The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1888-09-07
srovER's MACHINE GUN.
A Man WHO rnvon tod a Nr,,ru,,,ou
for Private vousonco aud Did II

A Man Who rnvOntcd q NIitraillcusc
for Private vcugcncc aud Did not
Tatcnt It.
Whom Smith hal finished Ills story
old Bolder spoke up.
Il would have likod to have soen
your firo-work display" ho began.
'.lt must have been rather interesting.
1t reminds mo of tho timo wa, used
for bnit."
"Used for bail!" exclaimed several
of US in astonishment.
'Yos, bait for Indians l tell you,
gentlemen, about tho most unpleasant
thing In this lifo Is to bu used for In
dian bait 1t has ma,lo ms nervous
ever nee. 1t is exciting aud gives n
man all tho horseback exercise hc
wants. yet 1t is not rs u general thing
healthy occupation. l would
not care to choose it us steady bust.
ness.
'Tho first timc met Slower
I had no idoa lc was crazy. He
would talk US nationally as any man
here"
(Which wasn't saying much for
him." observed tho man from st.
Paul
'Iwas out Of o job In Kansas City
and was looking round for work Of
any kind when l stumbled in Oh
Slower. He seemed 10 havo sort Of
machine shop. There was lot Of
gun barrels lying round and portable
forge stood in tho corner, with the
usual tools hero aud thoro. IIe sad
he was going West and he wanted u
mum who knew how to take caro- Of
horses anil wasn't afraid of work.
told him l was just his man umd he
took mo on the spot asked him if
ho wanted to start IL machine sho u
further west aud he smllcd grim ly
and said that that was just what ho
was going to to. We packol up a lot
of fixtures that hc had there III u oxcs
aud there was lot of other boxes al :
ready packed. of the contents of which
l was ignorant
.'Wcll VIC got away with another
fellow who deserted us when We wcro
out on the plains aud SO it was no
small work looking after the horses
that carried the things. for VIC bad
thrcc wagons and, when the other
fellow lef. only two to drive and tako
care of them. II was the usual over
land business. Travelling slowly ull
day and camping out ut night. We
kept on tho look ont for Indians
but didn't 500 amy and We kept on So
long that began 10 think old Slower
was going clear through TO California.
but tho old man knew where lie was
going and ho went there in u boo Inc.
Ono afternoon whom wu were days and
days from civilization wo cuuo to Il
bluff close to u small vcr.
"Hcrc's our spot" said Slower.
Why said l. you don't expect TO
start a machine shop hcrcf
You bet do. replied Slower.
"Wcll." sad. where will you get
your custom. There isn't anybody
but Indians for hundreds OF miles
around
"'We'll llavo lots of business when
VIC got ready for it. Besides l intend
to send you out to drum up trade if il
don't como in by itself.
began to suspect thon that the old
man wasn't just right, but what was
TO dop" lie kept the tircarms aud the
provisions and llo owned tho horses.
Of course l could have stolen ono of
them and got away, perhaps, when tho
old man was asleep. but didn't care
to do that sort OF thing. Besides
know that tho chances wcre ten to one
that tho Indians would llavo mo before
got ten miles Off Although Slover
wasn't very socsublc, ho was q heap
bcttor'n an Indiun.
II took tho horses down to water
and when 1 came back said to Slower:
SEQ horc. there's been sOmo one
ahead Of you on this hero claim. There
was cnbin down there by tho river
that's been burnt down
"'Ycs, said Slower, quietly, that
was my cabin
Nonsense sa!t, now thoroughly
convinced that he was crazy; you
don't expect nc TO believe that you
were ever out here bcforc!'
{" If you 20 to tho other sido of the
bluff. hc sni,l. as quietly us ever, sou
will SEQ four graves with rough
wooden cross ab0vo them. if tho In
dians have not taken it down. Those
arc tho graves of my wife aud three
children. murdered Ly tho rouskins
One day when l came homo from
hunting in tho foot hills found them
there and tho cabin burned down."
4 wouldn't think you would want to
come back hcrc,' said.
4 came buck 10 settle up with the
Indians
Then you'll mover leave here alive
Mover expect to-
And how about mop
Don't expect you will. either.
hired you
Great heavens cried. jumping
up. do You think l hired to get kill
Cd for SIG a month";
Soldiers do it for about that
much said old Slower. us calmly US Ii
1t wore an everyday bargain
Yes, but soldiers know what they
are hiring for. didn't
well, you can give mo o months
notice and quit If you want to-
"a months notico! Where will
VIC be in q month If the Indians get on
to usP'
Blamed If l know" said old
Slower.
"WelI. next day tho old man laid
out a system of Notifications and set
me at digging. uo ran shallow
trench down TO tho river and took on
of ono of tho boxes o coil of lead pipe
and uncoilcd 1t down tho ditch into tho
river and fixed up natty little pump
inside the limos SO that IL the Indians
did come they could not cut US off from
tho water. Then hc covered up tho
trench and there we wcro-all right MS
far as water was concerned. which is
an important thing when you're fight
ing redskins. Ono of the boxes was
fixed SO that it was water tight and
that VIC pumped full Of wator. Thon
Stoyor loft mo working ut the ombank-
ments. went down to tho timber bolt
and got out some logs which llo snak-
cd up to tho top with tho SIX horses,
and in tho center of tho Notifications
he framed his timbers together, making
q mighty solid structure. partly sunk
into the ground.
'Wlicn had the cartliworks finish
cd Stovcr had his machine set up und
it was tho quecrcst looking arrange.
mcnt ever saw. II had all been mado
in Kansas City and put together there.
Then ho had taken it apart, numbered
each picco. and it went together again
without u hitch. There were four