The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1885-05-20
THE MINERS STORY.

Topeka g. Santa Fe the other day, two
old Westerners sat together, smoking and
chatting. Presently the conductor came
along, bit the end of cigar, lighted 1t,
and Joined them. One Of the men was a
miner, and the other cattle raiser They
were both full OF anecdote. The miner
first got his feet upon the back Of the seat
ahead Of him and remarked slowly:
"Seven years ago this winter was q
mighty dull season in our camp. The
weather was colder'n usual, there wasn't
any water, we were short of grub, and the
Indians were very troublesome. We had
about fifteen or sixteen In the camp be-
lieve, and we had to go pretty easy on our
edibles, so as TO make them last. had
been keeping several men there, thinking
every day that we'd strike something
rich, and when they got more and more
dissatisfied I promised them bigger and
bigger shares could see that the men
were getting about ready to jump me, and
that they had begun to look upon me as
something Of a lunatic. They would
hold long conferences together, speaking
in low tones, and when / came around
they would pretend to be talking about
the weather or something Of that kind.
had used them all pretty well, and they
hated to leave me, but they were getting
uneasy.
"One day toward sundown, when ] was
about ready to give up myself, a young
Mexican couple, who were bound for
Sonora, struggled into our diggings, good
deal the worse for wear. They had been
up in Colorado, and had started for
home with team driver, but
the Indians had got on their trail,
killed the driver, and stolen the
horses and wagon. The travellers man
aged to get away while the driver was
holding the sayages at bay, and, lying In
hiding until nightfall, they had worked
their way on foot into our camp. The
young woman was one Of the prettiest
girls ever saw. She was about sick abed
when she arrived, but the next day she
was arousdEas clipper as any body. and
the boys were making themselves very
agreeable. Says TO myself: This is a
special dispensation OF Providence; II can
keep the girl here for awhile there will be
no trouble about the boys; they lstay too.
never heard word OF grumbling from
them that day or the next.
"I was little afraid the greaser would
get jealous and knife somebody; but then
thought II he does the rest Of the boys
will finish him, and then we will have the
girl any way. The Mexican seemed anx-
ious TO get away, but made one excuse
and another for not helping him right
away, and one day he was missing. He
had eloped during the night leaving the
girl with us. Well, she was pretty well
cast down for awhile, but / explained to
her that probably her husband had gone
on to get horses and an escort, and that he
had taken this course because he knew she
would have objected to going alone. This
faint hope seemed to give her some COM
fort, and the rest Of the boys fell in with
me, and 1t became the settled conviction
about the camp that he would be back
presently. She llvened up some, and the
boys made themselves very agreeable.
When two weeks had gone by and moth
ing as yet had been heard Of her husband
she insisted on being taken home, and Of
fered us any amount Of money, which she
said her father would pay, II we would
escort her over the border. began TO
fear that her husband was never coming
back, and, TO tell the truth, had q still
stronger suspicion Of something else; 80 |
agreed TO start with her the next morning
at sunrise. and told the boys to be in read
mess That afternoon we heard unearth-
ly screams up one OF the gulches aways,
and several of the boys, running up with
blanched faces TO see what the matter
was, found the little woman beside a new
made and very shallow grave, into which
she had dug far enough to discover tho
body of her husband AS the boys stood
there aghast. she sprang up quickly, and,
drawing revolver, shot two OF them
dead before any Of US could find voice. I
threw up my hands and begged Of her to
desist, and when somo Of the boys grabbed
their guns, pulled mine and made them
put them up. Then / got her back to the
cabin. dlsarmed her, set one trusty fellow
to watch her, and calledt the others up into
the gulch. We uncovered the dead man
and found two bullet holes In the back.
"who put them there 7" said / sternly
to the men.
:'The two men whom she shot, they
answered.
a. Impossibler says /. How could she
know .
She didn't know. She Just hit them
by chance said one Of the party. We
knew when they did It, but we didn't
want TO say anything about It. They
thought TO rob him and run of with her,
but she seemed TO be afraid Of them moro
than Of the others.'
"well, I got kind Of tired Of that place
after that, and when got things ready
to take her home packed up my own
things also. and as we set out says to the
boys; Goodbye, old men. You can work
the claim or not, Just as you please. II
amt likely that I'll ever bo here again.
And / never did go back. They skunk
awny after while, too, and I've heard
that nobody has ever worked there since.
I took the girl home to her father, and left
her there. She's there now. Yes, SEQ
her occasionally. In fact. / don't mind
ta1line, vou eha,a nv xyife md hAa haan