Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-05-02


pan was proppi up as Ia receive the heat
from hed OF glowing Goals, and in it was
their evenings baking "f bread He Was
"okIng from time (" time up the river with
that air Of expectancy which accompanies
the act uf waiting for some one who has over
STAYED the usual time. As | drew near he
/ haIltd Inr
Seen ANYTHING Of Prattt"
What was tn ~av. | hal seen the last uf
/ him | felt ALREADY like "A murderer h,s.au,,
rirumStautiallN. | was in the Irr>tinn uf un.
r,,uI,lr talk a. If clear r"n,,.irn,r," was
equal tn ANY situation. did not timi It ~
Il saw huu nhnut thr.~' hours aSu gong up
I h,. river. WAS NV rrilv.
/ w here was he" a~k,,l Hllvrar
Great heavens | thought how much oi
/ hI~ game ri rNa>Iua am | tu play from tins
mt >ud. He asset the cabin about
mIur this morning and went into the chap
| raral ah"ut yundrr," and pointed To- the
| >ln. where had seen Pratt disappear at the
! hour | named HIllyear resumed his cook
M went int" my cabin and took "a hi.
oraught OF whisky Rr,r,r,er aIwav, ha ,n
hand a drnii"hn Of the best There are time,
when ones system Is not equal tn the making
OF strength from ordinary food hold
| alcohol a fnsi-an artificial one, and an
unhealthy one for steady Use.
After supper trudgSl down to the Stor,,
for | wanted other than my own thoughts
that evening for company. The Bull Bar
nucleus for g"rdS and gossip was full aS
usual of miners, raising dense fog of
tobacco smoke. Whose flavor was more than
dashed with emanations from Goldfish, onions
and whisky MIR Rankin had received that
day new supply of provisions from Stock
ton. and was S'olding his partner, VIII" acted
as buyer and teanISter combined, for the
poor quality Of some cigars he had brought
up
IF you buy any more cigars like them"
said he. Il want You 10 hire and bring up
some men to smoke them. These poor crea-
tur,S about here haven lungs strong enough
to draw ON EN- They want all their strength.
to draw rocks out of the bed of the river.
and its for my interest Ia S-e that its saved
for that purp"Sr. at the rate I'm chalkng up
flour, h"ots and whisky against them"
Got anv l-tt"r cigars than the last lot -
askri a miner. who, just coming in, hal not
heard Rankin'S last remark
YES" rrplirI Rankin Splendid lot
-.avanas-onlv it wants hull team {" draw
one Try one Nou'n find it'll last you
month just the quality To suit your case.
You smoke too much These cigars are got
uprNnr,-SS Ia cure ps'ople Of smoking pnr'l
last an ordinary man a whole year. Ask Nike,
INV partner. He had en- made TO order
Rankin'S gahble WAS relief Big Dick
came in. and forgetting past admonitnnS.
h"lSted his huge proportions on the limited
AREA nf counter uncovered by goods and
immediately got off again with a quickneSS
that suggested some uncomfortable sen
Sation
Glad it works" said Rankin. "Nothin'
hut needle stuck through the wood Some
folkses heads are too thick to take a hint
Then We try some other part II at first
You don't succeed, try try again chimel
Rankin, and then added: Needles and
,Ins, Needles and pins When you get mar
Irtj your trouble hegins.
Presently Hiilyear entered. A cloud
seemed 10 come with him To me it WAS as
if the vindictive spirit Of the dead man
kept him COMPANY
He looked about anNiously. as if with the
hol- that Pratt might be present | knew the /
meaning of that look.
Hillycar was slow moving man, appa
psntly follower Of Pratt and led 10y him. .
Without his partner he seemed lost.
Has anyhndy seen Pratt totlayl He .
hasn't come hack" after time he asked, in
him seemed always matter of previous deep .
and labOr,d study, and when asked the sim
hlt>St question the time that ELAPSED before he
replied WAS eNaSperating 10 an eager in
quirerl.
Why, saw him piking along Scrub noun
tain today" said one If the crowd What's
he gunnin after up there. anyhow
Holder, didn't | see you crawlin' among
tn" bushes up there to-day" said one Bill
Setter That reI shirt you've got on looks
like the one | saw"
Food that | was, had not thought OF
wearing garb which would show 80 conSpic-
uouSly against the dark bottle green Of the
chapparal.
Yes, | took stroll that way" | said
felt forced into such reply He continued:
What did yer find to shoot up there'
Rattlesnakes or jackaSs rabLitst heard a
shot"
That was Pratt's pistol Sights and
sounds seemed drawing their meShes about
me. Hilyear was looking at lie in his stolid
fashion as if some faint glimmer OF an idea
were creeping into his brain
Il shot nothing" was my reply.
The talk then drifted toward mysterious
murders and robberies-then common in
that cuuntry-and cases were mentioned
which had finally been traced to men- neigh
bOrs of the slain-whoSe lives had previously
shown no such inclination
Rankin's humor inclined him ever to give
an individual the very characteristic which
he most lacked Slow men he spoke of as
marvels of dispatch, taciturn Men as dis
turbing all about by the clatter of their
tongues. l, with my shy, quiet. reticent
manner, evidently ranked with him as a
most peaceable character. 1t seemed TO me
then as If some tiend prompted him TO the re-
mark:
Shouldn't wonder if Holder had aay-
laid and murdered Pratt Put another man
III his private graveyard
Yes" added another second fiddle humor-
ist. That's what he knocks OFF work so
early for in the morning"
And the last mans blood is on his pants
now" added third
had worn a pair Of white duck working
trousers and a spot of the blood from Pratts
body had smearrd them near the feet had
not noticed it before.
This remark called To me the attention of
all in the dingy store Their eyes seemed to
burn through me- | felt as if in the dock
tried, convicted, Sentenced
left soon afterwarl Hillyear's route
home was mine We were obliged TO walk
near each other on the narrow, rocky trail
wide enough for a single Traveller. With all
the dark suspicion which | feared existed in
his mind concerning me | felt sorry for him
| felt when about him that his was one of
those natures, born 10 follow-that Pratt
had picked him up as he would a stray dog
looking for a master, and that with the in
stinct Of the animal he had become attached
10 Pratt and was grieving for him