The McCook tribune. (McCook, Neb.) 1886-1936, 1888-10-19

ny tlIC lS vi GliO lildii " NIlOfi
she had braved the dangers and dis
comforts of a frontier life, was a halt
made.
At st. Cloud surgical aid was pro-
cured, and there, after Mr.. Myron's
recovery, he sought work of any
kind that would bring in sufficient
for the support of his family, since
the depredations of the Indians had
impoverished him. 1t was only by
the greatest exertions that Mr.. Ny
ron could keep his family from actual
want; and hearing thatlaborers were
in greater demand at Cape Giradeau,
he, with his wife and children, m
barked on the steamer Tidal Wave
for that place, after having remained
at ST. Cloud nearly a year.
The voyage was never completed,
however, for when Tower Grove, Mis-
souri,, was reached, q fire broke out
on the Inflated steamer, and in q
very short time she was burned to
the waters edge. The loss of life was
considerable, and among the missing
ones were the two Myron children.
For the second time Robert Myron
was homeless and penniless, with his
sufferings intensifed by the loss ofhis
children. Perhaps it was fortunate
for him that he was obliged to work
very hard simply to keep the wolf
from the door, for it prevented him
from brooding over his misfortunes,
as ven a stronger nan might have
done.
During the two years that elapsed
after the burning of the Tide
Wave, Robert Mryon labored
industriously, but without success,
so far as the accumulation of world
ly goods was concerned; he had been
able to pay the rent of rude cabin
three miles from the village of Tower
Hill, and to furnish it scantily. But
the expenses attendent upon the
birth of two children, and his own
severe illness, during which he was
confined to his bed two months, had
exhausted the small fund he had sue
ceeded in saving to enable him to
remove to Cape Girardeau.
Then came time when he could
no longer find employment "a his
wretched home, and he sought it
some miles up the river, going and
returning each day in a small boat.
Even when it appeared that mis-
fortunes was not wearied with pur-
suing him, for one night when re-
turning from his work, u stormcame
up, which overturned his frail skiff,
and, nearlyeXhausted, he was thrown
upon a narrow bar of sand that
made out from a bank of the river
at the spot where the Tidal Wave
was burned. On this frail and
treacherous foothold he managed to
remain during the night, in full sight
of the town, but unable TO attract
attention to his desperate condition.
The dawn of dayrevealed still more
horrors, for close beside him, having
evidently been unearthed by the
waves, was a skeleton of a human
being. At first Myron felt that fear
which seems TO be natural in man
when he sees the deserted tenement of
one of his kind; but the resting-place
Which the waves gave to the living
and the dead was so small that he
was obliged to remain almost in ac-
tual contact with the yellow bones.
As he sat by the skeleton waiting for
help from the shore, which seemed so
tardy in coming, he saw about the
ribs of the deshless frame q leather
belt. Curiosity Overcame his terror,
and, %unfasUening the belt, he found
within it gold coin to the amount of
$1,000.
That Robert Myron was in a fever
of excitement hardlyneeds to be told.
He had struggled to the full strength
of MAI many years, and was hardly
more than a pauper when he should
have had at least a spot of Gods
footstool he could call his own. The
dead had brought him what theliving
had refused. To take the gold for
his own purposes seemed a theft, and
yet he who had fastened it about his
body could no longer use it. The
struggle between his conscience
and his necessity was q long one; but
when those who came to rescue him
arrived at the sand bar they found
him with skeleton on whichnothing
could be seen, and no one could have
fancied that the half-drOwned man
had found a treasure. attheb bones
were those of one of the passengers Of
the Tidal Wave, no n doubted, and
they were given a resting-place
among the nameless graves of those
who had lost their lives in the disas-
ter. No one save Robert Myron and
his wife knew of the m~oney-belt, or
that on the inside of it, cut deep in
the thick leather, was the name
"Henry Parks"
But Myron, having this money, did
not dare to use it openly lest people
should question how he got it. He
had agreed with his wife that they
should use the gold for their own
benefit, but do it with the view of re-
turning it if they should ever find the
dead mans heirs. This he hoped to
do by making such investments as
could be readily realized upon, so
that they might show themselves to
be good, even if self-elected, stewards.
The cabin they lived in, and the
five acres ofland surrounding it, was
for sale at a price below its real val
lie. Myron represented to the owner
that, despite appearances, he had
succeeded in saving a small amount
ofmoney-about half the price asked
and offered to buy it if lns note
would be accepted for the balance.
The bargain was made, and Myron
still continued to work by the day
for any one who would hire him, till