Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1875-12-10

rable, and insisted upon his eating
something and drinking the coffee.
AT last Jack made the attempt and
succeeded in gulping down few
swallows of coffee, but eat he could
not. His companion poured out a
liberal drink of whisky and handed
it to him, and it was swallowed with
greedy avidity. The drunkard then
frightened up, and Bill slowly ate
his breakfast by his side.
The wet blankets were dried in
the sun, the "boro" packed, the two
ponies saddled by Bill, and the two
men mounted, taking the road across
Custar's Fork down Spring Greek to
Jerry's Gulch. Descending 100 feet
to the mile, they reached the creek
bottom in dense, heavy fog that
hung in drifts and mas ses that wet
the plodding travellers to the skin;
while the springing breeze that
arose to carry away the dampness
and lift the fog was cold and chill.
Neither of the travellers minded the
cold drenching, for one With stolid-
ity had the endurance of an OK;
while the other, with his feverish,
flushed face, and restless eyes, court
ed the cold TO quench the torment
ing Fl within.
Thus they continued down the
creek on that half walk, half rack of
bronco pony, their heavy spurs
jingling merrily, and the sturdy
"boro" jogging along under his pro-
miseuous load of blankets, mining
kit and scant cooking outfit. The
sun had climbed high above the
mountain tops, and sent down YER
tical rays of blistering heat, while
not a breath of cool air stirred in the
depth of the canyon. Bill had the
lead and moved along in his stolid
manner, as if his pony even partook
of the masters peculiar temper; and
Jack followed twenty yards behind,
while the striped-nose boro brought
up the rear like a heap of baggage
with a head and little legs.
''Bill, didn't yon save me little
drop?" plaintively inquired Jack.
''Nary a drop, old pard. You'll be
all right tomorrow. Stick Ter out,
old man, and we'll git back ter that
home O. yourn, and you kin git inter
the same harness with that Jenny of
yourn, and she'll pace along and
keep up to yer trot. Come, now, pint
yer snoot high. Cheer up"
The rays of the summer sun grew
hotter, and Jack fell back sullenly,
his eyes bloodshot, the muscles of his
face jerking, and his hands trem-
bling. The great veins upon his
temples seemed to burst, while the
slaring, maddened expression of his
bloated face would have shown the
most careless observer that the delir-
-ium was already upon him. He
grated his teeth fercely, muttered
cures, and pressed his white teeth
through his neither lip until the
blood clotted in great drops on his
dark beard. Squirting up his pony,
he again drew along side of his com
panion, and, drawing his revolver,
he began: "Bill, l always thought
you were a friend of mine" Then,
as if his mind wandered Yacantly, he
paused, and then resumed in a whin-
ing tone, "But I am going to shoot
you. Bill, it's all your fault. You
told 'em to keep me from going
home. See them, now!" he Shrek
ed; "they only wait your beck and
call. There! they are goneI Bill, T've
got to kill you, for you have lied to
me, and betrayed me. You needn' t
deny it. Haven't you?"
eyes, Jack, l have, eff ye say so;
but didn't know when," replied
the other, apparently wishing to hu-
NOR him i'll any fancy.
"Yes, 1 must Kill you," resumed
Jack slowly, while his eyes glared
with the feverish delirium. "You
want all the money, and you want
me to die, and you want my Yes,
you never drink nor gamble; and
you'll be there with your hypOcriti-
cal face and be blessed for saving
my life more than once just to be-
tray me and do me the dirtiest
trick"
-"AlI right, Jack-poor boy" the
other returned in kind, womanly
way, so strange for one so strong in
frame and SO uncouth in dress. You
say enough pleasant. things when yer
straight to wipe it out. Well Jest
camp in this likely place and git yer
inter the shade;1 and9they drew up
and halted on Misery Flat, just above
Stand Off Bar.0 The animals were
turned loose to Craze, and grateful
cover of aspen and pine boughs was
at once placed over bed of blan
kets laid for Jack-all done with an
air of unconscious duty by the pow
ertul Bill, who moved about with
the shambIing strength of huge
grizzly. Cool water was brought
from the stream and was drank in
great gulps by the sick man, who
raYed and rolled, groaned and gnash-
ed his teeth, tore ont his HAIR and
beard in handfuls, to remove the
venomous serpent that his delirious
inauguration conjured up. The
bloody froth was blown through his
tightly clenched teeth in whisting
gusts, broken by starts of terror,
when be would point and scream
''There they are again! They are
bound to follow! they won't let me
90 home! Pll shoot him! fI'lkkill you
Billr' This was then succeeded by
moment of quiet, when, with
twitching muscles and heavy breath
ing, he lay with closed eyes as if
trying to sleep. Then, with a shrek,
and yell, another blast of terror,
horror and dispair blended, fell up
on the rocky walls of the deep can
yon. aw -la s.a0l
"Then jimjams is a hoopin' it up
to himthis time just awful, and he
can't stan, this sort O. some kind.
There's sogers over on the Rapid,
an there's sogers back at Harvey,
and they'll hev medico dead upon
us. Here, Snoozer," he continued,
as he approached his pony, ''you an