The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1879-10-16

ing eyes anu CidpplnS ner lanUS, Sne
go, the road! the roadr'
Charles G. Leland, TN London Stand
ard.
The Life Of Texas Woman on the Plains.
s.Know Sal Scullp Of course did!
Why l didn't know anybody else!' said
the Land Admiral, lighting his meer-
schaum for the twentieth time-for he
has habit of letting his pipe go out
SalP OF course did! That is 1 saw
her once" he added gently, by way of
modifying his first remark.
e." And I'd like to see anybody that
was knocking round Western Texas in
those days that had never met. Sally
SculI. The Wild Rideress of the West
as the boys used to call her. All, but
she was q pioneeri afraid of nothing on
this green earth! The only wonder to
me is that she didn't join the ranks and
don the gray. What soldier she
would have made! But then she never
would have consented to go in the army
except as an officer-of high rank, too
Colonel or General. She was too
fond of 'bossing' and ruling to take
orders from anybody, was Sal.
But-another match, if you please
how she ever got to be wagon
master is q mystery to me. She had a
train of wagons and hauled cotton to
Mexico and brought back goods in re-
turn. You see this was in the days of
the Confederacy, when every man and
woman had to be up and doing; and our
folks were put to their trumps to get
something to wear beside homespun.
Goods were goods in those days, l tell
you! But how a woman ever took to
wagoning is more'n can tell. Some
said she'd been disappointed in love,
and had taken to that wild lite in order
to forget her sorrow; others said she
had killed her first and second husband,
and feeling a little lonely had gone on
the road for amusement. And l don't
know but what wagoning is more sensi-
BILE work for a woman than the perpet-
ual embroidering of silk lions and
snakes"
Here the Land Admiral paused and
gave a glance half contemptuous, halt
playful at the dainty white cashmere
which. was skillfully wreathing with
silken noudescripts. 1 good humored-
ly shook out the soft, fleecy folds, and
explained that it was not lions and
snakes that 1 was embroidering, but
lilies of the valley and trailing arbutus.
He smiled, lit another match and pro-
ceeded: ..s.---..
From another source heard less
romantic and probably more truthful
account of Sally Scull, namely, that she
was poor but honest widow with
several children to support, and had no
means of making living except by the
hard life she had adopted. All! there's
for the sake of her children! But no
matter what the motive was that
prompted Sally Scull to her unnatural
mode of living, l tell you she was a
keener. She had several Mexicans in
spaniel ever covered before its master
more than did those swarthy fellows in
her presence. With them her lightest
word was law, and the crook of her lit
tie finger was a royal mandate, from
which there was no appeal. How she
ever obtained such a power over them
is mystery to me, and to all who ever
saw her. She camped on the broad
prairies, miles from human habitation,
her wagons drawn up in circle around
hCI, anu uo Sal Ihl1 pIolCClioh CACCPb
that offered by her faithful Mexican
servants and her trusty pistols, for she
was always splendidly armed. Another
match, please.
.'In 1868 was returning with a train
of wsgons from Matamoras to San An
tonic, and being on horseback. would
frequently get tired of the slow move
ments of the wagons and ride some dis
tance ahead. One evening when thus
acting the role of solitary horseman,'
/ beheld, far over the green pillows of
the prairie, something coming toward
me. knew it was no wild animal from
the fact that it kept the road that wound
like a great faded ribbon over the prairie,
and my interest was somewhat aroused
to know what the : coming event
was that 1 was about to meet.
1t is surprising how much Curl
osity man of the world can
feel over the most trivial matters. on
such trips. At last, after sinking from
view behind one of the big waves, it
rose to the surface a-camel, and such
it continued to be for about five min
utes, when after another disappearance
it came to the surface a horse. In the
pure, dry atmosphere of Western Texas
distance lends not only enchantment
but long legs to the horses, and they
are all camels at little distance if the
light is favorable. Another five min
utes revealed the fact that the horse had
a rider, and skilled one at that, for
he swept along like tornado incar-
nate. A jay hawker, by jingoP thinks L
to myself-for they were plentiful in
those days-and 1 seated myself more
firmly in my saddle, unbelted my six
shooter and prepared for war. As l
nerved for the fray 1 compared this
meeting to that of Kenneth and Saladin
on the plains of Palestine; of course l
was the Kenneth of the occasion. Near
er and nearer and nearer he came, and
my hair stood on end when l saw that
he was better mounted than l.. Fright
enedP No, not exactly, but little lone
some. You see, the wagons were miles
behind. and it was right desolate out
there on the great, dreary, motionless
prairie, and resolved never to venture
so far by myself again. Solitude had
inspired me with a sense of my own lit
tleness, and with feeling of awe not
pleasant to one of my social nature.
When you meet jayhawkers, it is best
to be polite; it costs you nothing, and
it saves their feelings, and, no doubt,
brightens their lives a trifie. With this
charitable thought in mind, when l
came in speaking range, / grasped my
rein firmly with one hand, while with
the other 1 held tight to the cooked
pistol in my pocket and very kindly
said:
".Good evening sir--oh LordI mean
madam
.She returned my salutation pleasant
ly enough, but the shadow of smile
she vouchsafed me was sent over the
muzzle of revolver pointing directly