The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1896-01-30
A REFORMATION.

1t was cheerful day for Badger Viii.
lie. When, in the gray of the early
morning, she had entered the Tucson
stage and found that Wylie Kimball,
manager of the Star and Crescent, was
to be her fellow passenger, she had
looked for a decidedly disagreeable trip
and had almost decided on the spur of
the moment to wait for the next stage
But when Kimball, who had been one
Of her lesser victims for brief space of
time and had hated himself and her ac-
cordingly ever since, in response to her
cheerful query as to his reasons for 60
ing to Tucson, remarked very pointedly
that it was "none Of her id bust
ness" that settled it. Willie liked moth
ing better than making some one else
uncomfortable, even at the expense of
her own comfort; so it took her less
than one second to make up her mind to
carry out her original intention as re-
garded the date of her departure. For
this resolution she shortly had reason to
congratulate herself, for at the outskirts
OF the camp the stage stopped to take on
three more passengers-miners, going in
to town to elbow in, the results of
months Of hard work-and Willie we'll
knew that before she got to Tucson she
would have one or all of them "on her
staff
She was bit abashed at first, maybe,
by the presence of Kimball, whose aver
sion to herself she understood perfectly.
He did not look at her at all, however,
but sat and smoked and stared mocdily
out Of the window. He had got aboard
in the most cheerful mood imaginable,
Tor he was going to meet his wife and
babies, who were coming out to join
him after a separation of two years
and then this harpy must needs intrude
herself upon his pleasant thoughts, and,
worse still, thrust her society upon him,
to be journey long reminder of his one
time mad weakness. How could he, he
asked himself, go from her presence
into that of the pure, sweet, trusting
woman he called wife and look. into her
honest eyes without f1inching? She
would never know, Of course, hut that
would not prevent his feeling like a
scoundrel. And hereupon Wyie Kim
ball passed another bad half hour or so
with his very active conscience.
But this could not last long. Two of
the miners were Kimball's OWL en-
ployees, and he knew the other one very
we'll also. So it was impossible to avoid
taking part in the conversation, even
had he not desired TO get away from his
onncoipnnn Thnc oftnr IL 90
hours, during which the bottle went the
rounds more often than was necessary,
he found himself laughing, chatting
and swapping lies'' with the rest
with all the permissible freedom of
popular mine manager off duty.
About the middle of the day the stage
left the foothills, and branching off the
main road took a short cut across the
desert, beyond which loomed, through
the heated, quivering atmosphere, the
last spur OF mountains to be crossed be-
fore the desert proper was reached. By
this time the three miners and Badger
Willie had succumbed in greater or less
degree to the soothing influences of the
heat, the bottle and the swaying of the
vehicle, and one by one they dropped off
to sleep.
Kimbal then got outside with Dan
the driver, and rode on the
box. He did not mind the heat very
much, and he did want some one to talk
to, and even the monosyllabic Daniel
was better company than none at all.
He told Dan about expecting to meet
his family at Tucson, and the surly
driver was so pleased over the prospect
Of seeing "kids" at the camp that he
grew quite loquacious, and told Kim
ball few "yarns "labout his expert
ences when the country was "new."
The road through the mountains they
mad been approaching was new one,
Just built by the stage company and the
mining operators at considerable cost
It was looked upon by them as a good
Investment, as saving considerable time
IN freighting, b,.t Dan Latham, who |
was opposed to innovations, could not
zee it in that light. So he and Kimball,
as the horses climbed the first graded |
stretch, were e'engaged in a heated argu-
ment on the subject, when Dan sudden.
" SN~>6ANsS1SN w nlu dSASu db |
be stared hard at point above them on
The right:
"God, did ye see that?'
"What?"
There she goes agin - CALCULATED
The driver excitedly, pointing with the
butt Of his whip.
Kimball looked and saw q bright
spark of light, like a diamond flash,
gleam for an instant, then disappear,
and moment later there was an an
,wering flash from a rocky peak two
miles away.
Troopers heliographing," said the
easily.
Troopers, nothin," snorted Dan in |
deep disgust. ''They don't use no
inch lookin glasses, man. There's an
,ther one-see! Say, mister, we got t.
git move on. Wake them drunks up,
will 70. an tell 'em they's scrap in
light! Then we makes hot foot f'r q
place piece mp tn road, where they's
I0me show to fight"
Why the Apaches did not wait for and
lnbush the stage at some favorable