The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-11-08
ID. 'why. that was Ned him

I SELF
There was a general cutlery al this time.
and while some of the passengers begged
me to drive slowly that they might hear
the particulars ofethe robbery. others
wanted to go back ana try and capture
the thief. ! knew that it would be impos-
sible to find him in the dense underbrush,
so | told them l could not turn back and
must make my regular trip.
They urged the little man 10 continue
with his story. so he said: Il had not
long been sitting under the shade of a big
oak, when who should come along, but the
big fellow you saw. / supposed that he
was a miner; in fact he said he had been
mining over on the Yuba, near Roses
Bar but had not met with very good
luck, and wanted to know what my Tor
tune had been. / told him all about my
claim in the hills and described it so as
he could go there and work If he wanted
to. He seemed such a jolly, good-nat-
ured fellow that / had no thought of his
being other than a miner, and when he
asked me If l wanted to sell my hunting
knife, l told him yes; that 1t cost me S.
but he might have 1t for half that. He
pulled out the money and paid me SO, ana
said he was mighty glad to buy such a
fine knife. just then a ground squirrei
popped up some distance away and the
big fellow pointed to him and asked if
was good shot. Like a big fool / took
my pistol and banged away three times,
but missed the squirrel Then he reached
over and took the pistol in his immense
hand, and said:
Let me show you what good shooting
is He pointed to a dead limb on a live
oak tree and fired at it three times In
quick succession hitting the limb each
time. I was still praising his skill when
he jumped up and cried in a terrible voice.
Now, l want that money of yoursr' I
supposed he was joking and said as much.
You Will find it sorry old joke" he
cried savagely, FOR it you don't pull off
that belt as quick as possible, | will drive
this knife right through your heart" and
he looked as savage as an Indian about
TO murder his enemy
i could not help myself, so l took off
the belt of money and gave it to him. He
strapped it around his body, and then
asked what | was going to do. GO to
Marysville," I cried.
What the devil do you want to so there
for?" he asked.
"Where should I go?" / inquired won
dering what / meant.
why back to the mine; you say that
there is plenty of gold there, and If you
don't make a fortune 1 will give you this
back" and the rascal laughed as loudly
as a bun could have beloved at his own
wit
Il answered that l wanted to go to Ma
rysville. Then he offered to pay my fare
on the stage, but swore that he would
shoot me if / tried to tell any of the pas
sengers of the robbery till after he had
gone. This l promised for he could have
easily gone off before the stage came
as you saw"
Here the little man broke down again,
when I asked him If it was the loss of
his money that made him feel so bad
mo-" was the reply but l had made
up my mind to go home. and besides"
here he hesitated a moment, while the
passengers waited with some curiosity,
Il have little girl between and years
old, and my wife wrote me that the
child was i'll and not likely to recover,
and that if l wanted to see her alive
must come at once
The poor fellow covered his face with
MS hands 10 repress the tears and l must
own that more eyes than his were wet.
we reached Marysville that evening and
put up at the hotel, but the small miner
disappeared soon after, and 1 did not see
him again.
About two months later drove into
the town again and put up at the same
hotel. was standing in the bar room,
When some one slapped me on the shout
der, and shrill voice cried:
me-" -i-N win
l turned around, and there stood nv
former passenger who had been robbed.
shook hands with him. and said. "Weu
have you had any luck?"
Yes was his smiling answer. "tool,
that ROBBERS advice and made a fortune :"
How was that?" l asked. ''Wbv
went backto the mine and went TO work
stuck to it, found a new channel ana
took out $4,000, That was not the hest
elther, ne continued, as 1 gave a look
pany was organized. and they paid me
$4,000 for the mine"
Have you the money safe?'' l asked re-
membering how he had been robbed he
fore, Just as he was ready to start east.
es, he replied with laugh. 'sTt is
IN the express office and have the COM
pany's receipts for it, so 1 won't lost il
TINS time, but come and take something
with me- AS he poured out the whisky
anything more about your family?'
Yes, and that is the best of all" he
cried slapping his hands together in high
good humor, tine little girl is much bet
ter and my wife writes me that she will
recover, so you see 1 am happy If l did get
robbed of every dollar had"
AS we drank to each others good luck
and prosperity the little miner shook hands
with me and babe me goodbye. 81 am
going on board the river boat" he said
and going to bed, so l won't see YOU
again unless you come east, for 1 am done
with mining in California"
So saying he disappeared, and 1 never
saw him afterwards. Ned Hines. who had
given the little miner the advice that made
MIN rich, not long after came to a violent
death. He tried to rob a trader on one
OF the branches of the Yuba river, but the
man was too quick for him. and pulline
his revolver, shot the big outlaw dead in
his tracks.
RICE-GROWING IN TEXAS.