Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1884-07-03

i
.hat you mad been stolen from valley
IN the mountains, and found the cab.
ms but 1t had been pulled down.
waited around there all day long, and
at last saw a man wandering in gulch.
followed him to a cave i'm the monu-
tains and heard him talk in a loony way
about a big bag of gold that was .ail
Tor Storm. Two Indians with me said
IL was your father and they were posi-
i've OF 1t. They said he often dug in
the ground and that your name was
Storm l talked to him summit. He
was as crazy as magpie. but from his
words / come to the conclusion that he
had struck it rich found
gold, you know. He wouldn't tell me
where it was and kept sayin' it's all
for Storm understood then that no
one would get that gold but you and it
became my biz to hold on to you. That's
the reason | wanted You to marry Sam.
Ii you'd married him I'd have then
made YOU acquainted with the old man
and that cussed Cam would q been on
alrth yet But the jig's all up now.
TOUR fathers alive and livin' in the
cave yet; but no one on earth knows
where the cave is besides me, for them
two Grows what was with me died that
day, and tomorrow morning I'll put on
my Eastwood buster likewise. Fanny.
| hate to die" He stopped and waited
breathlessly for her reply.
Jim Dane, what is this you SAYS
my father alivep'' Storm asked, grasp
ing him by the shoulder in her excite
ment.
"He jist is, my child" answered the
prisoner. and his words were less dis
NAL; in fact the words, Saved! saved!'
would have better suited his tone of
voice.
How do know that you tell me the
truth?" Storm asked. Jim grew dis
NAL Immediately as he answered:
1T don't yield me any harvest to lie
Just now. If you reach into my breast
pocket you will find paper with pic
ture of the cave and the different
gHlches leading to it that drawed so as
not TO forget way. That will prove |
don't lie. Take the letter out and look
at it and then put it in my mouth and
I'll chew it up"
Storm reached into his pocket and
found the paper. BY the dim light of
the distant camp fire she made out a
rough sketch of the mountains and val
leys. She did not wish him to destroy
it, so she put it back into his pocket;
but he assured her he would chew it be-
fore he died.
what direction from here is that
caveP" Storm questioned
Its in the Rocky mountains and you
know they are west" Jim answered
cautiously
Tell me how can get there" said
she.
well, this paper in my pocket will
tell you how TO go after you arrive at a
certain gulch about four miles from
where your fathers cabin used to stand
but there's no one on earth can show
you that holler but Jim Dane" he
said
1.-The long and short of it is" Storm
said refiectively, THAT if you die to-
morrow morning l will never see my
fond father. o, this is hard to bear
hard, hardr'
That's the idea,'' said Jim. 'But
the old man can't live great while
longer, anyway; and he will die of star
walton with a gold mine right on his
claim up there in the Rockies; and he
will be calling for little Storm all the
while-he has been calling you for
seventeen years to my certain knowl-
edge. You don't care though
As that cussed Professor used to say,
The depravity of the human heart is
great. I'll go and haunt the old man
after I'm dead for bringing me into this
so | will"
20, what shall | do!' Storm said.
She was crying bitterly, and Jim's cold
blooded way of playing upon her tender
heart brought fresh agony at every
turn.
DOE" said Jim. why go home and
90 to bed and 90 to sleep and let them
jerk me into the Sweet by-and-by'-
that's one thing you can do. Another
thing you can do is to get your and my
horses, tie them with lariats west of
here on the prairie, and when the guards
get drowsy crawl from the grass out
side through under this wagon and cut
these ropes, and wait by the horses I'M
til | come. | will take you straight to
the cave, and it will be good place for
me to hide until can skip the country.
If they miss us before morning and
follow, | think we can outride them.
Two days journey will take us there;
then you can bring your father back
with the money and live with Martha and
the children. Fanny, will you have me
show you the way to-night?''
20, what shall do? Give me time
to think" Storm said half frantic with
agitation.
you haint got time to think. There
comes the guards now. Speak quickr'
Jim said, almost bursting with suppressed
Il can't say now." said she, starting
to move away. Il must 60 and sit
dow and consider coolly. My head is
all in a whirl now. You will not see
me again, unless-unless-"
''Stayr' cried Jim. Good God!
she's gone, and will never come back"
He sank down on his ropes like dead
man.
Storm walk away out on the prare
to the new-made grave. There in the
darkness she fought with doubt and
duty, fear and hope. 1t was such a
battle rs you and [ have many time
engaged in over smaller concerns IL
you have always decided these problems
in the right, pick up that first stone
and hurled it at our fair wrestler, |
cannot do it.
The guards tied Jim Dane in such
a position as to allow him a resting
place on the sod. They tied one end
of short ropes about him and wound
the other end around their own bodies
before they took their positions for the
night, so fearful were they of falling
asleep from exhaustion. BY this con-
trivance the least movement on the
part of Dane would be indicated to the
sleepers.
The increasing turmoil in Jim's soul
drove all chances of sleep away, and
tied thus he could but lay on his back
and gaze up at the twinkling stars. Away
back in his boyhood he had gathered
a smattering of astronomy, that inter-
vening years had buried unto forgetful-
ness and he dragged it out from his
minds store-house in his great effort to
pass the tedious hours of this suppose
Bile last night on earth. Clinging to
this relic of boyhood were bits of puri-
ty, love and generosity; but they had
tarried SO long in disuse under their
burden of baser rubbish that Jim hand
led them in wonder as curiosities not
belonging in his life and looked on them
as strangers from foreign shore. Is
it to be supposed for moment that a
man who has spent long years in hard