The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1888-06-12

| 10 the woman.
Our halt was necessarily short and we were
soon back in the coach; the mules had been
changed, and we were ready to start. But
Tommy fingered, and when at length he APP
| peared at the door, seemed in no hurry. He
stood there slowly drawing on his gloves and
| surveying the scene with a careessly critical
| eye and an expression of countenance that
seemed to indicate that as for him, if he were
TO be given the chance, he would make
good deal better world than this one-easy.
| In his mouth was cigar,
tipped up. at such an angle
that the glowing end nearly touched the wide
brim of his sombrero. The major, irreverently
inspired, voiced the sentiments of the party
| when he remarked, in a drawing tone:
| 81 reckon that after bein the Angel Gabriel
for pure glory an SO FORTH I'd ruther be a
driver to coach than most anythin'l'
just then there appeared in the doorway the
! lady In black, to whom Thomas calamity
offered his arm, and thus escorted to the coach.
! AS they approached. the colonel gave little
] groan. Were goin' to have lovely woman
| along with u.s." he said, plaintively. Conster-
! coach door was opened, and Tommy, looking
in, remarked authoritively; "Sorry, gen lemen,
| but | shall hev to trouble you. Here's lady
going to leave Leadville. an she's goin' inside.
Jump in marml' and in the young woman
! jumped with remarkable lightness, and took
| the vacant seat in the forward corner.
"Cunnel you'll look after her." said Tommy
at the door; shes in my charge. Wilder of
Smith, she is; him that was killed down to
| the Walker mine last month but she don't
| savy word of English, ben' French. You
| know'd Smith, didn't ye, Cunnel2"
Eyes, l know''d him well enough, but
| never know'd he had a wilder. I'll look after
| her--in English" growled the colonel, and
the door slammed and the stage rolled ahead.
AS we pulled out the clouds parted for an
| instant, and bright ray of sunlight lit up the
coach, striking full upon the dark veil of our
| new companion. 1t made briefly visible the
MI nfh or for py,t If bpx.
fortunate enough to catch glimpse of it were
| convinced that the lady had great beauty In
| deed, the judge, who had happy facility of
| expression, acquired from long, though not
| lucrative practice at the bar leaned over to
the doctor and whispered in tones of fervent
| admiration:
"She's as pretty as Cle-op-e-try, by Jovew
to which the doctor responded with an assent
| ing nod of much vigor.
| Nowhere in the world is q lady more certain
| of respectful consideration than in the wild
west She is invariably treated with chiyal-
rous gallantry that is really magnificent; men
hasten to do her homage and are proud to be
| commanded by her. Still, the presence of
| Mrs. Smith in the coach acted on the party as
| a little restraint which the judge and the colo
mel vainly endeayored to dispel
! "Fond Of travelin', ma'am ?'' said the latter,
| in his best off hand style, as he leaned toward
her and smiled handsomely. The lady made
no reply and the judge knocked the colonel's
| elbow.
| Ssh! COLONEL" he said, ''you don't spose
| she understands you when it's as much as
| can do to untangle your ideas from your words.
| She speaks French'
Tho colonel accepted the rebuke meekly,
| and made no further conversational effort.
| The road became more and more difficult as
| we advanced, and the fresh mules were unruly
| and drove very hard. Several times, in bad
| places, they had baked, and the coach had
swung around in a way that would have up
| set lighter vehicle, and yet no exclamation
| of alarm escaped from the lady, who sat mo-
| tionless in the corner.
"Turrible bad place to be held up long
| here" said the major, after an unusually long
| silence, during which the coach had slowly
| pounded over huge rock and then slid off
| with an unpleasant scrunch. 81 should hate
| to be stopped here, for have little matter of
| twelve hundred dollars about me, which /
| don't care to lose. OF course, we're all
| friends here 2" he hastily asked.
| We were, and then it came out that each
man was carrying various sums of money,
ranging from five hundred to four thousand
| dollars, the last amount being the property of
the colonel, who described accurately how he
had concealed it in package, sewed in his
clothing next to his body, where it was quite
| inaccessible to dishonest persons.
81 reckon it'll take pretty smart chap TO
find that" he remarked complacently, as he
slapped his hand on the spot where the treas
ure was concealed. We could not deny this,
and murmurs of admiration were heard at his
| shrewdness. All this time-in fact, since we
left Sampson's-the mysterious Mrs Smith
| had not moved or changed her position. She
| still kept her veil. down, and In the slowly
| waning light her black dress seemed to en-
phasize the shadows in the coach.
Judge" said the major at length, ut must
be lonesome for her. You're consid'ab of a
lingoist, couldn't you give her a little touch in
the native just to be perlite?"
The judge looked embarrassed and scratched
his head confusediy.
"Why, mebbe might rack out some French, !"
! he said, sit amt much to do better-whatll
| say? You got to DO mighty cireumspec' in
taIkin' French to lady-ita a terrible free
| langwidge."
! Both the military men were impressed by
| this, the colonel particularly 80, and for a mo-
ment bis face was expressive of painful per-
| plexity.
''Well, just say somethin' civil" he said, at
| length task her if she wants the winder up.
"Tain't likely she does, but you might ask
her."
"Oh, mol colonel" said tho judge, mot that.
| That particular word winder--in French
| here the judge lowered his voice to a whisper,
sis cousin, and you'll hey to excuse me. That's
| where draw the line"
"Well, chin your own way them" said the
| colonel, testify, Though reckon L can open
winder fur lady-in French-without break
| in any of the commandments. Only say some
thin or wen think you don't know how"
| This was touching the judge on q tender
| spot, and looking at the colonel with an air Of
| naughty dignity, he said, slowly:
| eff it'll amuse the boys, reckon I'll take
| little pasear, though I'm trife rusty in my
! langwidges just now. Had consd'able prac-
| tice, too, down in San Nigel county"
| Then, with soft ahem and flourish Of his
| handkerchief, he leaned forward, and casting
| bewitching glance at the lady, murmured:
| "Buenos dias, sonora. Habeis vosotros-er
that is-camo esta yeyV"
The lady made no answer; in fact, seemed
not to hear, but the judge was in no wise dis
| concerted.
| ''Reckon she was thinkin' Of the late la
| mented, and didn't wholly catch on to my
idee," he remarked. pleasantly. "Ill open
another lead" and again he smiled. as no
| murmured:
"These gentlemen as with a
| graceful and comprehensive sweep-"bein'
| gentlemen, and well acquainted with good
sassiety, hev asked me to pass their compli-
ments to you, ma am, which now do Er-el
! tempo es bien inconstanty, sonora, and esta-
or" the Judge concluded the sentence with
a gesture. "It's little remark in the vernac-
ular of the Fronch," he explained, can /
reckon it'll fetch her"
1t certainly did seem TO have some effect, for
the lady uttered sound strangely like
| cbuckle but said nothing.
Judge" said the colonel, after waiting
reasonable time for an answer, "pm afraid
your hnwidges have been-go to speak-tam-