The Portland daily press., 1889-11-30

sneii The men entered with hesitation,
,,s suspiciously about tne"' Inc
VA.ah crouched against the WALL anu
ned his head low. so that saw little OF his
iace' out l could catch the fash Oh MS eyes
as ne glanced slantingly up under MS plack
o,o"s. The other seated himsen on the
ouse OIL the lower punk and looked suiiehiy
aoou'' when they saw that L was aiohe
thelr manner changed.
tney asked some questions about inc Trails
anu location of ranches, and the ocounarei
uesan 70 grow ugly and bantering' Inis
Temper on his part carried an ominous Sig
nincance. felt plainly that the two men
were sizing me up" and wished that
had my pistol.
we We're not a happy company thor-
ougniy distrusted my ill-favored companions,
anu shey evidently had some disturbing
thoughts OF their own. However, we all
prepared for sleep. The Scoundrei roiied
in'o the lower bunk; the Mexican curled up
on .he noor. Both lay quiet and seemed by
'heir breathing to have gone to sleep.
lay with eyes half-closed, wishing for the
morning. saw that the candle would not
iast much longer, and / had a strange dread
Oh the dark. grew restless, and finally got
up ana went to the door. The men started
ana rustled at my movement, but nothing
was said.
stepped outside and across the grass to
my morse. He whinnied at my approach,
ana raised his head. Ipatted him, and stood
awhiie with my hand on his shoulder. The
longer stood, the less felt like going back
into the camp.
MY antipathy to the men was so strong
That determined to saddle my horse i'm
medlately and ride to the home ranch. l
turned back to the shanty. The candle was
not burning, fact which should have caused
me to hesitate; bat entering, CROPPED my
way over to the corner where my saddle lay.
and stopped to pick it up.
A sensation of red light suddenly filled my
eyes, and Nt found myself on my face on
the floor, Where had fallen, struck down
from heav y blow from behind.
The two tramps had flung themselves on
me, and were tying my elbows behind my
back. Caught wholly at disadvantage, and
half-st'mned. l could make no resistance.
Aft'.r had somewhat recovered, l lay
SS-~~' soO 90 hOt w iASuA AOu6uOk uodbOs as IL
was, my first instructive struggles had gained
for me savage kick in the head. The men
nelt heavily on me, wrenching my arms
Oack as they twisted and tied the lashings.
[ Then they stepped back, and the Scoundrel
said in Spanish, Light the candle, Benito ?"
i heard the sound of flint on steel; a
shower of sparks glanced in the dark, fol-
owed by a tiny flame; then the lighted
candle revealed the house interior, and the
two men looking at me with an expression
that betokened anything but goodwill. They
proceeded to search me, rolling me to this
side and that, to facilitate the operation.
They emptied my pockets and sat down to
appraise their plumber. They discussed the
value of my watch, and the Mexican opened
and shut the different blades of my pocket
knife, which seemed to strike his fancy i'm
niensely. They showed ill-temper in finding
SO little money in my pocket book, and the
Scoundrel threatened to come over and kick
me. Their humor improved on finding a
whole plug of tobacco, but they cursed me
for not having more matches.
Having completed the valuation of my
effects, the Scoundrel addressed me.
"Yer warn't enjoyin' yer nights resin
war goin' to quit us without saying goodbye.
Well put yer ter sleep this time so yer won't
get wakeful any more"
The corners of his thin lips drew back in a
cruel sort of smile, as if the idea of "put-
ting me to sleep" pleased him. The Mexican
! grinned responsibility, with flash of superb
white teeth.
had little doubt that my fate was now
sealed. The men had gone too far to stop.
matter in the ranch country. They would
add nothing to their danger. but would in
crease their safety, by killing me.
'You bring up the horse, Benito." said the
scoundrel, well saddle up tust."
| The Mexican led my horse to the door, and
they carefully saddled him.
"Never fear" said the Scoundrel, scowling
in at me as he frightened the clinch, I'VE amt
a-going off'n forgit ye."
| The horse stood ready to be mounted and
| expected the crisis to follow without delay.
| But the two men came indoors, the Mexican
| holding the end of the lariat attached to the
horse. and fell to discussing the route they
should take.
1 uC OCOuuQkOi ACA1 NY WubCA up anu GULF
mented upon it. 81 reckon yer paid the
| price for purity good time-piece," he said.
81 don't like the movements and faint stem
winder. Here's a better one" He took out
a gold repeater. You've seen it afore. It's
the one the Eastern chap was shown yester-
day. He got lost an we fell in with him an
left him on the prairie We caught him
nappin' just as we did you, an killed him
with his own pistol. Pm giving you these
things just cause we're goin. to take mighty
| good care that you don't go tell nobody"
Benito, his white teeth showing, was en-
| joying this badinage, the humor of which
struck him as exquisite. He now put in a
word, touching his knife as he spoke.
"He no tell2 No, he no tell Neverp'
"Yer see that CANDLE" the Scoundrel went
on. "Thar's about an inch of it left. I'll
| give yer to live just while that's burnin'."
He was now filling my pipe. "It'll low us
time for smoke, n we Il finish yer, n 60 on
| our way"
He lighted the pipe, first walking over to
me and going through my pockets to see if
there were any matches that he had missed
in his first search. He went back to his seat,
crossed his legs comfortably, and began to
smoke. The Mexican, with cigarette, sat
on the floor.
The candle burned steadily down, measur-
ing out the minutes had to live. Benito
finished his cigarette and looked toward the
Scoundrel That gentleman, whose pipe was
drawing well, was in no hurry. He had
something further to say to me-
81 seen yer looking at us kinder GURUS at
Van Sickle's," he said. "Mebbe yer'd like
to know just who we are. 1 don't mind
tellin' yer. SEEM as yer sartin to keep quiet.
My name is Joseph Outhart, commonly called
'Reddy,' n my friend here is Mexican Ben.
We're vallyble men, fur there's a reward of
five hundred dollars apiece out for us dead
or alive. We don't like so much public at
tention, so we're gettin' out % the country.
By day break we'll be good twenty miles
from here, n We'll be in the mountains afore
/ our friends know which way we've gone.
We broke Jail at Canon City just week ago.
We didn't have much outfit to start with,
but we're gittin' toPable we'll fixed"
My head throbbed and burned and my
arms and shoulders were painfully con
strained, owing to the tightness with which
was bound, but in the excitement OF the
| greater peril l noticed this but little. Yet
my senses were strangely excited. L heard
| and saw every thing as L lay watching the