New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-05-06

OK Il
a ranch on Mud River But my wife, she got
Sick, and l spent all the money l had left II IN
| taking her down agn, and in dootoring. wen,
| SIR when she died, and / came back we're with
the little fellows, / found my ranch gone plumb
| 70 the devil Six inches Of snow on the ground,
and the little fellows barefoot and not doliar
| in nv pocket and nothing to eat l was blue.
| tell YOU. pard, IL ever a man were blue, was
that man. / Jest TUX off my hat ana throwed
IL on the ground, and looked all around But !
didn't . throw INSIDE dp of ap month sold em to the
Guyment at the Sahatlin Agency, ana cieaneu
up hundred dollars Pm dom tora6le well
M Pears like Oregon's spittin' all her webfeet
into that section / got my eye on some these
we're immigrants and I'll pick up another wiis
kin larn Pm purity good on the Physiog Il i
don't want no widows, they're larnt an ready 10
YER hand. but they know too damned much
The lieutenant laughed. and spoke to his horses,
which were showing a, FESTIVE dissemination TO
proceed They were almost at the top OF tne
GRADE now. A clump Of scrub-oalv at the head Of
the d %Ss by G sG With the
which lay in the open beyon 1t was at these
shadows that the horses were prickng their
ears The lieutenant cracked his whip over the
unruly animals but as he did so, ne ,, looked
sharply in the direction Of the oaks was not
something moving there? Or was 1t the moonlight
shadows PLAYING their usual tricks on highly
strnng nerves ? Then he remembered that there
was a spring under those oaks, and that cattle
were always around 1t; or, perhaps, stray aeee
drink His military training ana frontier eA-
pcrience made him guard against qnreasonlng
alarm. At the same time. the staton-keeper's
open secret that the paymaster,s funds were
aboard flashed across his mind: 1t would never
do for him. an army officer. to hand down wells,
Fargo's box to the first road agent VINO no as F
for it, Professional pride, II naughO else Tor
babe it, He said nothing to the mar pS his
side, but under cover Of his cape, - slipped the
lines and whip into his LETT hahd, ana VIII TLn
his right cooked the revolver in his pocket Inc
elderly passenger notwithstanding that his eyes
were also fastened on the cump OF oaks; seemed
quite unsuspicious, and continued to taIfa
1T reckon can git another wife easy CROUCH.
I know fellow that come into that section,
only little while ago. without dollar, ana me
married a right, purity gal, only SIXTEEN and
4 shrill whistle suddenly startled the silence
Of the night. The passenger on the box, almost
without pause. leaned over. and laying one mana
at the drivers head, and SAID, but no longer
in the accents Of an uneducated person:
" Hold up your hands, lieutenant 60 At the the
same instant, man. with masked, race ana ana
holding a gun appeared in the middle OF the
road and stopped the horses.
The lieutenant turned pale, and stared IN amaze
It's no use" SAID the elderly passenger,
sternly We've got the drop On you! be
quick, or I'll" ,- a.,,
have got the drop on me. for fact!" Aud
drawing long breath, he slowly raised his arms.
But when his lef, elbow was high as Isl his shoulder
the revolver in his pocket
There was mufled report, shrek, and a
curse, followed by another report, then anooner'
and another, confused and 1ntermlngleu, tne
sharp crack Of the rife ringing out over the
duer noise Of the pistols. When the SOUNDS
ceased, the man in the road was crawling on
his hands and knees toward the shadow OF the
oaks whence he had emerged. There was no
one on the box but the lieutenant and he was
standing erect The next moment he pitched
head first over the dashboard to the off-horses
md frou
needed but this to goad the rightened animals
into stampede, and with the lines under their
heels, kicking and shying, they galloped out over
the prairie.
1t is not easy for two horses to run away
with Concord coach, especially after coming up
Stoney Creek grade. And so, after the stage
had numbered and lurched at their heels for
halfmile or So the horses came down TO trot,
and then to walk, and finally stood STILL and
gazed around, trembling, and ready for second
flight. The moment that the vehicle stopped,
the yelled face OF the lady passenger appeared at
the door and her terror-stricken voice cried
but almost inaudiby, My God what has hap
pened?'
Aroused from troubled sleep by. tho report
Of pistol, followed by mans shrek. more
shots, curses, and groans she had opened her
eyes Just in time to see heavy n9dy Ta o tSG
stage had started forward, the wheel gong
over the thing on the ground with slcKehlng
JOLT As the stage bounded on, she had oeen n
thrown violently to and fro, clineing conyulsiyey
to her baby, unable to realize what this grlsy
horror of the night might be. With shaking
hands, she now unfastened the door, and step
ping out, found herself alone IN the awful silence
and solitude OF the night
Hark what was that? She tore her veil from
her head, and with it came her nat Great masses
of black hair fell down her shoulders and white,
young face shone out in the moonlight, lovely even
its terror. The noise was but the piping of an
insect but it sounded like distant shrek. Then
the wind stirred the dry buffalo grass, and 1t
seemed to the panic-strcken woman as though IL
was the voices of men pursuing. Her hair rose and
all the blood in her body rallied in her heart.
She would have tainted had 10 not been for the
wailing of the dependent baby in her arms. What
should she do? Her first impulse was TO run from
what might De behind her. But her feeble limbs
failed as the sight Of the wide plains and OBJ
structng sa ge- brush If she could but get upon
the stage and drive. She went to the horses, and
spoke to them. One Of them whinnied in reply,
and that encouraged her. She crept between them,
talking to them all the time in trembling, beseech
ing tones. and got the lines out from beneath their
hOofs. Then holding the reins and the baby in
one arm, she scrambled on TO the wheel, and from
there to the drivers seat. Everything was so big.
the lines the seat, the brake her little feet did
not reach the dash board but rested on some sacks
of barley that nlled the forward boot. In this
barley she made q nest for the baby When she
ready TO start, it was evident that she not
ignorant Of driving. She held the lines and whip
like the amateur drivers of the New-York coaching
clubs. The horses had been FESTIVE during these
prolonged preparations, and they started of freely
at her t1morous word
And now the distraction of driving and The sense
replaced IL with nervous excitement. She had no
difficulty III finding the road, the horses took her
back to il. When she reached 1t, however, she
stopped to look around, and determine which way
led TO Pack City. IL would be friShttul to make
a mistake and drive back into that awful tragedy.
She thought with a shudder OF what might be
there, dead or living, in the moon-lit road III
the blackness of the bushes. She wondered what
had become Of the driver. Was it his body that
She had seen fall from the stage? lie must be
either read or wounded; perhaps he was only
wounded. She would send back help instantly
from Park City. But when She decided on the
direction She still hestated. The recollection of
that tall broad shouldered young driver, who had
been so kind and 50 courteous to her, persisted
in obtruding itself her mind. Perhaps if he
was only wounded he might be dying now for
want of little help lie had helped her in her
manlty ought she not to go back to his assistance,
was it not cowardly to take the stage and desert