So I came out of it all straight, and
was not much the less thought of. In fact, I seemed to have ten friends
after the affair to one before. But Dick McGill, whose connection with
it I have felt justified in exposing, still hounded me through his
paper. I have before me the copy of the _Journal_--little four-page
sheet yellowed with time, with the account of it which follows:
"A desperado named Vandemark, well known to the annals of
local crime as 'Cow Vandemark,' was arrested last Wednesday
for leading the riots which have cleaned out those
industrious citizens who have been jumping claims in this
county. A reporter of the _Journal_, which finds out
everything before it happens, attended the ceremonies of
giving some of these people a coat of tar and feathers, and
can speak from personal observation as to the ferocity of
this ruffian Vandemark--also from slight personal contact.
"This hardened wretch is in every feature a villain--except
that he has a rosy complexion, downy whiskers, and buttermilk
eyes, instead of the black flashing orbs of fiction. Sheriff
Boyd decoyed him into town, skilfully avoiding any rousing of
his tigerish disposition, and is now making a blacksmith of
him--or was until yesterday, when he paroled him to Miss
Virginia Royall, the ward of the Reverend Thorndyke.
"This is a very questionable policy. If followed up it will
result in a saturnalia of crime in this community.
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