Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1896-05-29

syn had hi.dtf its daily farce cli. thore
tamo sinking I'D Lost cicok Crawling
Wolf anil even q bis dirty, III smelling
brethren, foul Lids Of tho night, ready
for anything. from pc;iy larceny up to
murder, pr,.iitd tho situation allowed
crime without danger to tho criminal.
They had a herd Of stolen ponies cor
rallied some inilos below aud wore com
ing up 70 500 what No. 10 might afford
in the way Of divc.rio1. In single Tie
thoy Fitted along nc. s1cssly rs shadows,
now and thsl stopping, heads up, 10
listen, as is tho won't Of boasts OF prey.
Suddenly Wolf stepped shorter aud
more ~suddonly than usual, giving vent
to u startled gru1it. All stopped, rigid
as statues, to listen. A faint wind rus
tied for n moment, died down, and then
from gfar came IN Gnwontod sonnd in
the Wilderness. 1t was the sound Of
Jimmy's fiddle.
Cautiously tho Indians oropt closer
and closer, stopping now and then to
listen, until they reached the foot of tho
bank Gt the water holo just above them
shone the light from tie dugout en-
trance. The noise Of tho tortured fiddle
was loud aud clear, and at limos Jim
my's voice was upliftod in old hymns
and camp meeting songs reminiscent Of
other days back in Missouri. Quiet, but
swift as crawling snakes, the intruders
swept up tho incline Of the clay bank.
A moment later they swarned in OIL the
musician. Jimmy was sitting at the
side Of his fireplace, and his winchester
was near the door. Thus he wa cut OF
from his only weapon.
When those Indians camo in, filing
mp the little dugo1.. doubt If in all the
world there was q morl surprised aud
frightened being than the keeper Of No.
IS. The music stopped. The hand that
welded the bow dropped us If para
lyzod. Jimmy stared at tho appari-
tions. whilo old Wolf smiled hypocritic-
ally and grrnted Howl" Somewhat
roassurod BY this apparent sociSbility,
Jimmy managed to gasp out, "Howdy
do?"
The sors Of the dcsort deliberately SGT
down on tho bare floor, and old Wolf
ono more granted out:
play fiddle moro. We ike"
Jimmy played something ct once,
and of course after awhile wound up
with a1ourish, as all performers do, and
stopped.
Tho somber audience gave no sign Of
approval or d.sliko. They sat perfectly
still, except that their little eyes gilt
tered and shono in tho freight like dia-
mouds. But when Jimmy stopped Welt
grunted aSain;
More"
Jimmy played moro and kept on in
rCEponso TO the request after each cessa-
tiCn. Finally no lowered the bow and
protested;
"I'd like to DO obliging, but I'm get
ting too tired.
Wolf simply loosened q winchester
from the folds Of a dirty blanket, cock
cd it and presented it at the protestor's
body, grunting again;
"Play more. Much heap. Damn
quick"
There was an immediate revival of
musical aetivity.
And so they kept tho frightened nd-
der to his work. 10 played his whole
rcpcrtory oyor aud over again, the audi
enco never caring for the repetition.
The night wCIo on. Far over the fats
came tho ail5w1;i ing howls Of the NOLAN
choly coyotes, qravcring aud dying
away in o long drawn note of utter lone
someness, but the sound Of the fiddle
never ceased. A late moon rose and
slowly climbed toward the zenith. The
big dipper in the northern sky dropped
down and around the polar star as
though time were not the essence of
tho performance. Still the sound Of the
constant fiddle yibrated in the chill air.
At last oyor in the east came q faint
streak of light, and then oil creation
grew dim and gray. And with the first
light Crawling Wolf stood up aud shook
himself. His brethren did likewise.
They took Jimmy's rifle and everything
portable on the promises, never allow
ing him to cease for a moment, then
quietly fled out and disappeared in tho
morning mists.
About 10 o'clock next morning the
keeper Of station No. ~, over on the
Beaver, happening to look up, saw
something coming very rapidly over the
hills from the southwest. The some
thing soon resolved itself into a man ON
the back Of some creature. AS it came
closer it was apparent that the creature
waS a mule running for dear life, while
tho man was using both hands and feet
with great energy. The mule stopped.
all blown and wet, in front Of the sta
tinn, and the man fell of in a dead
faint, lie had q broken fiddle bow in
III hand and in tho other n ruined fid-
die. the body part beaten TO a fragile
and tho strings flying all about III a
perfect nazo u tungles.
And tho very next driver 10 arrive at
Dodge City announced to the powers ut
tho stage Office;
"Fiddlin Jimmy's done quit. -
Philadelphia Times.
A Russian Artol.
An urfpl ig mn aasnciation NJ ncrsonq