Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-08-25
have to bake bread and pies tonight"

lheii, anu SO followed Mrs. Lane Kitchen
ward. l saw that l would not indulge in
much sleep while the excitement kept up
outside, and as the walls of the car in
which l slept would rot be any more pro-
per. l felt as though I'd rather sit up and
De ready to run. In the kitchen everything
was as clean as a recent scrubbing could
make 1t, and there was a roaring hot fire.
The Senmy Side of Life.
1t is my night up" explained Mrs. Lane.
we havefto bake the pastry and bread at
right because 1 have to use the oven near
ly all daT;o 80 1 sit up one night, and Mr..
Lane the onext." l glanced at my watch.
1t was 1890. DO you sit up very late?" 1
asked.
ut usually takes till about o'clock to get
through, unless l have an unusually large
baking; Will be till Eearly getting done
this time She had been on her feet since
O'Clock that morning, yet there was not
even a whine in her voice to show that she
was tired. She had some apples to pare for
pies, and while she was preparing the crust
l pared the apples. She placed my chair
beside the oren door, where l could see the
tented town. which stood just outside of the
right of way of the railroad. Black forms
were nlttingly siihouetted against the white
canvas in the bright moonlight and / could
near most of the talk that was going on,
as well as the monotonous cry of the men
who were raking in silver at the wheels of
fortune, high ball and other games. Even
borne on the night air. as they ratified at
the bars in the half dozen saloons OFF at
the lett through the opposite door l could
still see the rim of mountains against the
cloudless star-gemmed sky. and in between
lay the narrow valley flooded in the white
moonlight, and fiecked with black where
scattering pinon trees and scrub oaks stood.
The contrast between the peacefulness on
one side and passion on the other made me
feel creepy, so l began to ask questions.
Naturally, with my mind full of the shoot
ing which had just taken place my thoughts
turned to the seamy side of such life, and
/ asked Mrs. Lane If she had been witness
of many tragedies in her wanderings.
Not many, thank heaven! she replied
earnestly. We are not often as close to
town as this. The railroad company pre-
fcrs to have the boarding train side tracks
laid half mile or more from the town be-
cause the men all drink. and II the saloons
are so far away they don't always care to
go to them; and II they do they get drunk
and stay there. and do rot come back to
bother us till they are sober. Strange as 1t
may seem. they do not quarrel much among
meSsr One un HeTy sad sSaon a
she went on. coming to tire door. where she
leaned YEARLY while she talked. I'VE had
been stopping at Isleta junction. repairing
which ended in a shooting, and a young
girl Was killed There was a ptifui story
or wrong and parental injustice, and the
poor child was not to blame for the life
down the road knew about 1t. and all united
in execrating her hard-hearted old father.
Parents are not always careful early
enough In life of the associations and COM
init scoundrels to be intimate friends of
themselves they must expect the friend
ship TO extend 10 members of the family.
The Usual Result.
Under promise of marriage, Elise was
lured away from home. Her ~4ewnfail was
very rapid after she found that she had
been dupei, but he- father cast her off, so
she ching to her fathers friend, <who was
her betrayer. and who fled aftertthe shoot
ing, ard left her still warm body to be
taken care of by strangers. Wee were or
dered to albuquerque, only a few miles
east, and as we were just about ready to
go some of the gamblers came and asked
that we bring the body to town. 1t was
such a pitiful sight to me when they
brought the pretty child and laid her On my
bed. Less than six months before / had
seen her, as light-hearted a bird. singing
about her work in her fathers rose garden
She was only sixteen and had no mother
While she lay in the car grea: many
came in to look at her, and just before
starting a big, handsome fellow, on whose
good looks dissipation was telling in an in
dellble way came in and stood long time
looking at her still. white face peaceful
and pretty in death, as though she had
never sinned. l had to go to the kitchen,
and when | came back the man was kneel-
ing beside Elise, with his face buried in the
bed clothing. / slipped out ard left him,
for l felt sure that he was the man who
would have made an honest wife of her IL
she had not made mistake and gone off
with another. When l went back he was
gone, bit here were tear drops on the
Saxen cheek
About daybreak the next morning. as
We lay in the yards in Albuquerque. the
semc nan ca ne and asked to see Elise
again. Mr.. Lane let him in. He only re-
manned few moments. and when he came
out his face was as white as the dead girls.
He Gaze to me and laid a roll Of bills in
my hands. -.-.--- ..-- -
you see that she has a decent burial"
he said, hiskily. and with evident suffering.
she ought to have been my wife. and I've
settled all scores now, and have a right to
dictate what shall be done. Get her
white dress and flowers and plant her in
the best lot on the hill yonder. If anybody
objects to her going in among the big bugs.
you tell em the curse of Big Bob will go
with them through eternity. Thatll cinch
'em. Have all the carriages in town and
make her funeral look bigger than his.
They'll probably plant him about the same
time, IL there's enough OF him left to make
a corpse" And then he jumped OF the car
and disappeared. When We went into town
to arrange for the funeral of Elise we
learned that her betrayer had been found
in his fathers house. with his body
so full of holes that he might have been
used for a target at regimental practice
The dogs were dead and the servants drug
ge1 when the body was found. Shortly
after returning to the boarding train. some
train men came along carrying a covered
burden. and before they asked leave to
place the body in our car l knew that 1t
was Big Bob who had thus elected to fol-
low the woman he loved. With the money
he gave me we buried them both up on
the hill among the big bugs" Such TRACE
dies are not infrequent. but that was the
most sorrowful one that / ever witnessed.
This is a hard country on women" and
then she went back to her pie crust.
He Held Five Aces.
1 finished peeling the apples and gave
them to her, and sat for a moment listen
ing to the sounds that came from the tent
ed town. Songs of doubtful melody, frag-
ments of loudly told stories of unsavory
character the shuttle of heavy feet in a
clog dance. laughter-it all came to me as
clearly as II l had been in the midst of it.
But above it all l felt sure that l heard
the sound of a woman'3 voice, sobbing, and
smothered groans. 1 began to wish that
had never heard of a boarding train. 1t
was all so uncanny. In the half light CIV
en- by the little kerosene lamp, the long
narrow car. dingy with smoke and black
with long usage, looked so cayernOCS and