The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1882-04-13
8 ESTABLISHED ~
Z MAhCH, IS45.

, shoot you six times over, if | chose
but of course | shall do nothing O
the kind. Go and lie down. Your
very drunk, you know, and"
"That's lier' he interrupted.
very well. Lie down and go t.
sleep, anyhow. Perhaps you'll hav,
the grace to beg my pardon to-mor
row morning"
He growled and clustered a goot
deal; but eventually he did return tx
the tent and threw himself down.
then proceeded to take certain pre-
cautionary me sures; after which
too, stretched myself on the ground
But no sooner had done so than ur
the brute jumped again.
mo good trying to Sleep" he said
"slow work sleeping. Let's have an
other duel. Where's the cartridges p
Every single cartridge that we
possess is safe at the bottom of the
stream" answered |, with a chuckle;
for had just had time to anticipate
that danger. | cared very little fol
his curses and threats, knowing that,
if the worst came to the worst
[ had it in my power to disable
him; and | suppose he was sober
enough to understand that too,
for he desisted after time, and ap-
parently went off to sleep at last |
don't think | was many minutes in
following his example. | wonder
now at my temerity; but the fact was
l was so dead tired that it was as
much as l could do to hold my eyes
open until he began to snore; and,
besides, [ didn't see that he could do
me any harm, now that | was pos
sessed of the one effective frearm that
remained to us.
That only shows what an ass was
The next thing Of which | was con-
scous was that Percival was standing
over me in the grey light of the dawn
with my revolver in his hand. And
now, Master Oliver" said he. Il think
I've pretty well turned the tables
upon you"
Indeed he had! l gave myself up
for lost, and | hope | may never again
feel as frig htened as / did at that mo-
ment. But Percival burst out laugh
ing;
"You stupid old fool" he said quite
amiably; ''do you take me for mur-
derer? 1t was all joke, my firing at
you last night. l only wanted to
scare you, and was no more drunk
than you are"
| didn't in the least believe him;
but it seemed more polite to pretend
to do so.
Come along up the hills and see
the SUNRISE" he went on, "A breath
of fresh air will do us both good"
l demurred to the proposition, al
leging, what was perfectly true, that
| hadn't had half my fair share of
sleep; but I added politely that l
hoped he wouldn't let me prevent
him from climbing to any heigh5 that
he pleased.
''Confound your' he exclaimed an
grily, Il believe you're in funk of
ME. Look here, then" He caught
me by the arm, dragged me rather
roughly out of the tent, and, finging
my revolver into the torrent, will that
satisfy you?" he asked.
1t was pretty cool way of dispos-
ing of my property; but then, to be
sure, | had drowned his cartridges.
The end Of it was that | had to go
with him. Anything for l,eace, |
thought; and | reflected with COM
fort that the guides would be back in
the course of few hours, after which
my final farewell to this red-haired
ruffian should very soon be spoken.
Percival led the way across to the
northern side Of our narrow valley;
and we were soon scramhllng up over
boulders and slippery shale at Il great
pace, he wnistling and singing, appa-
rrntly in the highest spirits, and |
silent, sulky, and out of breath. From
time to time | suggested that he had
mounted high enough; but he always
replied briskly, "Oh, dear, no! we
shall have to do another five hundred
feet at least before we can get any
thing of view, and there's heaps of
time" And then he went ON snig-
gering to himself, as though at some
first-rate joke.
1t was horribly unpleasant. | was
beginning to have a very strong sus-
picion that the man was off his head
Drunk he was not; for he never made
a false step, and we had already passed
some places which demanded steady
head: but his manner was decidedly
odd. and, when he turned to speak to
me, a saw light in his eyes which |
didn't like. | suppose it must have
taken us the best part of two hours
to reach the edge of the glacier which
>loped upwards towards the summit
If the ridge that separated us from
France. By that time the sun had
caught the higher peaks and the
fleecy clouds around and below them;
and | dare say the spectacle was very
exquisite one. Some people, [ know,
60 into raptures over sunrise; but |
am not one of those people. always
loathe everything until | have had
my breakfast; and the circumstances
of this particular occasion were such
that the snow and the sky might have
clothed themselves in all the colors of
the rainbow, with hundred and fifty
intermediate tints to boot, and have
left me perfectly unmoved. .
One thing | was quite determined
about; | didn't mean to skip over
hidden crevasses at the heels Of q
maniac: and, to show how determined
+. was, | sat me down doggedly on a
rock. and observed: That's enough
for me. No. step further do | &c"
sJnst as YOU like" answered Perci-