The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1869-08-14

men said ana low voice. " kDoF one Of
! rs Shs o9gs to GsAs ~, q q outlaws,
away from the window, hs continued,
"Lieutenant, you had best take of your
uniform coat and cop mud put on this
jacket and Sombrero' Ifthey ask for the
qnRElermaSter, as they may, will say
that yon hayegone TO town, They have,
probably, never seen you, and IL they
come here for miachief that will throw
them of the track There rs nothing in
this country like being pEepagnd, though
we need not let them Be6ihAf 81, suspect
anything" With this he 'hGnded mo a
Jacket Of dressed deerSkin, dyed 70 o deep
brown, and trimmed, Mexican fashion,
with pointed brass buttons.
His manner and the few words he spoke,
although they might have seemed to 9th
era, oddly enough, coincident with my
suddenly awakened SuSrtciOnS, gave me
no surprise whatever, so sure was / that
my instructive perception Of danger had
been correct. Robertson was q good and
valuable friend, brave, kind hearted and
generous man.. He had killed a sufficient
number Of Mexicans 10 establish char
aCter for courage and enable him To live
thus far id that tRtbule nt community very
peaceably. (He was, by the way, him
self with two other Americans, in that
very place, about two months aferward,
foully murdered by band ofrobbers.) |
had, on more than one occasion, learned
thsSalue olhis adyice, SO without further
words, and for the lime confding my for
tunes to the man whom knew to be bet
ter qualified than | 10 meet the emergency,
| donned the disguise, while Robertson
threw au old horse-blanket Carelessly over
my military coat and the piles Of Mexican
silver, and, turning a small table around
so as to bring it between him and the door,,
sat down behind il with. bis right wrist
resLing on its half-Opened drawer, could
distinctly see revolver lying in the draw.
er, with its handle within two or three
inches of Robertson's wrist, and though
heappeared to be deeply absorbed in COM
pairing the papers he held before him, i
was quite plain, that his right hand was
about as near the weapon as n could veil
be AhdInOt grasp it. x IwaS sihhthe back
ground reading q newspaper. my pistol
hung at my side in its holster, from which,
for convenience sake, the covering flap
had long been cut away, and whence the
ornamented handle shown out quite con.
spicuously. In short, to judge from up.
pearances, one would have thought thatl
had Just dropped il for q call. i took
very. much lssStimk, you may be sure, to
arrange this tableau than it takes to de-
scribe it, aud yet hardly were Robertson
and | seated when the heavy tramp Of the
party was heard ascending the stairs.
A knock was answered by "Come in;n
aud, led by the American, the men enter.
ed thereon. l raised my eyes for an in
slant, 70 take IN the group as they cluster.
ed in the doorway, then dropped them 10
the paper, leaving Robertson to play the
host. The customary solutions, followed
by q remark ortwo relative ~ the weather,
we're exchanged between the leader and
The clerk, and then the former asked
whether there was to be another auction
,Gale2 ~
"No,' :, said Robertson, There is moth.
ing more to be sold."
II understood that the quartermastef
was here and desired some information
from him." continued the stranger, and |
could feel that he cast glance Of half in
quiry at me.
-''He has gone 10 Rancho Davis,'t was
the feply. Can Be Enthusiastically I
mo, I Wish % sec him will he be
back TO nig6t?"
Hardly. He will be playing poker with
Clay Davis until daylight Tomorrow
This boldly invented SANDER came near
ppssttiDg my composure, md it was for.
tunate that my eyes were on the paper, for,
be it known TO you, reader, it is dismis-
sible offence for disbursing officer Of the
army to be known to gamble.
The American was evidently embarrass-
ed. Heretofore in the worst Of times the
outlaws from society who made their
homes in that community, and whose
hands were against nearly all men, had
always maintained toward army officers q
polite delerenee;Ta and now, at the very
moIheht'%hen Abs neattality was to be
broken through, the scouudrel learned
that the quartermaster was the boon com.
panion Of Clay Davis, the most dreaded
man on the Rio Grande. And this he
could readily believe, for Clay Davis was
well known to be friendly to the army, and
in fact rented to the Government the land
on which Stood the barrasks. Though not
immasllate, as fey men were in that re-
glon, Clay was possessed Of many virtues,
among which washospitality, aud his pis.
tol was quite as much ut the service Of a
friend as was his whiskey. He held pc
culiar influence over the reckless men
who made periodical visits TO his settle
ment, and those who did not really like
him had healthy horror Of his shooting
irou.n -
twill ,ke2bo back in the morning."
continued the stranger, after pause.
II don't know" replied the clerk "but
he leaves here 10 morrow evening""
"We will call again." said the Ameri.
can, as, much to my satisfaction, he open.
ed the door. and, passed out, with the
Mexicans al his heels. ~ <.
"ThereW said Robertson, as the jingle
Of the last huge spur was heard from
below aud drew good long breath of
relief. "1f that crew didn't come here
for robbery I'm sinner"
whats to be done now2" said |. at
will not take them very long to End out
that they have been tricked; and then
there willibeg GghtSgn.Fo1r hands, aud,
esen if one did not mind q, little excite.
ment, there the money to be considered2m
robertson was an inveterate chewer OF
tobacco, and at that moment he appeared
to be exclusively engrossed in selecting
au uncommonly large chew, but when that
was satisfactorily and rather thoughtfully
slowed away, he tnrned slowly toward
ME. and said, !" Wal, dEteutenaht, there
won't be shindy unless tho advantage is
all on their side. You cannot attack them
until they show their hand, which they
won't do before they get you and the
money alone. But there are more fellows
like those where they came from; and
knowing as they do, or soon will, that you
pay oil the teamsters wherever you hap.
pen TO meet them on the road, they must
believe that the funds in your possession
amount to much more than is actually the
case, and it will mot belong before sthat
little party WILL NJ reinforced, when twill
bsno longer sata TO travel about as yoa
DO, unattended: At any rate, you'd net,
if were in your place, stay here long,
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