little memorandum- book, too, in which he had noted the settlement with the two Mormon boys, and had briefly mentioned the stealing of the greenbacks and the escape of the thief on that Monday. He also picked out, from among a lot of others, the horse which Kingman was riding when Morton arrested him, and said it was the one on which Kingman escaped from his camp, and he identified the saddle and bridle, too. His herder, he said, had come into town with him to get some things, and was somewhere about there. Shepard had a subpoena issued for the herder, and the sheriff found him down at one of the stables. When put upon the stand he corroborated Garner's testimony in every material particular. When asked to look about the courtroom and see if he could find the man that he and Garner arrested, he did so, and as soon as his eye fell upon Kingman, he pointed him out as the fellow. He was confident that they arrested him on Monday, the same day that the Mormon boys left, two weeks before, and he identified the horse, saddle, and bridle with which Kingman had escaped.

            "When this witness left the stand, Shepard said, 'We rest.'

            "'So does the prosecution,' said Manley; 'do you want to argue it?'

            "'No; let it go to the jury with the judge's charge,' said Shepard, and it was so agreed. Manley looked cross, disappointed, and puzzled, and Shepard did not seem to know whether to feel pleased or not; his client was pretty thoroughly proven not guilty of the crime for which he was then on trial -- he could not have been at Garner's camp just before dark, and the same evening at the place where the stage was robbed, for they were sixty miles apart -- but the same testimony which proved it established the fact of his having stolen $1,400, a horse, saddle, and bridle from Garner. Kingman seemed a little depressed, I thought. My charge to the jury was brief; no one had a doubt as to what the verdict would be, and in a few moments it was rendered -- 'Not guilty.'

            "I made an order discharging the prisoner, and he was at once arrested again upon a charge of grand larceny.

            "'That's a d----d strange outcome,' said Manley, as he, Shepard, and I walked down the steps of the courthouse together, 'but we've got him on the grand larceny charge, Sid?' 'It looks like it,' replied Shepard, and we parted.

            "Kingman waived an examination the following morning when taken before the justice. My grand jury had not been discharged, but on the Saturday previous they had voted not to meet for a week, as at the time there seemed to be no probability that there would be anything to come before them sooner; so the only thing to do was to wait until the next Saturday, and present Kingman's case then.

            "Garner called to see Manley the next morning, and told him that it would be impossible for him to remain in town

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until Saturday without going back to his camp ; that he had only come in for some things, expecting to go back the next morning; that he had only left one man with his cattle, they were inclined to stray, and that one man alone could not keep them together. So he proposed that both he and his herder should be served with subpoenas to appear before the grand jury on Saturday; that he should hire another man to go back to camp with him and assist in taking care of the cattle until the Kingman case should be over, and that he and his herder should return to town on Friday. Manley could not find it in his heart to object to this, for Garner had paid him a fee for advice only the day before, and it's astonishing how much confidence we have in a man who pays us a fee. It really did seem rough to detain a man as a witness for the State, without giving him an opportunity to prepare for it, when his property was liable to stray and become lost. There was not any doubt but that he would be on hand ; Garner was such an honest, square-appearing fellow, so thoroughly down on criminals -- the law was not near severe enough to suit him. If there was any one thing that he believed in more than another, it was hanging, and if there was anything above all else that he did not believe in, it was the Board of Pardons.

            " So Manley consented to their going. Garner hired a fellow by the name of Andy Short to go out with him and help to take care of the cattle in Fox Valley until the trial of Kingman should be over; and on Tuesday afternoon, Garner, his herder, and Andy started.

            "Friday came. That evening, about eight o'clock, I met Manley on the street. He seemed a little anxious about something, and walked over to my chambers with me. When we got there he said, 'That man Garner has not come back yet ; it is not very strange, perhaps, but it is annoying. He was to have been here by noon to-day. Can it be that he has played us?' I could not think it strange that he had not returned, and said so. Some of his cattle might have strayed; he might have concluded to get them all together and count them before leaving; any one of a dozen things might have detained him.

            "We agreed that there was nothing suspicious in his appearance or in his testimony; but, on the contrary, he had impressed everybody favorably. Then again, there certainly was a band of cattle in the upper end of Fox Valley, for a prospector had told Morton that he saw a band there not more than ten days before; that one of the herders told him that they were going to be driven to California as soon as they picked up a little, and that they belonged to a man by the name of Gardner, or something of that kind -- he was not certain about the name.

            "I drew a cork, and by bed-time both Manley and I had full confidence in everybody, and particularly in Garner and ourselves.

