Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1891-10-08

tu$ growth and chapparal on the RED
-oiI % the mesa
FROM the saloon within came he
rattle Of dice. the chink % glass. the
rattle OF eoin and the murmur of deep,
hoarSe male voices The Roagh Dia-
mood was a most lucrative and four
iShing institution ia the littie railroad
town Of PICTURE Canyon- oa the line Of
the Union Pacific. IL was one % those
places which at that time sprang up
IN n night and were deserted in a day
along the line % the great road. In
deed. they followed the track. and
whers~er track laying ended tempo
rarfly. there a town was certain 10
spring up-almoSt a. II by magic
There were Thousands of labor~r< rail-
road men. engineers and spectators
With them came peddlers. storrkeep
crs and. last but not least. the great
army of gamblers and saloon men
Some of these towns were located in
advantageous situations. and finally
took on a solid growth aud prospered.
Others. having nothing to justify their
existence save the presence of the
army of railroad employees. vanished
utterly when that army advanced
further and further on is mission Of
~conquering space and time and bind
ing east and west together with bands
Of steel
Herries was attached - the en-
gineer corps OF the road and had been
for some time stationed at Picture
Canyon. n city Of some 1--WE thousand
inhabttants-mostly males-and which
was nearly a month Old 10 antique.
indeed, hat an election for a mayor
and common council was being agitat-
ed by the more enterprising members
of h community.
Harvard bred. ~delicately nurtured.
accustomed To all the ~reinsments of
life which wealth. guided by correct
taste. may give in an Old and settled
community. the rude surroundings Of
his present life had at first disheartened
Iierris> But being. at bottom. a man
of good sense and pluck and possessing
n splendid constitution. a magnificent
bieeps. standing six feet and over in
his boots. the man who hail been YaIe's
especial terror as right tackle ami
who had filled his seat in the varsity
eight with more than credit when the
blues crossed the line ahead Of the
crimson on Lake QuinSigamoud.
would hardly finch at the hardships
which other men bore without com
plant, even il at times his soul grew
weary of oaths and liquor, maddened
men and brawls. and bacon aud muddy
coffee and hard tack Indeed. he grew
at last TO like the wild freedom of his
life, a. all men will do in time. and he
was fast taking on the exterior of a
genuine frontiersman when he
hen he met Chiquita.
Chiquita was a sprite. She was the
true daughter of rocky canyon and
desert mesa-a genuine chi d of the
Sierras AN a woman withal.
Her reputed father was an eviI-eved
old Mexican named Ramon; ostensibIy
n herder of other mems sheep; really a
gatherer of other mems coins.
thiquita kept house for him in tum-
bled together shack on the outskirts
of the town, and there entertained her
fathers guests.
o little Chiquita-
She was brilliantly pretty, with the rich
~ AVN AuShluk htE OiiVc cncekS, ner
white teeth flashing between ripe. dewy.
erimson lips, with glorious brown eyes,
under heavy arching brows. and shaded
by such long. curling lashes As would
make ones heart ache, especially the
heart of a froutiersman. in whose life
female beauty is n rich and rare event.
Many IA dollar had Chiquita's eyes
and lips brought to old Ramon's sheep
skin poueh-and still he was athfrst for
more gold.
IL was Of this Herries was thinking.
for he knew Chiquita. and it was this
which, thinking of it. drove him out of
the warm and cosy barroom the onlv
place he could possibly stay, save in
his cold and cherries tent, and forced
him To cool his heated brow in the cool.
wet wind which blew from the mouth
Of Picture canyon.
He was reused by u voice. a deep
slow plainsman's voice, addressing
him:
Partner. you air a good one for a
tenderfoot, leastways I've sorter
tackled to you senee I seen the way