The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1892-09-22

Mail Route.
BY JESsAMINE s. SLAUGHTER.
NYHE road was about as dreary and unin-
,EI teresting one as could be well imag-
| oAklcS ined. broad. level, yellow expanse
SEV Of Dakota prairie stretches away on
every hand like leopard's tawny
h hide" and broken only to the west by
A2 the long, low hills of the Missouri,
firm as granite walls Here and there IN
| eoolee could be seen that singular denizen OF
! the plains-the coyote. who broke into a pro-
| lopged howl on catching sight OF u.s. and tneh
disappeared in the sage brush.
| The passengers on the stage were no more
| interesting than the road. A fat old woman
| occupied the back seat, wrapped in the arms OF
morpheus, as indicated By her snores. The
other passenger was stalwart Norseman, who
"spiks no Auglis," so nothing very entertain
ing could be expected from him. So turned my
attention to the stage driver. A weather beaten
old scout was he, with eyes as keen and watch
full as an Indians. He had driven on this mail
route ain the early days." SO / was sure he
| could tell many thrilling yet true story OF
adventure on this line, if he were so inclined.
! questioned him about the route, praised his
horses etc. until his stern visage relaxed, and
! be began TO talk:
do We see thet trail a-leadin' down thet
butte inter tn main road ?" pointing to pre-
cipitous bluff that overshadowed the highway.
Well, come down thet trail wunst a-horse-
back a-makin' th best time | ever did in m
| life"
Tell me about it," / said. becoming inter-
ested.
40. this wuz way back in tn 7Gs, Stage
drivin' now don't begin to be what it wuz in
them days 1t took purity game felier ter
drive, then mot thet I'm a-braggin' ony on
m'sef) but / tell We it wuz dang'ous work.
There wuz Injuns a-plenty, an worse'n th'
1njuns wuz them pesky road agents, who'd as
soon put daylight through We as not fer tn sake
O. what v carried. There wuzn't but one house
tween here an Fort Buford then, an thet wuz
tn dinner ranch fer this here mail route then
a-kept by feller named McFadden an his
squaw.
Bout six miles 'bove McFadden's wuz a
gorge or cut in tn road. 1t wuz very narrow
an curved right round tween two steep buttes,
an what with tn chap'ral an brush a.growin'
so thick, an th' powders -projectin' out from
| each side it made il a-kinder tcklish place ter
drive through on account O. it bein' sich good
| hidin' place fer ony one wat wuz disposed ter
| do mischief. It wuz called Devils Gucb, an
] tell ye what, twas purity well named The
| stage driver afore me had bin held up couple
O. times, au' tn last time he passed in his
checks in thet same place; SO / allus felt
| kinder narvous when passin' through 1t, spe-
cially if ] had lot o dust aboard.
We'll, this time wuz a-tellin' We of, wuz
alone an hadn't any freight 'ceptin' a box o
pay dirt fer them at the fort. ! wuz sure no.
BODY outside of the Office knowed anything
about it bein on board but all tn same
couldn't help feelin' ez if somethn' wuz a-goin
ter happen The box wnz a-lyin' at ny feet
wrapped In an old coat with a couple o harness
| straps around it ter make it easier to pack. 1t
| didn't look very valuable, lookin' fer all th
world like a pack o. old duds.
~ drove good team in them days, mus
| tang an roam, two O the best horses ever run
on this here route. You bet didn't need no
! blacksnske ter drive them. The buckskin es-
pecially could jest lap over any horse then or
| thet is now in tn kentry. 1t jest peared ez If
thet horse knowed it all
well, we wuz comm down this very same
! long grade jest afore We turn down inter tn
| gulch and j wuz a-keepin' my eye peeled, cos
| kinder tho't seed somethin'. / allus before
! drove leetle slow through th' gulch on ac-
| count O. tn curve, but this time went through
| a-lickity- split with tia horses On tn jump. 1t
| kinder took somebody By surprise, fer tn next
mint heerd behind me shouts of Whoa up !!
! Stop there' while their bullets went ping,
ping around me.
"Stop2 / guess not. / jest let Paddy an
old Roam out, and we jest fewi We wuZ
-goin' at purity stiff gait down grade an ]
| yuz a-gittin' over my scare a-thiukin' twuz
/
could make it afore them fellers caught up,
when Paddy begin ter sIacken his tug an afore
Y could wink drapped dead ez q door-nail.
One of them blarsted bullets had struck i'm,
but he'd kept a. goin till be drapped in harness.
But there wuz no time fer fooln'. Quick ez
could ] cut Old Roam loose, mounted i'm an
buekled thet box on behind me, an away we
started with them hounds a-bearin' close arter
me.
Wed gone a couple o. miles on tn dead
lope an could see they wnz a. gaining. Their
horses wuz fresh an Roam he'd already come
his 80 miles, an | could see he couldn't stand
thet pace much longer, though he wuz doing
nobly now. One OF them road-agents wu2
a.ridin' powerful gray thet wuz Jest a-walkin
away from the Others. So ! checked old Roam
ter let thet feller git within easy pistol range
BE didn't wait fer no preliminaries. but kept
airing away, the bullets strikin tn prairie
sod a-raisin' little puffs o. dust. i turned
round an fired. / don't know ter this day
whether | ever hit him er not Anyway, hi:
horse SHE'D, buckod, an flung i'm, an come
a-tearin' aTter us. passed US like nothing, an
! went a-snortin' down tn road, a-raISin tire
menjous cloud o. dust.
/" WIZ Jest clean raZZe-dazzled for a ninut
knowcd / could not keep ahead O. them fel
lers much longer OH tbct road, and he'd ter give
en- th' shake somehow. when ! thot o shor
trail across til bluIs tor tn ranch. turn o
tn road hid them fGllcrs from sight, so i dodge
up th' coolee a-folerin' this yere trail. Olt
Roam wuz pretty near beat out. so Iwent kinder
easy till we got back inter th' main road, whicl
we did about half q milo above tn ranch.
looked back wuust an seed 'em still a-comin'
> | ] Let Old Roam out then. ] knowed the,
, couldn't keich up. 'cause them long jumps 0
his'n wuz atellin', but they kept follerin' an
affirm jest fer spite. i felt q twinge in N,
side, an knowed i wuz hit Thcr next turi
Ia ih' road we sighted tn ranch an the,
sbeerod OF, Rrter firing couple o farewell
shots. Old Roam gave a final bound, an thel
c drapped. ! went over his head. an didn'
e know nOthin' more fer a couple o weeks. WLa
become o them road-agents7 o, the yiglante
rounded upa couple o. them an strung en-
np ter tree in Stray Horse Cooiee. As fer me
~ company raised me salary, an give me
vote o. thanks Here we are Ehf We'll.
dou't much keer ef do.
. At the Enoampment.
c NJ. ". Mann, Past Department Commando
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