            "The grand jury met the next morning, but as no witnesses were present in the Kingman case, they took a recess until afternoon. Noon came, but neither Garner nor his herder. Several of us were sitting upon the hotel porch, and just as Morton remarked that it began to look as if Kingman had put up a job on us, some one noticed a dust out on the Fox Valley road, about a mile away. Something was certainly coming from the right direction, and we all concluded that it must be Garner and his herder, but we could not distinguish anyone through the dust. Slowly the dust came on, and finally a puff of wind bore it away for a moment, and a man yes, two; no, only one on horseback, could be distinguished, and in a few moments more Andy Short rode up.

            "'What does this mean, Andy?' said

1875.]              A SAGE -BRUSH ALIBI. 121

Morton, going up to him. ' Where is Garner and the herder?' 'It means,' said Andy, 'that Kingman has played us all for a lot of softies, and has got away with it. That fellow's name was not Garner, and the other wasn't no herder. They are bilks come here to swear Kingman clear, and done it; they crossed the State line night afore last. You fellows are all d----d smart, but I bet my money on Kingman after this. There's something mighty seldom about him. Hadn't somebody better treat? I'm as dry as a desert.'

            "And, sure enough, we were sold. Andy's story was about this : The first night out they stopped at First Water. The next morning Andy's horse was missing; they found him about noon, but did not start until after dinner. The next morning they left the trail to take a short cut to camp. The country was rough and broken, and about three o'clock that afternoon Garner swore that he was lost. Andy did not know the country. They came to a little creek just about sundown, and then Garner said that he recognized things, but that as the cattle -camp was about fifteen miles down the stream, they would camp where they were for the night. The next morning, after they had saddled up, Garner said: 'Andy, do you see that little black butte just at the end of that ridge?' Andy said he did. 'Well,' said Garner, 'that is on the State line. When you get on the other side of that you'll be in Nevada again ; as it is you are over the line. Now, don't buck and charge any about what I'm going to tell you ; it aint any use, for I soaked your pistol in the horse-trough more than an hour the first night out, while you were asleep, and it won't go off. In the first place, my name aint Garner. You'll find Garner and his camp about fifteen miles down this creek, and if he's lost any greenbacks, he'd better go down to town and take a swear before the grand jury. My partner and me went down to help Kingman out of trouble. We're friendly, you bet, and I didn't like to have Wright give him away. Give our love to the judge, the district attorney, and the sheriff; they are pretty good fellows, I reckon. We're sorry to leave them, but the best of friends must part. It won't be of any use to hunt for us ; we'll be hard to find and hard to take ; besides, Nevada papers aint good this side of that butte. Now slide, before my gun goes off ! ' and Andy did slide.

            "Well, Kingman had escaped conviction of a crime which he did commit, by his friends swearing him guilty of one which he did not. Where that rascal, who called himself Garner, and his bogus herder came from I do not know.

            "We had to turn Kingman loose, of course, for we could not try him the second time for robbing the stage, and in about a week or ten days he left. Then Sid Shepherd told me that, before Kingman went away, he came to his office and gave him the money to take up the $500 mortgage by which Mrs. Callen had raised the money for his fee, and that he paid it off. That Kingman offered to pay her the $1,000 he borrowed of her to open the mine with, and she told him that she could not accept it unless he gave her his word that it was not a part of that taken from the express. Kingman could not answer, and after a moment she said to him: 'Mr. Kingman, I am afraid that you have committed a great wrong in order to pay me this money. I would rather have lost it. If this belongs to others, pay it to them ; mine must be honest money. Take what time you need to pay me in ; I believe in you yet.' Then she went home.

            The next day Kingman left town. He returned in about a year, and after being here a week he asked me one morning to go over to the widow's house that afternoon and marry them. I did it, and they started for the East that eve-

122      TO THE LION OF VENICE. [FEB.

ning. As they were about leaving, Lambert, the express agent, stepped up, shook hands with them heartily, and wished them joy. After they had gone, he turned to those near, and said : ' Gentlemen, Mat Kingman don't owe the express company a dollar -- it's all right.' Kingman had made a strike, and had settled everything.

            "I saw him in New York last summer. He was there on business, he told me, and was living in Kentuck -- has a big ranch there. Kingman was not more than half a bad man, and I am glad he got clear.

            "Yes, I don't care if I do; story-telling is dry work.  How thoughtful of you, Manley, to set this out! No, I thank you -- water spoils it. Here's hoping."