The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1877-09-28

and added: "But just now was reck-
min on taking little pasear with you"
There was nothing offensive In his
speech, save its familiarity and the re-
Election, perhaps, that whether l OBJ
jectcd or not. he was quite able to do as
he said. Ionly replied that II our pasear
was prolonged beyond Heavytree Hill,
l should have TO borrow his beast. To
my surprise, he replied quietly, THAT'S
80" adding that the horse was at my
disposal when he wasn't using II, and
hall Of il when he was. " Dick has car
ried double many time before this"
he continued, ssand kin do il again,
when your mustang gives out, Ill give
you lift, and room to spare.
| could not help smiling at the idea
of appearing before the boys at Red
Gulch ca croupe with the stranger; but
neither could help being oddly affect
ell by the suggestion that his horse had
done double duty before. "On what
occasion, and why?r was question I
kept to myself. We were ascending the
long rocky flank Of the Divide; the mar
rowness Of the trail obliged US TO pro-
coed slowly and in file, so that there was
little chance for conversation, had he
been disposed to satisfy my curiosity.
We toiled on in silence, the buckeye
giving way to chimisai, the westcring
sun, reflected again from the blank
walls beside Us, binding our eyes with
its glare. The pines in the canyon be-
low were olive CULTS of heat, over which
a hawk here and there drifted lazily, or
rising to our level, cast weird and
gigantic shadow Of slowly moving
wings on the mountain side. The supe-
riority of the strangers horse led him
often far in advance, and made me hope
that he might forget me entirely, or
push on, grown weary Of waiting. But
regularly he would halt by bowlder,
or rcappear from some chimisal, where
he had patiently halted. was begin
ming to hate him mildly, when at one Of
those Temperatures he drew up to my
side, and asked me how liked Dickens!
Had he asked my opinion Of Huxley
or Darwin, could not have been more
astonished. Thinking it were possible
that he referred to some local celebrity
Of Lagrange, | said, hesitatingly:
:" You mean -p'
Charles Dickens. OF course you've
read him? Which of his books do you
like best?''
Ireplied with considerable embarrass-
ment that l liked them all as GER
tainly did.
He grasped my hand for a moment
with 4 fervor quite unlike his usual
phlegm, and said, "That's me, old
man. Dickens amt no SLOUGH. You
can count on him pretty much all the
time.''
With this rough preface, he launched
intelligent sympathy and hearty appre-
citation had rarely heard equaled. Not
only did he dwell upon the exuberance
Of his humor, but upon the power Of his
pathos and the all-pervading element Of
his poetry. looked at the man in as
constituent. ] had considered myself a
rather diligent student of the great
master Of fiction, but the strangers
felicity of quotation and illustration
staggered me. II is true that his thought
was not always clothed in the best Ian
guage, and often appeared in the SLOUGH
ing, slangy undress of the place and pc
4
spun, and sometimes struck me with its
precision and fitness. Considerably
softened toward him, I tried him with
other literature. But vai-ly. Be-
yond a few Of the lyrical and
emotional poets, he knew nothing.
Under the influence and enthusiasm Of
his own speech, he himself had softened
considerably; offered to change horses
with me, readjusted my saddle with pro-
fessional skill, transferred my pack to
his own horse, insisted upon my sharing
the contents Of his whisky-flask, and,
noticing that was unarmed, pressed
upon me silver-monnted derringer,
which he assured me hecould warrant. !"
These various offices Of good will and
the diversion Of his talk beguiled me
from noticing the fact tina, the trail was
beginning TO become obscure and I'M
recognizable. We were evidently pur-
suing q route unknown before to me.
pointed out the fact to my companion a
little impatiently. He instantly resum-
cd his old manner and dialect.
swell, reckon one trails as good as
another, and what hev We get to say
about it?-
pointed out, with some dignity, that
I preferred the old trail.
"Mebbcc you did. But you're iiss
now takin' pasear with me. This yer
trail will bring you right into Indian
Spring, and onnoticcd, an no questions
asked. Don't you mind, now; III see
you through"
1t was necessary here 70 make some
stand against my strange companion.
l said firmly. yet ~ politely as could,
that had proposed stopping over night
with friend.
"Wharp"
hesitated. Ihe friend was an o.
centric Eastern man, well known in the
locality for his fastidiousness and his
habits as a rccluse. A misanthrope Of
ample family and ample means, he had
chosen secluded but picturesque val
ley in the Sierras, where he could rail
against the world without opposition.
lone Valley or = Boston Ranch as