The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1874-05-12

trust. this becoming the guardian Of a
young lady Of eighteen with No relations,
and yet, under the circumstances, could
not refuse, SO l gave reluctant consent
He seemed pleased, and said that lie
could now die in peace The sad parting
words were spoken, .hs win was made,
his last earthly business was transacted,
and then the old Don closed his eyes for
ever. Next day his body was consigned
to the waves. and the ship. sped on as
;hongh nothing had happened; but a
gloom was cast over our little party
which could not be removed We all
bore it as bravely as possible, but Death
left its impression on each one, as is but
proper and right. Several more deaths
occurred, and other bodies were sent to
sleep in watery graves, and then the fever
left the ship, and we had quick passage
to Australia ~ Fa.
=
But to pass minor details, and go on
with the main points of the story l
will skip unimportant events of our voy
age and take up the threads of our tale
at the time when we had reached the
land Of our destination. IN. s-a III. j..
Fred got his mine into working condi
ton with only delay Of few weeks -
Hands were hired to work it,and we our
selves took up our abode on the spot, so
'as to both oversee and help about the
work. The Don's property proved to be
large and valuable, and it did not take me
long to find man willing and compe-
tent to take the responsibility of carry
ing on the three mines which had been
left to orphan1nez So within six weeks
after our arrival we-Inez, Fred and nv
self-had eight valuable and rich mines
in operation. -,...t ,,f 49,,
One day, not long after we got things
fixed to our satisfaction, Fred and the
rest of our party had occasion to go to
Melbourne on business As robberies
were of frequent occurrence then, we
took a strong guard with US, and made
it convenient to 90 with some Of our
neighhoring mine owners, who were
bound the same way with their different
escorts. Being thus strongly guarded,
we escaped the common annoyances of
being halted on the journey, and reach
ed our destination all right and on good
time Hf I-t:.- g..,. -.....s ,;et..-.f...
But before going further, it is necessa.
nv to give description of my partner
Fred Morgan was a young man, about
five feet FIVE in hight remarkably well
made,9 strong, wiry, and exceedingly
quick in his movements; an observer at
first sight would be led to believe that he
was not near 80 strong as he really was.
In appearance he looked like an ordina
ry MINER. being dressed like one, and
wearing his beard long. ..l5ess
On reaching Melbourne we put up for
the night at the only excuse for tavern
the place boasted. AZ females were
scarce in that country at the time Of
which we write, it was no wonder that
our party ELECTED considerable attention,
bnt not until the next day old it cause us
any annoyance. g1.fqt
Living in Melbourne in those days was
ruffian named Burlv Joe, who was the
dread of the place. He had killed seve-
raj men, whipped scare of others, and
made himself so generally feared that he
did about as he chose For a year or
two he had been in the habit of appro-
priating such things as belonged to 9TH
ers as pleased his fancy, ordering men to
leave town, and enforcing his commands
in such way that no one dared anger
or oppose him. Well, lie got wind Of
our arrival in town, and determined to
see the young lady who was. reported so
beautiful, and early next morning came
to the hotel Fred anG 1 were sitting in
the bar room when he entered, and be
side ourselves quite crowd of miners
were sitting in groups, playing cards,
drinking and smoking. We were read
ing some late papers from the United
States, and smoking cigars on which we
paid enormous duties. 1acG
Burly Joe demanded of the landlord
where the young lady was, at the same
lime draining glass of brandy belong
ing to bystander The host, eager to
get out Of the muss he saw brewing, re-
ferred him to us; and. with the air of a
king, Joe, saun,ered over, and eyeing us
keenly, asked Fred where the girls room
was. d g. elI. fs..q ....t,4.
Laying his paper on the table, Fred
deliberately took his cigar from his lips,
gazed at his questioner full minute,and
then, putting his chin between his hands,
drew out long "Whew!" '''' 70
'.Look here, voungster, what do you
mean by that?" angrily demanded the
rough Perhaps you don't know who
am p
mo, sir; I'm sublimely Ignorant on
that point, and where ignorance is bliss,
It's folly to be wise >"
"Well, I'm Burly Joe, and want you
to tell me where the gal keeps herself"
"Well. I'm Fred Morgan, and l don't
intend to do anything of the sort; and
what's more, shall see that you do not
go near her"
"You-you will hey?" fatty roared
the infuriated villain. "I'll show you
how to talk to me I'm, going to her
room, but first I'll knock daylights out
Of you," and he attemp ed to take Fred
by the collar, but the latter, who had
sprung to his feet, was too quick for
him, at fa fg
Like lightning, one of Fred's small
but powerful hands struck him in the
eye, sending him reeling backward, and
before he could recover himself, the 9th.
er took him on the chin, fairly lifting
him off his feet, and hurting him to the
floor like log. '"
"He'll kill you, young un," shouted
the bystanders. "Run, or you're gone. "
"Let him try it on," replied Fred, and
the fash of his eye told me that his
blood was fairly up, and there was dan.
ger in him. Iknew his mettle and did
not offer to interfere.
The giant was on his feet in a mo.
ment, purple with rage, and unable to
speak His revrlver was out and level
ed at nv friends head, but before he
could pull the trigger, with bound like
panther. Fred was at him, and the
weapon flying across The room. He had
no time to draw another weapon. Thick
and fast Morgan rained the blows down
on his bruised and bleeding head, until