St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1875-03-12
The Lone Cabin.



struggling settlement. On the cours,
which should have taken there wa.
nothing of the sort. Somewhere | had
croSscd the right trail and taken the
Wron" one. Almost any traveller in the
border sections would have been clad
to thus stumble npon Il place for food
and rctrcShmcnt. Not 81 with myself
In the breast pocket of my coat | ear
RED five thousand four hundred and
ninety odd dollars. United States mon
ry. | had received this am"uut from
Mai-Gcn. /. VI. Lacy. and it WIS To br
carried through to Fort /. and
| placed in the hands of Col. Asa f.
Southland. to d"tral necessary army cN-
. pcn>cS.
''Gct through at Your best gait.
/ tarn"S. SAID the major. the money is
/ long since overdue, and SuHtlIard' =,
rather lraScihlc temper must have been
tried I" the utmost. lou know how
the soldiers get To growing if uncle j.
at all delinquent iii paving up. Ride in
Il careless manner. but he careful. |
don't think amy one dreams ot the arIi-
Val ol this money cH->aNc. of COURSE. the
mail agent aud the clerk W ho delivered
me the packages.
| WaS directed over an unfamiliar Scc-
| tlou. hence my losing of the right route
considered il my best plan. 81 Ion" ;I~
| had hlIndrrrd upon the verge of the
settlement. To boldly enter and Ic>t as
an ordinary Traveller wcGld de-. should
| push hurIicdl, OH. might. h\ that
very act. excite suspicion.
There NrIc only tv" men in the bar
room when | entered. the Landlord and
the ho>tlrr. mdcr his familiar cor
dialitN the landlord iultI,cll eyed me
in Il manner that made me wish WIS
we'll done with my Job. but le.~>uicd
my self with the thought t,.lt il WAS the
CONSCIOUSNESS of the responsibility I--
posing upon me that CAUSED his "lInc..>
Ia disturb me. Before / had finished
my supper tw" more IIaNrlrr> Iod, up.
called out for the ho>tlcr and ordered
drinks. or rather one of them came in
with the orders, and the oIhcl threw
himself down on Il bench outside and
began loading Il huge pipe. Str"llirg
caIcle>>l y about the room. | managed
to glance out of the window. MN heart
leapcd int" my throat. fnl in the man
| outside | Recognized from description
nt him Bill Wolf nur ut the. most
dr>pcIatc characters that ever figured
III the annals of huIdcr ruiliani>ln.
| There Was the huge red muu>tarhc the
| thick, harry throat. and tine >huuldtr>
| huuchcd up around his head. suggest
| ln9 Ihc shape OF mammoth clam and
| the Voice with Il deep down ininrGli ION
like the pl"p. piop. plnp OF water hun
rcdlN leaving Il luz. II the description
of the notorious renegade l. inrlr"amI.
II has at least the merit al truihtuluc~>.
and must therefore he cNcII>cd
| went through with my supper ia
form, hut whatever apprItc / might
nave felt on my cutrHnc. into the inn
mad VlmI- he'd with my discovery. After
Il time. tine "I h,.I fellow came in. having
been ont. he said. to look .ttcI the AMI
mails. and they ais" ordered supper
Now WAS my time to leave. which did
IN Il careless manner. passing some com
munpIaor rcnalk> with llr tu" men a>
crossed Tia" dim. smoky hal-inu,r.
y they seemed t" Lake no notice ui me.
WhIlrNcr, felt my spirits lis" with
nope that >inuld make Il safe transit
1t WAS quite du>ki>h outside. hut the
ho>tlrr WAS fitting about the stahl,
with his lantern. which emitted but Il
little more cilulgcmt light thln Il whit.
Lie
~ brought out my steed at the order,
and mounting, thankfully trottcd
away. The moon--a little past th,
full would make her debut in some
thing more than an hour after sunset.
and | pushed alou" at Il >mali trut 80
i> t" get we'll ont upon the plain, and
into the right Trail before that time
The animal went along at an ;lSSlIIim"
gait. and | waS fccliI infinitely re-
licNcd at my proVidential escape from
contact with the desperate characters
whom ! had left at the settlement,
when my acute. trained. cvcr-alcrt ears
detected the sound of SW lit riding. In
winch lilcction From behind me. a>
th" mildly floating ircrZe blew from
that quarter The face of the prairie
in this section was IL little rolling. but
not So as to afford any shelter. and NOT
Il shrub or bush dotted the eNpanSc for
miles. drew up my horse one mo-
ment to listen. No chance travellers
ever rode like that. 1t meant pursuit.
gave my stced It Calling lash ard
she broke into il convulsivc gait, hove
her body mp with one or two pIungc<.
stumbled. going down from her knees
tn her nose. and pitched me literally
heels over head. For an instant | WAS
paral Zcd with ;IStonishmcnt, the next
seized the bit to fetch up the fallen ami
NAL, which had in the brief mlShap un-
drIGn Il strange mctlmorpho>i>. She
/ had lost her white face on nr in the
! grass. and passing my hand between
her eyes. | found the hair WAS wet. In
an instant | WAS examining the white
legs my horse had been peculiarly
marked with white legs and face and
/ | found these sticky with whtewaSh.
What then simply. my trappings
/ had been transferred to another animal.
/ COTTON up to exactly represent mine in
| the evening. This discovery brought
an appalling Interpretation of the on
coming hor>cmrn. | gave the horse tn,
whip as soon rs his unstable lr"> were
/ we'll under him. and sent him securing
on ahead. while ran of to the right.
making for il little hollow near Il shall
/ low. dry rIvine. Here to my profound
establishment ! discovered IL lone cabin.
or hut. about the dimensions of an ordin-
AIRY country log g-hou>e. and impul>ivcly
d;>hing up to this, gave Il rapid
succession of knocks. \ shrinking
/ pale and covering woman opened ii.
"What is it - was her first question:
Noticing my breathless haste.
Had stopped for Il moments reficc-
ton upon the strangely isolated posi-
ton of the cabin, should not have