The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1885-12-11

HoI cuiluEen nppchFeu tneN uylny, anu
surely could not have lived a halliday
longer. Water was doled out with due
precaution, congratulations and
thanksgivings offered; a hasty but
sufficient breakfast was cooked, and
all preparation made for abandoning
the of SO much Indebtedness.
Then very nearly came about a mis-
cradle misbap. Thompson, the driver
before mentioned-a tall, lank fellow
from Missouri or Texas, l "disrember"
which, to quote one Of his own odd
terms-has gotten by purchase, cajol-
cry. or appropriation, q bottle of
a%guardiente from u of tho Mexican
drivers, and before anyone knew of it.
Thompson was uproarlously. bolster
ously, abusively drunk. The occasion
was one to warrant more than usual
lenience, and much f@orbearance was
displayed toward the man. Finally,
however, he came to where the women
and children sat awaiting the start
and insolenily ordered a lady to pre-.
pare q fresh breakfast for HIM. My
father came to us. and tried to lead
him away, when Thompson sprang
upon him and hurled him backward to
the very brink of the salt we'll, some
fifty feet deep. Thompson was moro
than six feet tall; my father below the
average height of men, but the small
er nan held his own. and was even
forcing his antagonist away from the
we'll, when Thompson reached to his
hip and drew his cooked revolver.
The women screamed, the men came
running-but from too far away. /
do not remember thinking the matter
out; fancy my legs acted in advance
of my juvenile brain; but it appeared
d moment for decisive action, and l
dashed forward, wrested the pistol
from the drunken grasp, and vas
back again with the weapon tucked
under the buffalo robe | sat upon, be-
fore the foremost man reached the
struggling pair. / rode into Cienegas
with that pistol beneath the cushion of
my seat in the coach; l presume THAT
it was ultimately returned to Thomp-
son.
That worthy vas unceremoniously
bundled into one of the carretas.
Prior to that time Thompson had been
temperate while in our employ; but
that n lapse seemed to break down
his self control. He drank hard, and
his conduct became SO intolerable hat
he was discharged at Durango. He
hung about insisting upon re-employ-
ment, and being refused, he vowed
with savage imprecations, to wreak
his vengence upon my father by means
of his family. Much as we shrank
from his uncouth roughness. we child
rem had been much impressed by the
quaint turns of Thompson's speech.
and many of his picturesque idioms
are household words in our maturer
years.
/ know a man whom l seem to SEQ
always in a two-fold character. He
IS handsome, of rare social gifts, COM
posed. accomplished, debonair, versa
tile; a dawdler on silken cushions, tho
idol of women, and given to posing
lazily-as a squire of danes. l hap.
pen to have trodden, at a later day,
the ground of this lawless youth, and
l can but smile at thought of the con-
sternation among the fair if they knew
the record of his life as l know it.
Watching his languid repose in cor
rect parlor precincts or sardonically
contemplating tho eagerness OF his re-
ception in a gay party Of dancers, l
pictured him In my fancy as the hero
OF q certain mad ride out Of San An
tonic de Bexar, before n crowd who
clamored for his life; I seem to see
him in the street OF a frontier town,
facing q score of men with three
corpses. ~lifeless through his hand. ly-
ing at his feet; / remember what his
whilom comrade told me of this mans
GOODNESS and desperate courage as he
knelt all mi long summer day load
ing and firing ecross his brothers.
body-one of the little group besieged
by Indians on the Staked Plains. But
l keep his counsel. Even the urgency
OF two women-his mother and she
who owns his allcgiance-has wrung
from me no account of his life in lands
unquiet. For a while his eyes cleaned
strong distrust of my discretion, but at
last my reticence won his confidence
and faith. We were driving one day
across the wide, bare plains III one of
our southern counties, when, in an
swer to some satirical prediction of
srinsterhood in penance for my wnims,
lsaid:
pray, don't say that; you Olsen,
courage me-"
A shadow driftcd across his face;
his voice was several tones lower when
he sad:
'.Do you mind telling me where you
found that wordp You use it often,
but 1 never heard it from another per.
son save one"
Nor /. And l assure you l use i,
inbravado largely, for with every ut
terance of the word I feel the shadow
of a dark cloud of fear that has hung
over me for years"
He turned to look at me.
"You afraidp OF whatp You handl,
mice, and dead snakes and q gun a!
readily as l do. What else, then, doe
a woman fcarP"
mo, but indeed l meant it. / an
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