Bennington semi-weekly banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 1894-1902, 1895-03-15


mere was nothing else for it but to sub
nit. l took out q roll OF notes and handed
them down.
There was no uso in trying to conceal
any of them with that pair of sharp eyes
searching me from the Sits in the mask
But the proceeding had the effect of lcav
ing me practically pcnniless in "A strange
land, 1000 miles from friend With thu
exception of $40 bill, which l remember
ed was in my waistcoat pocket, l had nd
resources nearer than New York.
Better help ourselves to a nag apiece
Bill, said the more active of the two to
the one at the horses heads. See here
Keep your shooting iron handy while L do
the trick.
In moment the two lcadcrs-one 4
dapplcd gray and the other u bald faced
chestnut-wcrc detached from the team.
The sack was flung on the back of one ui
them, and the two horses were led away
behind a bluff. They were no sooner out
of sight than the other man, who had
watched us the while, began to retreat
backward in the direction his companion
had taken. He, too, disappeared and thea
for the first time for ten minutes we knew
what it was to exist without the sensation
of loaded winchester threatening Us at
point blank range.
The driver and the guard set about
adapting the Cut harness to the two re
manning horses which done the lumber
ing vehicle started at a crawl to return uC
the hotel to replace the stolen stceds, ltay-
ing me alone to make the best of my way
to Golden Falls The guards directions
were very simple, "POint your nose Ia the
west and keep right on till you git thar. "
} And while | am taking my lonely tramp
it may be well to explain how it was that
j, Arthur Saltmarshc, young English
barrister, came to find myself in the wilds
of the Black Hills, where road agents
and shooting jrans' were quite common
place affairs. Just before the commence
ment of that long vacation had seen an
advertisement in one of the newspapers
which informed the next Of kin of the late
Leonard Saltmarshc of New York that he
would hear of something to his advan-
tage" by applying 70 Wilkins e. Crowdy,
attorncys-at-law in that city. To the best
of my belief, l was that individual, Leon
ard Saltmarshc having been my fathers
only brother. We had never heard of his
marriage, and to the day Of his death my
father had asserted that his brother Leon
ard would have pile to leave behind him
some day. All knew of my uncle was
that he was an eccentric young man, who
had gone to America years before l was
born. My father and he seldom COmmu-
niCated.
wrote at once to wilkins & Crowdy,
and by return mail received a civil reply
TO the effect that my uncle had died sud
denly without will. leaving property to
the amount of 50, 900, 900 behind him.
They were quite prepared to entertain
my claim in the absence of any other APP
plicant. All they wanted was to be fur
nishcd with the necessary proofs and they
limited that considering the amount at
stake it would be worth my while to run
across to New York in person. The idea
Of spending the vacation in this way
pleased me. My father had left me well
off, SO whether the inheritance proved to
be mine or no l could well afford the huli-
day jaunt. / took the next Cunard boat,
and on landing went straight to the Offices
of the attorneys.
But here a surprise was in store for me.
The very morning of my arrival in New
York Messrs wilkins & Crowdy had re-
Beived a letter putting in claim to the
property from another applicant. The let
ter was dated from Golden Falls, which
the lawyers believed was mushroom
mining camp in the Black Hills district,
and 1t purported to come from one Luke
Saltmarshe, who said he was q son OF
Leonard Saltmarshe as the result of a
marriage contracted by the latter when
tout w2st" 2S years before.
l chose my own course at once I ex-
planned to tho attorneys that l was well
off and only desired that justice should be
DONE If this young man were really my
Uncle Leonard S son, by all means let him
have the property. But l had no relations
living, and, quite apart from the matter
in hand, it would please me much to make
my Cousins acquaintance My time being
my own, l therefore proposed myself to go
to Golden Falls and see him, quite in "a
friendly way and thoroughly prepared to
recognize his claim. My legal training, |
said, might even be of some use to him in
helping him to procure the proofs which
were necessary.
Messrs. wilkins & Crowdy confessed
that they did not like my project A trip
to the Black Hills was no joke, they said,
and if by any chance Luke Saltmarsho
was an impostor my life even might not
be safe in that wild region. Better at any
rate, wait for his reply. These objections
l overruled and started for the west that
same evening.
Thus it was that on the day the Parsons
City mail coach was robbed / was ap-
preaching Golden Falls with nothing but
a change of clothes and solitary $40 note.
At the end of ten miles the path suddenly
dipped over the brink of a ravine, down the
center Of which a mountain torrent was