The Sully County watchman. (Clifton, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1894, 1888-08-25

miry, or. to put IL In another way, oamp- |
sons and Sampson himself were controii-
ed by Almiry. A modern delilah she,
who, when she married Sampson, had,
speaking ifguratively, clipped his locks
and left him deprived of all ambition.
There was rumor that Sampson drank, |
rumor not altogether without founda-
tion, since no one had seen him entirely |
sober. His sole duty was to tend bar,
and when not occupied in ministering To
the LIQUID wants of ethers, he was look
ing after himself. There was but one
beverage sold at Sampson's-whisky-
though there hung upon the wall, back OF
the rough bar, in illuminated card, set
ding forth, in fy-speckled characters, the
superior merits of Halls Jamaica Ginger.
But as for the ginger, that was not to be
hsd. Nor were there any indications be-
yond dusty Autographs nailed to the wood
en- partitions, that soda water, seltZer and
Mumm's extra dry were procurable on de-
mand. And so il was fortunate that the
systems of those passengers who needed
stim mulation craved whisky only, for that
was positively all there was.
We had not noticed at first, in the dim
light of the room, the figure of a woman,
clad in deep black and wearing heavy
veil drawn over her face. She sat in a
| dark corner and seemed to shrink from
observation. But when Tommy entered,
! after locking to his cattle, and had forti-
! fed his nerves with four fingers of the
"rag'lar thing" swallowed without
murnur Almiry took him aside and en-
gagged him in earnest con nversation, and
| her gestures then for the first time, ii-
rected our attention to the woman.
| Onr halt was necessarily short and we
were Joon back to the coach; the mules
had been changed and we were ready to
start. But Tommy fingered, and when at
length he appeared at the door, seemed
in no hurry to start. He stood there,
slowly drawing on his gloves and survey
ing the scene with a careless, critical eye
and an expression of countenance that
seemed to indicate that as for him, he
would make good deal better world than
this cne,-easy. In his mouth was a cigar
tipped up at such an angle that the glow
ing end nearly touched the rim of his
sombero. The major irreverently in
| spired, voiced the sentiment of the party
when he remarked, in drawing tone:
II reckon that after bein' the Angel
Gabriel, for pure glory and so forth, I'D
| ruther be a driver on q coach than most
anythin'"
just then there appeared in the door
way the lady in black, to whom Thomas
gallantly offered his arm, and thus es-
corted to the coach. AS they approached
the colonel gave little groan. Were
goin' to have lovely woman along with
u.s." he said plaintive'y. CONSERVATION
was depicted on each face, when the
coach door opened and Tommy looking
, in, remarked au.horatatively: Sorry
| Tn n Z
goin' to Leadville, an she's goin' inside
, Jump in. marmr and ia the young
woman jumped with remarkable light
, | ness and took the vacant seat in the for
y ward corner.
A "Cunnel, you look after her," saie
Tommy at the door; "she's in my charlie
I Widder of Smith, she is; him thai wa
killed down to the Walker mine las
O month, but don't savy word of English
4 bein' French. You knew Smith, di6n'
: ye, Cunnelf"
s'Yes, Iknowed him we'll enough, but
o never knowea he had q widder, I'll loo
q after her-in English" growled the col
O onel, and the door slammed, and tn
a coach rolled on.
. As we pulled ont the clouds parted to
an instant, and a bright rey OF sunligh
q lit up the coach, striking full upon tn
Z dark veil of our new companion. /
- made briefly visible the outlines of he
8 face, and those of us who were fortunat
o enough 10 catch glimpse of it were cor
Il vinced that the lady had great beaut.
il Indeed, the Judge who had happ
facility of expression, acquired from
10 long, though not lucrative practice at tn
d bar, leaned over to the doctor an
"a whispered in tones of fervent admin
k alton:
N "She's as pretty as Cle-op-e-try, b
Jo,e. to which the doctor responde
d with an asserting rod of much vigor.
N Nowhere in the world is q lady MOI
K certain of respectful consideration tina
"a in the wild west. She is invariably trea
a ed with a chivalrous gallantry that
g. really magnificent; men hasten to ha
sr homage and are proud to be commando
a. by her. Still, the presence of Mrs. Smit
i. in the coach acted on the party as
"a little restraint which the judge and ii
D. colonel vainly endeavored to dissel.
n Fond Of travelin', ma'amr" said VI
Il. latter, in his best off-haad style, as
m leaned toward her and smiled handsom
ne iy. The lady made no reply, and ii
r. Judge knocked the colonePs elbow.
ne "Shl colonel" he said, "you don
al s,pose she understands you, when it's
al much as | can do to untangle yo'
he ideas from your words. She speal
rd French"
ve The colonel accepted the rebuke NEE
bs ly, snd made no further conversation
effort. The road became more and mo
,r, difficult as We advanced, and the fres
en- mules were unruly and drove very har
r. Several times, in bad places, they bake
to and the coaeh had swung around in
a way that would have upset light
rh vehicle, yet no exclamation. of alarm o
"a. capped from the lady, who sat motionle
m. in the corner.
M "What l admire is lovely wimmin
at said the colonel, rs we sat there quiet
ia smoking, "is the er-the ability she pc
he sesses to adapt herself to circumstance
as illustrated in the above. We all a
tn friends herein course-so we can
n comfortable, but I'm safe in sayin' sh'
Ito be glad to get to Leadville. That lit
,st matter of 1000 got sewed into my
Judge, sure the lady can't understal
ul- English-my-in fact gentlemen, II
Ii ha IN &,