St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1888-12-13
MISCELLANY.
RIDDLED WITH BULLETS.
An Adventure out West with n High


as it was very hot we could not drive
fast. Indeed, the horses were in a
sheet of lather almost Immediately,
and the air seemed fairly thick with
the heat-rays, and absolutely breath
less. just as we got to the bluff over
looking the Big Sugar creek, the sun
sank below the horizon.
"I wish we were on the other side
of the creek, know said my brother
in law.
"'Why so p said 'this part of the
country is perfectly safe, is it not 2
"'Yes,' he replied, sit is pretty safe
now, but there are always some rough
customers about the bush, and there
have been one or two slrootings on the
Big Sugar Orlando Morse saw man
on horseback one night just after he
had crossed the ford waiting for him
by the side of the road under the trees.
But Orlando is an old frontier man, SO
he is pretty quick with his trigger. He
fired twice at the man, after challeng
ing; whereupon the scoundrel vanish
ed rapidly, and Orlando got safe home
81 felt very uncomfortable ut this,
as you may imagine still, as | knew
my brOther-i n-law had very poor
opinion of the nerves of women, made
an effort to say, as lightly as | could !;
what a very extraordinary country,
to be sure And do you always shoot
any body you may happen to see stand
ing by the roadside of summers
evening p
"Oh, no. laughed Louis, were not
quite SO savage as that. But you may
fire at any suspicious body or thing,
after due challenge, if the answer is
not satisfactory. That's the rule of the
road
CATER that began to peer about in
the gloom rather anxiously trying to
see if could discover any suspicious
body or thing, but | could make out
nothing on account of the darkness,
made more complete by the surround
ing trees. Besides, we were going
down hill very fast we we're, in fact,
descending the steep bank of the first
creek then there was bit of level in
the wooded valley, then another
stream, the South Fork it was called,
then another steep climb, and we
would once more be on the high and
open prairie.
"'Now then, hold on tight said my
brother-in-l as he clutched the
against the dash board, and leaned far
back in his seat. The horses seemed
literally to disappear beneath our feet;
the wagon went down head foremost
with a lunge, there was Il sudden jerk
and great splashing and snorting, fol-
lowed by complete cessation of noise
from the wagon. We were crossing
the ford with the water breast high on
the horses.
"1'm always glad when that ford is
behind me- said Louis, to me, when
we were again driving on quietly
through the valley.
"'Why p said for there's another
ford in front of us STILL
"'Oh, the South Fork is nothing, but
the Big Sugar is treacherOus. I've
known it to rise twenty feet in two
hours, and once | was water bound on
the other side for eleven days, unable
to ford it. Emily would have gone out
of her mind with anxiety, for the coun-
try was very disturbed at the time,
ONLY one of our neighbOrs, who saw
me camping there, rode down to the
house and told her where | was, but,
all the same-Hold what's that 2
81 didn't scream; couldn't, for my
heart stopped beating with terror.
"'Take the reins,' said Louis in Il
quick whisper.
81 took hold of them us firmly as l
could, but pair of kittens could have
run away with us, my hands trembled
so. Louis got out his revolver heard
click, click, click, in his hand and
of steel.
II tu.I., ,,,lo roas tl,ara ~ oallad
Louis in a voice of thunder. | never
heard his soldier voice before, for or
dinarily he speaks in a melOdiOus bari
tone; and | then quite understood
what Emily meant when she told me
how his voice was heard above the din
of battle, cheering his men on for the
last charge at Gettysburg. l strained
nv ewes to see what it was, and there
in front of us, not fifteen yards away,
on the side of the road, | saw Il man
seated on horseback standing motion
less, his right arm stretching forward,
aiming straight towards us. Two liv-
id Tongues of flame darting from be-
side me-twO quick reports of pistol
shots rang on the night air, then all
was still. | felt the horse culver, for
the motion was communicated to me
by the reins l held in my hands, but
they were admirably trained animals,
and did not move to the right or to the
left, only the younger one, bay flly,
snOrted loudly. Louis sat mOtiOnless,
his revolver still pointing at the high
wayman. | scarcely breathed, but in
all my life | never thought with such
lightning rapidity. My whole house
hold over here was distinct before me,
IL, 4, Il
what would they do on getting the ca
blegram 'waylaid and murdered |
thought of myriad of things. | re-
member, amongst others, that it wOr
ried me to think that an overcharge of
five shillings from Perkins for fowl,
which my husband had just written to
ask about, would now be paid. l
could never explain that the pair of
chickens had been returned. All this
time-only moment or two, you
know was expecting instant death,
while Louis and the horses remained
"The smoke from the revolver slow
ly cleared away bat, startled by the
noise, tapped against my face, and we
saw the highwayman seated on his
horse standing immovable where he |
was, his right arm stretching out
towards us with the same deadly aim.
".If that man is mortal, he should
have dropped said Louis, softly.
Both bullets struck him fair and
square,
eve waited moment longer. The
figure remained as before.
" Il must reconnoitre,' said Louis !;
Il don't understand his Lactics,' and, to
my dismay, he prepared to get out of