Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1877-01-26
From Chambers Journal
FOR LIFE OR DEATH.

tits no town-bred greenhorn who saws
it, but old Joe Burton, that has
fought Injuns and hunted butler on
the plains afore you left your moth
er's side, | calculate. faint to be
done"
"But, Colonel" I put in, smiling,
yet not quite so mach at my ease as
1 desired to appear; for this tough
old frontiersman who remembered
the foundation of the settlement, was
no light authority as to the practi-
cability of such an enterprise as that
which l had, perhaps, rashlY under
taken.
ga clear throwing away of life,
that's all, - grufiy rejoined the vet
eran, as he stopped to pat the hound
that jumped up, whimpering to re-
ceive his masters caress. 'He that
rides the line to the head waters of
the ella now, has only to thank his
own folly if his scalp dries in some
pesky wigwam on the prairie. But
there; I'm wasting words. a wilful
lad, like half broke mustang, amt
easy to hold back. Anyway, Master
Harry Lyndham, 1 wish you well out
of the ugly scrape you have got in
to-"
Colonel Burton was by no means
the only friend who strove to dis
suade me from my project, but my
word was pledged, my mind made
up, and it only remained to complete
the preparations for my hurried and
perilous journey. This was how
matters stood with me: I, Harry
Lyndham, one of the many young
Englishmen whom the hopes of
growing rich had drawn to the far
west of America, was then a resi-
dent of Tucson City, and a clerk in
the employment of Curtis Brothers.
The firm consisted of two old and
somewhat eccentric men-Old bach
elor brothers-self- f-educated, as well
as, in the commercial sense of the
word, self-made, and whose names
were known and respected through
all that wild region that comprises
Arizona, Montana, and the northern
counties of Texas.
Oddly enough, it was because l
was an Oxford man that my en-
ployers had given me the preference
over a score of candidates, for, in
truth, there was nothing that they
so much priced as the learning
which they never had leisure or OPP
portunity to acquire; nor had they
had occasion to repent their choice,
since l had served them zealously
enough, during the past year, to
have gained place in their esteem;
while | liked them we'll, since their
hearts were as warm as their man-
ners were quaint. Mine were no sed-
entary duties, and l was more often
in the saddle than at desk; for
Messrs. Curtis were spectators and
general jobbers, dealing in maize and
wine and hides, in tobacco, quicksil-
yer, gunpowder and "notions," and,
above all, in cattle, the great staple
of the far Southwest.
1t was not for hire alone that l
toiled as 1 did, earning in Tucson
where immigrants from the old
country are seldom held of much ac-
/ count when compared with the bus
Ting, pushing Yankee-the reputa-
tion of model clerk, as clerks are
understood in that out-ot-the-way
nook of the earth. My great stimu-
lus was that | was in love with pref
ty, charming Rosamond Gray, the
daughter of old Mr. Gray, the bank
er at Cristobal, a town lying to the
eastward of the Mimbres, and ia
nous as a market for the agricultur-
al produce of the vast districts bor-
dering on Mexico. In one sense !
was happy; for my loye was return
ed; but in another | had met with
what was almost a repulse, since Mr..
and Mrs. Gray, although entertain
ing no personal objection to me as a
| son-in-law, were unwilling to bestOw
their daughter on any but a wealthy
suitor.
"Get rich, Mr.. Lyndham," the
banker had said good-naturedly,
''and see no reason why ROsamOnd
and you should not be happy ac-
crding to your own fancy. But neith-
er her mother nor | can sanction an
unconditional engagement" ="
l was in hope that might take
Mr.. Gray's advice, and by growing
rich, OF at least by acquiring COM
petence, win Rosamond's hand, the
prize that | valued above all earthly
considerations; and such is the ra-
pidity with which, in these argentif-
erous regions, fortunes are some
times amassed, that | was not with
out warrant for aspirations which in
Europe would perhaps have seemed
futile.
And now, to explain the present
position of the firm, and the reasons
for my undertaking a journey
fraught, according to the rugged old
militia colonel'S dictum, with almost
certain disaster. Curtis Brothers
who by long course of judicious Op
erations, had raised themselves from
poverty to affiuence, had at that time
on hand a speculation of unusua
Importance. They had made, chief
| ly in Texas, very large purchases OF
horned cattle, sheep and swine, des
| tined to feed the swarming pOpula
ton of the sterile mining districts
where provisions, and meat in spe
cial, commanded high prices. The
investment seemed the more likely
to be profitable since the twin
plaques of New Mexico, drought anC
iocusts, had occasioned notabl,
mortality among the cattle of Arizo
ma and the adjoining territories, anC
great pecuniary returns were antici
pated.
All these calculations seemed like
| ly to be upset by the sudden break
! ing out Of that smouldering IndiaI
war which never quite comes to al
end in that dangerous region. Ih'
| Apaches, the irreclaimable foes o
| ali white men, were on the war-path
.Ieaoued, az was reported, with sun
l., Il . /.