The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1871-10-16

number Of rancho oa'io,"s Ill stream fiow-
a central open space. ~ sS round among |
eu y! 80 .tovered spurs below. u.d into
chSppa1 AZ ora;n had been eatneIeu w
faole c,'p nd y nrmbcr OF horses wsLe Iu;;-
a.ir stravinp about. let VIII ao,s;,ns Tho
Sennces Of considerable p.sn;cinms mock
whole place mad an ar on, o, s "ncn suuare.
repose. NO nnn or the buildings was store,
saw .n' his I rode, tying hawean 10 tne
pi1"| sd rht the whole world slumbered
,.hon beheld the sale occupant OF this
,n,,ntry store, a red.faced man In panta-
mons and shirt, who lay on his back upon
a counter fast asleep, the hanoie OF 70,
to me II were to wake him up o little TOO
Suddenly he might misunderstood my pre-
sence and do some accidental damage; so
! sterped back and poked Kaweah, making
him iump and clatter his hoo's, ana a'
once the proprietor sprung 10 LUG ooo4'
looking fiustered and uneasy.
asked him if he could accommo9a.c III.
for the AFTERNOON and night, ana taSc G.a"
of my horse TO which nc Tepueu, an
yerr ]eisurelv manner, that thero WIS y
had and something to eat, and nay ana
,ha, II ,gas inclined to take the chances l
might stay. o,,,,os did
.,,,y. and nv host walked out with me 10
The corral, and showed me- where 10 sc'
Kaweab's hay and grain. os;,,,
loafed about for all hour OF TWO. huuIns
that Chinese cook was the Only otnel nu-
man neinr in sight, and then concluded 10
1nmn the landlord 4 half hours tIlal
Thoroughly Disguised me, and gave IL up
no a had lob. | did. however, learn tnat
he was 81 man Of southern birth, OF cohslde,
rable education, which bIuta! me ana
dsoravcd mind had not suflccd luiiE 70
ohiiterate. He seemed TO care very httie
for his business, which lndeea was snail
enough. for during the time spent toe!c
NOT a single customer made his appearance.
The stock Of goods observed on eSamlna"
tion to be chiefly tire-al ms and every man
ner Of gambling apparatus ana Equors !,
the few pieces OF stuff, barrels, ana boxes
of groceries appeared 10 be disposed raIneF
Toy ornament than actual sale.
From each Of the mans trousers poche's
protruded the handle OF DerilnSer' ahu
vr9enr ht,ss GQnnter were srranse ,'Ia. bor-
relied shOt-2uns. :, -.
remarked to him that he seemed TO have
a handilr-arrangcd arsenal, at which nc re-
ra.ded me with Il cool, quiet stare, poi
ished the handle oil one OF bis Defrin"ers
upon his trousers, examined the PeIcus'
sion can with great deliberation. and theI
with q nod OF the head intended TO convey
great force, said: d" You don't live III these
parts,"-a fact for which 1 lclt noI un'
Inc llfau GRAIN Dlauuy .to.i, anu ",Gn,
and at intervals of about halt an hour called
To his sioc plethoric old cut namcd Cos
uel.' stroked her With nervous rapldlty,
swearing at the same time in so distract ano
unconscious manner that he seemed
mechanically talking to himself.
Whoever has travelled on the west coast
has not failed to notice the fearful volieys OF
oaths which the oXcn-drivcrs burr al their
teams, but for ingenious flights OF fancy
profanity Ihavc never met the equal OF my
host. With the most perfect Roou nature
aud unmovcd countenance he uttered
forid blasphcmics, which, l think, must
have taken hours to invent. | was glad
when bedtime came, TO he relieved of MS
presence, and especially pleased when he
took me to the little separate building, IN
which was narrow single bed. Next this
building on the lett was the cook.housc
aud dinng-room, and upon the right 10y
bis own sleeping apartment. Directly
across the square, and not more than sixty
feet off, was the gate Of the corral, which,
when moved, creakcd on It's rusty hinges
in the most dismal manner.
As lay upon my bed | could bear ka-
wcuh occasionally stamp; the snoring of
the Chinaman on one side, and the low,
mumbled conversation OF my most aud his
IT, sleep, but lay there in half doZc, quite
ongcious. vet withdrawn from the present.
thiuk il must have been about II O'clock
when / heard the CHATTER Of u couple of
horscmcu, who gallopcd up to my host :
building and sprang To the ground, their
Spanish Si,urs ringing On The stone. sat
up in bed, gra5pcd hy pistol, and listened,
The peach tree next my window rustled.
The horses moved about 50 restlessly that
! heard but little of the conversation, but
that little l found OF personal interest to
myself.
give a. nearly rs can remember The
fragments Of dialogue between my hostanu
the man whom recognized as the elder OF
my TWO robbers.
"Whcn did he Gomez"
"Wal!. the sun might have been about
four hours"
.Has his horse give Cut?"
faled to hear the answer, but wa
tempted 10 shout out No."
.Cray coat, buckskin Drcechcs." IN,
drcss.)
IL guess wouldn't, round here"
A low nlut.ered solil0quy In Spanish
wound up with arowl.
Ono, Antoine, not within nile Of tn,
place." -,
-. Sta buen.'"
Ont of tho compressed jumbie ci the
final sentence got but one word, "buck.
shot,"
The Spaniards mounted. and the sound
of their spurs aud horses boots soon died
away In the North, and law for half n,
hour revolving all sorts of plans The
safest course seemed 10 be TO sl!p out i'm the
darkncsS, anu fly on foot to tho mountains,
abandoning my good kaweah but /
thought o! his noble run, and 1t seemed to
me 20 wrong 10 turn my back on him that
resolved 10 Unite our fate. ! rose eau
LOUSY, and. holding my watch up to the
moon, found thai T. O'Clock had just pass
ed, Then taking from my pocket tlYe-dol-
lar gold piece. laid it upon the stand by
my ped. aud III my stocking feet, with my
clothes III my hand, started noiselessly for
lhe corral. II fierce bulldog, who had
SHOWN no disposition to make friends with
HE, bounded from the open door of the
proprietor to my side. Instead OF tearing
me, as | had expected, he licked my hands
and fawned about my feet.
Reaching the corral gate, I dreaded open
Ing 1t at once, remembering the rusty
hinges; SO hung my clothes upon an
upper bar OF the fence, and cautiously lift
Ing the latch, began to push back the gate,
inch by inch-an operation which required
Inc eight or ten minutes then l walked up
to haweah and pattcu him. His manger
was empty; he hao picked up the last ker-
mel OF barley. The creatures manner was
full OF curiosity, Us if he had never been
approached IN the night before. Suppress
ing his ordinary whinnyirg. he preserved u
motloneSs, statue. like silence. | was in
terror lest by Il neigh or some nervous
movement he should awaken the sleeping
proprietor and expose my plan.
The corral and the open square were halt
covered with loose stones, and when |
thought of the clatter of kaweahs shoes
eSperiencea q feeling nj troubc and ap,in