Orangeburg news and times. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1875-1877, 1876-08-19
more than a man, ifho is bony. Look

-. fsic ~ "
y The farricr took The horses shoes
JR And pared his lloof5 neatly. Rey-
nolds t1iei, went to tlio, snddlcr and
had set Of leather shoes made to
fit the horses feet, SO rs to buckle
around the fctlocks.
"What are those for?" I asked.
"a little dodge of mine to- fool the
Indians. They make no trail.
Then he packed three or four days
rations in saddle pocket, prepared n
supply Of ammu Iition, aud cleaned
up a long, old fi,shioncd rifle. Then
after eating a hearty dinner, he lay
down under n wagon fora nap.
About four clock that evening an
engineering party started off in tho
direction Reynolds was to take, md
saddling his horse and strapping on
II canvass bag Of letters, he nc
companicd us. We rode till about
ten o'clock, and went into camp in
cluster of trees near brook. a. fire
was lighted, Il pot of coffee made, and
after drinking cupful, Reynolds
mounted his saddle, and rode into the
dark.
His path lay through tracklcss
wildcrncss-two hundred miles Of it
the constant haunts of hostile
Indians, and not n foot of the ground
had Reynolds ever seen before. He
had never been at Laramie; he only
knew the general direction in which
it lay, and his only guideboard was
the stars. After four nights Of riding
and three days Of sleeping, he reach
ed his destination unharmed. I saw
him aftcrward Mt Fort Lincoln on our
return. He told me he got through
nicely and mailed the letters l had
intrusted to his care.
had been told That under his
gentle dcmcanor lay romance us re-
n'arkable as any Cooper ever wrote,
and one day | asked him to tell me
The story of his life. lie blusI,rd a
little, laughed quietly, and rcpli lie
Lidn't think it worth while.
But they tell me you have had
remarkable experience" suggested.
Not so very remarkable he
answered. II guess you can find
enough to fill your paper w'.hout
publishing anything about me-"
And that vas all The romance
got frol.l his lips. But from the lips
ct others l learned that he had not
atwnys been Lonesome Charley
Reynolds. No one, however knew
'iis true name. lie was called s'Lone-
some" because Of al absent pcnsivc
way he had-a habit Of scclusiyeness.
Hc came to Linooln from Montana
three years before, with his partner,
where the two had beeu hunting and
trapping together for several years.
Ti,r story Of his life that his partner
told was this:
Reynolds was the son Of wealthy
and aristocratic family in Tennessee,
but WAS educated in tho North, and
when the war broke out he found
himself i'll q painful dilemma. He
had imbibcd enough Of Northern
ideas to make him strongly hostile to
the secession movement, while his
family consisting ofa father, nj other
and sstcr-wcrc violent sympatliizcrs
with the South. His father entered
the Confederate army as III Ollie or
early III the war. The son cou Id not
so with him and fight against his
principles. nor could he stay ut homo
and brook tho taunts and ploadings
Of his mother and sister, nor could he
join tho Federal army and fight
against his father; 50 he left his homo
ana wandered away OH the Pacific
slope. His home was at the centre Of
hostilities, and all communication
was cut off, At the close Of the war
he went hack TO Tennessee, and what
was once his home was desolation.
The neighbors told him his fathor had
been killed in ono Of tho carly battles,
his mother had died, and his sister