Men were immediately appointed to erect a scaffold, and dig the graves of the doomed criminals, who were taken into custody to await the result of the trial of Forbes. This followed immediately; and the loaded pistol, and the fact that when the onslaught was made upon Dillingham, he called out, “Don’t shoot, don’t shoot,” were used in evidence with good effect. When the question was finally put, Forbes, who was a young man of fine personal appearance, and possessed of good powers as a speaker, made a personal appeal to the crowd, which so wrought upon their sympathies, and was so eloquent withal, that they acquitted him by a large majority. In marked contrast with the spirit which they had exhibited a few hours before while condemning Stinson and Lyons to a violent death, the people, upon the acquittal of Forbes, crowded around him with shouts and laughter, eager to shake hands with and congratulate him upon his escape. Months afterwards, when the excitement of the occasion, with the memory of it, has passed from men’s minds, Charley Forbes was heard vauntingly to say that he was the slayer of Dillingham. He was known to deride the tender susceptibilities of the people, who gave him liberty to renew his desperate career, and chuckle over the exercise of powers of person and mind that could make so many believe even Truth herself to be a liar. Among the villains belonging to Plummer’s band, not one, not even Plummer himself, possessed a more depraved nature than Forbes; and with it, few, if any, were gifted with as many shining accomplishments. He was a prince of cut-throats, uniting with the coolness of Augustus Tomlinson all the adaptability of Paul Clifford. On one occasion he said to a gentleman about to leave the Territory, “You will be attacked on your way to Salt Lake City.” “You can’t do it, Charley,” was the reply. “Your boys are scattered, we are together, and will prove too many for you.” Nevertheless, the party drove sixty miles the first day out, and thus escaped molestation. His early life was passed in Grass Valley, California. While comparatively a youth, he was convicted of robbery. On the expiration of his sentence, he visited his old friends, and on his promise of reformation, they obtained employment for him in McLaughlin’s gas works. For a while his conduct was unexceptionable, and he was rapidly regaining the esteem of all; but in an evil hour he indulged in a game of poker for money. From that moment he yielded to this temptation, until it became a besetting vice. Not long after he entered upon this career, he provoked a quarrel with one “Dutch John,” who threatened to kill him. Forbes told McLaughlin, saying in conclusion, “When Dutch John says so, he means it.” “Take my revolver out of the case,” said McLaughlin, “put it in your breast-pocket, and defend yourself as occasion may require.” Forbes obeyed. Soon after, as he was passing along with a ladder on his shoulder, an acquaintance said to him,