Louisiana capitolian., 1880-05-22

8LCraCleV my attoutIOu, AuO D OuRQL
feeling Of apprehension crept through
my heart a. detached it.
ut had been hastily scribbled; the
purport, sumr ed up in . nutShsll, waa
that my escort had deserted mo for The
mines. The temptation had been too
& eat for them to resist, and begging
ny pardon for the sct, they had signed
their names to the document.
"Tbere ! was, with large amount Of
money in ny possessisp, in . country
entirely unknown to me, entirely At a
loss which way to turn. You eau well
imagine the frame Of mind was in ~
l swang nysslf into the saddle.
For ono thingI felt grateful. They
could have easily murdered me " lsy
asleep, and with the money in their
possession, obIiterated oil traces Of the
deed, and who in those turbulent and
excited times would have troubled their
heads over tho disappearance Of IN
ineign itcant ssmy pay'usster'
y could have returned to tho rancho
Of tho Spsuiard, but disliked the idea
Of confessing the fact that l had been
deserted hy my soldies. l decided to
push on. follow the t'st trail or noun.
tain path l might happen to strike, and
trust to stroke Of good fortune in meet
ing some mountsineer WHO would either
guide or direct me 10 my destination.
'Clapping spurs TO my noble black, l
l started Oh y gallop,riding straight ahead
never drawing lein for an hour. The
aspect of the country every moment
grew wilder and more desolate, with not
trace Of civilization Un hillside or
valley.
An occasional herd Of Wild cattle
scampered FROM my pathway, and once
! was nearly thrown hesdlong from the
saddle by the sudden swerving ofPrince.
A sharp snort, d trampling Of bushes,
and q huge grizzly tlotted out from the
anderblush where the brute had been
lurking. With ears pointed, and nos.
trils dist ended, my s;eed required no
urging to fly from the presence Of the
feroeious brute. Deeper and deeper !
plunged into tile unknown country
while the sun, rapidly sliding Gown the
western slope, admonished me that hut
limited space of daylight remained.
The prospect Of camping ont, with
the grizzlies lurking in the Eeishbor-
hood for companions, was anything but
a consolation for a man already hale
worn out by worry and excitement; and
to add, If possible, to my discontinue,
unmistakeable evidence of a coming
storm was apparent. Clouds, dark and
threatening, We're rapidly mounting to-
wards the zenith, with an occasional
vivid flash of lightning, followed by the
deep mutter of thunder.
'Cursing my uulucky fate, drew
rein, wiping the dust and perspiratiou
from my forehead. As did so my eyes
were gladdened by sight of "a Slight
rift of smoke, turning and twisting as
it rose about the tree tops. Squirting
forward, the welcome, savory odor Of
ven,son greeted lay nostrils. The next
instant l stood in the presence Of
mountaineer, a trapper of true type,
busily engaged in cooking his evening
meal at blazing fire. l received a
cordial welcome, and after picketing
Prince, joined my companion with an
appetite in no ways affected hy the
predicament l was in. II
4 offered the old trapper round sum
to pilot me to camp; bat the old fellow
was bound 70 the 'diggins,' and too
much time would he lost, he said, by
leaving the trail.
However, we compromised the mat
ter by his starting me in the direction,
adding the pleasing information that
five miles further on, l would run across
a herdsman's ranch, where would find
shelter from the storm and bed for the
night.
Keep in the reg'lar trail, stranger,
and don't 70 in any side canons, for
there's lots Of Greasers about, and
they'll gobble yer up if ye doesn't
look sharp, cause yer got mighty
fine horse and saddle there
Thanking him for his advice, again
struck out on my lonesome journey,
following closely the numerous distin-
gushing marks the mountaineer had
The darkness increased rapidly, and
urging my steed to gallop l hurried
on, in hope to gain the shelter of the
lerdsmen's, but before the full force of