Читать книгу Vigilante Days and Ways. The pioneers of the Rockies; the makers and making of Montana and Idaho онлайн

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“Why don’t you fire upon them?” said he, with a vulgar oath to the sheriff. “You have ordered them to disperse, and still permit them to defy you.”

The sheriff, though a determined, was a kind-hearted man, and wished to avoid bloodshed. He knew if his men fired, the fire would be returned, and a bloody battle would follow. He was also aware that seven hundred or more had enrolled their names in the ranks of the Vigilantes, courageous men and good citizens, who would probably rally to the assistance of their comrades in case of an attack. The day wore on with nothing more serious to interrupt its harmony than the noisy exchange of profane epithets and vulgar threats between the two bands, until it was finally agreed that persons should be selected from both factions to work up the terms of a peace. The result was that the Vigilantes disbanded, upon the sheriff’s pledge that none of them should be arrested, and Patterson was conveyed to prison to await the decision of a trial at law. After an unsuccessful effort of his attorney to have him admitted to bail, the sheriff remanded him to custody.