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Page: of 12
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brush mental sufferings since his recovery were riches a comrking pensation for these trials? And then it came to him that perhaps
ler to he was not mentally so well balanced after all. Why this thirst
for bloody vengeance, this lying in ambush to wreak his hate
ourro on a gang of assassins who could be safely left to the law?
isils, Their kind always reached the end of the rope ultimately. And
f any then granting that as judge and executioner he succeeded,
ig the cui bono? What would he have accomplished? And in what partictchet ular would he be better off? Why not abandon the chase, rid his
sage, mind of these follies, join Mike and settle down to sober work?
tself. His heart had grown tenderer toward his wife, and he had
ar=by made many. excuses of late for what at first he had looked on
ail in as an unpardonable offense, but which had softened until it
close seemed an error for which she had been already too severly
king, punished, Here was the key to his conduct. He burned with a
noke, desire to exterminate the wretches who had injured his wife, and
itwas the Jatent love for her that spurred him on, This accomply to lished, he felt he could go to her and wipe out the past his
ands. coldness, his sternness, the sting of the bitter words he had
inate heaped upon her in the first outburst of his mortified selfks he conceit, and dropping the curtain on the twelve months' interlude
oking of the drama, ring up a new and more satisfactory act.
> that
wling CHAPTER XXVIII
piece WAKEFIELD EXTERMINATES THE GANG
ed in
ed by Wakefield did not let these thoughts swerve him from his
ering purpose, and one day he was rewarded by a confirmation of the
In the correctness of his deductions, the persuasion that if he tarried
and a long enough, Bell and his followers would seek the rendezvous,
n beMany parties had crossed the ford and had continued on over the
$ own divide toward the North Fork, a prospector now and then turned
e not down the river path; but this afternoon from his outlook in the
terial pine tree he noted a cavalcade of horsemen who splashed hastily
found through the river, took the trail and loped down the bank toward
price the canyon. Quickly descending, he crept to the boulder and shortly
2, his ‘ heard the crackling in the thicket demonstrating that they were
making their way through the chaparral, A lapse of a few
minutes and the gang emerged into the open space, unsaddled
the horses, staked them out by their long reatas, stripped the
saddle bags from the saddles, and made for the old camp in the
bed of the canyon. No doubt entered Wakefield's mind of the
identity of the robbers. There were the blonde Bell, the two
other white men, and couple of Greasers so often described
by their victims, delivered into his hands, as he believed; but
one against five it seemed as if the odds were against him.
This did not trouble him, neither did any false notions of fair
play. They were vermin and deserved death; that was his mission
and he had no scruples in the matter. There was a price on their
heads, dead or alive, and the former was the more expedient,
Creeping cautiously through the chamizal until he reached
a foothold on a ledge of rock above them and some forty yards
distant, he rose to his feet, levelled his shotgun, and blazed
away at the nearest, one of the Mexicans, who fell dead, riddled
with buckshot. The startled highwaymen, taken completely unawares and believing that they were ambushed by a posse,
fled toward the spot. where their horses were tethered. As
they climbed the bank the second barrel laid low one of the whites,
who fell forward on his face, convulsively grasped at the tufts of
grass, relaxed, and rolled back dead into the canyon. Drawing
a revolver, he sped a bullet after the retreating trio, keeping
up a fusillade until they gained the top of the bank and ran with.
flying feet toward where the animals were staked. One, the remaining Mexican, was winged, fell, rose, fellagain, and scrambled
on hands and knees to the.cover of the thicket, into which he
crawled and disappeared from view.
Before Wakefield could descend from his point of vantage
and reach the opposite bank, Bell and his comrade had wrenched
the reatas from the stakes, mounted bareback, dashed off down
the trail, and were soon safe from immediate pursuit, Thus ended the battle, if it could be so called. It was a surprise and a
rout, and Wakefield's vengeance was partially gratified.
brief search, and he found that the Mexican who had been shot
. through the hip was helpless and in a fair way to bleed to death
from the wound, With an indifference to his fate that was almost satanic, Wakefield disarmed the victim, struggled with the
temptation to blow the fellow's head off, but not being quite
equal to this coldblooded finale, turned back to the camp and
gathered together the plunder. From the weight of the saddle
bags he was persuaded that they contained more or less gold;
this proved true, an examination of the contents revealing coin
and a large quantity of gold dust. Besides, there were a couple
of bottles of whiskey, bread, cooked meat, ammunition, and
other articles. It was evident that the robbers intended to camp in
the canyon over night and then depart, and this was confirmed
by the Mexican, who afterwards confessed that: they had ended
their, fall campaign, had proceeded to the spot to divide the
spoils, where they were to separate, make their way to the valley, and meet at Sacramento a week or two later; that is, all
except Bell, who had a place of retreat unknown to his companions, where he proposed to tarry until inclination prompted
him to renew his depredations.
Now came the question as to further action, Obviously
it was his duty to inform the authorities and deliver to them the
spoils. His action needed no_ justification; on the contrary,
he would receive the plaudits of the community for his daring
exploit in ridding them of the scoundrels who had terrorized
the foothills; yet he was not satisfied with the outcome. The
chief offender had for the time escaped; and this left his self
imposed task unfinished and more difficult to accomplish, as
the fellow would undoubtedly take alarm and flee the country.
. (to be continued)
The Nevada County Nugget Wednesday, Jan
a
uary 26, 1972