The Monmouth inquirer., 1890-10-16
AFTER FORTY YEARS.


twas in the fall of a that three young
fellows left Rochester for the west, deter
mined to hew out their fortunes or perish
IN the attempt" said one of the party of
four or five who were gathered in the cabin
Of E lake propeller, bound down. ons
stormy night One or two of the number
/ had stemmed the monotony and broken
the ice toward a freeT feeling by rehears-
ing some light anecdotesNor "reminiscences,
when gray haired, rotz1nd gentleman
ventured as above All attentionwas given
him, and he then continued:
'As was one Of them will be more
personal and say that we were strong, well
built specimens OF manhood and had any
amount of grit and we had also made up
our minds to be fully independent of the
world and of each other. We went to-
gether from Buffalo to Detroit by boat
Arriving at Detroit and spending day or
two in looking about we then after con-
sultation concluded to part company and
each 90 in the direction he thought best.
"This may seem rather queer, for young
men to start out together with common
interests and then to switch around and
90 it alone, but it was freak of young
minds. It had something odd and ro-
mantle about it that struck US favorably.
Before parting we agreed to return to
our old home at Rochester in forty years,
/ If our lives were spared. This was putting
II a long ways ahead, but this was only
another freak.
'fWe1l, as before said, am one of the
three, end am now ON my way to Roch-
ester in fulfllment OF the agreement
II Y =
the others or not. have never heard a
word from either of them, and really do
not know whether to think they are dead
or alive
] While this was being said young man,
who had been trying to read by the dim,
flickerinQ light, put aside his book and
strained eagerly to catch every word ut
tered by the story teller.
ssIt might. In view of this" continued
the man with gray hairs, ssbe interesting
TO YOU. gentlemen, to have a brief sketch
of what has happened to me since that
time of nv separation from my comrades
now almost forty years ago.
"Yes. YES. let us have it, /" they all cried
The old gentleman moved himself into q
more comfortable position, while the young
man edged himself a little closer to the
group.
"Weil, struck straight north, took q
boat for Mackinaw and from there drifted
to Green Bay, Wis There was nothing of
Green Bay then, but saw some good land,
and by wiggling around managed to get
hold of some OF it, then held on, it was
pretty hard work sometimes, but I never
let that land 90. and as a result it Is worth
many thousands of Uncle Sans big silver
dollnrs. But that is only on one line, and
- Tcka tod
supply store in Green Bay when it first be
gan to develop, and as / was having mod
crate success I soon got me a wife.
"Well. we padded along without much
occurring until one day a big fellow came
into nv store. said he was q lumberman
and ordered heavy bill of goods He
then went out. and in a few hours returned
considerably intoxicated and wanted tc
borrow $40. I of corese could not let him
have IL. for | had not found time to look
m who nv customer was, and feared he
might be irving TO sTindle me. Upon my
refusing his reoues: he became very much
enrared. and commenced shooting at me
with q big pistol he carried. In defense O.
mvself I seized q loaded gun that was
standing in corner. and in the heat of the
moment I discharged it toward him, and
was Immediately Mortified to see him fall
and die at once.
"Weil, to make a long story short, was
exonerated from all guilt by the authorf
ties; and vet every little while I heard
some one whisper and look or point to
ward me, and 1t made me feel very uneasy
. So finally decided to pull up stakes and
90 farther west. About this time, how
ever. was drafted into the military serv
ice-the war had fust begun-efid wen,
xs,,,,,~,@ tha xrhola f.ax,,,,aic-r, laaxrip, l,a
hind those two fingersn- holding up hi,
hand for inspection land bringing out
the long scar on the back Of my head.
ST tto,, want 1x7est. serain nickes3 nm m,