The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1889-11-15

grabbed on with both hands an held
it fast
What dye think it WASP Hang
me, if it wasn't the Mexican hisselff
In fooiin' about the end o. the lariat
he had slipped an tumbled over the
edge o the rock, an had ketched
the villain, an was holdin' him by the
leg, an thar we two was. hitched uU
the lasso an holdin' on TO the rascal
by the leg, an both swingin' head
downwards
yell? You bet he did / never
heard sech skreechin' as that skunk
set up A pack O. hungry coyotes
wasn't patchin' to 1t What hap
pened. did ye ask? Wall. see hyar,
my friend. what. under them circum-
stances, 'ud be likely to happenP
Pears sort as If my fingers all to-
oncest got kind o. cramp in 'em, an
was powerful weak, though sech
thing never happened afore or since.
and they doesn't look like women's
fingers. do they?" and the speaker
held up before me a pair of muscular
hands, which he opened and shut in
way that suggested grip of iron
Then he went on:
'As l was sayin'. the cramps some
how got into my fingers at that eyden-
teal moment, an somehow or other
l mover knowed exactly how it did
happen-the Mexican slipped out o.
my grasp, an fetched up head first on
the rocks hundred an fifty feet be-
low whar nothin' ever teched him
again 'cept the buzzards that picked
his bones clean afore next sun-up
Next thing l know'd / was bein'.
hauled up, hand over hand. as slick as
any sailor could have done 1t, an
when l reached the top, Bill and me.
dear old Bill, stopped Jest long enough
70 have a brotherly hug or two, an
then we got under kiver an looked
round for the Injuns, but blow me,
thar wasn't q single varmint to be
seen in any direction 'cept the dead
perp that Bill had plugged through
the head as he came tearin' up to the
rescue.
'Ye see, pard, began Bill, Il found
1njun sign a bit up the valley. an L
thought I'd better come back. seein'
as how ye wasn't feelin' well, an
Bill stopped suddenly an grew
very pale, an then l seed he was
bleedin' bad, an then he slid down on
the grass with a sort o. gasp, an
seein' how it was, l began to loosen
his shirt to git at the wound, but he
stopped me and said:
Never mind, pard. One o. them
red niggurs stuck his knife into my
side jest l began haulin' ye up, an o.
course l couldn't defend myself with
in Ia Ia ;,, -
sent ye down to jine the Mexican, an
then the varnint took to his legs.
an'-never mind, pard, it's all up with
old Bill / can hardly see ye now. for
I'm gettin' blind as a bat. Take
every thing for yer own. Thar's a
cache o. mine behind the big pine tree.
Yen find it by the ashes whar the fire
was built. Take it all an don 3 forget
old Bill
II never seed n man flick out so
quick. The Injun's knife had gone in
deep"
The speaker was silent and looked
out of the car window again, and /
know that / am not mistaken when /
say that his eyes were suspiciously
moist for a few minutes. | had no
heart to break the silence, and so left
him to his thoughts; but presently he
resumed and said:
Poor Bill If he had only left me to.
take my chances he'd not lost his life.
He saved mine, but he lost his own. L
found the cache where the old hunter
had hidden many of his richest furs.
an five got to-day one o. the best
cattle ranches in the State, it's all
OWN to tho start the old fellow gave
me- ---s.-s--
Poor Bill / buried him back there
on that hilly slope, not far from where
he died. an piled up the rocks for a
tombstone, twenty-five years ago.
come June, an that was Bills grave
that ye saw, stranger.
F., ''Pueblor' shouted the brakeman.
Change cars for Canyon City" The
man who had told me the story
''changed." and I saw him no more
Captain L. c. Carleton, in Detroit
Free Press. ;.