Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1872-03-08

men! the sacred quest, the doughty
deeds, the battery of low churls,
the fearsomc ride and grewsome per-
ills Of the flower Of Simpsons Bar!
Alack! she is dainty, this Muse!
She will have none Of this bucking
brute and staggering, ragged rider
and l must fain follow him in prose,
afoot!
1t was o'clock and yet lie had
only gained Rattlesnako hill. For
in that time Jovita had rehearsed
to him all her imperfections and
practiced all her vices. Thrice had
she stumbled. Twice had she
thrown up her Roman nose in
straight line with the rcins, and re-
sisting bit and spur, struck out
madly across the country. Twice
had she reared, and rearing, fallen
backward; and twice had the agile
Dick, unharmed, regained his seat
before she found her vicious legs
again. And mile beyond them,
at the foot of long hill, was Rat
tlesnake creek. Dick knew that
here was the crucial test of his abil-
ity to perform his enterprise, set his
teeth grimly, put his knees well in
to her flanks, and changed his de-
fensive tactics into brisk aggression.
Bullied and maddencd, Jovita be-
gan the descent of the hill. Here
the artful Richard pretended to hold
her in with ostcntatious objurgation
and well-feigned cries of alarm. 1t
is unnecessary to add that Jovita
Instantly ran away. Nor need l
state the time made in the descent;
it is written in the chronicles of
Simpsons Bar. Enough that in
another moment, as it seemed to
Dick, she was splashing on the
overAowed banks Of Rattlesnake
creek. AS Dick expected, the mo-
mentum she had acquired carried
her beyond the point of baking,
and holding her we'll together for a
mighty leap, they dashed into the
middle Of the swiftly y-fowing cur
rent. A few moments of kicking,
wading and swimming, and Dick
drew a long breath on the opposite
bank.
The road from Rattlesnake creek
to Red mountain was tolerably level.
Either the plunge in Rattlesnake
creek had dampened her balcful
fire, or the art which led to it had
shown her the superior wickcdness
of her rider, for Jovita no longer
wasted her surplus energies in wan
ton conceits. Oncc she bucked,
but it was from force Of habit; once
she SHE'D, but it was from a new,
frcshly-painted meeting house at
the crossing of the county road
Hollows, bitches, gravelly deposits,
and patches Of freshly springing
grasses flew from her rattling hoofs
She began to smell unpleasantly
once or twice she coughed slightly
but there was no abatement Of hel
strength or speed. By O'Clock
she had passed Red mountain and
begun the descent to the plain
Ten minutes later the driver of the
fast Pioneer coach was ovcrtaker
and passed by ''man on Pinto
hoss" event sufficiently notabl,
for remark. At half past 2 Dicl
rose in his stirrups with grea
shout. Stars were glittering thro
the rifted clouds, and beyond him
out of the plain, rose two spires, ;
flagstaff and a struggling line o
black objects. Dick jingled hi
spurs and swung his RATA, Jovit;
bounded forward and in anothe
moment they swept into Tuttlevill'
and drew up before the woodel
piazza of "rhc Hotel of All Ma
tions."
| What transpircd that night a
Tuttlcville is not strictly part o
this record. Briefly l may state
however, that after Jovita had beel
handed over to sleepy ostler
whom she at once kicked into un
pleasant consciousness, Dick sallie'
out with the bar-keeper for a tou
of the sleeping town. Lights still
cleaned from a few saloons an,
gambling houses; but, avoidin.
these, they stopped before severa
closed shops, and by persistent tap
ping and judicious outcry rouset
the proprietors from their beds ant
made them unbar the doors Of thei
magazines and expose their wares
Sometimes they were met by curses
but oftener by interest and SOM
concern in their needs, and the in
tcrview was invariably concluded
by a drink. 1t was 3 o'clock befor'
this pleasantly was given over, an.
with a small waterproof bag OF In
dia rubber strapped on his shoulder
Dick returned to the hotel. Blu
here he was waylaid by Beauty
Beauty opulcnt in harms,affiuent il
dress, persuasive in speech an.
Spanish in accent! In vain she re
peatcd the invitation in Excelsior,
happily scorned by all Alpine
climbing youth, and rejected by thi
child of the Sierras-a rejection
softened in this instance by laugl
and his last gold coin. And thel
he sprang to the saddle and dashed
down the lonely street and out int,
the lonelier plain, where, presently
the lights, the black line Of houses
the spires and the flagstaff sank in
to the earth behind him again an,
were lost in the distance.
The storm had cleared away, tn
air was brisk and cold, the outlines
Of adjacent landmarks were distinc
but it was lnlfpast 4 before Dicl
reached the meeting house and tn
crossing Of the county road. X
avoid the rising grade he had take,
longer and more circuitous road
in whose viscid mud Jovita sanl