St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1892-02-13
THE GRAVE WITHOUT A BODY.
Prepared by . Loving Aothoe for The So
WHO Never Game 0oc6.

VITO Never Game 0oc6.
In a country graveyard. near the
town of Monticcil0 Kaa, may be seen
q mound os earth differing in no par
ticular fro,a the other grsveA At the
head is si>b bearing this inscription:
..Sacred to the memory Of John Payne.
who started May l. 1860. to cross the
plains and never came back"
To one family those words mean .
! great deal For years that grave has
been carefully cared for. and yet it does
not contain. human body. 1t 10 .
heart.broken mothers consent to oct .
part, and made 70 represent the rest
ing place Of q long-lost son and brother.
In the spring Of 1850 John Payne was
In the pride and vigor Of . hopeful man
hood. and May Of that year he started
to Cross the plainA The simple inscrip-
tion Aells. the stsry-"He never came
back"
Up to this spring Of 1870 the Payne
family prospered fairly we'll in making
home in the unsettled west. Then
came the drought and killed every liv-
ing thing ii vegetation and drove all
who could 90 outof the country. John.
the Youngest son, tired of this monoto.
nous succession Of desolating days and
his restless soul longed for action. At
that time the western part of tie state
was designated ON the maps as the
''Great American Desert" but in this
country it was called simply 1.-THE
Plaina" The only road leading into
aud across these plains was the Santa
Fe trail. Most " the settlements of
tho country. were along thistrail. The
trains were'made upof several wagons
drawn by seven, eight. and sometimes
nine yo<es of oxen, the drivers Of which
were called d.bullwhackers.
These trains would often stop 1t the
Payne home over night and terrible
were the tales the bullwhackers told
when of an evening seated around q
fire they would recount the adventures
Of . life on the plains John listened
to these tales with . palpitating heart
and wildly imaginative brain. He BE-
came seized with an unconquerable de-
sire to begin such . life himself. After
listening with bated breath to these
wonderful stories he would retire to
ONu OoAy W p0OS = nA&uS Va SuH HuAAuX
adventures and hairbreadth escapes
Johns mind was fired with zeal to 60
to the plains and have some of these
startling adventures himself An OPP
portunity Was sOon afforded and he
went as driver for one Of the wagons
It did not take lQipg to see . difference
between the actual and the storied; but
no matter. John never told his tales.
At Pawnee Rock the train was At
tackled by q band Of Indians who were
maddened at injury. either fancied or
actual. received at the hands of the
whites This train had to pay the PEN
atty of the indian vow for vengeance.
valiantly dill the little band Of twenty
men fight TOR their lives, but one BY
one they went down before the drop
ping fire of the red SKINS until all were
killed. How long the fire lasted Is not
known, for dead men tell no tales.
Soldiers from Port Larned, fourteen
miles away. buried the bodies OF the
unfortunate men without waiting for
Identification. Such things were too
common then to occasion comment and
the incident was soon forgotten.
At the Payne home nothing was
known of this. and for years an old
iwhite-haired woman looked anxiously
to the west for the homecoming of
her boy. and travellers from that
direction would afterward tell how
they were accosted BY IN old
woman who eagerly asked for news
of her son. When answered that he
had not been seen. this poor woman
would shake her head sorrowfully and
say: mo. ycu have not heard Of him.
You must have missed him; he has lost
his way. but he will strike the trail
again and come back; yea he will come
back to his nlother."
But John did not come, and after
waiting through weary years the mother
finally consented 70 have . grave made
for her youngest born In the family lot
and yet the thought was ever in her
mind that some time he would occupy
that grave. Flowers were planted and |
grass was grown. To tine others it was
. mark of respect for . dead son and
brother. To this one woman It never |
failed to be the bed prepared for the
long-lost hoy.
She now occupies . bed at ono side, |
but this grave Isl unoccupied, and will
be to the end Of time.-Chicago Trib-
Inc. /