Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1877-10-18
Who was my Quiet Friend.


"Strauger"'
The voice was not loud, but clear and
penetrating. looked vainlv up and down
the narrow darkening trail. No one In
the fringe of alder ahead; no one in the
gulled slope behind.
30! stranger"
This time little impatiently. The Cal
ifornian vocative, 20" always meant busi-
ness.
looked up and perceived for the first
time on the ledge thirty feet above me.
another trail parallel with my own. and
looking down upon me through the buck
eve bushes. small man on black horse.
Five things to be here noted by the cir
cumspcct mountaineer. First, the locality
lonely and inaccessible, and away from
the regular faring OF teamsters and miners.
Secondly. the strangers superior know
ledge OF the road from the fAct that the
other trail was unknown to the :. ordinary
traveller. Thirdly. that he was well
armed and equipped. Fourthly, that he
was better mounted. Filthy. that any
distrust or tImidity arising from these facts
ought to be kept TO oGe's self
Got any tobacco2" he asked.
had. and signifed the fact By holding
up the pouch inquiriugly.
IAN right. I'll come down. Ride on and
I'll jine ye on the slide"
The slldey' Here was geographical
discoverery "a odd as the second trail
had ridden over the trail dozen times,
and seen no communication between the
ledge and trail. Nevertheless went on
hundred yards or so, when there was
sharp cracking in the underbush. shower
Of stones on the trail, and my friend plung-
ed through the bushes 10 my side down a
grade that should scarcely have dared 10
lead my horse There was no doubt that
he was an accomplished rider-anoiher
fact 10 be noted.
As he ranged beside me. found was
not mistaken a. u his size, he was quite
under the medium height. and but Tor
pair e cold gray eyes, was rather com
mouplace Ia feature
You've 20, a good horse there. sug-
gested
lIr was hliing his pipe from my pouch,
buf loos-i % a little surpns~i. ans ss'i
"of course Tie then pues.i away ~itb
tHr ut.ts4- .aEeruess - man lurE ~
pryrl ~ that ErIa'iyc- iluAliy, lsiNvru
th" puff.. he A.kei me whence came.
! Frpi.~d from .'iAsrauv~.
~ llnss,l A. me few nnmrn's rirIfHs
~ nui ~ my aldlng tha' I hAf artr hA.r.
o. there f"F ir~ hnafs. b. .a.d ~
th.uEht kusw sy~ty man brt~~~a t.A-
srAH - aad lgIaa ~FrHg bat 'Dnshta
surtsr t.-frGIsm yHgr face a1I l4r
rlur
MA particularly rAraE tba. ~ .h.ulI
rrtHsmh@r they / replied lsaEhirg'F thAt
q. Uvsi th- other -ite ~ lr.iisn ~pr.Hg.
So 4nfe ttfHrai Hr tups inr rrtas
f su.A p tt $50 qa.rt.y. char AZ "a $40 W
tusrr Irrilns rsrs p4if.ue-.. a..rl him
sarrf Lax ,Amr ir.m
ia-r4n4-
"Nrf y.-I are going to-
Neil thar tep~hi. pretty much uu
hus talag~ I.au ouf. aui whrfh- rnu
u4A@ fls me a. % tAI. lauf r-.t .inits
uarDu-siuu..v an tIe irarh~r h'..trr 81 hi-
dragon revolver. ysf wfh sfr.u- su-sr~
t.uu to mr ~ hl- .l.its fo make fh- r.hr"
= d. wanted fo. aul added. Blf just now
-. rrekuniu- ou taking litlc IGssir
with yul."
Thsrr "a, Yu-situg oRss-yr in his
speech. save it, familiarity and the rrflcc-
tion perhaps. that whether / objected or
not, o. was quite able to do a. be- sahI /
oliy replied that Il our pls,Ir was pro
lnuged beyond Heiyytree Hll. | should
have 70 borrow his beast. To ms surprise
h. replied quietly. .."That's So" adding
that the horse was at my disposal when he
wasn't using il, and half Oft when he was
DICK has carried double many a time be-
!, fore this he continued. land can do it
again; when your mustang gives out, III
give you lit, ani room TO spare
| could not help smiling at the idea Of
appearing before the boys at Red Gulch ,H
crovpe with the stranger: neither could
help being oddly affected bv the suggestion
that hi, horse had done double duty be-
tore. "On what occasion, and why? 2" was
question | kept TO myself. We were as
cending the long rocky flank OF the Di-
vide the narrowncss Of the trail obliged
us tn proceed slowly and In file so that
there was little chance for conversation
had he been disposed to satisfy my curins-
ity.
We toiled on 10 silence the buckeye Civ.
ing way 10 chimisal, the westerng sun re-
fected again from the blank walls beside
us. hlindng our ewes with its glare. The
pines In the canyon below were olive gulfs
OF heat. over which hawk here aud there
driited lazily. or rising 10 our level. cast
wierd and gigantic shadow of slowly NOV
ing wings on the mountain side. The su.
periority Of the strangers horse, led him
onen far in advance, Iand made me hope
that he might forget me entirely. or push
on. grown weary Of waiting. But regu-
larly he would halt by bowlder. or reap
pear from some chimisal, where he had
patiently halted. | was beginning to hate
him mildly, when at one of those reappear-
hnCe-. lie 1TtN up 10 INV sue, ADu asked
me how | liked Dickens,
Had he asked my opinion OF Huxley or
Darwin, could no: have been more aston
ished. Thinking il were possible that he
referred to some local celebrity OF La
grange. said, hesiiatlnely:
"GOu mean-r
Charles Dickens. OF course you've
read him? Which Of his books do YOU like
best!'
replied with considerable embarra>s-
ment that ! liked them alas certainly
did.
He grasped nv hand Tor moment, with
fervor quite unlike his usual phlegm and
said. That's me. old man. Dickens ain't
no slouch You can count on him pretty
much all the time"
With this rough preface, he launched
into a criticism of the novelist, which tor
intelligent sympathy and hearty apprecla-
ton I had rarely heard equaled. Not only
did he dwell upon the exuberance OF his
| humor. bur upon tue power { his pathOs
| and the all pcrvadin. element OF his poe
try. looked at the man in aStonishmenr
I had considered myself a rather dligent
student Of the great master OF fiction, but
the strangers felicity of quotation and Ill
| ustration staggered me. 1t is true that his
! thought was not ALWAYS clothed in the best
language. and often appeared in the slouch.
Ing. slan9y undress of the place and per-
iod yet it never was rustic or bomespnn.
and sometimes struck me with its precision
and fitness. Considerably softened toward
him tried him with other literature. But
vainy. Beyond a few OF the lyrical and
emotional poets. he knew nothing. Under
the influence and enthusiasm of his own
speech, he himself had softened consider
ably; offered to change horses with me.
readjusted my saddle with professional
skill, transferred my pack to his own horse,
insisted upon my sharing the contents of
his whiskey flask. and, noticing that was
anarmed. pressed upon me q silver mount
| ed d-rringer, which he assured me he could
warrant" These various offices Of good
will, and the diversion Of his ak, beguiled
me from noticing the fact that the trail
| was beginning TO become obscure and un-
| recognizable. We were evidently pursu-
| ing route unknown to me. | pointed out
fha fact tn Ia. I'm,