The weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1878-1881, 1880-11-30
THE RAHCHEa,s REVENGE
81 1hs strsgEles Of a Man Nh. r,..-..
q Eill,

oh Inc Monday preceding the late ola .,;on
a little episode happened over in the .efFarson
vaiiey OF q most interesting nature. Tho
nero IS a resident of this sanity city, whom
''r convenience We will call Smith and the
other dramatis personae are a rapcher whose
name might be Jones, (bul is isn't), and saw.
eia' o'hers, who will appear in this yeracio,,s
chronicle at "a proper time. It. seems ,,.,
oml'h had purchased of Jones several leads
u hay' out thai a dispute arose concerning
'he payment therefor, Jones insisting that
om'Ih mad received one load more than bo
would agree to pay for, and Smith alIeo;no
."a' the ra''cher was trying to go behind the
ooard and alter the returns. In order IN
nave the matter amicably arranged Smith
LOOK a horse on the day mentioned aud went
over 10 see tue rancher, who, OIL his arrival.
was In his barn picking hen fruit. Smith en-
tereu and offered to pay for ten, but positively
refused to pay for eleven loads of hay.
"hereat the rancher procured a club ab,nt
the size OF a wagon-tongue,and stationing him.
self at the only door of the building. svore
oy the robes of 81. Patrick and by all the
gods OF whom history makes mention. that
he would guard the entrance witt his life
that he would have his meals brought to him
II necessary, aud that if he had to remain
there I'LL doomsday or after, he would never
allow his recusant creditor to escape until he
had made full aud satisfactory settlement for
eleven loads of hay. The situation of Mr..
smith was desperate one. He
had a large wife and a small family
in Butte depending upon him for support, and
as he had with him only enough msney to
pay fer ten loads of hay, he cast about him
for a means of escape. Ia one end of the
barn near the ground was a hole about "a foot
and a half square, and the prisoner at once
concluded TO take advantage of this provlden-
tial opening. He therefore made a leap that
would have done credit to a circus performer
and almost succeeded in achieving his free
dom; but the rancher, with almest equal
agility, bounded after him, arriving at the
just in time to snail" one of Smiths
legs as it was disappearing. The situation
10 SiAioui AooilAS 0hN was q SiCtOIy luE uellu-
er party. The old man positively refused to
let 60 his hold, but after about Is minutes
had elapsed incautiously stopped down to see
how Smith was getting along IN the outside.
This was the opportunity for which the latter
had been patiently waiting, and reaching one
hand through the hole he caught the old fell
low by the hair and gave it one or two vigor-
Gus and wholesome jerks. Jones let go of
his prisoners leg and howled and swore until
the atmosphere became blue and smelled sui
phurous. But Smith was not to be scared of.
he retained his advantage and finally succeed
ed in dragging his former captor half way
through the aperture, where he stuck fast.
Smith then l~eisurely mounted him and orna-
mented his head by a succession of blows
that would have made a prize fighter turn
green with envy. He would probably have
been pounding away at the old man yet had
it not been for the opportune arrival of his
daughter, a buxom maiden of nineteen sum-
mers and 100 pounds solid advoirdupois,
who brought Smith to his feet with a jerk and
showed the old man back through the hole,
after which an arInistice was patched up and
the entire party repaired to the house to ar
range the basis for a compromise. The host
then ordered one of the farm hands in a
whisper to bring in a rope-an order which
was obeyed with alacrity-and poor Smith
was seized, bound and dragged out III the
kitchen, where he was Ced up for the night.
On the morrow, 1t being election day, the
prisoner was escorted to the polls to vote the
republican ticket, and the farm hands during
his absence held a council of war to decide
what disposition should be made of the VIC
tim. Some were in favor of hanging him,
others advocated shaving his head, while the
maiden suggested that he be Invested of his
clothing, such as his pants and
bools, and set adrlft. These christian
however, were knocked in the head
for, on his return from the polls, Smith de-
into a foot racer and gave his captors
the slip, arriving home several days ago, de-
that he will hereafter buy his hay by
the pound and pay for 1t C. o. d.
The above are the particulars Of the case as
as can he ascertained, and are given
without exaggeration or establishment. Mr..
Smith is we'll known in Butte as a reliable,
and intellieen man, and his trouble
with the rancher, who was clearly in the
wrong, is much to be deplored.