Daily Yellowstone journal., 1889-10-05
THAT'S BILLS GRAVE.

The train on the Santa Fe road. due
an hour later at PeublO, stopped al a
way station long enough fora solitary
passenger 10 get on.
the person in question was IA man
past middle age, OF medium stature,
irmly and compactly built who
would have attracted Il second look,
however but for the fact that his face
was badly disigured by q curious
a on his right cheek, in Shape ex-
actly resembling a Greek eros.
The newcomer found Il seat beside
me, threw up the sash and became ala
sorbed in the scenery along the road,
his interest increasing as the train
presently swept along a pretty valley.
Suddenly he turned hal way round,
touched my arm, and, pointing
through the open window, said very
abruptly
Say, stranger, do rou see that pile
o rocks Wonder on tie slope; Well,
that's Bills grave"
The mans actions and speech star
tied me IA triile, but / looked out and
saw, as he had said pile Of rocks on
lnc green SlOpeOl ne NIX
Yes" continued the man. "tLat's
Bills grave. Twenty-Five years agol
put them stuns thar myself. Poor
Bill pure gold cl'ar through, an /
reck'n | orter know, for know'd Bill
from the ground up"
Having delivered this short speech
the man lapsed into silence, with a far
away, dreamy look, as if recalling
events long past. But his words had.
aroused my curiosity, and, al the risk
Of interrupting the strangers rcverlc,
finally ventured to ask: WHO was
Bill, sir, whose grave is yondert'
My companion gave a sudden start,
then, recovering himself, he answered
Didn't know Bill, chr OF course
not. seem he was dead before ye was
boru-dead twenty-five years come
June. Bill was my pard, sir, Bill was.
A man 10 tie TO every time Say,
don't ye think ye'd love q chap what
nd be willin' ter die Tor yef be
willin', and would, an did, tool |
reck'n."
do you mea to say your chum
died for your | asked, now thorough
iy interested, for there was trcnen
dous feeling and earnestncSS in the
strangers manne
The mar turned round, looked me
squarely in the face. and in a solemn
voice said:
Stranger. he did"
Would you mind telling me some.
thing about YOUR friendi' | asked.
Il never git tired, sir, Of talking
about Bill" was the prompt reply.
stopped hyar yesterday Jest to sec
hat grave. Put up one or two o the
stones as he'd rolled down. It's all
right now.
"When | fust met Bill he was guide
for chaps ~a-crossin' the plains. Santa
Fe way, for thar want no railroads
them days. A good guide n a trusty.
Curious though bout some things.
He'd never use cuss words, nor drink,
but Lord how he'd smoke, all day long
n half the night, too; good natured,
but the solemnest chap | ever struck.
Stranger, ! never knowd Bill ter
laugh, never, not oncest. Told me
his heart was broke, n he couldn't
laugh. What did he meant Lor,
man, | dunno, for he never said much
about hisself. lasked him his name
n he said il was Bill ! ask'd him
whar he was from II he said from No
whar. | spec thar was a woman in
the case-thar mostly is, ! notice.
But Bill was built like a clam n kept
his mouth shut.
"Wall, Bill an me got ter be great
chums an | was mighty sorry when
he quit pilotin' trains, an iined some
hunters, an pulled out into the heart
o the lnjun country.
"Bimeby, a year later, havin' got "A
bill crazy On the subject o silver min.
ing. ! struck this same region we are
now passin' through but we had no
luck al all in indin' silver, though ]
felt he'd struck il rich one fine day,
when two hunters walked into our
camp. n Of EN- bein' my old friend
Bill.
GLAD 10 see him, ehl Youngman.
Of ye'd seen ole Bill an me a huggin'
ye'd thought we was a couple o bars
for sure.
"Bill had been Whereabouts for sew.
eral months an said there was no sill
yer signs abouts, an 50 our partypull-
ed up an went farther south, but ]
stayed with Bill an tother chap 10
take a hand at trappin' beaver.
''The old fellow had u nice bit o a
hut nigh a quiet valley, where thar
wss heaps o beaver, an as thar was
mo redskins around We enjoyed u
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 lac took 10 him a bit because he
seemed a nervy, brave fellow. He
was a half breed Mexican, named Yu-
mcz, a small, why fellow with sallow
cheeks, coal black eyes and a Ratchet
face, and crafty ways like a fox. AT
first he showed his dislike for me plain
enough. but by and by he became sud
denly very friendly, which made it
much pleasanter all round.
zone day l went up the creek 10 ex-
anime the traps, leaving Bill and Yu-
mss mending some Of the old ones at
hume. Having been gone about half
.u hon. n uaa ~oattini ready IA rafitpn