Weekly Chillicothe crisis. (Chillicothe, Livingston Co., Mo.) 1878-19??, 1883-07-12

Clllt btlNh w NV anu CtllNls VIII IL llllt
prctcnce of Indifference:
"NaSty accident, sir! But it might
have been worse. It's lucky we were
at hand to help YOU"
"l don't know about that" | replied
with no small acrimOny, "for my horse
SHE'D at one of you. She never did il
in her life before. You'll oblige me by
helping to get her out"
In twinkling we had the harness
undonc, and the mare, with founder
and stagger, was on her feet, ard
shook herself in II disguStcd fashion.
The men said nothing, but obeyed my
directions. Luckily, nothing was
broken; the mare had rubbed u little
hair Off her, as well as could tell, but
her knees were all right. In seven or
eight minutes from the tine VIC went
over, so quickly did it all happen, |
was in my seat again, ready TO start.
My aSSailantS, or assistants, which
ever they were, made no opposition,
and seemed only anxious TO get rid of
me; they dispatchedmC withouta word,
and was Il milo on my road before |
fully realized what had happened, As
is always the case in an accident,
could only recall what took place inn
mcdatcly before and Immediately after,
and for that very reason the words ut
tered by the men We're more wildly im-
pressed ON my memory What did
they mean?
Ii flashed into my mind like Il rcvcla-
ton, They had been miSled by the
shape Of my trap, which, rs | havc said,
was square behind, and looked like u
mail-cart, while the darkness was too
great in their place Of ambuscadc for
them TO see tho color. The time of my
arrival was about that of the mail had
not Jack Ploycr been obliged TO turn
back; and the careful pace at which |
had come down the hill accorded very
well with the steady movements Of
Jacks nag,
And the voice? had heard it some
where latcly--thc man in the Angel
bar, who asked, too, the time when the
mail left. There was no doubt of the
mems purpose.
How to prevent it? How to warn
Jack in time? There was no road
back but the one by which | came, un-
less made detour OF several miles.
Neither was there house near whence
to get assistance. | pulled up and
thought it out. A bruisc on my right
arm suggested something. had fallen
on my left side, and this bruSc was
caused by the saddle tumbling after mo.
made up my mind nj once.
Turning in through TIE first gate
came to, drove over the turf TO II cor
ncr of the field Where was n group Of
trees. Here took the mare out put
the trap under the clms and turned the
cushions; took off all the harness but
the bride, and saddlcd her. Luckily
the bride had no blinkcrs. | wound
the long rcins found and round my
arm, mounted, and, thanking Provi-
dcnce for my knowledge of the country,
rode at the nearest fence. There was
u faint moonlight to hell us, but it was
terrible dark. My heart was in my
mouth as we went at the fence, which
was u big outstanding one, but | knew
there was no ditch on the taking-oil
side, and | gave the little marc the
word at the right moment. She jumped
clean from under me, and landed nc
on the Cruppcr. | shall never forget
that leap! If there had been anyone to
see it could haze sold her almost for
her weight in gold.
We were half way across the next
field before had rcgaincd my seat
properly, and then the mad cXhilara-
ton of the thing took possession Of
both of us. There was Il flight of hur-
dies next which we took in our stride.
Then Il bank and Il clOse-croppcd hedge
that stood up, black as Ercbus,
against the gray of the night, which
We jumped us though it were twice its
height Then Il flock of frightened
sheep went scurrying away into the
! darkness.
1t was all turf, and, for the rsttimc,
| blessed the poverty of the land that
made it worthless to plOw. A dozen
fences negotiated in the same mad
fashion brought us into n field that
skirtcd the high road; and here we
were pounded There was II big bull
finch into the road, with II deep drop.
To 90 on, parallclwith the road, was i'm
possible, for there was Il made-up bank
with n cropped hedge, full of stakes,
and deep drain, as knew, ran on
either side. rode up and down by
the bull-hnch in despair. Was all my
troubcto 5c in vainP"
At last | made up my mind, and
rode not too fast, at the great, tower
ing; struggling hedge. | put my arm
across my face, shut my eyes, into it
we went, and out of it, with scramble
and iloundor, we camc-scparately.
The bull-linch nearly brushed me out
of the saddle, and the mare and |
dropped side by side into the road, but
both of us on our legs Before | had
time to remount | heard the sound of
approaching wheels, and Il man
whistling mcrrily.
"Pull up, jack" | called out
Jacks whistle ceased; and n more
astonishod cOuntenanco | never beheld
than the one that looked down from
the mail cart.
"What the dickens" he began.
Then explain I'd.
"Wcll," he said, at the end of it,
without word of commcndatiOn for
me. "That is q good pony of yours.
What shall we doP"
"I'll tell you," said, for my blood
was up with the excitement of the
night. "Drive back to Worthington,
get Rogers, the constable, and a pistol
apiece, and let them try again."
"Done with you," said Jack, turn
ing round. "You ride on ahenl and
find Rogers, and I'll wait for you by
the old toll-bar."
In half an hour the constable and
were seated very uncomfortably on the
back of the mail-cart, and driving
, along as fast as Jacks pony could be
induced to go. Our only fear was lest
the fellows should have got tired Of
waiting; for il was quite an hour and
, n half later than the time when the
| mail should have passed them. Down
the hill we went, our hearts humping
away with excitement, not to mention
t the difficulty of holding on, and Jack
| performing "My Pretty Jane" with
: exquisite variations.
/ Well, to cut my story short, we goi
Q one Of them. The constable, in his
| eagerness, jumped down directly the
: first man had seized the horses head,
n md the two other fellows made off