The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1878-07-20
A YOUNG AMAZON.
BY JOS. +. BADGER, JR.

IT'S "A shame and a pity, by Joven and Seth
Thomas stamped the butt Of his gun against the
GROUND and scowed down upon the pleasant
valley that lay at his feet
Just lchat was a shame and a pity an unen-
5Kghtened observer would lave been soreIy
vpjZzled to say. The weather was lovely, the
heat of the declining sun was tempered by the
soft haze OF the Indian summer, the valley
Itself was beautiful gem Of handlwork; and
Seth Thomas had me, with fair success in his
.yrouse shooting. Yet those words came from
his very heart Of hearts, and he really felt that
me had just cause for complaint.
4 few minutes before the young sportsman S
.ssfention had been attracted by IA 1.-the, grace
ftIl figure passing along the base Of the preci-
nice which lay at his feet Despite the disfig-
Iring sunbonnet OF checked bingham, Seth
-.scognizcd the fair cause OF his tarrying so
1.ong in that benightcd rcgIon-a back county
1t Kansas
In silence he watched her passage through
he kncedeep grass, with a swift, springy
stride 50 different from the society pace" to
a1hiCh be was accustomed. lie saw her APP
glroach shaggy, impish-looking Indian pony
aabich was stakcd out at the end of long trail
,ope; SAW her stOOp and pick up the picket
siiu, then, rs it seemed 10 Inn, draw the prant
ing animal toward her 10y main strength He
e.iW her place one hand on the mustang S
Uithers, then spring lightly upon his back,
maintaining her seat with apparently the ut
most ease through all the side leaps buck.
Jumps and other tokens Of muslangish play.
tidlness which followed.
All this was bad enough for one raised as
rcth Thomas had been, IN home the atmos,
where OF which would have been as a sweet sa
GOV in the nOstrils of the most austere of the
Pilgrim Fathers, but worse was to come.
With one swift glance around her, the young
inl9zOn rapidly changed her position upon
he mustang for another, which is commonly
regarded as sacred to masculine bipeds, In
Ijap squaws and fair Mejicanas Thus mount
s-a, with sunbCnnet hanging over her shOul-
lEya, with har broken from its flseaings
Nllh eyes flashing checks glowing, the young
Amazon put her mustang 70 top speed, one lit
o. brown hand to her mouth, out of which is.
Iied very musical but Otherwise admirable
imitation Of the Cherokee WarwhoOp
Bu, that musical cry was "A dscorlanr
sl5reeCh To Seth Thomas. He saw none of the
sustuded grace Of that wild picture lie saw
lHly hoideniSh amazon where he had hoped
but a backward glance IS necessity here
Seth Thomas, young New Highlander, wa,
snAilng horseback tour through the Western
states, for the good OF MS health. Two week,
gS-JOr To this day, he paused at little farm
tiOGse for a drink Of water II was handel
lIim by a buShng maiden-a marvel of I'm
conscious grace and beauty. Not Il dozcI
,NOrds passed between them, but before Setl
,oaAched the little village, only two miles away
fsc knew that he had met his fate But ltll,
sleep visited his eyelids that night. Thos,
few words, so soft, So musical, rung through
his brain like a chime of silver bells, and tina
.stne shy, upward glance Of those large, lustrou
AL tfNr hnan Il L. Il,
G1roggh the shades of night
All OF which goes to show that Seth Thoma
was very hard stricken, indeed
tLjirecty after an early breakfast he shoul
Tered his gun and sailed forth after grouse
iialnrally enough following the only road will
s'shnh he had any acquaintance. lie had hi
reward, such as il was
dog barking; Il loud believing; tw,
Voices united in merry laughter Fastening
around the corner Of IA fence he beheld-hi
rEsw<ound angel riding plunglng, kicking
u1alf-mad yearling steer
That was but the beginning. Seth and Sa
fS-lantha often met, but some malicious spirit,
SEEMINGLY had charge of those meetings for
ave Tchurch, where she acted, sung ana look
y Jus' ike an angle Samantha was AWAY,
doing something TO shock the very refined
q -aste of The modern Puritan As often did h,
gov 70 lcayc the place and ncvermore give
Thought to sucl holden, but still he fingered
IA his heart more deeply interested than lac
'iare acknowledge
" 7-@Aantha inaugurated her iUgJOlaDf,
lfcus down IN the valley, Seth thumpcd his
-1i heavily against the ground, and uttered
.if'l elulant expression recorded above
loud report tollowed-it seemed as though
AS right arm was being torn off. \ shrill
fcn'-m ~ pam and terror was wrung from ms
Ups as r. staggered and fell To the ground
AoF moacnt his body was balanced ON the
'efYEtfe- Of the precipice, then the loose earth
tmo'ti h-pc1'h his weight and he fell down
down
thn repor and wild cry of pain reached
ne ears o. The young amazon. and swiftly
Una2ling samantha Brown beheld a man fall
tb6"Grd-thcn roll over the edge of the cliff.
'-ier lace grew white a. she expected to see
Alpl mee' irlsllttul death upon the Jagged
spared tins '"' SUI 40
Inc railing tody crashed Into mass of
f~ong vines, thirty. feet below the eScarpment
.'nd then settled down upon a slight narrow
. 'onocton-it could hardly be called a ledge
arv '''''''' ''''''oi
She urg d her pony toward the foot Of the
IN, with The wild purpose of breaking the
'unaW mans iall, but common sense
sD'o her inst such an idea was worse than fol.
~, and she changed her course. lashinr The
tD9ny hercely and taking The shortest prsctica.
ose oounse by which the Top of the cliff could
Je gained
seth THOMAS had moi entirely lost his con.
s1ousness, even while falling swiftly down tnl
Niiat seemed certain death and as he str,,cL
uee clump of Wild grape zines, lac instinctiyelyl
57spcd At them with his lefi hand; his riclit
S1s completely disabled But single one az.
he tender shoots renaaine.i firr, a. 49,. y