Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-01-29
THE MOUNTAIN RIDE.
A Wild Lover Saved From Deatl
in Spite of Himself.

The country schools of Shasta County
nn.r for their six or eight months annual
session pretty we'll on in the fall: but it
,os late, even for them, when John Raw
,i,s school teacher, called on the County
sunorintendent to make inquiries about a
,lace. Yes. there was ono school in need
If . teacher-but it was a pretty hard po-
sition.
81 have had some experience" said
Raw]ins. "and somehow I manage to get
along with schools that are called hard.
In fact, / rather like the fun of them. I
ouess YOU needn't be afraid to send me
there"
The district was far east in the pine re.
aion, the Superintendent said. 1t was in
hot wafer most Of the time. Teachers sell
dom staid over a month, and never had the
support Of more than half the people. The
trouble had begun in political differences
between the leading trustees, M%ichenay
and Hester, and it furnished sensational
Dabulum for the eastern half of the coun-
1y. Yet if only II treaty of peace could be
negotiated between the opposing factions,
there need be no trouble with the school
it was a pleasant one in every other re-
spect.
Rawlins was disposed to try the expert
ment. he hired Il pinto mustang, rode ont
of the picturesque mountain town, and
through Il narrow canon, whose stones
were now in burrows by years of staging
and teaming.
Broad and clear the Sacramento River
swayed from bluff to bluff, and the cap
tain of the ferry boat was named Flora
Wilson. a handsome, dark-eyed girl she
was, modestly atrable and chatty as she
! turned the steering wheel. She had a bit
OF crochet work TO take up as soon as the
boat was set at the right angle against the
current, and q rustic chair to do it in,
hemmed about by flowers.
When darkness came, Rawlins was rid
ing across broken, rolling plain of red
and thorny bushes. Dogs began to bark;
II was M%ichenay's clearing. He slowly
sklrted it, making a wide detour, and
aeachlng the branch road half a mile dis
sant, for he was bound to Kester's first.
more than two miles it WAS, and the bride
paths were hard to follow. At last he rode
up to a rail fence, and Il faintlight cleaned
from a cabin beyond.
Halo the house." he shouted, in pioneer
phrase.
"Hullo yourself" came back in stento-
flan tones:
How far is it to Milburn:"
twenty good miles, stranger"
.oan stay here all night! Able to pay
my own wav."
A right, stranger. Hitch the boss in
the shed, am come in,
i me Missourian pioneer of the Pacific
v"ass is Il much-criticised individual, but
e uniess you lrretrievably offend some of his
a,d prejudices, lie is as garrulous
h hnl lnlld-mannered a mortal asthis planet
r " =" IL ald not take long for Rawlins to
: = On comfortable terms with the Kesters;
five = plts OIL Shasta news, and a hope that
50 q nun l,inss would soon begin operation, and
Il tici i . llhaes more lively, We're quite suf-
asn ffetty soon a little school talk be-
So, en3ineered by the willy Ruwlins.
10 n is a bright lad,"h said. II hope
ne mas a good school to attend.O
NJ ro Ne ~ l1nng himself out of his chair, and
A, ..u W MS iull height of six feet four.
we; w.S hs we orter, thet's a fact. But
scnt - naa internal poor schools. I hain't
II ,ad .ne children for most u term. School
i nea ortsr begin now, but there's a cross
, on the iusu. Iiack Republican Kanuck down
h 90 -. !me cilck, am he am 1 CANT pull to-
conr;nn hoIow. Besides old Mish'nay,"
: fool neram h e ~ hate the sight of that
! teer n olaest daughter, seventeen or eigh-
the shadows that Rawlins had only seen
d Went | M outlined figure, rose silently,
darEn 10 the door II slipped out into the
and " s"S She was a very pretty girl, fair
d" ccU-lUceu.
bed II = inc smaller children had gone to
:, nav N.Y. n.st q. grew more confidential. Miche-
buiy b maa .hired the last fool of a teacher"
haya Snouid not hire the next one, "nor
ow of NY ehing to say about it," No shad-
the na1nusplclon that Rawlins belonged to
the SWiaasoglc order of creatures crossed
N M TpAAllssourian mind,
Z ON ), neSt morning the young man sat
hi Lact ""Mnlde-bottomed chair, tipping it
I'll oak. usalnst the bole of a giant white
NJ ed yo ",e grapes that one of the tow -head-
and u"nssters brought in his straw hat
his nDpened fire on Kester as he mended
.ym n wagon-tongue.
lam , let us talk business,n he said. 81
uyourr sseehooi'teacher and willing to take
"yo H!nool; but it must be on my terms.''
II Ia pro ~ 'ionrt say so! Well, what sort OF
mi ""TyIiie ss hey' ye"
}tl,en - l Will teach a week for nothing
v tees 7 40 not like the school or the trus.
mar rn me What you did the last teacherMno
? sB nts u at once acceded to these terms
bdLe saiaa can't persuade old Michenay,,
k'We.ra as Rawlins mounted his horse
,ofhe,n ~, powerful anxious ter hev We. but
ns'k;rea maze make trouble so soon,s he knows i've
an ,ter saWilns crossed the creek near Kes.
lfrossodl oue a mile east, burned south
ssfi another stream and reached
'T1y,s from quite a different direc.
holowi M Inc grlzzled old man was drv.
bains. san,a " SOW his wheat before the
khis crenEi .ne clouds of dust followed
-kein, taltndS gang plow. Rawlins drew
~"o was invited to Iin,e uoun Mk poiitlcs