The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1894-06-08

All went well until Antonio was
about to pass the end of the lasso
round the tree II would not reach by
a foot or two. and he hauled upon it
Instantly Heenan wheeled about and
went for Antonio open-mouthed- Up
the bank went Antonio, with the big
camel close at his heels He tried To
reach the horses to mount and ride off,
but at sight of the camel the mustangs
gave snort of terror and dashed away
up the river. Heenan's attention being
attracted to the horses he gave chase
To them, much TO the relief of Antonio
who had plunged head first into a big
bunch of sagebrush to conceal himself
from the enemy, though his hiding was
merely that of the ostrich.
Presently the two men got together
and went in search of their horses
Half a mile up the river they found
both animals drowned in a deep hole
with Old Heenan upon the bank look
ing down at them Ii WAS only after
infinite trouble that the two MeNicans
were able to recover their saddles and
brides As they sneaked home to
Buckland's that evening they were
sadder and wiser men They went
for wool and came back shorn"-even
their shears were lost.
The pair told all manner of lies TO
account for the drowning of their
horses, but as it happened the French
man who owned the camels had climbed
a tree To watch the Mexicans, not
knowing what they We're after, and
had been an amused witness of the
whole affair. When the true story
reached the ranch there were a thou
sand jokes among the men about the
fun to be had in ''shearing the bull
camel in the rutting season"
When the camels were first taken
down to Arizona TO be used in packing
ore one of them was shot and killed by
q German miner. The man who did
the deed suffered about as much dis
tress of mind as did the sailor who
killed the albatross The German was
working for mining company at a
place about three miles from where
were located the men who were trying
to use the ships of the desert as
prairie schooners' in carrying ore
down out of the mountains The man
did not know there was such an
animal on the American continent
probably in all his life had never seen
a camel
One Sunday Hans came tearing into
camp about ten times as wiid-eyed as
usual "Poys." cried he, Il shoot a
helick."
"A what?" asked one of the men.
"A hel-ack-helik," cried Hans
Mine Gott, the biggest helak in all
Arizona"
He means he has shot a monster
elk" said some one.
"Yas, a helix" said Hans $50 wohr
mir Gott helfe, es ist de biggest in de
mountains"
Big horns like this?" queried an old
miner. drawing his neck down into his
chest and spreading his arms abroad
mo horn at ALL" said Hans ''She
was frau helak; she wos de grand
mudder of all de helick. "
As Hans was able to show blood on
his knife, gun and hands, the men con
cluded he had at last really killed
beast of some kind Horses were
caught up and two men sent wilh
Hans to bring in the meat. of which he
said there was more as a wagon load "
Hans insisted upon all hands taking
guns, as he said he had seen large herd
of the elk justacross a little valley from
where he had downed his victim As
the party rode along with him TO find
his game. Hans honestly owned that
he had never before seen an elk. He
had heard SO much about the elk, how
ever. that he thought he knew the ami
NAL
Presently Hans put spurs to his mus
tang and proudly dashed To the spot
where lay the dead camel Dismount-
ing. he threw his beloved lager"
across his game, then as the Others
came up laid finger on his lips He
pointed in the direction of some low
hills. He wanted no noise made He
was in just the right humor to creep
over the hills and slaughter the whole
herd. In his anxiety to make sure of
his victim, Hans had nearly sawed the
head off the poor camel with his knife
When his companions came up they
We're for some moments at loss as to
what kind of a huge creature Hans had
slain Presently one of them. Tom
Alchorn, the well-known Comstock
millwright (now dead), cried out: by
the holy poker, it's a camel He has
killed one of the camels that belong
over al the other camp Here is nice
mess I've no doubt the animal is
worth all of one thousand dollars"
Wort a tousand dollar?" cried Hans
.'Gott in Himmel! IL we could kill
dem all il is more as twenty tousand
dollar in our pocket"
1t was long before Hans could be
made To understand that the boot was
on the other foot" that the owners of
the camel would demand one thousand
dollars for it
"Ach. der teufelr' cried Hans, with
rueful face. ''Potz wetter. Das kameel,
das kameeL Is it den one kameel haf
killed."
Yes, camel" said Alchorn, ',and
the men who own the camel viii be
after you"
"Donner wetter"' grooned Hans
When they got back to the mine and
told of Hans latest exploit with his old
lager" the whole camp was in a roar
Every man who looked at Hans burst
into a horse laugh, and wherever he
went he heard the cry: Hill here comes
the man that killed the camel"
For about a week Hans endured the
gibes and jeers of the camp, then he
came up missing and his old lager"
with him The men had made the
camp too hot for him
Three 4. Crowd
The smallest inhabited island IN the
world is that on which the Eddystone
lighthouse stands At low water II Is
thirty feet in diameter; at high water
the lighthouse. the diameter of which
at the base is twenty-eight and three
fourths feet. completely covers the
island. 1t is inhabited 10y three per
sons. 1t lies nine miles of the Cornish
coast and fourteen miles southwest OF
Plymouth brealxwater-
.onraax IN siberia