The Wahpeton times., 1888-06-21
& i. "a, ny shot gun,'' Tom asked &

mo, you won't want any shooting
irons at all.''
'.Not take my gum" he asked in
great surprise. "Then how will I kill
the snipes!"
'There's more'n one way to skin q
cat" said Sandy. "We'll show you
how"
"All right" said Tom, but he said
nothing about the big six.shooter that
he had strapped on under his jacket.
(Which way are you going boys?''
the superintendent asked as they
were about to start.
cover to Dead Mans canyon" was
the reply ofSandy..
CAN right: Ireckon I'll lay around
here and take a smoke"
Then they filed away in the darkness.
The trail led them first across the
Spider creek, then to the foot hills,
through the sage brush and grease
woods, about two miles away. 1t was
lonely enough, even with so many for
company. Crossing the dry bed of a
stream, that was filled with O raging
torrent during the spring freshets,
they clambered up the steep bank on
the further side. After letting their
horses breathe a moment, they went
on fortwo hundred rodsfurther, which
brought them to the mouth of q small
canyon or split, that led away into
the nnpenetrable darkness OF the george
that lost itself in the mountains.
"Here we are" said Sandy, and
they all dismounted,
Then the men produced q meal sack
and inserted u hoop in the mouth OF
it,which kept it expanded to it's widest.
After that Sandy, who had lighted q
torch, said to Tom:
Now, young feller, the fun is about
to begin. You must hold the bag with
one hand and the torch with the 9TH
er. In q few minutes the snipe will see
the light and come flying straight for
YOU. All you have to do is to clap
your bag over them, and there they
are. So long"
"But where are you going-who's to
stay here with me" Tom asked in ap.
parently great terpidation as the
whole outfit remounted and prepared
to drive away.
"Why, we just go ahead, and scatter
the men along, one in place, till we're
all strung out with our bags. Then,
when our bags are full, we come back
over the trail till we are all together
again, and then strike out for the
ranch"
"But this is Almighty lonesome place
to be left alone in for the first time.
One OF you had better stay here and
show me how you work it,"
"You'll work it all right. II you get
scared you just holler!" And offthey
rode laughing.
Their course led on into the canyon
and in five minutes the last sound OF
them was lost. As Tom said,
it was q mighty lonesome place to
be left alone in for u boy, the
first time, or any other time, with only
the stars dimly twinkling overhead,
and the brush and black rocks all
about; with the canyon like a pit ol
darkness swallowing everything up
in that direction. Worst Of ali, no
soonerhad the COW boys disappeared
than on the still air came the mourn
iul wall OF coyotes near by, u sound
to make even q mans hair rise and
cold chills go tobogeanins down his
back bone when heard for the first
time. And Tom knew there were bears
in that very mountain, for Spencer
had told him so.
But the men rode on and on, wind.
ingin and out through the canyon,
laughing with boisterous glee
as they thought of the tenderfoot
kid, shiverins there with fright, waiting
for them to come back. Once or twice
they paused, thinking they heard a
call, but they weren't sure. Ii they
had heard the boy "holler," as they
told him to do in case he was scared,
they would only have laughed the
harder and gone ahead just the same.
Their plan was to leave him there all
night and 60 after him in the morning,
unless he knew enough to find his own
way back to the ranch as soon as it
was light enough for him to see.
Pretty cruel test to put O city bred
boys nerves and pluck to? That was
just where the fun for the cowboys
came in.
1t took them half an hour to ride
through the canyon, which in its twist.
ing and turning finally came out not
more than II mile further away from
the ranch than the opening where
they had entered it. The trail was an
easy one the rest OF the way, and the
moon was now up. Reaching the
ranch they drove noisily up, after the
,,,n,,o, 20 oo,bo,,, .,,rl ho,,;,,, m,
rallied their animals they made for the
cabin.
On entering the cabin they found
Spencer quietly reading by the table.
"Well, boys, where is Tom?" he ask.
ed.
"He got tired and allowed he'd stay
and rest SPELL" said Sandy, with Il
loud laugh, in which the Others hearth
ly joined.
"Do you mean you've left that boy
over i'll the canyon alone"
'"That' $ about the size OF it. He's
on snipins lay out"
"That might Go if the tenderfoot
was q man-but don't you think it
pretty rough on boy? Don't you
know the bears are thick around there
and you wouldn't even let him take
his shot gun. Some OF you can get
out there and bring him in, and you
can't be too lively about it, either"
"All right, you're the boss" said
Sandy. 1--WE didn't mean no harm to
the kid-but l didn't think OF the
hears. l reckon he's just about as
scared now as he can be. Come on,
boys"
One by one the men went out, but