The Portland daily press., 1889-12-28
THE COWBOYS TO THE
RESCUE.
tEnglish Illustrated Magazine.


remember the answer? You were delicate, Texas
was the land of chills, and was not At person
to be guardian Of SO irrepressfble subject as my
small but obstreperous sister. What you wished
did not appear until it was too late SO my plans
were ruthlessly crushed and Lavinia triumphed
This time / write to you, not Lavlnia You are 10,
my dear, and il an American woman is ever going
TO have her own way she begins at 10 VIII you
come this yearl And will you come at opcei The
wife wants you, want you, and as for the boy,
20 see Aunt Elsie" is the dearest wish of his
heart. / do not expect favorable reply. have
too much respect for the power of Lavinia's will
and authority. Yet this letter shall go. Your
loving brother, ADDISON wYNsE.
p. Sill you can defy the powers that be, write
al once, 30 that may meet you at Santana. The
ears will carry you there. / will come as far as
Hobart Junction IL can. Are you afraid Of the
5ourneyf A.w.
Would go? OF course would. Did
the foolish boy think there was only one
will in the family? The dear old fellow,
If he really wanted his useless, frivolous
minded little sister, he should certainly
have her. Lavinia was shocked at the
idea, of course, but it was of no use. l
said / must go, and went.
| sent word, as j was told, the next
day, and two weeks later was rolling
out Of Chicago in sleeper of the Chi
cago, Burlington and Quincy railway,
speeding westwards, fairly embarked
upon journey of five days and five
nights on the cars and thirty mile drive
after that.
How was watched and cared for and
waited upon by the railway officials.
Conductors of trains have faults, sup
pose, but they were very good to me.
They got my tickets; they told me where
to change; they brought me coffee; and
until got to Hobart Junction, where l
hoped to find Addison, might have
becn-I really was-surrounded by an
army of protectors and friends. looked
anxiously up and down the platform at
Hobart, but, alas! no Addison was to be
seen.
Well, had come more than 200 miles
alone. Assuredly was capable of con-
veying myself fifty, and he would not
fail to be at Santana. So there was moth
ing TO worry about. Nevertheless, when
found that there was only one day car
going on from Hobart, that l was 70 be
the only woman on board, and that the
pace at which we were to travel would
not be more than ten miles an hour, be-
cause the track was unsafe, my heart
sank little, l confess, for it was 9
O'Clock in the morning, and was very,
very tired. There was change of con-
ductors, too-a change for the worse.
The "boss" of this train was a large,
roughly dressed person, with hairy
face, who stared at me as he arranged
my bags and wraps upon seat in front
in way that was scarcely polite and not
at all reassuring. When he had finished
his work he growled out in gruff voice:
''Going to Fort Lincoln this trip, be-
lieve!' I replied with dignity that the
commandment of the fort was my broth
en-, and then, leaning back in my seat,
closed my eyes and pretended to slum-
Der. This hint was sufficient, and 10 my
great joy, after another prolonged stare,
the man went about his business. When
l was quite sure of this l opened my
eyes and looked about me. 1t was a
very shabby car; badly furnished, badly
lighted and badly ventilated; smell of
stale tobacco smoke about it, which
made me feel quite sick. became very
cross and gloomy. Addison ought to
have met me before this. He knew
was alone, and must be aware what an
emigrant car was like. Perhaps this
was practical joke-he always liked
practical jokes-and he hoped to fright
en- me. Well, he had not done that, at
any rate. There was nothing to be
frightened about
The men in the car scarcely noticed
me at all, and though my conductor was
gruff, his face was not forbidding-and
he knew Addison. Soothed by these
thoughts closed my eyes in good ear
nest and tried to sleep. | was accus-
toned to travelling now, and soon
dropped into an uneasy doze and began
to dream. ! dreamed of face l had
not seen for long, long while-the
face of an old schoolfellow, Eric Proctor
by name, who had gone out west some
time ago, and was often mentioned by
Addison in his letters. Eric was nice
boy before he went west, clumsy, over
grown youth, but very amiable and
good natured, with great head of yell
low hair, and simple, honest, blue
eyes. I don't know why / dreamed
of Eric now; perhaps it was because
he was the only person ] knew in
Texas besides the family; but l did
dream of him very wildly. thought l
had arrived at Santana, and found him
on the platform instead of Addison. He
looked very much older than he used to
do, his face haggard and worn.
He did not speak to me, but, taking
my hand, led me away until we were out
Of sight Of the station, and then lifted
me onto a horse, which had appeared
galloping away at tremendous pace. I
begged him to let me go, but he shook
his head and spurred on faster. l began
to feel cold and queer, as if he were
made of ice and were freezing me.
All at once he stopped with a
sharp jerk, and with cry flung me
away, and felt myself falling, fallingas
II from some great height-anA awoke.
The train was still. We had pulled up
at q wayside station to water the engine,
and ! was shivering with the. chill air.
The dawn was at hand, and Slipped out
OF the train and walked briskly up and
down to warm myself, and by the time
the wants of the engine were satisfied the
sun was rising, and began to recover
my spirits.
At last short, bluff whistle from the
engine, like the bark of some giant dog,
movement among the passengers, and
Earring sensation beneath my feet.
The goal of my desire was not far off.
Now the door of the car was opened
wide, and the conductor, who had kept
away from me all the journey, came in
from the baggage van to take tickets.
Mine was the last. He examined it with
unnecessary deliberation, and then de-
ivered himself of the following ominous
remark:
Snow, say, why didn't We write the
colonel that yew were comin?'
The familiarity of this address would
have disguised me at any ordinary time,
but now began to feel miserably
anxious.
II did WRITE" I replied breathlessly.
HE will be at the station to meet me-"
"He anti"
The rejoinder came as sharply as the
ping of an arrow. I jumped up with a
lump in my throat, and looked out of
the window.
The train had stopped and most Of
the passengers were leaving it, There
was no station or depot here, only
rNtantH LOTT