Little Falls transcript., 1885-11-06
~ North Carolinian MAIL Rider
III BY CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER. &

<As.NUkGM s4NOll11l40N1s sl1sxklO0Es
BY CHARI,Es DUDLEY wARNER.
August Atlantic. The mail-rider
was a lean, ssllow, sinewy man,
mounted on q sorry sorrel nag who
proved, however, to have blood ID
her, and to be fast walker and full
of endurance. The mail rider was tac-
turn, q natural habit for q man who
rides alone the year round, over q
lonely road, and has not thingwhate
to think Of He had been ii tho war
sixteen months, ii Hugh Whites reg
iment reckon you've heerd Of him!
Confed derate?' 5=s zSs .5iss. ss53
(which? II =5t. E S
AZ he on the Union OF Confeder.
ate fside7'' y H
tsOh, Union.''
We're YOU in any engagements2"
Which?? | A. .#S' *%. ..
ibid you have any ightingi" ~ =
"Not reg'lar. %6S1@
"What did you do?" s.@t r, f..
.sWhich?' " -. - ,....
"What did you do in Hugh Whites
regiment? - .<+7t
tains.' -: .,1<@ b., 4 .ZS.s
"You lived on the country" ,.,= 3
d. 'tWhich?" u. a* ...;=s@s.
t'Picked up what you could find, corn.
bacon, horses?" n/@z%., =. ..sasss,5s
fThat's about 50. Didn't make
much difference which side was round,
theNeountry got cleaned out.' >@..: =..ss !
L. I. I. L.
ject?" = 49, ,7 - :: s'..:: :-=.s tffs
t'Which?" -. .''.. :.~.r.. 4...
"Yougot q living out Of the farm.
ers?" = .=.0 -. II. ~
"You bet" ~, .
Our friend and guide seemed to have
been a jayhawker and mountain
marauder-on the right side. His at
tachment to the word (which pre-.
vented any lively flow ofconversation,
and there seemed to be only two
trains OF ideas running in his mind; one
was the subject Of horses and saddles,
and the other was the danger of the
ford we were coming to, and he exhib.
ited,a good deal OF of ingenuity in en-.
deavoring to excite our alarm. Here
turned to the ford from every other
conversational excursion, and after
every silence. ~ do knows there's
any great danger; not if you know
the ford. Folks is carried away
there. The Toe gets up sudden
There's been right smart rain late
ly. If you're afraid you can git
set over in a dugout, and I'll take
your horses across. Mebbe you're
used to fording? It's a pretty bad
ford for them as don't know it. But
you'll get along, if you mind your eye.
There's some rocks you'll have to
look out for. But you'll be all right,
If you follow me-"
Not being very successful in raising
an interest in the dangers of his ford,
although he could not forego indulginq
g. malicious pleasure in trying to make
the strangers uncomfortable, he finally
turned his attention to trade. '"This
hoss of mine" he said, 'is just the
kind Of brute-beast you want for this
country. Your hosses is too heavy.
How'llyou swap for that one o'yourn?'
The reiterated assertion that the
horses were not ours, that they were
hired, made little impression on him.
All the way to Burnsville he kept re-
curing to the subject OF a trade. The
instinct of "swap" was strong in him.
When We met a yoke of steers, he
turned round and bantered the owner
for a trade. Our saddles took his
fancy. They were of the army pat.
tern, and he allowed that one Of them
would just suit him. He rode a small
fiat English pad, across which was
flung the .. S. mail pouch, apparently
empty. He dwelt upon the fact that
his saddle was new and ours were old,
and the advantages that would &C.
crue to US from the exchange. He
didn't care if they had been through
the war, as they had, for he fancied
an army saddle. The Friend answer
ed for himself that the saddle he rode
belonged to a distinguished Union Cen
eral, and had g. bullet in it that was
put there by careless Confederate in
the first battle of Bull Run, and the
owner would not part with it for mon
ey. But the mail-rider said he didn' t
mind that. He wouldn't mind swap
ping his new saddle for my old one and
the rubber coat and leggins. Long be-
fore we reached the ford we thought
we would like to swap the guide, even
at the risk Of drowning. The ford was
passed in due time, with no inconven-
ience save that of wet feet, for the
stream was breast high to the horses;
but being broad and swift and full OF
sun ken rocks and slippery stones and
the crossing tortuous, it is not a ford
to be commended. There is @ curious
delusion that rider has in crossing a
swift, broad stream. It is that he is
rapidly drifting up stream, while in
fact the tendency of the horse is
to 20 with the current.