Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1885-11-07

| fore stopping to return a horse which he
| had found straying), he had made the
| acquaintance of the family Simpson him.
self had suddenly gone away. He had
been in Pueblo. and the Postmaster stated
| at the Arcade that he had received large
and thick letter, but be was little misty
| as to the post-mark That night Simpson
| departed. Some people thought he rode q
| little to the northward, and took train at
a small station. A theory that he secreted
himself in freight car also found support
| ers But one individual, and he was half
| inebriated, had suggested suicide, and he
had been promptly elected from the saloon
| by the force of public opinion.
| Months and months had passed, and
| Simpson had not appeared. Wonder had
/ grown as to his whereabouts much curl
| osity was engendered as TO the condition
and feelings of his family, and no little
| effort was made to crafty this curiosity.
| Whatever the wife and daughter, seemingly
| deserted, may have felt, however, they
| gave no sign TO visitors. No one was
| there half so often as Jack Reynolds, and
| there was general, unspoken sentiment
| abroad that this was as it should be;
also that it would be alike improper and
| futile to seek for any information about
| Simpson from him. No better test, in
| deed, could there be of the esteem in
| which he was held than this rare self
| abegnation.
| Again several months passed, and still
| there appeared no Simpson. His neigh
| bors were more puzzled more curious, more
hopelessly in the dark than ever, and they
| began to feel aggrieved. Broncho Sam had
| been voicing this sentiment, IN conversation
| with his assistant, when he made the decla-
| ration with which this story opens, and
which was preceded by another.
AZ Jest tell yer" said he, " that when
man lights out and leaves sech q good -ap-
pearin' wife an sech a pooty gal as is up to
| Simpsons an don't send EN- no word, it's
playing it down pretty low on 'em onless
he's got blamed good reason for a-doin'
| So"
That he would discuss this point with
| Jack was highly improbable. They talked
| of cattle and the seasons prospects, and
| there was no word of Simpson during the
| plain supper or the placid pipe-smoking
| which followed When they turned in"
| the sky was overcast, and during the night
| there came a gale of wind which almost
| shook the house. 1t was in the gray of
early morning that a violent knocking at
| the door brought all three men to their
| feet alert in an instant. Jack was the first
| at the door, and opened it. man stood
His words were few and to the point.
There had been storm and cloud burst in
! the mountains the great reservoir which
| fed the irrigating bitches was in imminent
| peril there would be terrible " washout'
in the valley.
| Have you warned them at SIMPSONS? ?"
asked Jack, breathlessly.
| mo. | came the other way"
] Broncho Sam had his eyes on Jacks
| face, and saw the color leave it, He rose
to the occasion in an instant.
Yer can do it, my boy said he; but
jest yer ride like Jehu. Git yer boots on,
an I'll have the saddle on Comanche."
| In five minutes Jack, with his head bent
to the blast, was squirting his horse wildly
up the valley.
There was nothing eSthetic about the ex-
| ternal appearance of Simpsons ranch
| The architecture of the house was of the
early cowboy period, with suggestion of
! that of the mining camp. There was
severe simplicity about the roughly-hewn
| logs which made up the walls, and although
! the freaks of fashion bring MANY queer
things into popular use, the plastering of
crevices with adobe has not yet been nat
uralized in polite neighborhoods. Never,
| however, should the wise traveller in the
| West and Southwest judge of the kernel by
| the shell, of the interior by the exterior.
| Both Mrs. Simpson and her daughter pos
| sessed the rare and charming gift of prac-
! teal management" which Hawthorne has
ascribed to little PhUbe, in The House of
| the Seven Gables" - II is a kind of nat
ural magic" he says, that enables these
favored ones to bring out the hidden capa-
bilities of things around them, and particu-
| larly to give a look of comfort and habit
ableness to any place, which, for however
brief a period, may happen to be their
home
So did cheap and simple material take
new character and virtue from their hands
so were rough walls hidden by chintz of
tasteful pattern and homogeneous tint; so
did refinement supply the place of costly
| equipment. Jack Reynolds realized all
this the first time he entered the building.
| To be.sure, he saw it under favorable cir
| cumstanceS.
| The daughter of the house had come out
to meet him as he approached. When she
saw it was her own favorite horse he had
brought home, her face was lighted up by a
smile which went straight to his heart
Before his visit came to an end he discov-
cred that her name was Edith. What more
he discovered about her, no one but him
| self would know but it could not have
been otherwise than pleasant for he
arrived at his home in the highest spirits.
He counted the days until he thought he
might call again, and he made them as few
as he possibly could. 1t was strong evil
dence of Broncho Sans partially for his
young friend that he took but mild excep-
ton to what must surely be u distraction
to an embryo cowboy; but then Sam him
self had seen the young lady, and her
grace and sweetness had made an impress
sion on even his case-hardened sensibii-
ties.
-" Thar amt no kind o use in talking
about it, he said its human natur.
I'm ali old man now, but | was young
once myself, an | know. He's a fellow
thet's got sand, an she's real good APP
pearin' gal, an l allow it amt no ones
business but theirs
The road up the valley was narrow and
rough; one side was often much higher
than the other; the prickly cactus bushes
renched on it; and many burrows and
holes lay as pitfalls before the rider All
riders, however, had not such horses as
| Comanche. He knew what was expected
| of him. With a splendid stride he went
over the difficult path as if over English
| turf, clearing this treacherous gully with a
! spring, swerving to avoid that pile of earth
washed down by the evenings rains. leav-
ing one landmark after another behind in
| his headlong course. They talk to this day
of the time in which he made the dis
| lance.
Jack sat him ike the good horseman that
he was. His excitement was intense, but
every faculty seemed under perfect control
| One thinks and remembers at such times
! with unwonted quickness and vividness.
/ Not knowing what duty or peril awaited
him, nerved for whatever it might be, he
still found himself wondering whether
Sam and the other man could get the
horses to a place OF safety Then he
| thought-for what seemed to him a long
| time, but was probably q few seconds-of
his far-away home. Then the absorbing
| theme of what he must soon encounter
took the place of all else The horse
began to breathe little hard, but his
pace never slackened. At one time
Jack fancied he heard hoofs behind
him, but he dismissed the idea as alb
.....L :.