Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1882-06-18
SACRAMENTO.

It was an odd name for girl-Sacra.
mento.
So the girl herself thought as she
stopped down beside spring at the foot
Of cottonwood tree and lazily dropped
ner pail into the water.
"It fought to have been given to a boy,
if it was fit name to give to anybody"
she said, quite aloud. "But l am more
boy than girl anyway"
This last was added rather bitterly, as
she looked at her brown, rough hands
and her bare ankles, and thought Of the
"boy's work" she had to do.
And it was hard to believe that this
was the best kind of life for young
girl like Sacramento. Here she lived
alone, for her father was down at the
mouth Of the canon all day. The gar
den work she was obliged to do, and
the care of the cattle fell upon her. It
was not often that she saw any person
but her father, although now and then,
In spite Of herself, she came in contact
with the rude men Of the mining camp
up above.
Yet Sacramento had her dream-one
that she scarcely dared to own" but
it came to her often as she went about
her work.
She knew that down at Santa Barbara
and in the towns along the coast, and
far, far away across wide stretches of
the continent to the great East, there
were girls who lived very different from
her life; and she dreamed of such life
for herself.
ooh, if I could only go away from
here p she cried out, almost as one cries
for help. eff I could only go down to
San Francisco and go to school there for
single year An, if I only had $780,"
Suddenly there was step-not Of a
man, but horse-on the bank behind
her, and then some one spoke. She
knew the voice without looking up. It
was Pete Larrabee, a fellow who lived
down on Hahnemann's plantation, two
miles along the trail. He sometimes
rode by. He had not heard her last
words at all {; yet strangely enough his
own we're repetition of them.
Give hundred dollars, Sac" said he.
"Five hundred dollars in gold! Dye
want ter earn it? There's yer chance"
and he threw down to her a bit Of paper
crumpled into ball.
$500 REwARD-The above amount will be
paid for information leadingtto the arrest, dead
or alive, of Walter Somers, who has worked for
some time past on MaxwelFs ranch. Said
Somers IS about IS years old and five and a
half feet high, rather good looking, with light,
curly hair, blue eyes and light mustache.
When last seen he had on a black SLOUGH hat,
gray business suit with blue flannel shirt, and
boots with red tops marked with the makers
name.
The name of the county Sheriff was
signed at the bottom Of the bill. Sac
ramento, having glanced it through,
looked up.
"He's been stealth horses" exclaimed
Pete "got off last night with four of
Ma1'll's best somewhere. That reward
won't do much good, though. Their
Regulators'll lasso him and string him
up long fore ther law'l git started.
They're hevin' meetin' now up at the
Gulch. tell ye, they are mad. They'll
make quick work if they ketch him. Yer
fathers there. Ye needn't look fur him
home afore night much
Then, after word or two more, the
man rode on and presently Sacramento
took up her pail, and, with the Sheriff's
bill still in her hand, went slowly up the
bank and across the trail toward the
house, thinking very seriously about the
$500 all the while.
1t was some hours after this, and the
afternoon sun was going down behind
the tops of the mountains, that Sacra-
mento, having finished her housework,
was preparing to sit down on the porch
to do her sewing, when she was met in
the doorway by young man she had
never seen before.
And yet he was no stranger. The girl
knew him instantly, although the SLOUGH
hat was pulled down over the faxen hair
and blue eyes, and the gray pants, torn
and muddy, had been drawn out Of the
boot legs so as to no longer allow the
red tops of the boots with the makers
name be seen. It was the horse-thief.
She did not, however, express any
surprise as she saw him. She was ac-
customed to the sight of rough, evil
men, and at the first glance she had
felt that this one could not be either
very wicked or very dangerous. He
was not much more than a lad, and had
an air of gentleness and good breeding
about him that six months of Western
life and the miserable plight he was in
at the moment had by no means de-
stroyed. He seemed to be short for
breath, too, and he was trembling as if
he had been running.
Instinctively he raised his hand to.
ward his hat and then, bethinking him
self, dropped it again.
"Could you give me something to eat
and drink?" he asked in hesitating
voice. "Anything will do. am very
hungry. II have had nothing to eat
since last night"
"Come in, said Sacramento, gravely.
In her voice was neither kindness or I'M
kindness. She was trying to realize the
situation she was in. "Come in and sit
down."
Then she went into the closet near by
and began taking down from the shelves
milk and bread and meat, as she slowly
did so turning over the matter in her
mind. Here was this man, who had
been stealing horses, and for whose cap
ture $500 was offered. in her kitchen.
Five hundred dollars Exactly the
sum she had been wishing for-the sum
that would take her down to San Fran
cisco to school and help her make
lady of herself. And this sum might be
hers If she could in some way secure