Mexico weekly ledger. (Mexico, Mo.) 1855-1956, 1877-05-31

speak to us % persisted Jack.
am sorry if L have incurred any
mans ill-will. L feel friendly towards
you all" .- ...
" Oh, you do, eh!" sneered the
Texan, feeling tnat he was loosing
ground. "Well, it's my opinion that
you are a sneak!' Joseph's face
turned white, and the men saw dan
gerous CLEAN in his eyes. He seemed
about to speak or man some move
ment, when soft voice from the wa
gon called out:
"Joseph, Joseph!"
A softer light came into the mans
face. The Texan noticed it, and
tslapping Joseph's face, he blurted
out:
"If We amt a coward ye'll resent
that, sure!''
A boyish figure sprang from the
wagon and stood beside the lone man.
A small hand was laid on his shoulder,
and a voice whispered in his ear :
"Bear the insult for my sake"
There was a full minute in which
no one moved. Joseph's face loked
ghostly white in the gloom, and they
could see him tremble.
'He's a coward, just as I thought! -
said the Texan, as he turned away.
The others followed him, some feeling
ashamed and others surprised or graft
fed, and by and by the word reached
every wagon that Joseph and his
brother were towards.
| Next morning, when the wagon
train was ready to move, the captain
passed near Joseph's wagon on pur-
pose to say:
8 If there are any towards in this
train, they needn't travel with us any
further
1t was cruel thrust. Joseph was
Harvesting his horses, and the brother
was slowing away the cooking uten-
sis. The strange mans face grew
white again, and his hand went down
for his revolver, but just then a voice
called out:
Don't mind it, Joseph, We'll go
on alone. !"
The train moved off without them,
some of the gold hunters taunting
and joking, and others fearful that
the two would be butchered by the
Indians before the day was over.
When the white-topped wagons were
so far away that they seemed no lon
ger than his hand, Joseph moved along
on the trail, his face stern and dark,
and so busy with his thoughts that he
did not hear the consoling words:
"Never mind, Joseph we are try
ing to do right. -
That night, when the wagon train
of the gold hunters went into camp,
they could not see the lone wagon,
though many of the men, ashamed of
their conduct, looked long and earn
estly GOr it. They had seen Indians
afar off, and they knew that the red
devils would pounce down upon the
single team as soon as they sighted
it.
Darkness came, midnight came, and
the sentinels heard nothing but the
stamping of the horses and the howls
of the coyotes. At two O'Clock the
report of rifles and the fierce yells of
Indians floated up through the little
valley, and the camp was aroused in
moment.
1.-The devils have jumped in on
Joseph and his brother!" whispered
one of the men as he stood on q knoll
and bent his head to listea..
Good huff! Cowards have no
business out here!" growled the
| Texan.
The first speaker wheeled, struck
the ruffian a sledge-hammer blow in
the face, and then, running for the
horses, cried out:
Come on! come on! A dozen of
us can be spared for the rescue!"
Sixteen men swept down the valley
like the wind. The firing and the
yelling continued, providing that the
man who had been called q coward
was making a heroic fight. In ten
min utes they came upon the lone
camp, made light as day by the burn
ing wagon. Fifty feet from the bon
fire, and hemmed in by q circle OF
dancing, leaping, bowling savages,
was Joseph's brother, standing over
Joseph's dead body. The gold hun
ters heard the pop! pop! pop! of the
boys revolver as they burst into
view, and next moment they were
charging down upon the deamons,
using rifle and revolver with terrible
effect. In two minutes not a living
Indian was in sight. Joseph's brother
stood over the body, an empty re-
volver in his hand. The men cheereG
wildly as they looked around, but the
boy looked up into their faces withou
!, sign of exultation, surprise, or glad
ness.
There were three dead Indians be
side the wagon, killed where the figh
commenced, and the corpse in from
of Joseph's brother numbered NOR,
than the victims of the sixteen men.