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"A MAN FOB BREAKFAST." 139

A low, wretched man was this the lowest in the camp ; but he stood between others of a more respect able character and danger. His fortune in the matter was a prophecy of theirs. The prisoner was nearly drunk as he took his seat on a three-legged stool before the Judge in the Howlin Wilderness. He sat with his hat on. In fact, miners, in the matter of -Wearing hats, would make first-class Israelites.

" Ef I ain t out o this by dark," said Spades, as he jerked his head over his shoulder and spirted a stream of amber at the back-log, u I ll sun some body s moccasins, see if I don t." And he looked straight at the Judge, who settled down uneasily in his seat, and placed his beaver hat on the table be tween himself and the prisoner as a sort of barricade.

Two or three gamblers, good enough men in their way, acted as attorneys for Spades. They at once turned themselves loose in plausible, if not eloquent, speeches against the treacherous savage. Sandy now introduced his witness for the prosecu tion. This man told how Spades had butchered the babes down on the Klamat, in detail; and then others were called and did the same. It was a clear case, and Sandy was delighted with his prosecution.

The other side did not ask any questions. The attorneys whispered a moment among themselves, and then one of them got up, took the stand, and gravely asserted that on that day, and at the very moment described, he was playing poker with Spades at two bits a corner in the Howlin Wilderness. Then