Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1896-07-04
The Staru Teller.
AN ELOPEMENT.
A Story Of Southern California.
By FREDERIC L. wHEELER.w :

ssE FREDERIC L. wHHrnFR.S 7
AT tie foot ofths yisjas sradesa
Esmaff canon pieroes the ragged noun
Itain side, and, watered by generous
lsp5ings, offer some ten scres OF more
iof perennial pastdrage. Bob Jennings
knew the spot when land was 80 plen.
(ty in. Southern California that no one
thought of taking up a government
claim. for the sake of few fertile sores
He had, lain there ,many.h, moonlight
night, behind fallen pine, waiting fof
ia shot at onesof ths many desr WHOSE
sharp hoofptnts dihted ;the softS fRot-
tom everywhere: But that was long
ago, when his father was about the
only settler between Julian and Cam.
! eesB6b,hsdknocked absdt TIP wpidSa
good dealAsince then , withS ungarying
lill-luck, until at last he had been glad
to. get back to the Vale de las Niejas,
land spreenptsa quartes seStipl which
Included this little canon. Not that
Bob depended fof his Livelihood upon
this limited oSsis IN the desert of cac-
ths and ssgebrdsh. The freighters,
team;ngr machinery and stores to the
Julisi mines, us1alS made the foot of
tbe grade about. sunset, and camped
there overnight before making the to-
dious ascent.
Bob, with an eye to business, ran a
wire fsncaaaxound the ahi6. Of passaEe,
iucioaug the springs aszWetSfput a
watering trough BY thesr6adside, aid
built his rough sshanty with snug
bsrroom tn.fronts Then he sat down
land awaited 3 developments, which
were immediate, aud, for time, salts;
factory. The ,teansters still eanpSd
at ths FOOT OF ths Viejas.gJais bat
Bob supplied the liquid refreshment OF
man and beast. l
For d time "Bob's hoteH' psospefed:
| He even added a small stock Of mer-
chandise, and keguiled the easy-going
teamstets, ofsnany 1.-TWO bit pieoe'l
for needless knick-knacks. But bis
chief source of revenue came to be a
fcertain-green covered table which he
established il & snig corner near The
bar. Here he was ready to meet all
comers at their own game+himself,
howevet, giving sthef prefsrense $to
poker.
It was this green table that ulti-
|mately proved his ruin. :. At. it's first
Iappearance, 'Bob's wife, who was NOT
so meek in those days, being q bride
and not yet fallen completely under
1.-The brutal dominance other lord:and
master, protested vigorously. Bob
merely laughed at first, then swore,
and finally struck her thefirst Of the
long series of blows that punctuated,
as it were, her unhappy life. Mary
Jane protested mo- more, but gursed 4
sullen anger which fast grew to hatred,
She was glad when Sim Britten
opened rival establishment half a
mile farther down the valley; glad,
although the growing preference for
the new hostelry meant increased ill.
treatment for herself. The loss of in
come, which was gall and wormwood
to Bob, did not affect her. In the
hushest times,f Bob was never geners
GUS, even with 1.-THE boys" much Less
with his wife.
As his. business wsned,s Bob took TO
drfnkingsheavily, and grew more and
more quarrelsome. Fights were of COM
mon occurrence in the rude barroom,
and one aightBob killed man. .sSelf
defense" was the verdict brought in by
the coroner's jury; but men Stunned
the place more andfhore, until at last
only the toughest, unwelcome at the
new hostelry, congregated about the
green cloth at Bob's place. Nothing
short Of the. total desertion rof Ibis sa-
|loon, which seemed imminent, kept
him from driving even these rude GUS
TONERS away by'his savage bearing d
Of all the old habitues Of the place
but. one remained, whose presence was
not distasteful to Mary Jane. Jack
Rainey, head vaquero on the Cutter
ranch; known far and wide as "the
whitest man in the county," rough
rider, dead shot, ,:and "bronco- BUSTER y
used to drop in for an occosional game
of "draw." Often, too, he alighted at
the dreary. little saloon, at odd hours
of the day, and, if Bob were not at
home, remained to chat with the sad
eyed woman, for whom all the boys
had tender spot in their rough hearts.
More than one man had remon-
strated with Bob about his treatment
of his woman. The man Bob killed had
done so. Bob always resented. these
|intrusions into his domestic affairs, Of
ten with violence, and none but Jack.
Rainey had ever saved the girl AN iota,
of the rigor with which Jennings elect
ed to govern his household. ..,., =.
Jack had been in the barreom one
night when, by some unfortunate slip
in handing: the the tyrant Shis pipes
Mary Jane had scattered upon the
table, face up, the straight flush with
which he was about to capture the
last dollar of a young Irishman whom
he was initiating into the mysteries of
"freeze-out." With an oath, Jennings
rose from his seat as if to strike the
woman.
Jack Rainey's eyes had bad look
in them as, in his blandest tones, he
said:
"Bob, eff we strike that woman, I'll
kill ye."
"Bob looked at Rainey savagely, but
the two men knew one another, and
with second oath, Jennings seated
himself and demanded a new deal.
Mary Jane always liked Rainey after
that, and looked forward to his occa-