Daily Yellowstone journal., 1888-11-24
I dreamed had a wife and child, but I


cannot make il out clearly, and at last l
give il up. and l am content TO he Joe
Dougan. and let the dreams take care OF
themselves. The sickness left me with q
strange name and these cursed ewes. But
tonight, Jack, it all came back 10 me;
the haunting dream came back and then
it all cleared up. and | find ! am not Joe
Dougan, but Fritz Bauer. Tonight |
went by tile cabin Of the boy you call
'Dutchy;" for some reason ! looked in,
rs he sat there in the dark; he held a
photograph in his hand; ! caught a
glimpse Of il. And. Jack" Dougan
lowered his voice almost 10 whisper.
'Hmy life upon it, it was my wife tand
God be praised for these eyes for once)!
Don't you understand, Jack-it was my
wife and this boy is my boy, my son,
my Fritzcheng'
MY Cod exclaimed Hinton, and
Dougan could see that his face was as
white as a sheet.
..what is it, mani For heavens sake,
speak." cried Joe.
Hinton stared at him a moment in a
dazed way.
.'You didn't speak TO him, did you,
joe" he gasped.
mo. mol What Of that7'
why, he thinks you're dead" con-
tinued Hinton. hoarsely.
well, what Of that? | amt" cried
Dougan.
''But-but"- stammered Jack. Ills
your wi-fe-thinks you're dead!'
We'll" reared Dougan, didn't | tell
you | amt! What's the difference"
But. joe" began Hinton again,
TREMENDOUSLY, ~''she-she's married again
there. / had 10 say it, Joe. The
youngster told me all about it last week"
Dougan sank down on the edge Of the
couch with a low moan. Hinton looked
at him helplcssly; once or twice he es-
sayed To speak, but no words came from
his lips.
''Ach! mcin Fritzchen-und meine
schoene lirlcna-noch NAL vcrlorenr'
moaned Duugan. with his face in his
hands. Then he arose and staggered from
the cabin. Hinton watched the tuttcrIng
figure cross the stretch of moonlit ground
until il was lost from sight IN the uncer-
tain shadows.
Just after dark the next evening Joe
Dougan went down the road toward the
young Germans cabin. but finding it
empty he walked on. He did not notice
the figure following him in the twilight.
1t was Jack Hinton. 1t grew dark as
Dougan strobe on. He turned of from
the road and went up the slope. where 10y
day the yawning mouths Of several scat
teren tunnels could be seen.
"Dutchy's working night as well as
day now and he's going TO see him."
muttered Hinton to himself, as he OBJ
served the direction Dougan had taken.
II grew still darker as Joe proceeded up
the hill. At last he stopped at one of the
dark openings. Hinton crept nearer and
was about to speak when Dougan sud-
denly turned and walked on in diagonal
direction up the slope. The action puz.
zled Hinton, but there seemed TO be some
method in it, as if the man had caught
sight Of something up the mountain. As
Dougan proceeded further up his form
emerged from the shadow of the distant
ihOulibdiilHs dili lliilbbil Nbull etC IL Wis
tinctly against the starlit sky, for the
moon had not come up yet. Then all Of
a sudden Jack saw the form Of his friend
drop down. Then he felt sure that Dou-
gan had seen something which was not
visible TO his wi ordinary eyes, and had
laid down to creep nearer the object or
person without being observed. Hinton
M Ayon .na1a tnrrar1 tIa .n,t ,.la.a Ia,
had seen Dougan crouch down. lie had
hardly reached it when a pistol shot, fol.
lowed by two more in rapid succession.
rang out; he saw the flashes not far
away, and then dimly discerned two
figures flying off down the slope. Hinton
ran TO the spot. A couple of dark bodies
lay on the ground among the rocks. One
Of them moaned and turned, and Hinton
recognized the glazing eyes of Dougan as
they turned toward him in the darkness.
joel he cried. as he dropped on his
knees beside the fallen man and lifted
his head into his lap, ''for heavens sake,
what does this mean2 Are you badly hitl'
"Yes, Jack" said Dougan, with an
effort. I'm done for this time, sure; |
feel it coming. They would have killed
my boy aud stolen his claim, Jack.
Thank God for these eyes ! have cursed
so often; / saw them up here"
Dougan stopped and ground his teeth
together in pain, Hinton opened his
shirt and stanched the blood the best he
could.
They meant" continued Dougan,
brokenly, ITO bore-into the cross tun-
nel-and flood the mine from the fume
-to-night-stop up the mouth-and
drown the boy like a rat. Jack-so they
could jump the claim-but | and my
eyes saved him-tcll him that, Jack
tell him his father saved the claim for
him
Dougan's head sank back on Jacks
lap. Ills eyes closed, but he opened
them again in a moment. and Hinton
saw that their strange glow was growing
fainter, as the mans life ebbed away.
''0h, IIelenal" murmured Dougan.
dreamily, I'm coming back-mcin
leibes Schaetzchen!' and he ran off into
a stream Of German, no doubt going
back to the old days in the fatherland.
Once more he opened his eyes and looked
at Hinton. There was a dying flicker in
them.
Zach, mein lieber Freund. auf glueck.
liches Wiedersehen-good.by Jack ~
His head fell back limp and lifeless-