The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1879-05-17

| uP ny wandering thoughts and turned
them to present things. Shall you be
surprised to hear that came to do you
real servlcef' she asked. And she went
on TO relate that, having had to pass the
previous night at place not many miles
away, In house where the partitions
were thin, she had CHANGED to overhear
a plan for numbering and robbing me,
the vilian-in-chief of the plot being the
starved and naked wretch whom / had
sheltered and sent away rejoicing not
many days previous. All in moment,
Whlle L was bordering on the doubtful
problem OF gratitude, fancy came over
me that she might not be telling the
truth; that it might be just an excuse
got up to justify her own visit; and |
Playtully limited as much. "A woman
does not tribe with subjects like these,
nor does she deceive when she goes out
OF her way to do SERVICE she answer
ed. rode off from that house the
other way this morning, made long
detour, and came here to warn you.
And now that l have done it, if you will
please to get my horse, / will ride away
again. Al fair that. l, full of thanks
and repentance, asked her stay longer if
she was not perfectly rested; but she
declined, and brought the steed round
and helped her to mount him. Once in
the saddle her humor changed; she
smiled and reminded me that | had not
been polite enough to invite her to re-
turn. A week of reading, talking, rid
ing, trout-fshing and romancing up in
those splendid mountains would be very
charming; perhaps she would come if 1
asked her."
And did you ask herr"
81 did not. A young man with a
reputation to sustain up there in the
mountains could't invite a young lady
to stay a week with him; could he
now?" cried Joseph, quantity; which
set us both laughing.
So | parted the question as easily
as | could, and she rode away. In going
slowly down the trail she turned and
kissed her hand to me with gracious
sweetness. | assure you the struggle
within my own mind was great at that
moment; and / don't know whether L
have forgiven mayself even yet for what
happened afterward."
"What did happen?"
| "She came back again. She came back
again and I drove her oaOay. That is, |
made the best excuses | could for not
readmitting her, saying we should per-
haps have fighting and murder and what
not in my fort that night, and it would
be no place for delicately- bred woman.
The pretty and modest girl who was to
come from the Wallamet valley and hang
up her pink garments on my pegs had
/ rrIChaH into mind DIT
never like to confess to this part of the
story, because 1 get laughed at. But
don't you think | did right, having my
reputation to keep up?"
While we had our laugh out Joseph
was pushing his soft, fine hair off his
brow with those slender fingers that
looked as if no rough work had ever
come near him and what must they have
been before it did come?
He went on thoughtfully: "She final
ly rode away, not having been invited
to get off her horse; leaving me in any
thing but pleasant frame of mind.
From telling myself | was a bear |
turned to the other subject, the con-
templated murder and robbery of my
self. Had she simply invented that
little fable? or was it a true bill? /
felt inclined to believe it to be the lat
ter. Anyway, l deemed it well to be
prepared for all contingencies, barring
and boiling my fort against intruders
and sitting up late over the fire. This
was Sunday night. On Tuesday morn
ing three or four men rode up, one of
whom was the traitor, my former naked
and hungry protege. He no longer at
| tom cd RI oopooo1 biO +r,,a oh ofo
from me, but said he and his comrades
were determined to clean out the
Chinese camp, and he asked me to join
them in the raid. I was on my guard
in answering him, simply saying that |
would have nothing to do with robbing
the Chinese, that they were my friends
and customers, and / thought they had
best be let alone. With that he went
off. That same afternoon Edwards came
! in, having recaptured some of the horses
He was very tired, and asked to stay
with the horses at my place till next
day. l said nothing to Edwards of the
gang just gone away, or that Gas | sus-
pected) they had talked of making a
raid on the Chinese only to throw me off
my guard; for it was my fort on which
the attack was undoubtedly to be made.
"Dusk came on. | sent Edwards,
dead tired, to bed, made a great fire in
the tent and sat by it, facing the window.
My expected visitor came, the villain
He made believe to have been drinking,
and put that forward as a plea for asking
shelter until the morning. The instant
he was inside [ made the gate fast, driv-
ing the big wooden pins home with an
axe. l caught CLEAN from his eyes as
was doing this which,
"But why not have made the gate fast
before he enteredY'
because he was safer inside than out.
A conviction had come over me that
this man was some most desperate char
acter. His comrades were, no doubt,
waiting near, and his plan had been
quietly to open the gate to them"
CHAD you no arms but your rifeP"
" wanted none; for we understood each
other, my rife and /. This villain un-
derstood us too. / don't think, either,
that he liked to see Edwards sleeping in
the tent. The lad was not good for
much, but still he was somebody. 1t
would now be contest of skill between
the fellow and me. He was waiting his
opportunity, and so was [. OF all vii
demonstrating men he was the worst
looking. Tall, swarthy, black. bearded,
and with ahard face that must have been
handsome once, and fierce black eyes
cleaning with evil. He sat on one side
of the hearth, sat on the other, our
eyes fixed on one another
You guess, dare say, that | have a
quick ear, for you know what my tenn
permanent is-all sensitive consciousness.