The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1875-02-18
THE ~RED WING.
A True story OF Early Days
I.-THE WRECKED rM1GKAxr rAsuIY.
BY DAN DE QUILLE.

iOiA LAY lbOI, on lne carson anlNeT- lOT
Carson City. IL was as hot as in nsidsum-
mer. The road was at that time a dreary
one TO travel. IL was the regular Old
Emigrsnt Road" II passed through a
sterile waste of alkali lands which spread
away OF almost a dead level in all dire c.
tons. j was on foot, and wearily toiled
through the same san1 and alkali dust
through which long emigrant trains frSm
the Atlantic States had toiled every year
since 1873. At the tinie Of which / speak
hundreds of emigrants were still crossing
the plains, and for some years later they
still continued to pour in across the deserts
AS WAS plodding along 1 had several
times noticed far ahead something that
looked like small tent. At last | could
see that il was covered wagon, halted in
the road.
Finally | could see several persons seat
ed on the roadside, near the wagon--a
small, two-herse affair. Then 1 saw that
one of the horses was down, while his
mate stood by with dropping head.
Said i: Here is trouble-eyidently a
sick horse"
When pulled up alongside of the ship
wrecked family, not one of them said a
word. They were the most woe-begone
and forlorn party l mad ever seen. They
hardly raised their heads 10 look at me.
All seemed utterly detected and given over
to some inconsolable grief.
A hasty survey of the scene before me
showed a small two horse wagOn-look-
ing very shaky about the wheels-brOken
about the box and surmounted by cover
stretched over bows Of very unequal
height. The cover was of homemade
linen was patched in places with pieces
OF butternut-c1Qredl linsey and jeans, and
had painted on one side, in great sprawl
ing letters, the proud motto: For Cal
eforny." A large water-cask was sluDg
under the wagon and a feed trOugh-near-
ly gnawed in two-hung behind.
In front of the wagon stood an old'bald-
faced horse, still attached 70 the vehicle by
the trace-chains and his end of the neck
yoke. Poor old fellowl such another
angular, harness-galled, sunken-eyed,
melancholy beast had not seen in many
day.
Near by, his mate lay dead-"allilied. I"
He seemed TO have dropped down in his
tracks and died-died with no greater
struggle than to throw his head and neck
out across the path running by the side of
the wagon track.
Ona fragment of rock, near the dead
horse, sat mana man about 45 years of
age-looking as though hope had utterly
forsaken his breast. His feet, incased in
torn brogans, were half hidden in The
dust of the road in which they were list
lessly planted his head was bowed until
it almost reached his knees, and the wilt
ed brim of his home-wrought straw hat
almost concealed his sun-broWned and
unshaven face.
Near the head of the family sat a bum
die, which / should not at once have re-
cognized as a human being had not OBJ
served pair of shriveled, claw-like hands
clasped across what seemed the knees.
This bundle constantly rocked to and fro
and gave out some kind of mutterings.
As the face and upper part OF the body
We're covered by a huge sun-bonnet, with
a most voluminOus cape, L arrived at the
conclusion that the mumbling g party"
before me was a woman and doubtless
the grandmother of the flock.
Two boys, of about and 10 years, each
with his baggy tow-linen trowsers hitched
up nearly 10 his chin. sat flat in the dust
at the head of the Cead horse, whose nose
one OF them was fondly stroking. The
ces of both Were smeared with dust and
tears, and both were still quietly blub-
bering.
A girl of about II sat in the front of the
wagon, trying TO quiet a child that was
moaning i'm weak, sick way in her arms.
formed, but her face was sadly sun-burned.
Her bonnet was off and a wealth of
brown hair fell in waves over her shoul-
ders and hung in tangles about her face.
At glance il was TO be seen that many
cares and troubles had fallen upon her and
had left her but little time in which to
think of or attend to her personal appear
ance.
A Aiittle girl, with flaxen locks hanging
about her eyes, was on her knees by the
side OF the young woman, leaning over
the end-board of the wagon and gazing
with blue eyes full OF wonder at all
around, that is. when she was not en-
gagged in gnawing child-like, at the board
upon the edge of which her two little
brown paws rested.
All this | saw almost at a glance. For
some moments l stood gazing on the really
distressing scene, yet no one broke the
sorrowful silence.
At length, advancing to the man seated
on the fre gment Of rock, / touched him on
the shoulder and said: stranger, you
appear to be about at the end of your
string here
Yes, sir: clean done for-clean done
for " giving me but single mournful
glance, then turning to pick abstractedly
at thread in the blue-ieans patch on the
knee of his butternuC trowsers.
AT first / felt like smiling as glanced
at the lugubrious faces all about me, but
moments reflection showed me that, as
the man said, they were ''clean done for"
sure enough.
- Not man or team was in sight iD any
direction, and all about lay the sterile al
kali waste, covered, or rather made rag
ged, here and there, by sparse growth of
sagebrush.
"Have you any money with which to
buy another horse?" | at last asked,
though felt that it was an idle question.
Money i" cried the man, as though
startled at the question, and he turned and
looked me full in the face for the first time.
Not cent, sir-not the first red cent?
That thar team was all fotched from old
Missouri with me-it was my only hope"
Again he resumed picking at the patch on
his knee.
The living bundle near at hand now be-
gan to swing back and forth in a very viO-
lent manner, and at last it gave utterance
10 these words: ''Ohi Mumford Oh! I!
Mumfordi" :"
Turning to the man on the rock | said !:
" Is your name Mumford?"
"lt is not" said he. "No; she's a
thinkin'-thinkin' bout the old man-hin
she's lost"
"Well. come, rouse up, my friend?"
cried [: ''you can't stay here with this
family. What will you do?"
"I know it's bad" said the man, never
raising his head, "but what can do?"
"0h! Mumford! OH Mumford |"
cried the old lady in such loud and thrill
ing tone that turned and looked at her
in alarm. She was rocking herself at such
q rate that she almost bounced off the
ground at each pendulum-like vibration.
pore ole Betty ?" said one of the little
BOYS, as he patted the neck of the dead
mare-as now discovered the horse to be.
"Pore ole Betty J"
"Will daddy leave her here wifi all Of 'er
dead cows?" queried the younger boy,
trying to open and look into one of the
dead mares eyes.
felt a sort of lump rising in my throat,
and began TO want to see something like
action somewhere.
faCome, my friend" said 1, as thought
struck me, ''rouse upn-slapping the man
on the back" there are dozens of teams
going back TO California from Virginia