The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1894-11-07
THE WIDOWS FLIGHT.

LII W lDO w - Il LlO1l Il .
Can't say as like to tell the story"
said the man on the cracker box, as he
accepted a pipe of Tobacco from the
stranger who was waiting for the stage,
''b1t seein' "a you hev a good bit Of
time on hand and these here natives
pointing to the row of Indians-"don't
understand word, | say I'll kind of
help pass away the time a-tellin' it
agin. May be so bold as to ask who
put you on the track ~
The stranger discreetly forgot vino it
was, but he had heard that il was a re-
markable story and that the man on
the cracker box was indirectly inter
ested, and as ne was always fcnd of
hearing true stories, especially when
there was little sentiment i'm them,
he begged for the one indicated.
at amt Of no conscience" said the
man on the cracker box ''facts is facts,
and leetle sentiment mixed in with
'em isn't goin' to hurt nobody. If
you've planned 10 marry the girl you
love, an cot whole lifetime of happi-
ness mapped out, with you and her
livin' in section, on town lot, and
you get left, you'll always have pie
ture as fair as Paradise, an like enough
the reality wouldn't have panned out
half satisfactory.
"That noise? No, that amt the
wheels of the stage a-comin'; that's a
tree-toad hollerin' for rain.
''Lemme see, 1t were night, jest as
it is now, 'twere what we call Injun
summer. No, Injuns, amt talkin'
of you, an it's time you'd got back to
the reservashun, redskins, ever moth
er's son of you.
''Now, whar was /? Oh, it were the
night after the vigilantes hung Slip
perry Dick, of Omaha, for trying to run
off two vallyble hosses as were owned
by the sheriff, an him away to the De-
troit house of correction at the time,
takin' in lifer under guard.
''But we-hem, | mean they-the
vigilantes didn't wait for no sheriff to
let the law take it course. He were
found red-handed with them two
HOSES. Sunburst and Baby Mine,
sneaking them down to the river to
the fiatboat, and We didn't stand on
ceremony, but told him to say prayer
an We all bowed our heads and waited
watches in hand-such of Us as had
them-to time him, an when the five
minutes was up he went up, too. An
must say he died game. There was a
most bootiful scowl on his face an he
never asked any odds of this world or
the next. 1t was the purTiest lynch
ing bee ever attended, and don't you
forget it,
"But the widow, suggested the trav-
eler, a. the man on the cracker box
lapsed into revery.
at We're the very next night, an as
dark a. pitch, when there come low
knock at that door. II was after stage
time an | he'd dru- out the Injuns and
locked up for the night, when there
come "A soft knock that made me jump.
II are nervous kind of work, a buryin'
n hoSs thief a. has been hung, bat
reckoned he were buried safe an sound
till the day Of judgment, an ! opened
the door. An then / were scarf, for
tall woman was standing there.
"'This stores shet up, mum, sez !,
but she jest slipped i'm an said:' Light
lamp, want 10 say somethin'.'
''She he'd the sweetest voice / ever
heard, an when 1 had a light ! see she
war yoang an interestin' like, but
tremblin' an shakin' with fear.
sit down. sez /, AN tell me what
you want
"'I'm the wife Of the man tibet you
hung here to-day for hoss stealin'.'
"You near you're his widow sez
for warn't goin' TO give in a mite.
with that she cried and sobbed.
Lord, how she did go on, an me there
alone, an / didn't know but she'd come
TO kill the whole caboOdle of Us. But
she never spoke a hard word of any
body, only cried an said she was a
lone woman an Dick had always been
good to her, an now she hadn't a
friend i'm the world.
"'Yes you have sez IF there is
short ofbringin' your hus-
band back 10 life, I'm your huckleber-
ry, an yoI can bank on me every
tima.i
"With that / reached out my hand
an she grabbed il an | soon had her
tears dried, for / am powerful consol-
int when / sc; out to be, an / told her
that man who would steal horses was
of no account anyway-that she war a
sight too good iookin' TO be the wife of
a hoss thief, and there was as good fish
in the sea as ever was caught, an she
said was dear, good friend, place
where she could stay for few days,
cause she wanted to see Dicks grave,
an then she looked at me kind of side
ways and said she felt as soon as she
saw me she could trust me.
~ told you as how the sheriff had
gone to Detroit with lifer. Well, /
took her right up to Mrs Sheriff, who
was mighty kind woman, an sez !:
I've brought you company and told
her who the woman was. An they
cried in each others arms, for women