Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1875-02-06
HE DIED SAYING "CUss."


A WandereF from the Frontier
What was EOuna on His Breast.
From the Detroit Free Press.I
He sat on the steps of City Hall. head
in his hands, and one could not help bul
notice him He wore q coat Of wolf skins
a bearskin cap, buckskin breeches and
his grizzly hair hung down on his shoul
ders in tangled mass He had drifted
East from the wild frontier and he had
fallen sick. No one knew for long
time what allied him, as he would moi
reply to inquiries; but finally, when a
policeman shook his arm and repeated
the inquiry, the man slowly lifted biz
head and replied;
" I'm playedl"
His face was pale and haggard, aud i
was plain that he was goiug to have al
attack Of fever. He was sent to the hes
pital for treatment, he making no inqui
ries and answering no questions Thi,
was a month ago. He had his persona
effects in sort of sack. These wer,
breech loading rifle, a hatchet, knife
and several other articles, and when h,
had been laid on a bed in one Of th,
wards, be insisted that the bag be PLACED
under his head. They offered him med
icine. but he turned away his face, ant
no argument could induce him to swallow
any.
Bat you are a sick man, said III,
doctor, as be held the medicine up.
"Cuss sickness, replied the old man
Aud you may die"
Cuss DEATH
He grew worse as the days went by
and was sometimes out of his head, anC
talking strange talk of Indian fights anC
buffalo hunts, but not once did he speak
Of family, friends, or Of himself HI
would not let them undress him, cont
his hair, or show him any attentions be.
yond leaving his food on the stand. A
raging fever was burning up his system
and when the doctors found that the old
man would not take their medicines
they knew that death was only matter
OF days.
He must have had an iron constitution
and heart like warrior, for he held
death at arm length until the other day
When il was seen that he could last but
few hours longer, the nurse asked him
il clergyman should De called.
"Cuss cleryymen replied the old
man, those being the irst words he had
spoken for three days.
However, two hours after his mind
wandered, and he sat up in bed aud
called out:
I" / tell ye, the Lord isn't going to be
hard on feller who has fit Injunsl"
He was quiet again until an hour be-
fore his death, when the nurse made one
more effort and asked
[" Will yon give me your name2"
Cuss my name replied the old
man.
I" Haven't you any iriends2"
"Cuss friends
DO you wish us to send yonr things
to any one2"
'Cuss any onel =
"Do you realize" continued the
nurse, that you are very near the
graye2"
"Cuss the grayel" was the monotonou:
reply.
No further questions we're asked, aud
during the next hour the strange old
man dropped quietly asleep in death
uttering no word and making no sign,
When they came TO remove the clothiur
and prepare the body for the grave
what do you suppose they found care
fully wrapped in oil skin and lying on
bis brcast2- A daguerreotype picture Of
little grill 1t was taken years anG
years ago, and when the child was five
or six years old. The face of the little
one was fair to look upon, and the case
which held it has been Scared by bul
lets. There were a dozen scars on the
old mans body to prove that he had
lived a wild life, but there was not line
among his effects to reveal his name, OF
the name of the child whose picture be
had worn on his breast for years ant
years, Who was she2 His own darling
perhaps, He would not have treasured
the picture 30 carefully unless there was
love in his heart.
No one would have believed that th,
wolf skin coat covered heart which
could feel love or tenderness, but it did
lie might have been returaing home
after years Of weary wandering, or b,
might have left the frontier to be sure o
Christian burial, and hoping that n,
unsympathetic eye would fall upon thl
picture.
Some sand keep it, hoping to make i
identify the old man, but others laid j
back on the battle SCARED breast which
had preserved II so long. and il wa
there yesterday wher they ha.ied him.