American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1881-04-09
MOASICK'S PRE-EMPTION.


"Well. no. She's not, ezac'ly, mine,
nor yet my wife's; but we claim her al
che same"
These remarks referred to a remark
ably fine. not to say formidable-looking,
young woman, who had just refined a
high-mettled young horse out of the
home gate into the downward lane.
Take the kinks out of him." said
the old man, as he closed the gate be-
hind the cavorting steed. To which re-
mark the fair horse-woman made reply
by flinging kisses from her whip hand,
and dashing away into a cloud of dust.
YES" he said. in response to my
further question. "she's my gal; but
she's not my da'tcr, nor she amt my
wife's da'ter."
Brother's?"
mo. No relation to either of us by
blood"
"Waif9"
81 dunno much what waif rightly
Is. call her q pcremtion."
"Do you mean a pre-emption?"
asked, gently.
"Well, no matter if We call it a per-
emtion er a pree-emtion," he answered,
a shade testify. :.What mean is, that
took her up as wild claim on the I'M
surveyed lands of the U. S."
"Seems to be fine horsewoman,"
said. half musingly, as we were ap-
preaching the entrance to the house.
"Step in," he said; "the door s
open, and that shows We the old
wonan's not to home; and the way
she'll raise Cain, and lectur' on flies,
when she does come home will be
music in this camp, you bet your and
the man chuckled inwardIy until he de-
veloped touch of asthma that set him
coughing in way that was more COM
ical than serious. "When l get into
that kind of a cough" he said, resum-
ing. Il mos gin'ely take little old
he led me into the dining room of his
comfortable farm house, asked me to
be seated, while he opened the lower
half doors of the dish cupboard, and,
bringing out a sugar-bowl, spoons,
glasses, and a cut-glass decanter, he
said, gently and interrogativcly: "Try
a little?''
Whether l tried little or whether l
did not, is a question open to debate.
which may be settled by each reader
according to his or her view of what a
man ought to do in such situation.
Now" said he, when he had care
fully replaced the implements of hospi-
tality in the cupboard, lets go out to
the barn, and see the colts. There is
where / can talk best. Though 1 amt
fust-class talker no time, can get on
better when rm seeing good, healthy
colt reaching for his hay"
II reckon, now," he said, after hav-
ing shown me his horses seriatins,
YOU'RE thinking I'd ort to tell you how
peremted the gal that went out the
gate on the jumping brown colt.
1.-The way l peremted Lainey was
this. | was in California when the
Reese River mining excitement broke
out in Nevada in 1862, and wasn't do
ing much good. I bought little cheap
Mexican jack, packed my blankets,
grub, tools and cooking outfit upon his
back, took the road behind his tail and
went afoot into the Nevada mountains,
away east of Reese River, determined
to find silver mine. I had little
money on hand and little more COM
ed. l sunk it all in two years and
worked hard, but found nothing in the
mining way wuth talking about. Inthe
summer of "a heard Of the drought in
California, and of how cattle and horses
were dying there of hunger, while
where was there was any amount of
good boss grass. Now is my chance,
thought. I'm losing big money not
having stock to eat this grass. took
my jack and started from Eastern Ne
vada on foot along the overland stage
road for California, calculating to fetch
bosses on the shares to Nevada. Be-
sides my jack had also dog-a dog
that peremted me-a mixed dog-a kind
of st. Bernard and shepherd dog-and
he was mighty wise dog.
ION the stage-road them days there
was no houses-no houses anywhere
near it-only the stables and 'ostlers'
quarters at stations fifteen to twenty
five miles apart At these stations
weren't no women or families--just
men, and mighty hard citizens most of
them men was. There being no place
to stop at or fool away time on, kept
right ahead. day after day, with my
percession. There was fust the jack,
then me, then the dog, one behind the
other, all as solemn as could be.
wasn't feeling no ways cheerful my self,
but by the looks of things when my
face wasn't too thick with dust, 1 was
the cheerfulest of the lot. If the jack
wasn't solemn his looks belied him, and
as for that dog, Nep, being a black
dog, with down tail, I think he was
the most serious critter 1 ever did see.
He seemed mostly to be on the point of
going to sleep, but he wasn't half as
sleepy looking. There was mighty lit
tie carrying on day or night within a
half mile of him that he sabe. And the
fondest dog he was of little children
that ever l saw.
''Well. used to make. with my SOL
emn little procession, twenty to thirty
miles day. and, as had about eight
hundred miles to go, ye see, including
delays, 1 was in for a months steady
tramping. Some days would travel
for hours with one or another of the
west-bound immigrant wagons or trains
as they came creeping along toward the
end of the hard journey across the con-
tinent, foot-sore, weary, dusty and di-
lapidated. These trains had children
with 'em of all ages, and when my
dog got in among them children he
was happy. He walked right up,
raised his dropping tail, and was a new
dog. But / never camped at night
with any of these trains only enough at
the common camping places to let the
animals drink and to fill my water keg
with fresh water, and then I'd pass on
a mile or two more and go little off
the road to good grass and some kind
of shelter. if any shelter was to be
had In such place would unload