The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1889-09-18

| Sesio ~ was I'LL. ttoh - uiiAA " ii%A
he was from, n he said from NO
whar.' spec thar was woman in
the case-thar mostly is, notice. But
Bill was built like clam n kept his
mouth shut.
"Wall, Bill an me got ter be great
chums an l was mighty sorry when he
quit pilotin trains, an jined some
hunters, an pulled out into the heart
O the Injun country.
''Bimeby, year later, havin' got a
bit crazy on the subject O silver min
ing, struck this same region we are
now passin' through, but we he'd no
luck at all in fndin' silver, though l
felt I he'd struck it rich one fine day
when two hunters walked into our
camp, one of EN- being my old friend
Bill.
"Glad to see him, Ell? Young man,
eff ye'd seen old Bill an me huggin',
ye'd thought we was couple O bars
for sure.
"Bill had been tharabouts for sew
erai months an said thar was no sill
yer signs about, an so our party
pulled up an went farther south, but
| stayed with Bill an t'other chap to
take hand at trappin' beaver.
THE old fellow had nice bit o.
hut nigh quiet valley, whore thar
was heaps O. beaver, an as thar was
no redskins around we enjoyed our
selves immensely.
"But didn't fancy Bills compan-
ion, an he didn't waste any love on
me either. Bill had picked him up
on the border jest fer company, an
took to him bit because he seemed
nervy, brave fellow He was half
breed Mexican, named Yumez, small,
wiry fellow, with sallow cheeks, coal
black eyes and Ratchet face, and
crafty ways like IL fox. At first he
showed his dislike of me plain enough,
but by and by he became suddenly
very friendly. which made 1t much
pleasanter all round.
"One day l went up the creek to ex-
amino the traps, leaving Bill and Yu-
mez mending some of the old ones at
home. Having been gone about an
hour [ was gittin' ready to return.
when heard the crack O. rifle an
bullet grazed the tip O. my ear DRAWN
a drop O. blood.
Il reck' l jump'd nigh a rod high,
for it was a pooty clost call to climb
the stairs, an then Hooked to see
whar the Internal thing come from.
| seed wisp O. smoke hangin' over a
clump O. bushes nigh the hill top that
told me all / cared to know, an grab
| bin up my gun l made for home, I'M
der the shelter of the creek bank, at a
2:40 gait fearin' o second shot from
the Injuns.
Nigh our hut l met Yumez, gun in
hand, who said he had heard the shot
an started out to help me if needed.
1t struck me as bein' curious he could
have heard the report over a mile
away, behind the hill, an the wind
BLOWN half a gale in t'other direction,
but O. course there want nothin' to be
said.
"Bill was inside workin' on the
traps, an when I told him what had
happened he was quite Uneasy, an we
discussed the situation as to what
should be done. Meantime Yumez
had hung his gun on the pegs and
gone for bucket O. water.
Wonder if Yumez seed any In1un
signs when he was out?' said Bill.
Why seq /, was he out whilst
was gone? Thought he was hyar with
you.
He went out with his gun soon
after We did, said Bill. I'll ak him.
And Bill left the hut.
THAT gave me another suspicion.
to l'arn that Yumez had left the hut
shortly after l did. What forp An
why did he pretend he'd heard the
rihe-shot an come out afterwards to
see what it meant? l got up an went
to the pegs an examined the Mexican's
rifle. didn't see the result, for the
gun wasn't loaded at all! Things had
an ugly look. While I was putting the
gun back the Mexican returned, an
SEEM what was dom, he look'd
guilty as a thief. an then know,d
the rascal had fired that bullet at me
hisself.
81 wos on the pint O denouncin' the
villain to oncest an l scarcely onder-
stood why didn't 1t was drefful
mistake not to do it, fer mebbe if /
had matters would hev been diff'rent,
an the awful thing what happened
might never have come to pass. I
have allus been sorry l didn't shoot
the traitor on the spot But l reasoned
that bein' warned l could easily sar-
cumvent his deviltry. But he was
worse than give him credit for
II decided not to tell Bill about it.
but when the next mornin' we diskiy-
cred some o our best traps gone an
that the Mexican had vamoosed also,
| up an told pardner all about it; an
| think if Bill had been swearin'
man the air nd smelt O. birthstone
sartin, for the old fellow was bilin
mad cl'ar through. We skirmlshed
round all day, an not an Injun sign
could we see. which satisfied us that it
was all the work O that thievin' Mex
lean. We should miss the traps O.
course, but so far as actooal value was |
concerned. the scamp's share of the !