The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1883-03-14

Too prone to believing;
Too lonesome for living
Or dying.
RETIRING FROM BUsIN Ess.
BY Bret Harte.
What the Colonel's busi ness wa
nobody knew, nor did.any body car
particularly. He purchas' ID for cas-
only, and never grumbl ed ut th
price of anything he wfrnted; VIII
colld do more than that?
Curious people occasi. .onally wor
dered how, when it had been full,
two years since the Colonel, wit
every one else, abar.dcned Dutcl
Creek to the Chinese, he rnanaget
to spend money freely and to los
considerably at cards and horse ra
ces. In fact, the keeper of one o
the Challenge Hill saloons which
the Colonel did not patronize, wa!
once heard to wonder, absent mind
edly, whether the Colonel hadn't 9
money mill somewhere, where b,
turned out eagles and ''slugs" 9Th,
coast name for fifty dollar gold
pieces).
When so important parsonage
as bar tender INDUCED publicly in
the idea, the inhabitants of Chal
lenge Hill, like good Californians
everywhere, considered themselves
in duty bound to give it grave con
sideration; go, for few days, Ger
tain industrious professional gen.
tlemen who had won money of the
Colonel, carefully weighed some Of
the brightest pieces and tested them
with acids, and sawed them in two
and retired them, and melted them
up, and then had the Jumps assay.
The result was q complete vindi.
cation of the Colonel and loss o.
considerable custom BY the indis
Greet bar keeper.
The Colonel was A. good natured
a man as was esser known IN Chal,
lenge Hill, but being mertal the
Colonel had bis occasional times o.
dependency and one of them oc.
CURED after series of races in which
he had ste ked his all .on his bay
mare, Tpe lie, and had lost.
Looking g reproachfully at his be
loved an lmal, he failed to heed the
aching void of his pockets, and
drinkrag deeply, swearing eloquent
y and glaring defiantly at all man.
kind were equally unproductive o.
coir..
The boys at the saloon sympathiz
ed, most feelingly with the Colonel
] hey were unceasing in their invita-
lions to drink, and they exhibited
considerable christian forbearance
when the Colonel savagely dissented
with every one who advanced any
proposition, no matter how incon
trovertible. But unappreciated sym
pathy grows decidedly tiresome tt
the giver, and it was with a feelins
Of relief that the boys saw the Colo
mel stride out of the saloon, noun
Tipsie and gallop furiously away.
Riding on horseback has always
been considered an excellent sort O
exercise, and riding is universally
admitted to be one of the mos
healthful exhilarations in the worlt
When man is SO absorbed in hi
exercises that he will not stop i
speak to q friend. and when his e.x
liberation is SO complete that h
turns his eyes from we'll meanipl
thumbs pointing Significantly int
doorways through which a man ha
often passed while seeking bracinl
influences, it is but natural that peo
pie should express some wonder.
The Colonel was well known a
To-day Flat, Lone Hand, Blazers
Murderer's Bar and several othe
villages through which he passed
As no men had beer seen to procedt
him, betting men were soon offering
odds that the Colonel was runnin.
away from somebody.
Strictly speaking they were wrong
but they won all the money tina
had been staked against them. fo
within half an hour there passet
over the same road an anxious look
ing individual who reined up at tn,
principal saloon of each place ant
asked If the Colonel had passed.
Had the gallant Colonel know
that he was followed, and by whom
there would have been an extr,
election held at the latter plac
shortly after, for the pursuer wa
the constable, and. for all officers o
the law the Colonel possessed ha
tired. E
On galloped the Colonel, follow
ing the stage road, which threadet
the old mining camps on Dutcl
Creek, but suddenly be turned on
Of the road and urged his hors
through the young pines and bushes
which grew thickly by the road
while the constable galloped on 4
the next camp. 81
IN sl A.