Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1879-05-21

and Sspsntanos. asked ~ stay longsr II
dsclinsd, md bro1ght the. steed round
md helped hsr % mOunt him. Once IN
~ seddle hR hunor changed; che
and N0inded me that / had mot
been polite enough % invite her 70 ~
turn. a wei of reading, talking, nd
trout-AGhing and romancing up In
th0es Wlmdid mountains would be very
sas.na.si p''hap' he would como II
"And did you ok hart"
81 did not. A young man with .
to sustain mp there In tho
could't invite . young lady
70 stay Q weak with him; could he
cried Joseph, quantity; which
ut N both laughing.
$50 I parted the question q easily
q / could, and she rode away. In going
down the trail abe turned and
kimed her hand to nae with . gracious
/ amuro you the struggle
my own mind was great It that
moment; and / don't know whether 1
have forgiven mayself even yet for what
happened aftsrward."
What did happeni"
"She came hack again. She came back
a1oi~ and I drove Asr aseay. That il, /
made the best EXCUSES I could for mot
readmitting her, sayiug we should per.
haps have lighting and murder and what
mot In my fort that night, and il 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 peg had
rushed into my mind, you rec. But I
never like TO confess to this part of the
story, because / get laughed ct. But
don't you think ! did right, having my
Esputation 70 kssp upi"
Will ~ had our laugh out Joseph
pushing his soft, ine hair of Els
brow with those slender fingers that
looked ~ II N rough work had ever
come neax him; and what must they have
been before II did comet
He went on thoughtfully: "She final
y rode away, not having been invited
to got Of her horse; leaving me In any
thing but . pleasant frame of mind.
From telling myself / was . bear I
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 billf /
felt inclined to believe it to be the lat
ter. Anyway, / deemed it we'll to be
prepared for all contingencies, barring
and boiling my fort against intruderl
end ~.s<tsu~ wr 1ak> ov>e %hn g. TIT.
was Sunday night. On Tuesday morn
ing three or four men rode up, one OF
whom Wa the traitor, my former naked
and hungry pvotegs. 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. wa on my guard
In answering him, simply saying that /
would have nothing to do with robbing
thu Chinese, that they were my friends
and customer, and I thought they had
best b 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. l said nothing to Edwards Of the
gang Just gone away, or that (as / sus-
pected) they had talked of making .
raid on the Chinese only to throw me Oh
my guard; for 1t va my fort on which
the attack was undoubtedly to be made.
"Dusk came on. / sent Edwards,
dead tired, to bed, made . great fire in
tho tent and sat BY il, facing the window.
Ny expected visitor came, the villainl
he made believe to have been drinking,
and put that forward - aplea for aaking
shelter until the morning. The instant
he was inaide l made the gate fast, driv-
Ing the big wooden pins homo with an
axe. caught . CLEAN from his eyes -
l was doing this which
"But why mot have made the gate fast
before he enteredf"
"Bocause 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"
Had you no arms but your ri6ef"
" wanted none; for We understood each
other, my rife and 1. This villain un-
dersto0d ~ too. ! don't think, either,
he liked to see Edwards sleeping in
the tent. The lad WA not good for
but still he wa somebody. It
would now be . contest of skill between
the fellow and me. He wa waiting his
opportunity, and 20 VAS I. OF ali 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
with evil. He at on ONE aide
Of the hearth, / Mt on the other, our
eyes fixed ON one another.
"You Euess, I dare say, that I have .
quick ear, for you know what my tenn
permanent is-all sentative consciousness.
Ny good hearing had been cultivated,
~ listening Tor TIE Indians. By.
I detecteda very stealthy move
mont outaide the fort and then . faint
chirrun such - young squirrel might
mako. Up sprang the man, but I cover
ID him with my rifle, cooked. H nav
he movement, showed his teeth and
drew ont = pistol, but not before I had
ordered him to throw down his arms OF
del He hesitated; he nv that in my
re and aspect which made him quail.
While / keld the rife lsveled and nv
fnger on the trigger, he threw down his
Arms, pistol and knife, with . dreadful
18th. / had tho bsst Of him and he
knew II, for before he could have put
bic pistol into form or rushed upon me
Nth his knife the ball from my rife
would bave been In him. His language