The Magnolia gazette. [volume] (Magnolia, Miss.) 1872-current, 1883-07-19
A Stage-COach Dialogue.

A Stage-COach Dialogue.
The seat Of honor and pleasure in a
journey overland is by the driver, and
there is always a scramble for it, and
the one who succeeds in securing it is
regarded as a lucky fellow. / got left
in my contest for seat on the top and
found myself recently inside Of the
stage, with a clergyman and man
whom ! took for a miner during a trip
TO Silver City, n, NJ. The preacher
and | sat on the back seat and tho
native sat facing us. He was dressed
in the regulation costume of the
country: Dark pants stuck in his boots
and held up by six-shooter buckled
around the waist, blue flannel shirt,
llaming red necktie, and great SOM
brero. A knife was stuck in his boot
and he carried Winchester rife on
the seat beside him Taking him all in
all, he was about as ugly looking a
specimen of humanity as | have met.
As the stage rolled along, the miner
looked out of the window as if in deep
thought. The preacher and / entered
into conversation, during which he
asked my business. l told him, when
he asked:
'.Do tho great papers buy literary
articles?"
''Yes, sir, when they are good"
''Do they pay for them liberally?n
"They do, when they accept the arti-
cles.
"Well, ] have got some very inter
I 4
continued, as the stage jolted over the
rough road, making it a little hard to
distinguish what he was saying. ''For
five years | was q missionary mt Siam
and saw many strange and even start
ling things.
What were those scenes you refer
TOP | asked.
''Well, the punishment of criminals
was exceedingly strange and is worthy
of description. When a person is con
victed of crime there he is taken out
upon the public square for execution.
His neck is barred we'll down upon the
shoulders, and the executioner dips his
finger in mud and with it makes n
mark upon the neck of the doomed
man.
"What kind of mud?'' shouted the
miner in voice like a thuQdcr-clap,
while he glared at the parson savagely.
| noticed that, although he kept peer
ing out of the window, he had followed
our conversation for some time.
"A sort of yellowish mud replied
the preacher, evidently disturbed bv the
miners look and manner. But he con.
linued.
s4'T,a avoo,,t;o,,o. ,L.,, 4l -
heavy sword and with one quick and
decisive blow sewers the victims head
irom his body"
cts an internal lie, yelled the min.
er, in tones that might have been heard
four miles. "Ihe boys do occasionally
hang a horse-thief there, and the town
has pretty bad name, but they never
cut peoples heads OIL. There ain n'tonlv
one sword in the whole place, and that
belongs TO militia Captain and
wouldn't cut the head off of turnip. 2
but | was missionary there for
five years, meekly interposed the min
ister
And | was barber there for seven
years, and / never shaved YOU,
neither"
My friend. that can not be; for the
people never shave there
That's another Of your Internal lies:
they're as clean a shayen set of people
as thar is in the West. You're a nice
man TO be giving the town bad name
after you have left it. If it weren' 4
kind of agin the fashion to hit a parson
I'd knock your head off of you fur your
lies, " cried the miner, getting madder
everv minute.
"My dear friend,n said the minister,
imploringly, and evidently much dis
turbed for his safety, there certainly
must be some mistake. You do not
mean to say that You were a barber in
the Kingdom Of Siam, where people
never shaver
"Oh! thought YOU were talking
about Cheyenne said the miner, as he
fell back into his chair disgusted.
was the only man who seemed 10
enjoy this amusing incident, and even /
found it good policy to show as little
disposition to laugh as possible. The
stage rolled on for miles after il oc-
Cured, and not a word was spoken by
any one. The miner looked more in
tently than ever out Of the window, and
yet there was not an expression on his
stolid face to indicate what his thoughts
We're. The preacher looked as intently
out from the opposite side Of the stage,
and | spent my time watching the min
er, looking at the strange region through
which we were passing. Cor. Pitladel-
phia Press.