Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1893-03-24

any Of these rainbows, for the letters lndi
Gated that by the time they reached their
destination the writer was in another city.
Having learned that the supposed protector
had n ranch In the west was pleased wins
he reached Denver, ard later two or three
letters came from the same place in Wyo-
ming. The location of the ranch had been
made known to us through certain agents
in the west, and when we supposed him To-
Gated at his home | started out to beard the
lion in his den, as it were.
One could not select IA worse time in the
year for "A mission among the ranches of
Wyoming, but | had hardly done anything
all the year aside from working up this
case, and | knew if we could ever get any
of the interested parties we would he am
ply rewarded for all the trouble. Stepping
from one of the transcontinental roads mt
the nearest station, | inquired the distance
to Bullet Mold, which was the rancho sta
ton through which | must pass. 1t was
scarcely four hours riding from me, and
after leaving at a hotel everything not nee
essary | secured a horse and galloped off
toward the peculiarly named ranch station.
1t was bitter cold weather, but the fool
ish thought of what n big man ! would be
when success crowned my efforts kept up
my spirits, and evening found me at my
last stopping place. A sort of a general
store, where more bad whisky thar sugar
was sold, was the sole reminder of life mt
the station, and several cowboys were there.
| prepared to stay over night, but had not
been there over an hour when one of the men
said that he had to go to the ranch on which
he worked, as they were short of help, and
he had to be on hand lest something might
happen. | paid no attention to the Incl
dent, but if | had thought of the way he
had looked at me | would not have needed
to a k the trip which | did next day.
The proprietor had told me the ranch |
was after was three hours due west, and |
started off early in the morning. The ex-
element seemed to make the ride even
shorter, and when | was pulled up before
the house on a pretentious ranch scarcely
an hour seemed to have elapsed. | was
welcomed by "A bright looking young man,
and asked if Mr.. So-and-so lived there.
Yes" was the response, but he babe me
tell you that he did not desire an interview
this morning."
81 don't understand you" | replied in
amazement, for | could not see how he had
expected anybody at such "A time in the
year.
"Oh, yes, you do" came the ready answer
You're II government detective and have
come all the way from the east to get Mr..
Blank. He left before daybreak for the
mountains and will be away on a hunting
trip for some weeks. He also suggested
that your health would not suffer any
should you fail to come zach when he re-
turns, as he has no idea of accompanying
anybody east
| was dumfounded and did not know
how to answer the man who so coolly con
fronted me. My aircastle had been shat
tered, and ! then felt that | would rather
turn cowboy than to 20 back to the office
with the story | would ave to tell But
the young man in charge of the ranch was
not ut all put out. On the contrary, he
seemed to quietly enjoy my discontinue,
although | will give him credit for not
laughing outright. He insisted on my en-
tering the house and had my horse stabbed.
1t was Il very comfortable place, and there
were more signs of civilization in it's midst
than in most of the ranches which ! ave
visited.
We talked on affairs in the east, on which
he was well posted through reading several
of the leading papers, and he would not
listen to my going until after dinner Then
he shook hands as | prepared to mount, and
sent the same man back with me who had
iNAO II vi my clllNdl II LlShJ DC-
fore. | saw through it then; they were eX-
pecting somebody would be foolish enough
to attempt to serve papers or MAKE an ar
rest on the ranch, and kept "A guard at the
station to apprise the man of the appear
ance of any suspicious looking strangers.
The ride was a dreary one, and | guess
my companion thought me mute, for |
spoke very few words. The night at Bullet
Mold station was very different from the
eve. All buoyed up with thoughts of sue
cess at last, | had slept but by starts and
jerks, so anxious was | for the morrow;
but on the night after / Slept the sleep of a
nan who is tired, sick at heart, and who
has made a good start in drowning his sor-
row in the beverage of the far west.
There was some comfort when | made my
report in being informed that was not the
first one to go through the same perform
ance, and our chief suggested that nothing
short of a troop of cavalry could dislodge
thism much wanted individual. | am glad |
am out of it now, and | hope the Hawk
shaws now in the service will be more sue
cessful than | was. My signatures on the
payroll are the only evidences the govern
ment has for my work that ~year.-True