Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1896-04-16


had been digging, and l asked:
Aren' { you going 70 plant the trees'
"No, he replied carelesslv, sit
wouldn't grow there. The soils toe
hard. .
The cowboys spread their beds every
night under the cottonwoods beside the
lower acequia and that night we heard
| them IN earnest discussion long after
they had gone to bed. Mr. Williams was
with them for short time and came
back saying that they We're Talking bout
| ghosts and that Kid had declared en-
phatically that the old Apache chief
walked o nights md that he had both
seen and heard him.
''He gave vivid description, . Mr..
Williams went on, ''of waking ND one
night and seeing the Indians skeleton
| rise up out of the ground and bounce on
a soldier who stood near and kill him
outright. He will have Holy John so
terrified that the poor fellow will want
his time at once. For John believes sv-
erything that is impossible, and he.will
see ghosts all night long and be afraid
of his own shadow in the daytime .
That night, just as morning broke,
the whole household was awakened BY a
loud, piercing yell, followed by another
and another, and all rushed from their
beds in time to see Holy John leap over
the fence and dart down the road. still
shrieking as if fiends were after him.
And beside his deserted bed under the
cottonwoods lay some grisly thing, shin
ing in the gray light with streaks and
patches of white. Kid looked after the
flying figure and said, IN a tone Of ex-
tremest satisfaction
Hes sure buffaloedp
Holy John had awakened in the dim,
early dawn and found the skeleton Of
the Apache chief cuddling against him.
That morning, as l sat in the yard
reading, the voices Of Kid and Madge
came to me from around the corner OF
the house, and / heard a snatch of their
conversation.
"Madge, I'm going topull my freight
| won't work on the same ranch with
such coward as that Holy John
Truly Guy, are you going away?"
Yes | am / ain going to stop to
ask for my time. I'm going today, be-
fore the boss comes home. "
''WeQ, then, what am going to do?
You re not going off TO leave me?'
Silence for the space Of ten seconds.
Jimmy Tell you what. Madge, you
come too''
II can'tl Mamma wouldn {. let me -
Don't ask herl Come right along
with mel Wen elope, Madgel That
more fun than anything! Girls that is
anybody always elopesr'
Then they wandered off to the alfalfa
field, and soon l saw them throwing
stones at the prairie dogs with which it
was infested. So concluded that what
/ had heard was merely some of the
Kids braggadocio, and, smiling at the
sentimental turn he had taken, went
on with my book and thought no more
about it.
But when lunch time came neither
Madge nor Kid appeared for the meal
Much calling failed to bring a response
Then / remembered and gave account of
the conversation / had heard. 1t was
fornd that Dynamite was gone from the
corral. Evidently the little scapegrace
had meant what he said and had carried
Madge off. Mrs Williams ordered the
cart and at once we started after tie fu-
gitives.
He has most probably gone toward
Deming,' she said II will send Red
Jack to Whitewater to stop them if they
are there, but / think we had better
drive toward Deming as fast as posi-
BILE .
About ten miles ont we caught sight
of the runaways. They were mounted on
Dynamite. Madge holding fast behind
Kid was urging the horse furiously back
and forth among flock of carton crows,
and practicing with his lasso upon them
as they rose and flarped about in short
and heavy flight. They seemed to be
having great sport, for Kid was shout
ing and yelling at the birds, and Madge
screaming with laughter at their clumsy
efforts to escape So absorbed We're they
in their play that they did not see us
until we were almost beside them. At
first Kid made as if he would start Dyna-
mite off ON the gallop, but Mrs Will
1iams called him sternly, and he turned
and trotted back TO us, smiling and look
ing amazingly innocent.
Madge sat still and stared at us with
big, frightened eyes, until Mrs. Will
liams had twice spoken to her. and then
she slipped quickly down. to be folded
in her mothers arms and sob upon her
bosom all the way home. / persuaded
the Kid TO sit between us in the cart and
drive us back. tying Dynamite behind.
He was awful mad at first, the boy
confidingly said, "to have to carry dou-
BILE, But l made him sure hump himself
right along"
AT home we found the superintendent
just returned He gave the Kid pa
ternal lecture, which probably did him
as much good rs if it had been in Chi
nese. and then in cattle ranch parlance
gave him his time-paid him to date
and discharged him.
And few minutes later we saw the