The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1884-07-05

well enough by tomorrow or next day,
at the farthest."
'1f that's the case" l said, 'per-
haps you'll let me bargain for yours. !"
Il never owned anything yet that
wouldn't sell if a man wanted it more'n
did, he replied.
"Nell," / said, ''and may ask what
price you set on your beast?'
''Jest seventy dollars
l had expected to hear him say
hundred. l took him at his offer in a
moment
The bargain was made; | counted out
seven ten dollar pieces, put my saddle
and bride upon the new horse and then
mounted.
perhaps" said the fellow, as he gave
the sick horse another punch in the gull
let, ''if | should meet you in Booneton
one O these days We might like to change
back again P''
told him we'd see about that, and
then, bidding him good morning, l
| started off. ta-re
had certainly got splendid horse.
He stepped as lightly and gracefully as
a dancing master, and bore me as easily
as though ] had been in carriage. In
O little while i touched him with the
whip and he pranced gayly. l patted
him on the neck and told him that
liked him. We were now Just at the
point where the angle OF the wood
| reached the edge of the road, and with
out apparent cause the horse started
| into a gallop. Ispoke to him and tried
to hold him in, but he only went the
| faster. In few minutes he wheeled
| - khnf "a, inf tho
wood, and now he ran for dear life. |
yelled with all my might and tugged at
the rein till my arms ached, but | could
| speed. He flew on like the wind, Sc
| Letting his course where the trees were
farthest apart-few on, sweeping
now to the right and now to the left,
just as the passage through the forest
seemed most favorable. "a 49,
AS soon as / found the horse was not
to be stopped turned my attention in
another direction, and very quickly it
flashed upon me that the flying beast
had. been trained to just this kind of
work. Like horses 1 had read of in
Arabia, he would take his course for his
masters haDitation, let it be where it
would. The man with whom I had
traded was one of the gang, and there
must have been another at the
stable of the inn at AClayville who
had given my horse something to make
him sick. These thoughts only passed
through my mind with lightning like
rapidity, but they were Systematically
arranged as they came, and knew that
/ had been trapped, and that the animal
was bearing me to the haunt of the rob-
bers. For moment there was de-
sire to go on and meet the rascals, but
that would only be madness. l must
| get out of the saddle somehow.
Ha! the opportunity presented itself.
Ahead saw stream of water. l
withdrew my feet from the stirrups and
placed my hand upon the pommel. One
more leap and the horses feet touched
the pebbly shore. With sudden spring
lifted myself clear of the saddle, and
as the. beast flew from beneath me /
dropped into the brook without hurt of
any kind. AS quickly as possible /
scrambled up the bank, and when /
reached the wood | stopped to consider.
The horse had stopped on the opposite
side of the stream as though looking for
his rider, and for moment thought
of firing pistol-ball at him. However,
| did not waste my powder, and in a
little while the animal turned and trot-
ted off and was soon out of sight.
Now, what should l do? OF course 1
must get out of the wood; and to do
that safely must go back by the way
we had come. | looked to my pistols
and started. The sun gave me my di-
lection, so | could make no mistake.
By-and-by heard the tread of horse
ahead, and as quickly as possible 1
found shelter behind huge pine tree.
The horse came along within hun
dred yards of me. The horscman was
my honest countryman who feared
might be a robber, and the horse was
the one 1 had owned an hour before.
The animal still foamed at the mouth,
but cantered along without apparent
trouble. So the "pison'' had not been
so very deadly; and, moreover, the
punching in the gullet had not been
without its effect. Surely the plan had
been cute one, and the game had
been adroitly played-only | had
CHANGED to gain one effective play be-
fore their game could be finished
remained behind the tree until the
horseman disappeared and then moved
on again, Had l been nearer to the
rascal l might have intercepted him,
but as it was the thing could not well
be done. hurried forward with all
possible speed, and in little while
after ] reached the highway lad the
good fortune to be overtaken by man
in wagon. When l first hailed him
he drew a pistol, and seemed disin-
clined to stop; but in moment more
he recognized me as one whom he had
seen on the road beyond Clayville the
day before, and finally pulled up and
addressed me. L soon convinced him
that was an honest man. and he took
me in. He was bound TO Booneton,