“Maybe some more of you want some of this!”
As no one deigned a reply, he walked coolly away.
If Helm was arrested for this murder, he escaped; for the next we hear of him, he was captured on Frazer River in the Fall of 1862, as will appear from the following extract from a British Columbia paper:
“The man, Boone Helm, to whom we referred some weeks since, has at last been taken. He was brought into this city last night strongly ironed. The first clue of the detectives was the report that two men had been seen trudging up the Frazer River on foot, with their blankets and a scanty supply of provisions on their backs. The description of one corresponded with the description given by the American officers of Boone Helm. Helm’s conduct on the road is conclusive evidence that he was aware he was being pursued. He passed around the more populous settlements, or through them in the night time. When overtaken, he was so exhausted by fatigue and hunger that it would have been impossible for him to continue many hours longer. He made no resistance to the arrest,—in fact, he was too weak to do so,—and acknowledged without equivocation or attempt at evasion that he was Boone Helm. Upon being asked what had become of his companion, he replied with the utmost _sang froid_:
“‘Why, do you suppose that I’m a —— fool enough to starve to death when I can help it? I ate him up, of course.’
“The man who accompanied him has not been seen or heard of since, and from what we have been told of this case-hardened villain’s antecedents, we are inclined to believe he told the truth. It is said this is not the first time he has been guilty of cannibalism.”
While on his return for trial in the Spring of 1863, leave was obtained from the proper authorities at Portland, Oregon, to confine him in the penitentiary there until provision could be made to secure him safely at Florence. There I will leave him for the present, as, after accompanying me thus far through the horrible narrative of his adventures, my readers doubtless, now that he is fairly within the sharp fangs of the law, hope soon to learn that justice has finally overtaken him, and that the world is freed from his further depredations.
Three brothers of Boone Helm came to the Pacific coast between 1848 and 1850. They all died violent deaths. At the time of the return of Boone Helm to Florence for trial for the murder of Dutch Fred, one of these brothers, familiarly called “Old Tex,” was engaged in mining in the Boise diggings, two hundred miles south of Florence. He had a good reputation for honesty, liberality, and courage. He was, moreover, a man of eccentric character. It is told of him that in one of the mining towns he threatened to shoot on sight a person with whom he had a personal difficulty. His enemy hearing of this, swore to reciprocate the intention upon the first opportunity. A chance soon after offering to carry his threat into execution, he said to Old Tex, as he presented his pistol to fire,