Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-05-03

the flask and sQuarlng hlnseH LOT WHAT
was to follow, he said: ''Here g hoping
the Lord may take liking to you. -
Immediately thereafter L had recognized
our strange friend who performed so inn
portsnt a part in that thrilling incident
across in Mexico.
turned the flask over to his keeping for
further use when needed, and by his per-
mission mounted to the top of the coach
for ride with him in the box. He kept
ey1ng me from head to foot as if en-
deavoring to take my measure. 1t was
evident that he did not recognize me.
tried to get up conversation with him,
but he seemed ofish, and not well at ease
from some cause or other. At length
said:
''Didn Il you once, under peculiar cir
cumstances, meet with four Americans
and dozen Mexicans at camping place
three miles beyond the Rio Grande2'
''That's SO, pard- shakei' he ex-
claimed. Il well knew 1 had seen you
before, but for the life of me 1 couldn t
make out exsctlp where.
After that he became rather more talk
alive, though he still WASH t what might
be termed overly communicative. When
| asked him for the particulars relative
to our unexpected release on that COCA
sion in Mexico, he replied:
''There is not much in the way of
particulars to give. Those Mexicans
were intending to kill you for horse
thieves. There was hitch among them
relative to whether it should be done
there at your camp or whether you should
De taken back from the public road.
When came up and saw you l felt con-
WINGED that you were no horse thieves,
so l told the Mexicans, who were ac-
quainted with me, that the thing was ell
a mistake; that had known each of you
for many years; that you were all good
men and my special friends, and upon
that they released you-that's all.
l undertook to thank him for the great
service he had rendered us so disinter-
estedly, but he checked me by saying 1
had just paid him am ply for all he had
done on that occasion, putting the little
flask in his pocket. l laughed at the
idea, and told him he must surely con-
slider as of small value the lives of the
four men he had saved. To this he re-
piled that 1 was entirely mistaken, and
the mistake was the offshoot of my little
understanding how sadly he had been in
need of exactly what had given him.
asked the favor of his name. He hest
.
"'Wen, as. TO that, call me Happy
Haphazard. -
And this was all got out of him.
As 1 had suspected would be the case,
the little stimulant appeared to give
him new life. He fairly made the mud
fly, and getting down from his box
and climbing back seemed like only q
thing of pastime and amusement. 1t got
US 10 San Marcos only four hours late,
and from thence he drove on towards
San Antonio, and | saw nothing more
of Happy HaphaZard during my stay on
the line of his drive.
Two weeks ago 1 was in Florida,
looking professionally after the newly
discovered phosphate beds and phosphate
indications IN that state. As the con-
clusion of my work 1 hired private coz
veyance to take me down to the regions Of
the guilt coast, the contract stipulating
that 1 should be brought back some
twenty miles to q certain station on the
railroad, where l proposed taking the
cars for my re turn to Mobile, Ala.
The turnout at my command was not
one calculated to cut anv kind of
figure as a thing of delight and a Joy
forever-a rattletrap of an old buggy, q
raw boned old horse, and long-limbed
gawky young negro as driver. But we got
along reasonably well until the point of
return lad been reached.
Having it on my programme to make
some examination of the fora of this sec
ton of Florida, was in the habit of now
and then leaving the negro and the con-
veyance in the road while l rambled
about for short time in the neighbour
ing woods. The weather being quite
he
down in cool shade and sleep till my
return.
On one occasion-the last one in the
series-I heard a most unearthly rippet
and crashing of things IN the direction of
the conveyance and the negro. Hurry
ing out of the woods found the negro
standing in the road looking all the pic
lures of despair that a frightened negro
could possibly look, but the conveyance
where was it? The negro himself
6idn t know. While he slept the old
horse had taken fright at something's
must have been something fearfully
frightful, considering the horse-and
had ran away with the buggy. We fol-
lowed the trail. Ny instruments, and
maps, and plans, and things were scat
tered along the road like those leaves of
the forest that lay withered and strown.
Then came the dashboard and the buggy,
and then some of the upper works Then
came the fragments of a wheel, and
finally, lodged between two trees tEzsf
grew near each other, appeared the mlfN
tilated remains of the rest of the vehicle,
IN an almost unrecognizable mass. Not
tar away, quietly feeding upon the nu-
tritious and succulent grasses of Florida,
stood the old horse, looking as uncon-
cerned as If nothing whatever had hap
pened beyond the regular everyday or
der of things,
Here was dilemma. The buggy gone
up beyond any reasonable thought Of an
attempt at repairs, and the region round
about SO thinly settled thar one could feel
by no means sure that it was settled at
all
But It d.dn't end here. The negro
gazed upon the ruins of the buggy for
few moments, and then scratched his,
head. He appeared to be demoralizedSa
the fullest dsgree. It may be that the
question Of who would ride the horse
home was being debated in bis mind.
Anyhow, he proceeded TO catch the
morse, and when he had accomplished
this easy feat he mounted aud struck out
for other parts. leaving me to my fate.
All my shouting for him to stop was sim
ply waste of breath-the further he