The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1886-08-20

the average American pioneer there /
apt to be but little affection. There wa
mot male inhabitant of the ''old town
whom Tom Lewis regarded with tn
slightest complacency; but it was quit
different with little Mariquita, whom vi
met ut Alamosa on Christmas Day. AN,
who asked him to come and see he
when she returned. To be sure the %
tquaintance was any thing bat intimate
aaA Assiquita weuld never cause Ton
t. forget . certain bluo-c maidea i
Denver. But, a. before said. it VA
very dull ia the town, and when he hat
. might off," while they were repair
ing the big engine. and there was . bail.
the same evening. and Mariquita aske(
him to come. Of course he wcnt-other
wise this story could not have beer
written.
"Wa'al. Tom." said the roadmaster
II allow you'd better be mighty keer
full. Iain't q sayip' the little gal aim
pooty. an good, too; but them greasers
Il q queer lot. seen that Teller jose
looking mighty black when you was a
dancing with Mariquita the other night,
an he's pard of that mean cuss Car.
los that you fired out Of the engine.
house the other day."
THANK yer kindly, old man." said
Tom; "I'll try to take keer of myself
but Mariquita's daisy little gal. cz you
say, an ez long CT she's willin' you
bet Ill dance with her in spite of all
the greasers from here down to Sonora.
Hollnf fhornsc fhn ~ sT~,~
later he was on his engine and had he
gun the ascent of the grade.
Ii was any thing but dull Manitou,
at the foot of Pixies Peak. that sc asOn.
People had come thither from all parts
of the country; and if the society re-
pOrters' were to be believed, there were
more pretty girls there than ever before.
For only one of them is there room in
this brief tale, and Nellie Stevens need
ed no "lOcal Endorsement" for she had
attracted attention even at Newport
Clifford Stanley met her there, and for
got every one else from that moment.
A good fellow was Clifford. manly, up
right and well-to-do. He had enioyed
life thoroughly, but he convinced HIM
self that it would be thencefOrth blank
unless Nellie smiled. He dropped every
thing and followed her to Colorado, as
he would have followed her to the end
of the earth. Had she smiled? All!
no one knew. When they came down
from Pixies Peak together a certain
gilded youth offered odds in the billiard
room that they were engaged; but he
found no one to take him up. for the
simple reason that the let could not be
decided.
After while Manitou began to pail
a little on the visitors. The great peak
had been climbed: Glen lyric and the
Garden of the Gods visited; Cheyenne
and Williams canyons explored. They
sighed for new worlds to conquer, and
planned a trip to the Grand Canyon of
the Arkansas. and then to Wagon-wheel
Gap. Just as they were to start, adj
verse fate, in the shape of perempt0ry
telegram, called Stanley to Denver, and
sorry enough was he to go. When his
business was finished it was too late to
follow the party to their ultimate desti-
nation. Besides, he had written long
letter to Nellie; as a matter of fact, he
had ''put his fate to the touch" Per-
haps a little separation might help his
cause. So he went to friends ranch
near the ''old town." arriving the day
before that on which this story opens.
He would join the party, he thought. as
they passed the station on their return:
and. as one of the railway officials was
on the train. he would know when to
look out for them.
Next day he strolled about the neigh
bOrhOod. He was restless and uneasy,
and. like most anxious lovers, spent
much time in arguing with himself.
Nellie could not really prefer that dude
from New York to him, he tried to per-
suade himself, and vet how could he be
secure? He was subjecting himself to
an ingenious course of self-tOrment
when he met the three railroad men.
He fell into conversation with them
and found mental tonic in their
hearty ways and sensible observations,
all unconscious meanwhile that the Di-
vinity that shapes our ends would make
them-casual actors in
a drama in real life in which he himself
would have a part. land the ''star' would
be chow wildly improbable he would
have thought itD the beautiful girl who
might be even now on the top of the
stage on her way from Del Norte to
AlamOsa.
When he parted from his new friends,
before the train from the north arrived,
he left the Mexican village at one side,
climbed a little elevation. and getting
therefrom good view of the Spanish
peaks, threw himself on the ground and
lay there smoking and surveying the
prospect, just as two villainOus- looking
Mexicans approached the base of the
low cliff and began talking eagerly.
Suddenly his attention was ARRESTED
by what he overheard of the con-
versatiOA below him. Fortunate, in
deed. was it that he understood Spanish,
for the fellows were plotting vengeance
against Tom Lewis. He listened eager
ly; they spoke vaguely. but finally
agreed TO obtain certain information
and meet again at the same place at 8
O'Clock. Stanley waited until they were
out of sight and then walked to the
.'new town." There was an uncom-
monty serious expression on his face,
and he said but little t. the acquaint-
ances whom he met on the streets. or
while submitting to the miseries of sup
per, at a restaurant called, with savage
irony. ''Delmonico of the Mountains"
After it was over he sat silently smok-
ing. and then. after carefully examining
the cap on his revolver. and looking
several times at his watch, he walked
away in the direction from which he had
come. An hour later he broke in upon
Burke and Harris. sitting in the latter's
room. Burke caught the expression of