The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1894-06-21

/ like a child that they were wicked to
chase a girl. l could have kissed her
feet. Tonnere. how she fooled them,
( She said, would they not search the
house? She said all through me, on her
fingers and by signs. And | told
them at once. But she told something
else that the girl had slipped out as
the last man came in, had mounted the
chesnut and would wait for me by the
spring. a quarter Of a mile away.
There was the danger that some one
Of the men knew the tinger-language,
so she told me this thing IN signs mix
ed NJ with other sentences.
Good, There was now but one thing
to do-for me to get away. SO | said,
laughing to one of them: Come, and
we viii look after the horses and the
others can search the place with Hill
ton. SO we went out to where the
horses were tied to the railing and led
them away to the corral.
"Of course you Will understand how
[ did ii. | clapped hand on his mouth
put pistol at his head, gagged and
tied him. Then l got my Tophet and
away | went to the spring. The girl
was waiting. There were few words.
[ gripped her hand, gave her another
pistol and then We got away on fine
moonlit trail. We had not gone a
mile when | heard faint yell far he
hind. My game had been found out.
There was nothing to do but to ride
for it now and to fight if necessary.
But fighting was not good. for might
be killed and then the girl would be
caught just the same. We rode on
such ride the horses neck and neck,
their feet pounding the prairie like
pistOn-rOds, raWbOne to rawbone, a
ding dong gait | knew they were
after us. though | saw them but once
on the crest Of the divide, about three
miles behind Hour after hCur like
that with ten minutes rest now and
then at a spring, or to stretch our legs.
We hardly spoke to each other; but
God Of Love my heart was warm to
this girl who had ridden 80 miles in
twenty four hours. Just before dawn,
when [ was beginning to think that
we should easily win the race if the
girl could but hold out, if it did not
kill her, the chestnut stuck leg into
the crack Of the prairie and horse and
girl were on the ground together. She
could scarcely move she was SO weak,
and her face was like death. [ put a
pistol to the chestnut's head and ended
it. At that the girl stopped and kiss
ed the poor beasts neck, but spoke
nothing. As helped her on my Tophet
[ put my lips to the sleeve of her dress.
Mother of God, What could a man
do. She was so noble?
Dawn was Just breaking oozy and
the Jumping Sandhills. They lay
quset and shining in the green brown
plain, but | knew that beneath there
was churn which could set those
swells Of sand in motion and make
deadly sport Of an army. Who can
tell what it is? A food under the
surface. a tidal river what? No
man knows. But they are sea mon
sters on the land. Every morning at
sunrise they begin to eddy and roll,
and no man ever saw stranger sight.
Bien, [ looked back. There We're four
hOrsemen coming on. about three miles
away. What was there to do? The
girl and myself on my tired horse
were too much They saw also, and
hurried on. There came to me great
idea. | must reach and cross the
Jumping Sandhills before sunrise
1t was all deadly chance
When we got to the edge of the
sand they were almost a mile behind.
[ was all sick to my teeth as my poor
Tophet stepped into the sand. God,
how | watched the dawn. Slow, slow
we toiled over that velvet powder. As
we reached the further side | felt that
it was beginning to move. The sun
was showing like the lid Of an eye
along the plain. l looked back All
four horsemen were in the sand, plung
ing on towards US By the time we
touched the brown green prairie on
the further side the sand was rolling
behind us. The girl had not looked
back. She seemed too dazed | Jump
ed from the horse and told her that