Madison times. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1884-1???, 1885-10-10
A North Carolinian Mail-Rider.
nv CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER.


was a lean, sallow, sinewy man,
mounted on sorry sorrel nag, who
proved. however, to have blood In
her. and to be fast walker and full
OF endurance. The mail-rider was tao
turn. a natural habit for a man who
rides alone the year round, over
lonely road, and has nothing whatever
TO think OF. He had been in the war
sixteen months, in Hugh Whites reg
iment-reckon you've heerd of hun!
Confederate"
which" j.,
"Was he on the Union or Conftder-
ate side?"
"Oh, Union"
"were you in any engagements:
"Which?"
"Did YOU have any fighting"
"Not reg'la
"What did you do?"
(Which"
What did you do i'll Hugh Whites
regiment"
.'oh, just cavorted round the noun
tains."
"You lived on the country"
(Which"
picked up what you could find, corn,
bacon, horses"
"That's about so. Didn't mae
much difference which side was round,
the country got cleaned out.
"Plunder seems to have been the OBJ
ject'"
(Which"
"You got living out of the farm
| ers?"
"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 eNhlb-
tied good deal OF OF ingenuity III en-
deavoring to excite our alarm. Here
| turned to the ford from every other
conversational excursion, and alter
every silence. 81 do knows there 5
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. Ii you're afraid you can git
set over in a dugOut, and Ill 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, ii 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 INDUCING
a malicious pleasure in trying to make
the strangers uncomfortable, he finally
turned his attention to a trade. This
boss OF mine" he said, sis Just the
kind of brute-beast you want Tor this
country. Your bosses is too heavy.
How'Ilyou 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 trade. The
instinct of swap" was strong in him.
When We met q yoke of steers, he
turned round and bantered the owner
for IL 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 L. $. mail pouch, apparently
empty. He dwelt upon the fact that
| In Il 10 nd
and the advantages that would ac-
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 distinguished Union Gen
eral, and had bullet in it that was
put there by careless Confederate III
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. ever
at the risk OF drowning The ford was
, passed iii due time, with no inconven
fence save that of wet feet, for thu
stream was breast high to the horses
but being broad and swift and full o
, sunken rocks and slippery stones ant
the crossing tortuous, it is not n fore
to be commended. There is curious
delusion that rider has in crossing ;
, swift, broad stream. 1t is that he il
i rapidly drifting up stream, while il
r fact the tendency OF the horse il
: to 60 with the current.