The Warner sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1885-1???, 1888-01-06

was q Iean- saliow. aineMy Man
mounted on i sorry sorrel neg. who
proved, however, To have blood ii
her, and to Ne q fast walker and full
of endurance. The mail-rider was tao
turn, a natural habit for a man who
rides alone the year round. over 8
lonely road, and hasnothing whatever
to think Of. He had been inthe war
sixteen months, in Hugh Whites reg
iment-reckon you've heerd Of him2
"Confederateg"
"Which2'
Was he on the Union or Gonfeder
ate side2'
ooh, Union.n
Were you many ehgagementssf
HWhich2p
ADid Won hava any iiohtino2v
"Not regular"
sIVhat did you dor"
"Whatdid you do IN Hugh Whites
regiment2"
ooh, just cavorted round the noun
tains.
'You lived on the country"
"Which2n
"Pickedu up whaty find, corn,
bacon, horses?"
"tThat's about SO. Didn't make
much difference which side was round,
the country got cleaned out"
"Plunder seems tohave been the OBJ
iectY"
(which"
aYou got a living out Of the farm
ersY"
'fYou bet.r
Our friend and guide seemed TO have
been a jayhawker and mountain
marauder-on the right side. His at
tachment to the word (which" pre-
vented any lively flow ofconversation,
and there seemed to be only two
trains of ideas running in his mind; one
was the subject of horses and saddles,
and the other was the danger of the
ford we were coming to, and he exhib-
tied O. good deal Of OF ingenuity in en-
deavoring to excite our alarm. Here
turned to the ford from every other
conversational excursion, and after
every silence. II do knows there's
any great danger; not If you know
the ford. Folks is carried away
there. The Toe gets up sudden
There's been right smart rain late
ly. If you're afraid you can git
set over in a dugout, and I'll take
your horses across. Mebbe you're
used to fording2 It's a pretty bad
ford for. them as don't know it. But
you'li get along, i you mind your eye.
There's some rocks you'll have to
look out for. But you'll be all right,
if you follow me-"
Not being very successful in raising
an interest in the dangers Of his ford,
although he could not forego indulging
a malicious pleasure in trying to maks
Tfle strangers unc0miortaDfe; ne ifntiiy
turned his attention to atrade. This
boss Of mine, 2 he said, tsis just thu
kind of brute-beast you want for this
country. Your bosses is too heavy,
t4s-pas ~ hAaA ana n3qasaraa9aA
The reiterated assertion that the
horses were not ours, that they were
hired, made little impression on him.
All the way TO Burnsville he kept re-
curing to the subject Of a trade. The
instinct Of swap" was strong ia him.
When we met q yoke Of steers, he
turned round and bantered the oWne
for q trade. Our saddles took hiG
fancy. They were ofthe army pat
tern, and he allowed nat one Of them
would Just suit him. ESSrode q sS%i
lat English pad, across which was
flung the u. S. mail pouch, apparently
ennpfv. He dweat mon the fact that
his saddIewas new and ours were old,
and the advantages that would &c
crue to lis from the exchange. He
didn't care If they had been through
the war, as they had, for he fancied
an army saddle. The Friend answer
ed for himself that the saddle he rode
belonged to distinguished Union Cen
eral, and had q bullet III IL that was
put there by q careless Confederate in
Che first battle Of Bull Rim, and the
owner would not part withit for
ey. But the mailrider said no didn't
mind that. He wouldn1t mind swap.
ping his saew saddle formy old one and
the rubber coat and leggins. Long be.
fore we reached the ford we thought
we would like To swap the guide, even
at theSisk OF drowning. The ford was
paesedm due time, with no inconven-
fence save that Of wet feet, for the
stream was breast high to the horses;
but being broad and swift and full Of
sunken rocks and slippery stones and
the crossing tortuous, it is not q lord
to be commended. There Is q curious
delueion that d rider hasin crossing D
swift, broad stream. It is that he Is
rapidly drifting UP stream, while ID
fact the tendency Of the horse IS
to go with the current.
Elk Governor Hales of New Hamp-
shire. who failed recently. q accord.