the other day, for some fellows
in San Bernardino who had maltreated an Indian; he had even gone so
far as to arrest several liquor-dealers for simply selling whiskey to
Indians. If he were to take this case of Alessandro's in hand, it might
be troublesome. Farrar concluded that his wisest course would be to make
a show of good conscience and fair-dealing by delivering himself up
at once to the nearest justice of the peace, as having killed a man
in self-defence, Accordingly he rode straight to the house of a Judge
Wells, a few miles below Saboba, and said that he wished to surrender
himself as having committed "justifiable homicide" on an Indian, or
Mexican, he did net know which, who had stolen his horse. He told a
plausible story. He professed not to know the man, or the place; but did
not explain how it was, that, knowing neither, he had gone so direct to
the spot.

He said: "I followed the trail for some time, but when I reached a turn,
I came into a sort of blind trail, where I lost the track. I think the
horse had been led up on hard sod, to mislead any one on the track. I
pushed on, crossed the creek, and soon found the tracks again in soft
ground. This part of the mountain was perfectly unknown to me, and very
wild. Finally I came to a ridge, from which I looked down on a little
ranch. As I came near the house, the dogs began to bark, just as I
discovered my horse tied to a tree. Hearing the dogs, an Indian, or
Mexican, I could not tell which, came out of the house, flourishing a
large knife. I called out to him, 'Whose horse is that?' He answered
in Spanish, 'It is mine.' 'Where did you get it?' I asked. 'In San
Jacinto,' was his reply. As he still came towards me, brandishing the
knife, I drew my gun, and said, 'Stop, or I'll shoot!' He did not stop,
and I fired; still he did not stop, so I fired again; and as he did not
fall, I knocked him down with the butt of my gun. After he was down, I
shot him twice with my pistol."

The duty of a justice in such a case as this was clear. Taking the
prisoner into custody, he sent out messengers to summon a jury of six
men to hold inquest on the body of said Indian, or Mexican; and early
the next morning, led by Farrar, they set out for the mountain. When
they reached the ranch, the body had been removed; the house was
locked; no signs left of the tragedy of the day before, except a few
blood-stains on the ground, where Alessandro had fallen. Farrar seemed
greatly reli