t," and the man held up
his wide-brimmed hat and pointed with his finger to a little round hole
in the brim close to the crown. "Three inches more tew one side an' he'd
a-got me, tew.

"Wal, me an' Spike didn't stop tew argy none after that; but got back
ahind them bushes an' trees as sudden as our legs would take us. But,"
and Ugger paused and glared at Thure and Bud, "if I knowed I was on my
deathbed an' a-goin' tew die in five minits, I'd be willin' tew swear
that th' tew murderers was them tew boys a-standin' thar. We saw their
faces plain an' thar ain't no mistake," and his eyes flashed an ugly
look in the direction of Thure and Bud.

"Of course," continued Bill Ugger, "they didn't dare follow us, 'cause,
if they did, they knowed we could hide ahind a tree an' pot 'em, which
we'd ben sum glad tew do," and his eyes glowed vindictively. "Wal, we
waited, hid ahind th' bushes an' trees, not darin' tew show ourselves
an' bein' tew far off tew do any pistol shooting a-hopin' that they'd
ride off an' leave th' body of th' man they'd robbed an' probably
killed, but they was tew cunnin' tew do that; for, in a leetle while,
they throwed th' body, like it was a bag of grain, across th' back of
one of th' hosses an' tied it thar; an' then they rode off, a-leadin'
th' hoss with th' body on it ahind 'em. Me an' Spike waited 'til they'd
gone out of sight over th' top of a distant hill an' then we made for
th' spot of th' killin'. Th' grass was sum tread up an' bloody; an'
lyin' in th' blood an' partly tread intew th' ground, we found this,"
and Ugger thrust his hand into one of his pockets and pulled out a small
daguerreotype-case, perhaps a couple of inches square, on which could be
plainly seen ominous stains of red.

"This," and he held up the small case where all could see, "has inside
of it th' picter of as handsum a lady as I ever seed; an' under th'
picter is writ, in a woman's writin,' these words: Tew my beloved
husband, John Stackpole'; an' we reckoned, me an' Spike did, as how th'
murdered man's name must a-ben John Stackpole. See for yourselves," and
he handed the case to the alcalde, who, after opening it and looking at
the picture inside and the blood stains on the outside, passed it on to
the jury, who examined it carefully.

"Of course," continued Ugger, after he had watched the effect of the
daguerreotype on the alcalde and the jury for a minute, "bein' bound for
th' diggin's an' knowin' 'twould be almost use