Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1886-08-20

T allow you'd better bo mighty kcer
full. amt sayin' tho little gal aim
pooty, an good, too; but them greascr'
Is q queer lot seen that fellor Jost
looking mighty black when you was n
dancing with Mariquita the other night
an he's pard of that mean cuss Car.
los that you fred out of the engine.
house the other day."
"Thank yer kindly, old man." said
Tom; I'll try to take keor OF myself
but Mariquita's daisy little gal, ez you
say, an ez long or sho's willin' you
bet I'll dance with her in spite of all
the greascrs from hero down to Sonora.
Hcllol there's the train" Ten minutes
later ho was on his engine and had be-
gun the ascent of the grade.
II was any thing but dull Manitou,
at the foot of Pixies Peak, that season.
People had come thithcr from all parts
of tho country; and II the ''society re-
portors" were to bo believed, there were
more pretty girls there than ovor before.
For only one of them is there room in
this brief tale, and Nellie Stevens need
cd no "local Endorsement, for she had
attracted attention even at Newport
Clifford Stanley met hcr there, and for
got every one else from that moment
A good fellow was Clifford, manly, up
right and wcll-to-do. He had enjoyed
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 smiledP Ahl
no one knew. When they came down
from Pixies Peak together certain
gilded youth offered odds in the billiard
room that they We're ongagcd; but ho
found no one to take him up, for the
simple reason that the bet could not be
decided
After while Manitou began to pail
little on the visitors. The great peak
had been climbed; Glen Eyric and the
Garden of the Gods visited; Cheyenne
and Williams canyons explored. They
sighed for now worlds TO conquer, and
planned trip to the Grand Canyon of
the Arkansas, and then to Wagon-whcel
Gap. just as thoy were to start, adj
verse fate, in the shape of peremptory
telegram, called Stanley to Denver, and
sorry enough was he to go. When his
buSlHtSS wa llllcltu ~ WIS lOO lhtt W
follow the party to their ultimate desti-
nation. Besides, he had written n long
letter to Nellie; rs n matter of fact, he
had "put his fate to the touch" Per-
haps little separation might help his
cause. So ho 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 yet how could he be
secureP He was subjecting himself to
an ingenious course of self-tormcnt
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 quaintances-actors in
a drama in real life in which he himself
would have a part, and 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 Hcrte 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 n 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 rs two villainous-look
MeXicans approached the base of the
low cliff and began talking eagerly.
Suddenly his attention was ARRESTED
by what he overheard of the con-
versaton 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
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 to 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
room. Burke caught the expression of
his face in second.
"Bet you ten to one, Jack" said he,
"before he opens his mouth, that this
yere young feller's got something seri-
GUS to tell u.s."
"Well, should say so, "said Stanley.
He told his story rapidly and concisely.
The Mexican scoundrels, had, he said, a
grudge against Tom Lewis.
Il told him so, interrupted Burke.
1t was Jose and Carlos, and don't you
forget it. Wa-al, what work are they
up to nowP"
'Only throwing his train off the track
tomorrow morning, "said Stanley.
Then he gave all the details of the plan,
as discussed in his hearing, and desig-
mated the place which they had selected
where they would draw the spikes from
the rail.
The expression on his hearers faces
as they listened, boded i'll for the future
welfare of the two Mexcans.
sort % rough on Tom, 'said Harris,
an not ON him alone. The Yice-Prcsi-
dent an his party will be on that thar
train. The telegram come half an hour
ago. You asked me to let you know,
an l was a-going to send word to you
out to the ranch. Now, we'll just-ch,
what's the matter, young fellerP Here,
drink this"
Stanley had turned deadly pale, and
well he might, for in that party was
Nellie! He struggled TO regain his COM
posure, and few words sulliced to
make the situation clear to the men.