THE MUEDEEEE CAUGHT. 91 



[* people take tlie law into their own liands^ and deal out sum- 

 mary justice to all offenders, Ilorse-stealing and cattle-lifting 

 arc punished, as a matter of coursCj hj death. The proper 

 amount of punishment necessary for murder depends upon 

 circumstances and the social status of the mm^derer, 



I was passing away an hour or two of the evening in one 

 of the hilliard-saloonSj watching the strange and grotesque 

 appearance of the motley crowd of ^^ loafers " and others, all 

 armed with bowie-knives and revolvers, when I noticed a tall, 

 well-built fellow, his face covered with long, wiry, dark-red 

 hair, and his legs almost hidden in those enormous top-boots 

 so much in vogue amongst miners. He was taking a drink 

 with a friend at the bar. After this he went out ; and so 

 many folloAved him that the room was left comparatively 

 ^^P^y- This most ordinary occurrence suggested nothing to 

 my mind ; but at breakfast next morning, the good landlady, 

 with the delightful loquacity peculiar to her calling, disclosed 

 to me its real meaning. The tall, red-haired miner of the 

 evening before had robbed and murdered his companion a 

 year previously near this place, and had made good his escape 

 to Denver. Trustincr to the chamre he had made in his 



* appearance, he had ventm^ed back to his old haunts at 

 Trinidad. A few days after his arrival, first one and then 





nised him, and laid their plans for his ( 

 uietly and skilfully carried out before my 



Vi 



the billiard-saloon. He was invited to drink at the bar ; 

 .hen, on being told that some one was waiting for him in the 

 street, he went out directly, and was immediately surrounded. 

 Seeing that resistance was useless, he quietly remarked that 

 ^' they had been one too many for him this time ; and, without 

 ' more ado, walked with them to the inn. Before twelve o'clock 

 that nig:ht he had been tried, condemned, and executed. 



