Daily Yellowstone journal. [volume] (Miles City, Mont.) 1882-1893, 1884-08-28
ANOTHER VERSION.
ISan Francisco Post. |

ISVr ious lfa ~ ~ anus
inquired traveller. glancing al The swing
Ing signboarl. which also represented thu
weatllerworn pi, ture of something family
rcscmblin. soldiers ovcrgroMn knap
sack
"No. replied The gray haired landlord.
III m,at, pcddlers pack Nowadays
they call Them samplc-cases believe.
pointing TO The baggage of several com
mercial drmmcrs thai stood in a corner.
You see ! have a good deal Of that sort
of custom try TO make the road boys
as comfortable as possible or was a
little loo hard on the fraternity once.
"llow was thatt"
We'll aid the mounata Bon.f,ce,
who ha, waited until hi, daughter. a
huNum ma'rnn had left the room IL amt
very pleasant story. bul | like I, tell il
sometimes. Just 10 remind myself that the
wors, thing y man can have in this world
l. a hot. obstinate temper. You see ] came
10 this roasl soon after the gold fever
broke o,Ii and settled down in the Santa
Barbara valley below here, ranching. |
Wa a wdowcr even then. and had brought
with me from the states my only child. a
,laighir". last L.. She was q pretty girl
if do sly II. and being ~ good H. pretty,
,ou can imagine was quite wrapped up
n her. az course ! was anxious 10 keep
! ~ with me. and If not that. at least
! okcd for her to do something better than
10 fall In love with pcddlcr
And dill ,bc."
"l,,. ,ou sec. in those days. ihe coun.
try Wa, fun 81 Young fellows who had
struck ont for themselves and were trying
10 GO, start by carrying knick klacks
around from one town or mining camp Ia
another some Of them Were lively chaps
enough and vii educated. hui ! was fresh
from the states with all the eastern preju,
diccs. AMI il almost drove ne mad when
Nellie told me she wanted ~ marry a
Young fellow who brought hi. rack
through ctr district great dial o.iener
than the trade seemed to require ] was q
hotiemmed fool in those days. 50 ]
stormrl. threatened. locked Nellie up for
u week and sent word 10 her lover that ]
had loaded M gun for wildcats and ped
dlers.
What dill Nellie do"
"lon might have guessed II. stranger
One day when came back from cattle
sale she was missing. chased her a
couple 81 day.. Int they had taken TO the
tall timhr and il WAS no use After
awhile got letter from Frisco. and ]
wrote back saving that disowncd her.
and that he had better keep oui of the
range of nv deer rifle
What did you do them
Suffered. mister-just suffered. I
knew was wrong. hut Id have died
rather than give in. For four years I
lived like n toad in rock. hating
The whole world. All the pleasure
r had va, in watching for ped-
dler> The n'mlsr chased of the ranch
during that time would astonish you. One
evening after terrible rainsiorm. one of
the tribe came to my house and asked for
shelter for iAc night. lie was thin. weak
looking fellow with his face covered BY a
huge. ragged bcsrd. lie carried ON his
hack an enormou, long and heavy pack,
and seemed 81 exhausted with his tramp
through the mire that ] hadn't the
heart ~ do more than order him of the
pace.
-Th WAS pretty hard u" said the list.
cner.
Il suppose il MAS. The ped,llcr seemed
all broke up when he found ] wouldn't
even give him bunch of straw in the
stable. and no other house within twelve
miles Instead of complaining. however.
he merely begged that would let him
leave his pack. which he said contained
cords OF value, under shelter from the
rai,. finally consented to this So, rs
bad sworn one Of his trade should never
cross NV threshold, | carried his pack in.
side. while its owner limpcd on 10 crawl
under some bush or other"
didn't you feel mean"
"lcs: mean and bitter al the same time,
for something abcu, the man reminded me
of Nellie, husband a little However. l
locked aud barred all the doors and win
dows as usual for some road agents had
been around those parts about that time.
aud hal stood up and robbed several
runchcr> and. a. | told YOU. was all
alon". >orehow couldn't 20 10 sleep
when. after thai. went 10 bed After
ios>in. around for awhile gDi up IN sat
~ the fire. brocdng over ms trouble aud
/ trying not 10 think Of the poor devil shiv-
ering out Their in the cold and rain some.
where. | looked n; his pack sitting up In
f.c corner and wondered what made Il so
long. A. watched II fancad saw il
move.
"Saw il move
Exactly. wouldn't believe my eyes
nj first, bat after watching inten'ly for n
while. | distinctly saw the print Of q
hand Pressed against the canvas from the
inside Like fash then understood the
whole thing. The pcddler was one Of the
roaa ngrni, gang. and, knowing | had
g. us.1pI he ut,tnpy about the hui,sr they