The Warner sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1885-1???, 1886-10-22

road ran nearly west, L snOulu uhNs
light enough. / had entered the wood
and had gone, perhaps, half a mile
when my wagon wheels settled, with q
bump and a jerk, into a deep hole. J
uttered an exclamation of astonlsh
ment; but that vas not all. | heard
another exclamation from another
source!
What could it be? Hooked around
| quickly but could see nothing, and
| vet | knew that the sound lhad heard
was very close to me. AS the hind
wheels came up | felt something be-
| sides the Jerk of the hole. | heard
something roll or tumble from
one side to the other OF my
wagon, and l could also feel the
lar occasioned by the movement. 1t
was simply a man in my cart. | knew
this on the instant. You NAV have
noticed my cart as | came up
this evening. The main part OF it
opens behind, and there is room
enough within for quite a party, pro
viding they'd stow themselves close
enough. OF course | felt puzzled. At
last | wondered if some poor fellow
had not taken this method to obtain
a ride. But | soon gave this up for |
knew that any decent man would have
asked me for a ride and taken 1T com
fortably. My next idea al that
somebody had got in there to sleep.
But this passed away as quickly as
it came, for no mar would have Drok-
en- into my cart for that purpose.
And that thought, gentlemen, opened
my eyes. Whoever was in there had
broken 1t.
"My next thought was of Mr.. Dick
Hardhead. He had heard me say
that my load was all sold out, and Of
course he supposed that | had some
none with me. And in this he was
right-for l had over two thousand
dollars. also thought that he meant
to leave the cart when he supposed |
hal reached a safe place, and then
either creep Owe and shoot me, or
knock me down-or perhaps slip out
and ask for a ride, or something OF
that sort. All this passed through
my mind by the time had got a rod
from the hole.
Now, | never make it a point to
brag of myself, but yet | have seen q
great deal of the world, and | am
pretty cool and clear headed under
difficulty. In a very few moments
my resolution was formed. Ny horse
was O knee-deep in the mud, and !
knew l could slip off without noise.
So | drew my revolver never travel
in that country without tit is ask
barrelled one and sure fire; | drew this,
and, having twined the reins around
the whipstock, l carefully slid down
into the mud, and as the cart went on
| went behind it and examined the
hasp. The door of the cart let's down,
and is fastened by a hasp which slips
over a staple, and is then secured by
a paddock. The paddock was gone
and the hasp was secured in its place
by a bit ofpine stick-so that q slight
push from within could break 1T. My
wheel wrench hung in a leather bucket
on the side of the cart, and / quickly
took it out and slipped it into the
staple, the iron handle just sliding
down.
Now | had him. My cart was al
most new, with a stout frame of white
oak, and made on purpose for hard
usage, heavy loads, and service. l
did not believe that any ordinary
man could break out. Igot on to my
cart as noiseless as / got off, and then
urged my horse on, still keeping my
pistol handy. / knew that at the
distance of half a mile further |
should come to a hard, good road,
and | allowed my horse to pick his
own way through this mud. 1t was
about ten minutes after this that /
heard a motion in the cart, followed
by a grinding noise as though some
heavy force were being applied to the
door. This continued some moments,
and then a heavy thump, as though
the sole of a boot were applied to the
door. / said nothing, but the idea
struck me that the villain might try
to judge about where / sat and shoot
up through the top of the cart at me,
SO | sat down on the footboard.
"Of course / knew now that my un-
expected passenger was a villain, for
he must have been awake ever since I
started, and nothing else in the world
but absolute villainy would have
caused him to remain quiet 90 long,
and then start up in this particular
place. The humping and pushing
grew louder and louder, and pretty
soon / heard q human voice.
"Let me out of thisl' he cried, and
he yelled pretty loud.
II lifted my head up so as to make
him think that / was sitting in my
usual place, and then asked him what
he was dong in there.
LET me out and I'll tell ye,' he re-
piled.
"aTell me what you're in there for
/ said.
got in here to sleep on your
rags, he answered.
How'd We get in2' / asked.
Let me get out, or I'll shoot We
through the head he yelled.