The Irish standard., 1890-09-13
4 4, B E'A RS

Alb IE'I r 7 y: Alte.
"a Singular citing On Board q
Lake Prope ler. s5s
ut was in the fall of 60 that three
Young fellows left Rochester for the
West, determined TO hew out their
fortunes, OF perish tn the attempt,'
said one Of q party OF four or & 4 ve,3 " no
| were gathered in the cabin OF lake pro-
pellor, bound down, one stormy night.
| One or two Of the number had stemmed
the monotony and broken the ice
towards a freer feeling by rehearsing
! some light anecdotes or "reminiscences.
when gray-h aired, rotund gentleman
! yentured as above. All attention was
given him, and he then continued:
Gas I was one Of them ! will be more
personal and say that we were strong,
| well-built specimens OF manhood ana
had any amount of grit; and we had
also made up our minds to be fully ln-
| dependent of the world and of each
| other. We went together from Buffalo
to Detroit by boat. Arriving at De-
troit and spending day or two in look
ing about, we then, after consul ton,
| concluded to part company and each go
lin the direction he thought best.
| Before parting we agreed to return
| to our old home at Rochester in forty
| years, if our lives were spared. This
was putting it a long ways ahead, but
this was only another freak.
"Well, as before said, am one OF, the
| three, and am now on my way to Koch
ester, in fulfillment of the agreement
made. I don't know whether | shall
see the others or not l have never
heard a word from either Of them, and
| really do not know whether to think
they are alive or dead"
| While this was being said, a young
man, who had been trying to read by
the dim, Pickering light, put aside his
book and strained eagerly to catch
every word uttered by the story-teller.
cit might, in view of this continued
the man OF gray hairs, ''be interesting
to you, gentlemen, to have brief
! sketch OF what has happened to me
since that time of my separation from
nv comrades-now almost forty years
1
ago.
eyes. yes, let us have it," they all
| cried.
The old gentleman moved himself
! into more comfortable position, while
the young man edged himself little
closer to the group.
.'Well, struck straight north. Took
| boat for Maclzinaw, and from there
drifted to Green Bay, Wis. There was
nothing of Green Bay then, but saw
some good land, and by wiggling around
I managed to get hold of some Of it.
then held on. 1t was pretty hard work
| sometimes, but never let that land go.
| and, as result, it is worth many thou
| sands of Uncle Sans big silver dollars.
But that is only on one line, and is a
little out of order | started a little
supply store in Green Bay when it first
began to develop, and as was having
moderate success, soon got me- wife.
well, we padded along without
much occurring, until one day big fell
| low came into my store-sald he was
| lumberman-and ordered a heavy bill
of goods. He then went out, and in a
few hours returned considerably intoxi-
Gated and wanted to borrow $40. l, of
course, could not let him have it. for /
had not found time to look up who my
customer was, and feared he might be
trying to swindle me. Upon my refusing
his request he became very much en-
ragged, and commenced shooting at me
| with big pistol he carried In defense
of myself I seized asloaded gun, that
| was standing in corner, and, in the
heat of the moment, l discharged it to-
| ward him, and was imm ediately horri-
| fed to see him fall and die at once.
"Well, to make long story short,
was exonerated from all guilt by the
authorities; and yet every little while l
heard some one whisper and look or
point toward me, and it made me feel
very uneasy. So finally decided to
pull up stakes and go farther West.
About this time, however, was draft
ed into the military service--the war
had just begun--and went through the.
whole campaign, leaving behind those
two fingers" holding up his hand for
inspection, 'sand bringing out the long
scar on the back of my head
~ Uuen Wcub VcS1 ~ dill p4Oh0N ny
nv family. and struck into the grazing
district of Montana l bought q few
head Of cattle at first, and, by care,
have been able to see these multiply,
until now have one of the largest and
most successful cattle ranches in that
section of country. have seen all
kinds of 'roughing it out there, and
may say that have had many adven-
lures OF varied nature. l am now sixty
four years old and bid fair to SEQ eighty
four, so far as my general bodily yigor
is concerned.
'ssuch is. briefly, my life, and what it
has done; and you don't know how anx-
ious I am to learn of those other two
young mentor | can only see them as
young men-and to know the result Of
their forty years struggle" ~
This was told in an interesting and
pleasant tone, and had just been fn-
ished, when the young man who had
been listening SO intently stepped for
ward, and addressing himself to the lit
tie old gentleman, said, politely:
Excuse me, sir; but may ask your
nameW
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