Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1886-04-08

NO, no! not that way. The leads higher
up-mighty rich, tool"
managed to get him off the shelf. Fun.
Their | could not. The only accessible route
home wound in places about projections OF
the mountain several hundred feet perpen.
dicular above the foaming river, where q
sound man needed all his strength and nerve
to keep sure footing.
Them mint fellows are sharp. Jack Hill
year, mind you bake your next batch OF
bread clean through Run straw through
dough sticks If faint done; don't put pork
in till beans be boiled so you can squash,
'em-else, hard as rocks"
So he rambled on. His words concerning
the mint people suggested to me Broener's
remark as to their curiosity regarding his
quartz assays and their whereabouts. Pratt
was evidently delirious. / thought to utilize
this wit wandering and said:
Ibid the mint people send you up here!n
Put fresh salt on birds tail, an you'll
catch weasel asleep" was his reply Then
his mind seemed to leap into the old channel
Its rich-mighty rich-and they can't hold
it all"
The thing to be done was to get Pratt to
his cabin Evidently his brain was affected
by the wound. | left him and hurried to
Hillyear
Their cabin was built as thousands were in
those days-an envelope of cotton drilling
about light wooden frame. There was no
wooden door to knock against, or any other
method to rouse the inmates save by calling
Call | did, but Hillyear seemed sleeping the
sleep of the just. At last, out of patience, L
pitched a rock into the frail structure It
lore through the cloth. Hillyear's reply was
Il shot, which was not to be wondered at.
For heavens sake, Hillyear, don't fret It's
me. I've found Pratt He's hurt badly |
cried
who's me2" asked Hillyear, after one of
his periods of silence.
| heard him cooking bis pistol cts T.
Holder. Come and help me get Pratt down
off the mountain He's lying there with a
cash in his head"
Mr. Hillyear now relapsed into silence /
knew not whether he was trying to frame an
idea into a sentence or peering out to get an
aim at me.
Amt you comingg" cried at last. "Are
you going to help me get Pratt down He'll
die before we get to him.
''How-did-you-come - to -find-himl'
,ame at length from Mr. Hillyears lips,
with sort of clownish judicial gravity
Good heavens" l said ''Will you stay
there all night and ask questions, while your
partner is bleeding to deaths Do you sup
pose I'd get out of my bed to stand and call
here like fool for nothingr
What's the mussF cried voice in the
darkness. 1t was Bill Setter, who lived
about an eighth of a mile distant He had
come, reused by the shot and the sound of
voices
I've found Pratt badly hurt on Scrub
| mountain, and am trying to get Hillyear to
help me down with him. Hillyear won't be-
lieve me, and that's what's the matter
"Hillyear, get up! Don't be a fool" said
Setter
Hillyear finally replied: "All-rightl I'm
comm ~ with an expression as if he had
had no doubts as to the genuineness Of the
news, and had but momentarily heard of it.
Our party reached Pratt, where | had left
him. With great difficulty we managed to
carry him down the mountain His utter
ances on the way down all bore vaguely on
| quartz hunting and the last scene of which
he had been conscious while in his right
mind. To Setter, they were a puzzle To
Hillyear, / knew not how much or how little
meaning they conveyed. To myself they
were a source of great uneasness. They
bore first on the secret of our claim Next.
already developed, l knew was likely to be,
through the singular circumstances attend
ing my finding Pratt so far up Scrub noun
tain in the dead of night 1t needed but a
word of his delirious utterance to make
| known that we had quarreled
We left Pratt in his cabin. Setter whose
| curiosity was evidently much aroused, said to
me- just what | expected he would:
How did you come to find Pratt away IN
| ihereF'
| told Setter that heard Pratt's voice in
the night up the mountain, which was true,
but not in the sense | left Setter to infer.
! held that evasion was justifiable under the
| circumstances It's not so much what we
| lell that may damage us as the construction
| placed on it by those it may be told TO- The
only way know of when certain questions
are asked that many people will ask, to avoid
evasion or untruthfulness, is to say ''it's none
| of your business That, as society is now
| constituted and complicated, would be quite
| impossible.
II wonder who shot HING continued
Setter.
''Shot himself, maybe" l replied.
Queer business, anyway was Sefter'a
final remark, as he trudged OFF home
| | saw by his manner that he was full of
| curiosity and being full of curiosity would
oe soon full of theories as to the cause of
| Pratt's hurt, and that as curiosity and
theories are contagious he would in a short
| time inoculate all Bull Bar with them
| Next day / visited Pratt. His head had
been hurt both by the bali and the fall. The
bullet had gashed the temple--not very deeply.
| The conclusion from the fall seemed to have
most affected him That one or other OF
svident without the pompors declaration Of
| The physician, who had been summoned, tc
that effect
Setter was present when entered. Pratt
| was living on his bed silent, but the sight Of
me seemed to excite his brain to action, ane
set in motion the thoughts, scenes and emo
tons common to the occurrence at the claim
They ran dangerously near but did not ac
| tually reveal me as participation.
mo tools! no notices!n he cried. pretty
way TO hold q claim
What claim, PrattF said Setter.
The sick mans eye fell on Setter with q
CLEAN Of cunning. mo claim" he said
"We're after rattlesnake oil Hunting snake
in the chapparal There's one now-on tbs
lead. If yer not off while l count ten, III
put ball through We. One-two-three-
Chr and he shrielled as if with pain.
Hillyear spoke:
"He--mu 't-be kept-quiet. Its the-doc
ter's-orders, he-doctor-says-his-
| observation-disclosures other"
Queer business-queer business" was Sef
ter's remark, as we left the house together
II think he's had shootin' scrape with some
BODY
| Broener returned. felt that could nov
shift part of the business to other shoul
ders
He heard my story AT its conclusion
he settled back and laughed.
Regular dime novel, isn't it," said he
write it, print it, sell it Well, young man
you're improving rapidly. | congratulate
you. | couldn't have wished you anything
better than the experience you've gon
through You needed it. You're the kim
that must be put in very hot water to dra'
anything out of you"
But won't this put all Bull Bar on tn
scent of the 'Bank'Fa / asked.
First, let's compound some whisky wit
sugar, lemons and nutmeg Before we tail
business let's fix things so as to make busl
ness pleasure, not by pouring the stui
down raw as the fools do at the store yonder
but dress up the fluid decently and taste
fully before we put it down. There woul
be far less drunkards If every man was com
PEELED by law to dress up and trim up hi
drinks in this way before he swallows
them" He continued as he slipped his punch
Make yourself easy, Holder, about tn
claim You have fixed that all right, or th
Fates have for you. Pratt won't go nj
there for a while, now that his wits ar