The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1895-08-03

I'VE all run 70 ECO fur ourselves. an
thar. sure enough. Il war-rcd an blue
flames. fery sarpfhts. an gin'ral CON-
Riomeration. fist On Joe said. An
whils we stood s~shni<in'. thar came
two thunderclaps an sheets of light
nin', right close to the ground. 1t was
q puxzler for awhile. but old Keno Bill,
who war down to Benton Fourth Of
July, he ser: Boys. that thar Is fire.
works, an that Dustin noise Is can
mons a-shootin' Them's Queen Vic
toria' perlccce what we heared on. but
what they're kickin' up SIGH rumpus
fur beats me-.
Now, you may bet that IL didn't
take us long to guess that the redcoats
WAS a-loolin' fur the fort. an we
lsnowed they'd be purity sure to find It
next day. an what TO do we didn't
know. We hadn't no horses, an
couldn't get none from the Crecs.
though the varmints might easy have
stole lots more. 'Twan't no use to start
of on foot, an we was In n bad Ok,
you betl
I'm course we lSnowed we war NIL
vartuous men. what hadn't done moth
in. only honest tradin', an mebbe
killed a few Indians which warn't Of
no count. But we'd heared purity
tough stories OF you Britishers. an
didn't know what you might do to
free American citizens when you
cotched 'em on your own side. So we
held a sort of council right thar, an
BuckslSin Charley spoke up an sen:
Boys, we'd best git rid Of that yal-
Ter jacket fust thing
THAT riled us up wuss nor slfunlrs,
an Bronco Jack ser:
"'By jingo! We amt a-goin' TO spill
no good whisky. We kin jist hide the
pizen In them willers down by the
erik, an II the sojers finds IL, why we
kin sw'ar we didn't know nothin'
erbout It, But, less their noses Is
mighty sharp, they won't find 1t. an
when they 60 way beat, well be all
hunlxy dory.'
"Waal, the hull crowd felt that way.
We didn't want to waste stuff that war
with ten beaver skins gallon--sich
thing war wickedi So we carried
the twenty kegs out an sot 'em down
among some thick bushes under the
bank. Then we felt chock full of i'm
nerence an resoomed our game. waitin',
comfortable ez could be, fur you fell
lers to diskiver the fort, which war
jam up tcetotal now.
'.Bimeby we heared the Crees at IL
agin-a-hollerin' an yellin' wuss nor
ever Squar-toed Jimmy scooted out
to see what war up, an when he got
back he observed, short an snappy ez
a bob-tailed cat:
boys, them red devils has found
the lickcrp
''rhat scarf us bad, for we knowed
the wild cusses war sure TO git ugly.
So we locked the gates loaded up all
our guns an watched outen the loop
holes.
THAR war erbout hundred Injuns
an hundred gallons of whisky,
which, considerin' its natur, war
enough to lay out any eight hundred
two-legged critters. an in less than a
half hour the reds war all fghtin'
drunk, a-bellowin' an roarin' like
butler bulls In stampin' time. But be-
fore another half hour had gone by,
every mothers son of 'em--old Piney
an" all--was allyn on the ground,
stIffer'n SO many logs. Then Long
Dave--hcs preacher now--lxind of
meditatin', remarked;
This ere arn't bad time to trade
fur them ponies
Reckon not SEE half dozen on us
to onct.
$50 we got the cayuses in right on.
cause the reds mightn't like the trade
when mornin' come; an If they was
afoot they couldn't foller us, fur wo
warn't goin' to stop thar to argoo the
pint. Anyhow, it war a real honest
swap. So we loaded the packs up In
no time an struck out fur the Sweet
Grass hills long before daylight
Next day, bein' guided by the on
grateful Injuns, you chaps did find
Whoop Up, n lot of mighty sick
warriors on what whisky war left.
The redskins must have given us bad
name, likely; fur squad of perleece
sot right out on our trail; but our crit
ters bein' Observation-Disclosures war
eighty Of 'em, besides the nineteen we
war ridin-we got to the bound'ry
line fust.
Don't you rck'lect when you come
up we war sittin' round that pile OF
stones on Milk river. jist inside Of Mon
tana, a-polSin' fun at you? But you
dassent come one foot on Uncle Sans
ranch, an had to bid us sorrerful
adoo. IL trooly war gelorious timel
~ amt bearin' no malice 'gainst the
redcoats ] s'pose they've got TO arm
thor grub. But 1t war low-down mean
on 'em to hold mp Tom Higgins when
he war a-comin' back from Benton ez
innocent an unsuspectin' ez tender
foot Chinee. An then to spill out ali
that whisky he had along war owda-
ciously foolish Why. you might have
gone In pardners with Tom an
made q little fortin outen itl But
Britishers Is too bull-headed for any
thing" With which sage remark
FourAce Pete turned away In disgust