Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1890-10-30

roved back to the gold, which Comstoob
in his amazement, had nearly forgotte
and quite neglected. My friend caugh
his look, aud was not minute in tyin.
up and slowing away his money.
'Land-hunters, l s'pose 2 remarke
the stranger, after pause which neithe
of us was inclined to break, anxious q
we were to get rid of the man, and HOP
ing that he would take himself away.
II replied that we were of that class
and proceeded to make some inquiries
of the man, realizing that it was more
prudent to be civil than to exhibit ou
dislike of his presence | praised thu
country, remarked on the cviity of tn,
pioneers whom we had thus far encount
cred, and offered the fellow our provision
bag.
/" 'Yes, this ar fine country he re
marked, never noticing the provisions
Td like to tramp with yc for two OIL
tree days an show ye some of the finest
land in the world, but I've got a press
of business just now, and ye'll have to
eXcoose me-ha! ha han
81 could not see anything mirthful in
his remarks, especially as his face grew
more wicked as he uttered them, but
made no reply, and he walked off, we
continuing to watch him until he was
hidden among the trees.
''Comstock was greatly frightened at
the incident, and was for setting out for
Detroit Immediately, declaring that the
man having seen his gold, would follow
and murder us at the first opportunity.
"While believed the mans cupidity
had been excited, and that he might not
| hesitate to commit murder for the sake
of gold, would not listen to Comstock's
idea of going back. | argued that we
could plunge into the woods, make a
long detour, and then throw the man off
our trail, if he inten led following u.s. or
we could keep the path and take run
for mile or two, getting among the
settlers again before Williams, as ne
called himself, could come up.
"Talking in this way Comstock's fears
finally vanished and We started off and
ran for mile without halt. Then,
walking auother mile at fast pace, we
concluded that we were safe from pur-
suit, and at the end of the next mile had
almost forgotten the MONDAY incident.
''We were getting into finer country;
the road was better defined, the settlers
cabins were more frequent, and Comstock
felt quite jolly, boasting that we could
have easily finished off the hunter had he
attempted violence.
"About four o'clock in the afternoon
we came upon prairie about forty acres
in extent, and paused for moment to
survey it, The hieroglyphics on tree
near the path showed that the land had
already been applied for, and we envied
the lucky man. We were then a mile
beyond the last cabin, where a woman
had Informed us that we would have the
same distance to tramp from the prairie
before reaching another She had fur
thcr informed us that four miles on
would bring us to The Log Tavern, ;
which was situated at a spot where the
west road crossed this one.
/ ''As | stood leaning against a tree.
looking about, | caught sight of some
thing moving out from behind large
oak about fifty feet away.
Looking sharply, saw fur cap ap-
pear, then a mass of red hair, and then
the face of Williamsl lie must have seer
that my face was turned toward him, fo
he drew his head quickly back, and saw
no more OF him, though continued look
ing at the tree until Comstock had moved
on quite Il distance.
| ut was now certain that the man wa!
dogging our steps. We had failed tc
elude him by our rum and | felt, as
started on after my friend, that the vii
lain would shoot at one or the other a.
we moved out on the prairie. If | turned
about and walked up to his hiding place
he would be sure to shoot me; if we ken
on, he might pass the opportunity by
Thus | reasoned as followed Comstocil
"If you have never experienced tn,
feeling that an enemy is behind you
prepared to lodge bullet in your body
having an inclination to do so, and yor
expecting he will do so, you cannot i'm.
agine how felt. The chils danced III
my spine, felt my hair crawl, my knees
were weak, and had Comstock looked
! around he would have seen pale face.
| was thirty rods or so from the tree be-
hind which knew the villain to be hid
ing, when the feeling became so oppres.
sivc that | stopped and wheeled about,
determined osee if the man was in sight
''The movement saved my life. As
wheeled, bullet cut through the rim o.
my slouch hat, passed close to Comstock
and went singing over the prairie. Then
we heard the report of a rifle and both
caught the smoke from the tree.
"'Great Heavens! who did thatV cx
claimed Comstock, his face as white as ,
sheet.
II knew Williams had tried to murder
one of us, but as he did not make hi,
appearance from behind the tree after
moments waiting, | concluded not tc
tell my friend what l had SEEN
"'lt was a stray shot from hunters
rifle, | replied, as coolly as | could. we
had better move on
''As we turned, about dozen Indians,
all on foot, appeared on the farther side
of the prairie, and l knew we were safe
from another shot. BY hurrying across
the prairie, we should have a good start
on the villain, who would not cross until
we had entered the timber, and we
could make the distance to the nearest
dwelling.
''We had passed the Indians with
mere word, and after entering the tim
Der, ran almost every step of the way to
the cabin. 1t lacked only an hour of sun
down when we reachcd it, an we had
made up our minds to stop there for the
night. Great was our disappointment,
therefore, to find the door nailed up, and
rude letters on it announcing, gone
Back to ohIO-cursc suCH A
Countryn
"The furniture had all been taken out,
the place had Il lonesome look, and at
the risk of another shot from Williams,
! advised that we push on to the Log
Iayern. Cnmst0ck agrced. and inst All