The state capital., 1891-08-08
A NIGHTS ADVENTURE.
The Experience of a Traveller on
an Illinois Prairie.

Oil llllIlOlS TTdlTlo.
During the spring Of 1910, | was en-
gagged by the heirs Of gentleman who
had died in Bangor, Me-, to go out tc
Illinois, and look up a township, .
which had been bought by said gentle
man from the soldiers of the last war,
to whom it had been allotted by the
government .land warrants" as part
pay for services rendered Most of oul
readers are probably aware that the
men who served in the campaign OF
1912 were entitled to one hundred and
sixty acres of land, over and above their
monthly pay, and at the close of their
service they received warrants or
bonds for this land, which land was
marked off into townships, and those
into numbered lots, each man receiving
a specified lot. Most of these warrants
were sold at the time Of their reception
for trifiing sums-say, from five tC
twenty dollars-and many of them have
not yet been locked up by their own
west, more attention is now turned to
this matter, and spectators are busy
buying up the old claims"
The man for whose heirs had inter
estcd myself had bought a large num-
ber Of consecutive lots. They were To-
Gated near the head of the Kaskaskia,
and we have reason to believe that they
were uncommonly valuable.
After having armed myself with the
necessary documents, set out on my
mission. / reached Vandalia without
difficulty, and from there | took the
STAGE for Shelbyville. Beyond Shell
byville, l still had some sixty miles tc
20, and there was no method of con-
veyance, save such as chance might
throw in ones way. I had learned
that there was settlement in Macon
county, which would come in my way
If kept along by the river; but could
get no direct clew to it's whereabouts.
| knew, however, that L should find
"squatters' on my route, and from
them / could learn all that was neces-
6ary.
Ten miles from Shelbyville l made in
a small boat; and then | purchased a
horse of an old settler, and from him |
learned that I should find plenty OF
"squatters" on the very land Of which
l was in search. 1t was early in the
forenoon when I started on with my
horse, and made easy progress on the
alluvial track upon the western bank
of the Kaskaskia. About two o'clock
in the afternoon, whatever pleasing
reveries | may have been engaged in
were cut short by a sudden darkening
Of the sun; and, upon looking up,
found that huge clouds were rising in
the northwest, and | could hear the
wind as it moaned through the trees,
upon the table land to my left l knew
there was storm brewing, and knew,
too, that my hopes of shelter were du-
bious. However, | spurred up my
horse, and allowed myself to hope that
! might come upon some chance
"suuatter" before the storm broke.
False hope! In less than half an hour
the storm was upon me. For two hours
kept on my way, with only sort OF
wind-driven mist; but at the end of
that time the rain began to come down
In torrents. For awhile | allowed my
self to quail before the combined force
of rain and wind; but | found that the
enemy must be met; and, at length,
with stout ejaculation of defiance, |
faced the storm and rode on. No shell
ter arose to my view, and night fell
upon me. 1t was dark-O, how dark!
So dark that the sable mass might have
been cut with knife. / gave the
horse the rein and let him follow his
own instinct. 1t still rained as though
the big lakes had been tipped over upon
the land, and the wind, too, still piped
away without tagging.
Imust have ridden thus through the
utter darkness for two hours-lt seemed
to me ages-when I thought I saw a
light ahead of me- 1t twinkled like a
misty star and then disappeared, but
soon I saw it again, and ere long | be-
came convinced that human hablta-
tion of some sort was ahead OF me-. l
urged nv beast on, and soon L had the
real pleasure of pulling up before a
house. What sort of a house it was L
could not tell; I could only see dark
mass and single window, from which
shone the light. l alighted from my
horse. and after cropping about for some
time found door and knocked lustl-
ly. Ny call was answered by wom-
an, but the wind put out her light, and
as She turned back to relight it fol-
lowed her.
At first the female a middle-aged, in
tclligent looking person, was little
startled at my manner and appearance
but soon calmed her fears by making
known my situation and business
When I asked her if I could remain
there during the night she hesitated,
and said she would ''let me know but
she asked me to sit down by the fire
and WARM myself. There was a COM
plete puddle of water where had been
standing, for the rain was almost
streaming from my garments, SO took
off my oyercoat and the lady imme'