The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1893-10-03
HAD 4 GUARDIAN ANGEL.
One Strange Secret That a Travel er
Never Did Tell His
Wife
An Apphrition Kept Him From
Taking q Train, Saved His
Life.
4 Connecting Stage. Which He Missed
Hold Up sad the Passenger MUIR
dered.

4 Con0ectfng stage, Which He Nfsseos
Hold Up ssd the Passengers MUIR
dcred.
'There are some things a man nevertells
his wife" said John as he gave the tip of
his half smoked cigar Il flip with his little
finger.
THE ayes have it, replied his friend,
with sarcasm.
Il don't mean it in the sense you do. I
mean things of Innocent nature"
"Why didn't you say so them"
After a pause John began to tell his
story. 1t was true, he said, aud the sober
ness with which he told it and the stern
look on his face forbade further levity:
II went in 1880 to Prescott, A.. r. l know
now l went to make q jackass Of myself,
but l thought then I was coming back with
slathers Of money. There were three kinds
of business done there then, ranching, min
ing and gambling, and l wasn't good for
any of these, SO I concluded to come home.
There was a fellow named Berry from
Cleveland who had been in the territory
long enough to get about Sl5, 900 sailed
down. and he said he would come to the
States with me. There was no railroad
LuCu, oU We lOOh Ilt eluEcNy way u LII
nix to Maricopa, riding for two days and
n night.
1--WE got to Martcopa about $50 in the
afternoon. There were two ways of getting
east from here. One was to go through to
San Francisco, and then take the Central
and Union Pacific. The other way was to
leave Maricopa by train, so to Deming,
then take u stage there and ride about 40
miles, striking a railroad there, saving
probably $50 in money and four days in
time OF course Berry and I chose the
quicker route. We bought our tickets and
got our trunks checked by way Of Deming.
The telegraph operator told me there was
trouble sometimes on the stage route after
leaving Deming, passengers getting held
up but there had never been any one hurt.
The train lay there at Maricopa half an
hour for supper. Berry and I were walk
on the platform smoking. O%urtrunks had
been put aboard, aud so Berry said, Let's
get aboard, jack l threw away my CT
gar. 1t was just twilight, and the lights
were lighted on the train. Berry told me
to go aboard, that he was going'to get a
glass of beer. So he q out Of sight. 1t
lacked 10 minutes of starting time. I
went toward the Car, and just before l got
to the steps saw standing on the second
step my little girl! My Godl l can re-
member how l felt now l thought-just
as u man will before reason stops him
that she had come out west to get me, and
that her mother was in the car waiting for
me to come in. But when I got rid of that
thought, realizing that they were at home
in Rhode Island, I shivered from head to
feet and grew icy cold.
There on that step stood little En-. She
hadn't any hat Oh. The lights from the
station lamps shone across her yellow curls
lighted up her face. She was deathly
white and, oh! looked so strangely sad.
Her arm was thrown out, barring the way
into the car. The sleeve of her little dress
had slipped up her arm and left it bare. ]
looked at her and smiled sadly, but she
never smiled back. She raised her little
arm and pointed down the track, which
curved a little just ahead of the station,
and slowly shook her head from side to
side, her face growing awful in it's solem-
nifty.
Just then a man went toward the steps,
mounted them, went through the place
where my child stood. and when he disap.
peared inside the car she was not therel
Berry came out of the dining room and
said: Hello! Thought you was aboard!
Then added, What's the matter?' kindly
and in concern.
"I'm sick, Berry, I said. Il can't 20 on
tonight He took me into the dining room
and got me a seat and u drink of brandy, |
and then, like a first rate fellow, just as he
was, had our trunks taken off, and by re-
quest our tickets were taken back and
money returned. We staid all night at the
hotel, as they called it. 1t would be a
shanty in the east.
Before we went to bed I telegraphed to
New York, asking if my wife and child
We're well, saying, Wire me at once to Los
Angeles
The next day we left Maricopa at 0
o'clock and got into Los Angeles the fol
lowing day in the late afternoon. | got a
telegram there saying they were all well at
home.
The newsboy was crying his papers.
heard his shrill little voice saying, Awful
massacre | bought d paper, and when l
saw the big headline | was so sick and faint
l had to sit down and wait a moment.
THAT train which l didn't take at Mari
copa had carried its eastern passengers to
all awful doom. The stage had been
stopped when it was IS miles out from
Demlng, and every soul was murdered
The bodies We're all mu,ilated; some were
bound to the stage wheels with wire and
burned. There were two women and a
baby among the passengers. The baby Law
dead with its pitiful little wild open eyes
staring up at the implying, bright blue
sky, and in the mothers hand was clinched
q piece of its white dress. Didn't that tell
q story?
1.-The driver of the stage was shot, the
four horses killed, and the sight was one to
horrify those who found the eight mangled
and charred bodies.