The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1884-08-14
SACRAMENTO.
Rescued From LynChing by the A ct
of Il Trusting Young Girl.
1t was an odd name for a girl-Sac-

fAtSttltt by Slh1 "a -
ofa Trus:in. Young Girl.
1t was an odd name for a girl-Sac-
ramento.
So the girl herself thought as she
stopped down beside q spring at the
foot of cottonwood tree and laaify
dropped her pail into the water.
at ought to have been given to
boy. if it was a fit name to give to any
body" she said quite aloud. but rm
more boy than girl, anyway"
This fact was added rather bitterly,
as she looked at her brown, rough
hands and her bare ankle, and thought
of the ''boy's work. she had to do.
And il was hard to believe that this
was the best kind of life for . young
Girl like Sacramento. Here she lived
all alone, for her father was down at
the mouth OF the canyon all day. The
garden work she was obliged to do,
and the care of the cattle fell upoa her.
L was not often that she saw any per-
son but her father, although now and
then. in spite of herself, she came in
contact with the rude men Of the min
ing camp up above.
Yet Sacramento had her dream, one
that she scarcely dared to own," but
it came to her often as she weRt about
her work.
She knew that down at Santa Bar
bara and in the towns along the coast,
and far. far away across wide stretches
of continent TO the great East, there
We're girls who lived very different
from her life, and she dreamed of such
life for herself.
''Oh, II | could only get away from
hcrG!' she cried ont almost as one cries
oUt for help. ''If could only go down
to San Francisco and 90 to school there
for single year. All, If | had $5O0r"
Suddenly there was q step-not
man, but OF hOrse-on the bank be-
hind ncr. and then some one spoke.
She knew the voice without looking up.
1t was Pete Larrabce, fellow who
lived down on Hahneman's plantation,
two miles along the trail. lie some
times rode by. He had not heard her
last words at all; yet, strangely enough
his own was y repetition of them.
Five hundred dollars, Sac" said
he; $500 in goldi Dye want Der earn
its There's yer chance" and he threw
down TO her bit of paper crumpled
into q ball.
She picked is up, and slowly unfold
ing ii, ran her eyes over its contents:
$500 REWARD.
The above amount will be paid for
information leading to the arrest,
dead or alive, of Walter Somers, who
has worked for some time past on Max
we'll S ranch. Said SOmers is about Is
years old and five and half feet high,
blue eyes and a light mustache. When
last seen he had on black slouch hat,
gray business suit, and blue flannel
shirt and boots with red tops marked
with maker name.
The name of the county sheriff was
signed at the bottom of the bill. Sac
ramento, having glanced it through,
| looked up.
Hes been steaIin' horsesr' ex-
| claimed Pete. ''ttot off last night
with four Of MaXwoli's best, some
| where's. That reward won't do much
| good, though The regulators'l II lasso
him and string him up long fore the
law'H git started. They're havin' Il
| meetin' now up at the gulch. | tell
yo they are mad. They'll make quick
work if they ketch him. Yer fathers
! there. Ye needn't look for him home
| afore night much.
| Then, after word or two more, the
| man rode on, and presently Sacra-
mento took up her pail, and with the
sheriff bill still in her hand, went
! slowly up the bank and across the trail
| toward the house. thinking very seri-
| ously about the bill all the while
1t was some hours after this, and the
| afternoon sun was going down behind
| the tops of the mountains, that Sacra-
mento, having finished her housework,
| was preparing to sit down on the porch
| TO do her sewing. when she was met III
the doorway by a young man she had
never seen before. And yet he was no
stranger. The girl knew him instant
| ly, although the slouch hat was pulled
! down over the tlaxen hafr and blue
| eyes, and the gray pants, torn and
muddy, had been drawn out Of the
| boot legs so as to no longer allow the
| red tops of the boots with the makers
name to be seen. 1t was the horse
| thief
She did not, however, express any
surprise as she saw him. she was ac-
customed to the sight of rough, evil
men; and ut the first glance she had
| felt that this one could not be either
| very wicked or very dangerous. He
was not much more than lad, and
! had an air of gentleness and good
! breeding about him that six months of
| Western life and the plight he was in
at that moment, had by no means des-
! troyed. He seemed to be short for
! breath. too, and was trembling as if ne
| had been running.
Instinctively he raised his hand to-
ward his head, and then, bethinking
/ himself. dropped it again.
Gould you give me something to
eat and drink?n he asked in hesitat-
ing voice. Anything will do, l am
very hungry. II have had nothing
to eat since last night
Come in, said Sacramento grave
". In her voice there was neither
kindness or unkindness, she was trying
TO realize the situation she was In.
Come in and sit DOWN.
Then she went into closet near by.
and began taking down milk and bread
and meat, as she slowly did so turning
the matter over in her mind. Here
was this man who had been STEALING
horses. and for whose capture $500 was
offered. in her own kitchen. Five
hundred dollars! Exactly the sum she
had been wishing for-the sum that
would take her down TO San Francisco
to school and make lady of her. And
this sum may be hers if she could in
some way secure this stranger or some
how keep him in the house until help
arrived. Help? Why she hardly need
ed help. He was weak and exhausted,
and in the drawer of the kitchen table