Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1879-05-15

} please to get my horse, I will ride ava
again. All fair that. I, full of thank
and repentance, asked her stay longer
she was not perfectly rested; but sh
declined, And brought the steed ro,in,
and helped her to mount him. Once il
the saddle her humor changed; sh
smiled and reminded me that I had no
been polite enough to invite her to re
turn: A week of reading, talking, rid
ing, trout-tishlng and romancing up il
those splendid mountains would be yer,
charming; perhaps she would come if
! "And did you ask herr"
II did not. A young man with ,
reputation to sustain up there in tn,
mountains could't invite young lad,
to stay a week with him; could h,
now?" cried Joseph, quantity; which
set us both laughing.
$50 parted the question as easil,
as could, and she rode away. In going
slowly down the trail she turned anC
kissed her hand to me with graciou!
sweetness. assure you the struggle
within my own mind was great at that
moment; and I don't know whether
have forgiven mayself even yet for what
happened afterward."
"What did hapren7"
g She came back again. She ca,tte bach
ogain and I drcve her a,oay. That is,
made the best excuses I could for not
readmitting her, saying we should per.
haps have lighting 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 regs had
rushed into my mind, you see. But l
never like to confess to this part of the
story, because l 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 a pleasant frame of mind.
From telling myself I was 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 true bill?
felt inclined to believe it to be the lat
ter. Anyway, l deemed it we'll 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
tempted to conceal his true character
from me, but said he and his comrades
were determined to sclean OUT the
Chinese camp, and he asked me to join
them in the raid. / was on my guard
in answering him, simply saying that I
would have nothing to do with robbing
the Chinese, that they were my friends
and customers, and l thought they had
best be let alone. With that he went
of. 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. / said nothing to Edwards of the
gang just gone away, or that Gas 1 sus-
P;cted) they had talked of making a
raid on the Chine~o only to throw me off
my guard; for it was my fort on which
the attack wss undoubtedly to be made.
"Dusk came on. I sent Edwards,
dead tired, to bed, made great fire in
the tent and sat by it, facing the window.
My expected visitor came, the villain!
be made believe to have been drinking,
and put that forward as plea for asking
shelter until the morning. The instant
he was inside made the gate fast, driv.
ing the big VIC oden pins home with an
axe. / caught CLEAN from his eyes as
l 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 we're, no doubt,
waiting near, and his plan had been
quietly to open the gate to them"
Had you no arms but your rifle?"
" wanted none; for we understood each
other, my rifle and I. This villain un-
derstood us too. I don't think, either,
that he liked to see Edwards sleeping in
the tent. The lad was not good for
mu h, but still he was somebody. It
would now be contest of skill between
the fellow and me. He was waiting his
opportunity, and SO was I. OF all vii
demonstrating men he was the worst
Tall, swarthy, black. bearded,
and with hard face that must have been
handsome once, and fierce black eyes
cleaning with evil. He sat on one side
OF the hearth, 1 sat on the other, our
eyes fixed on one another.
" You guess, 1 dare say, that have a !
quick ear, for you know what my tenn
permanent is-all sensitive consciousness.
My good hearing had been cultivated,
too, by listening for the Indians. By-
and-by [ DIT acted a very stealthy move
nent outside the fort, and then a faint
'hirrup, such as a young squirrel might
make. Up sprang the man, but 1 cover
ID him with my rifle, cooked. He saw
he movement, showed his teeth and
irew out a pistol, but not before / had
,AuoAcu nlm ~ tuIOW uOWQ MS arms or
lie! He hesitated; he saw that i'll nv
ye and aspect which made him quail,
While I held the rifle leveled and nv
niger on the trigger, he threw down his
rms, pistol and knife, with dreadful
ath. I had the best of him and he
new it, for before he could have put
is pistol into form or rushed upon me
18th his knife the ball from nv rife
70uld bave been in him. His language
'as awful-and we are not very nice in
bat respect, you know, in CALIFORNIA;
be foam lay on his lips. He demanded
D be let out of the house, denouncing
le as murderer and robber. To ali
is rawlings had but one answer, to be
uiet, to obey me and he should live;
are to disobey me and he should die.
le sat there, cowed, on the opposite side
the fire, not daring to make even a
oubtful motion. Then told him what
knew; that l heard who he was and
hat he intended to do. With that he
roke down utterly, or pretended to do
}; cried like child, declaring that !
OW he knew nv n]nck and zoe a. .