Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1875-12-16
FOB LIFE eR DEATH.

you'll not do it and get in, young
chap, with hair on your head, / tell
you that; and, mark ye, It's no town
bred greenhorn who says it, but old
Joe Burton, that has fought Iniuns and
hunted butler on the plains afore you
left your mothers side, l calculate
Tain't to be DONE"
"But, Colonel" Iput in, smiling
yet not quite so much at my ease as I
desired to appear, for this tough old
frontiersman who remembered the
| foundation of the settlem ert, was no
light authority as to the practicability
of such an enterprise as that which l
had, perhaps, rashly undertaken.
"a clear throwing away of life, that's
ALL" grufly reioined the veteran, as he
| stopped to pat the hound that jumped
| up whimpering to receive his masters
caress. ale that rides the line to the
head waters of the ella now has only
to thank his own folly if his scalp dries
in some pesky wigwam on the prairie.
But there; I'm wasting words. A
! willfal lad, Ike half,broke mustang,
amt easy to hold back. Anyway,
Master Harry Lyndham, l wish you
well out Of the ugly scrape you have
got into"
Colonel Burton was by no means
the only friend who tried to dissuade
me from uy project, but my word was
pledged, my mind made up and it only
remained to complete the preparations
for my hurried and perilous journey.
! This was how matters stood with me.
l, Harry Lyndham, one of the many
whom the hopes Of growing rich had
drawn 10 the far West Of America,
was then a resident of Tucson City and
and a clerk in the employment Of
Curtis Brothers. .--.
Mine were no sedentary duties, and
| l was more often in the saddle than at
| desk; for Messrs. Curtis were specula-
| tors and general jobbers, dealing in
maize, and wine, and hides in tobacco,
| quicksilver, gunpowder, and motions;
and, above all, in cattle, the great
staple of the far Southwest.
It was not for hire alone that l toiled
as I did. My great stimulus was that
I was in love with pretty, charming
Rosamond Gray, the daughter of old
Mr.. Fras, the banker at Cristobal, a
town lying to the eastward OF the
Mimbres, and famous as market for
the agricultural produce of the vast dis.
trict bordering on Mexico. In one
sense I was happy, for my love was re-
/ turned, but in another had.mst with
| what was almost repulse, since Mr.
and Mrs Gray although entertaining
no personal objection to me as son.
in.law, were unwilling to bestow their
daughter on any but wealthy suitor
sect rich, Mr.. Lyndham," the banker
had said good naturally, "and I see no
| reason why Rosamond and you shonld
! not be happy according to your own
fancy. But neither her mother nor I
can sanction an unconditional engage
ment.
1 was in h opes that ] might take Mr..
Gray's advice, and by growing rich, or
at least by acquiring competence, win
Rosamond's hand, the prize that l
valued above all earthly con
siderations; and such is the rapidity
with which, in those argentiferous
regions fortunes are sometimes amassed
that was not without warrant for
aspirations which in Europe would per
baps have seemed futile.
And now to explain the present
position of the firm and the reason for
my undertaking a journey fraught,
according to the rugged old militia
colonel's dictum, with almost certain
disaster. Curtis Brothers, who, by a
long course of judicious operations had
raised themselves from poverty tc
| affluence, had at that time on hand 8
speculation of unusual Importance. They
had made, chiefly in Texas, very large
purchase Of horned cattle, sheep and
swine, destined to feed the swarmins
population of the sterile mining dis
tric,s, where provision e, and meat il
especial command high prices. The
investment seemed the more likely to
be profitable, since the twin plaques o.
New Mexico, drought and locnsts, had
accustomed notable mortality AMIN.
| the cattle of Arizona and the adjoining
Territories, and grca, pecuniary re'
rms were anticipated.