The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1873-02-22

| blossomed out. He became gay, vivacious and
as light-hearted as any skipping antelope. His
conversation rst:ling string of py rotechniC
puns he would dance 'Juba' by the hour from
sheer excess of glee.
Continuing onr hunting, we had by this tir.e
| come down to the southwest portion of Colora.
! do, upon the boundary line betwcen.th terri
| tory aad AriSonia. Here the ground is extreme
| iy volcanic. On every side rises huge masses OF
primeva rock, shattered and torn by the violence
Of extinct earthquakes jutting in strange forma'
| .ions of irreyulary shaped crags. The soil is
| barren nothing meets the eye but the fantastic
| shapes of the rent rocks. l did not wish to lin
ger in this spot; disqualification forced me to
| say that; but Jacob insisted upon it. What ia.
| tality inspired him with the idea Will never be
known. Something in the appearance of the
scene seemed to affect him as congenial. He
leapeG and ran over the immence boulders and
upon the slanting sides of rocks from very wan.
tonuess of mirth, apparently rejoicing in the
spect presented by this bare desolation.
Two days had We stayed in the vicinity of the
volcanic section. On the succeeding day we
were to retrace orr steps for Denver, laden with
game and recollect,ous of most agreeable vaea
ton. The time came to start, our horses and
mules were ready, the latter burdened with all
the bouldsrs, winding In and out, our eyes were
simultaneously caught by cloud of what looked
like dense steam arising from ike west.
whats that p exclaimed Jacob. "Let us
60 and see."
NO." I sxpostulated. 1--WE have set our
faces homeward; do not turn aside"
My circumstances were in vain l might "a
we'll talk to the wind as to my heAdstrong
friend. He insisted upon going to see what was
the cause of this cloud, and the difference here
| originated which ended so miserably. He per.
aio.ed T 90
alone saying he would 20 there "aRyhow" OF
course l followed him, leading tho mules.
Arrived at the place. we discovered that the
stream arose from several hot sulphur springs,
all situated within short distance of each
other. Boiling and Kissing, the surging cir.
cumscribed contents OF the pools seethed in ever
ripping waves They, to a certain extent,
frightened me- I wished to draw Jacob away
from what instinctively felt to be a malign
influence. To no purpose. The freak had seiz.
ed him that he would battle IN the largest OF
these pools, and battle he did.
When he emerged he was covered with yellow
flakes of sulphur. They hung about him in
minute PARTICLES; and furthermore. as quickly
discovered, he had swallowed quite large
quantity of the fluid.
Leaning against rock, he spoke Of again on.
tering the pool. I reasoned with him, remon.
| strated earnestly. He retorted insultingly
| abused ne, spoke derisvely of my opinion. I,
| irritated beyond endurance, goaded by his sting.
ing words, clsnched my fist and-and atas /
| Struck Inn.
lie aoent Oft.
Unfortunate man that was, had completely
forgotten that the chlorste of potash phosphoru.
and sulphur uniting had made him human
match. Combining and minglins, these ohemi
cal elements had transformed him from man
| into something which when struck would 90 off
and that was exactly what he did. Long time
searched narrowly, but no trace, no sign Of him
did ever again see. He had indeed gone of.
| That, sir, is my plain, unvarnished tale.
fail to see where WAS wrong. Had my friend
remained man he probably would have thrash
ed me; as it was he vanished; yet I shall never
cease to mourn the untime!y striking of tn.
match called Jacob Podriugton Nilsson.