The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-09-20
ITO New Orleans was the frank an

10 New OIiedlS, NdS Inc IL dim oil
swer.
The man raised his eyebrows and gave
Henry a Neutrality-suspicious. look.
That's q big undertaking for one so
young" he suggested ''but you look
brave enough 10 do it. I'm right glad,
too" he added after a slight thoughtful
pause, for we can travel together.
I'm on my way to New Orleans, TOO
| Henry was captivated by the mans
suave and gracious manner. They rode
along for d haf-hour chatting while the
sun fell below the western horizon The
man said that. he knew a short cut
across the wood on their left, by taking
which they would save several miles
of distance and yet arrive at The spring
where they could camp comfortably
for the night. Henry, all unsuspectlng,
went with him, and when they were
deep in the dark and lonely forest, sud
denly the man turned and struck him
a heavy blow with a horse pistol. lie
fell as one dead. All was blank to him.
How long he laid unconscious he could
not precisely tell. 1t was probably less
than an hour; but when he regalned ms
senses his first thought was OF the
money. He felt for it. OF course 1t was
gone. So likewise was his pony Stag
gering to his feet, his head bloody and
sore and his brain dizzy, he looked
about in stupid confusion. Well might
his heart SINK; for there he was. per-
haps q hundred miles from home, IN
a painless wood, WeaponlesS and With
out food. His condition seemed hope
less.
Overhead the moon hung in sheet
of pale cloud that spread mist-like over
the sky All around was gloom. ana
everywhere profound silence reigned
Not even an owl hooted, and all the
smaller night things held their voices
What was Henry Brack TO do? lie
quickly made up his mind and began at
once trying to get back to the ROAD.
Slowly and with remarkable sagaclty,
considering his condition, he moved
along studying the ground and fol-
lowing as best he could the tracks OF
the horses.
Now it so happened that in the dim
light OF the wood he took up the trail
made by the horses when taken away
by the robber, instead of those coming
down from the road. This led him
deeper into the wild forest, and at the
end of an hours SLOW tramp he came
in sight of a small fire beside which
man was stopping in the act of brolllng
some bacon the smell of which reached
Henrys nostri3s with savory appeal 10
his appetite; for he was very hungry.
His first impulse at sight of human
being, was to make haste and join in
the prospective feast; but when the man
turned his face Henry stopped short
with chill of CONSERVATION going UP
his back. It was the robber.
Fortunately Henry had made no noise.
The man evidently felt quite safe; vor
while he attended to his cooking he sang
over and over again four lines of ditty
popular at that time:
File bought her a gown of purple and
gold,
And he gave her rose and a ring,
And oh, but her face did shine for him,
And oh, but her mouth Gid sing"
He had a rich, soft tenor voice that
rippled away through the still woods
Henry stood gazing and listening. He
saw his pony and the horse of the rob-
Der tethered near the fire. His saddle
bags sat hard by and his rife leaned
against q tree. In an instant q wave OF
anger swept through him. He clenched
his hands and breathed hard while his
whole nature condensed itself, so tC
speak. upon the thought of recovering
his property and visiting punishment
on the robber
For a few minutes, perhaps only a few
seconds he revolved in his mind all the
chances of the situation. He was des-
perate and quite ready for a desperate
effort. Presently the man stopped low
over the now holly burning fire to turn
a slice of broiling bacon. At that mo-
ment, with a swift and noiseless flight
rushing hard against the man. dashed
him headlong into the fire, and before
he could rise Henry 1eaped to the gun
and leyeled it upon him. The man.
though badly burnt, did not heed the
command to surrender, and Henry fired
He fell backward across the fire.
1t may seem strange, but Henry did
NOT let the robber burn. He dragged
him away from the Goals and flames
and extinguished the fire that had
caught his clothes. The robbers name
was Giles Caraw. He did not die of
the wound that Henry Brack gave him.
am sorry to say that, although Henry
succeeded in finding a settlement and
having Carew arrested, the willy fellow
escaped from custody after he got we'll
and was killed years afterward in a
= street fight at New Orleans. Henry is
still living, a hale old man, saving that
he is blind of his left eye from an ac-
cident in chopping wood
MAURICE THOMPSON.