The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1875-03-11

Vi VIC AOCh
Two boys, of about 8 ard 10 years,
each with his baggy tow-inen troWsers
hitched up nearly to his chin, sat fiat Ii
the dust at the head of the dead horse,
whose nose one of them was fondly
stroking. The faces of both were still
quietly blubbering.
a girl of abou. II sat in tine front of
the wagon, trying to quiet child that
was moaning in d weak, sick way ID her
arms. The features of this girl were
finely formed, but her face was sadly
sun-burned. Her bonnet was off and
wealth of brown hair fell in waves over
her shoulders and hung in tangles about
her face. At glance it 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 appearance.
A little girl. with faxen 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 glance. Fcr
some moments I stood gazing on the
really distressing scene, yet no one
broke the sorrowful silence.
At length, advancing to the man seat
ed on the fragment of rock, l touched
him on the shoulder and said: stranger,
you appear to be about at the end OF
your string here
eyes, sir; clean done for-clean done
for p giving me but single nournful
glance, then turning to pick distracted
ly at thread III the blue-j cans patch
on the knee of his butternut trousers.
At first felt like smiling as I 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 OF team was in sight in any
direction, and all about lay the sterile
alkai waste, covered, or rather made
ragged, here and there, by a sparse
growth of sagebrush.
"Have you any money with which to
buy another horse ?" I at last asked.
though I felt that it was an idle ques-
ton.
'Money y cried the man, as though
startled at the question, and he turned
and looked me full in the face for the
first time. 'SNot a cent, sir-not the
first red cent That thar team was all
fetched from old Missouri with met
was my only hope" Again he resumed
picking at the patch on his knee.
The living bundle near at hand now
began to swing back and forth in a very
violent manner, and at last it gave ut
terance TO these words: 'sOhl Mumford!
Oh! Mumford!''
Turning to the man on the rock [
said: SIS your name Mumford %
cit is not said he. mo; she's a
thinkin-thinkin bout the old man
him she's lost
swell, come, rouse up, my friend %
cried I; ''you can't stay here with this
family. What will you do ?''
II know it's bad" said the man,
never raising his head, ''but what can
[ do ?''
ooh! Mumford Oh! Mumtord !''
cried the old lady in such loud and
thrilling tone that I turned and looked
at her In alarm. She was rocking her.
self at such a rate that she almost bounc-
ed off the ground at each..pendulum- like
vibration.
''Pore ole Berry," said one of the lit
tie boys, as he patted the neck of the
dead mare-as [ now discovered the
horse to be. ''Pore ole Betty!"
evil 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.
I felt a sort of lump rising in my
throat, and began to want to see some
thing like action somewhere.
Come, my FRIEND" said I. as a
thought struck me, Grouse up"-slap-
ping the man on the back there are
dozens of teams going back to Califor-
mia from Virginia every day. They will
haul you and all of your traps. Come,
my man, you'll be all right yeti
But I hasn't no money. Tain't no
use. I've seen teams an I've axed lots
of 'em to help me along. They won't
haul me p
but that was while your team was