The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1896-10-12
TUG WILSON.

IN the Catrlnas trail, and lived there till
he died. The next afternoon he was at
the station when the San Antonio express
topped and seemed to expect somebody,
put no other stranger got of, SO he walked
pack to his boarding house, but the next
aay he met the train, and the next, and
The next, and every day till the day before
be died did he meet the evening express.
The evening Of the second day Tug was
ID town some Mexican boys playing in the
brush fell into hole freshly dug IN a re-
sired spot out on the Hill, and they return
I'd breathless and told OF the grave some
body had dug. The story spread till by
bedtime every one Of the 400 A4exicans and
30 whites in town had heard it. The next
morning the marshal, the postmaster and
a crowd Of 80 idle Mexicans went out to
the place with the boys in aweful lead and
lound Tug Wilson sitting on heap OF
earth and looking down into freshly dug
grave. The crowd paused and stood cram
Ing its fifty odd necks toward the grave,
while the marshal and postmaster stepped
forward and looked down into it and then
Rt Tug.
"welP'' said he pleasantly, glancing at
the craning crowd.
whats up?'' inquired the marshal
Nothing, was the quiet answer.
Nothing but a grave. I dug tiny
grave. If you don't like it here, III nn it
up and dig it some other place. No secret.
There's the sign, if you can read
He pointed te the head of the grave,
where was placed a wooden slab and on
The side facing the hole was the inscription
IN ink letters, TUG Wilson. His Grave"
The marshal and the postmaster ex-
changed puzzled giances, and the Mexicans
locked round to where they could see the
letters, and when the marshal translated
them shrugged their shoulders and set
their heads eidewise with raised brOws, as
ui1I ifTf TrI -afn a
At last Tug remarked:
II don want to do nothing against the
peace and dignity Of this here community,
but I'd like to keep my little grave here.
Still as I said, if you object, I'nmove it. -
TT amt so much the grave, stranger, -
sRid the postmaster as the wonder how
you are going to Oil it.
Tug rrinned and replied, 81 amt going
TO kill anybody, and you all can rest easy
that it amt you I'm after
81 reckon we can't hinder a man if he
wants to keep an empty grave, F" said the
marshal. and Tug said, Thank you, sir,
for that. And the crowd troOped back to
town
All the day Tug would be out round the
grave, as if on guard, but sure as the San
Antonio express was due he would be ut
the station waiting One night there was
D cloudburst and the next day he balcd
out the grave with bucket and came to
the station covered with mud. Again, one
side caved in, but he banked it up care
fully. And still the wonder grew till the
gossips were nearly distracted. Some said
he was going to murder somebody who
would arrive by the express; others that
he was going to commit suicide, but most
were too much mvsti1ied to have any the
Org Ee gradually grew more and more
terrible ia tho eyes of the villagers. Moth
ers would snatch their babies FROM the
path where he walked and cross their
hearts and SAY, % VaIgame Dios, " as he
passed The atorekeeper laid in a supply
Of cheap prayer books and sold them all in
q week. His comings and goings were
watched with whispers, and no villager
felt like doing anything Of a morning or
going to sleep at night without hearing
the latest news of Tug Wilson, and it was
always the same BE absorbed all atten-
ton, and even at the fandango the dances
dragged because everybody had to ask ev-
erybody else about Tug Wilson
Well, the crisis came at last. Tug was
ut the station as usual, and the express
had just started when he suddenly darted
after 1t, yelling:
.sHyar is Encinali Oh, Bill This
hyar's the placel Hayl This is Tugl
Binr' But the train was too fast and
whoever it was on tho train either did not
hear or paid no attention, and Tug at last
stopped MS shouting and hurried out TO
The next morning he was found ly-
ing on his bed fully dresscd-his clothes
stained with fresh earth-and dead At
the same time with this discovery the mail
arrived from Laredo, and in it was a big
sealed envelope addressed, Iuggles VIII
son, Eneinal, Tex 1t had been mailed
that morning.
Altogether it was considered case for
the coroner; so the squire resolved himself
into u coroner's court and opened the let
ter. 1t contained nOthiug-uot g scrap
of paper nor writing of any kinc--but the
coroner said no doubt it came from the
Bill who was on the express, and the peo-
pie said, No doubt + They found nearly
500 in his gripaack but not q clew to tell
vino or whence ne was The doctor vhis-
pered to the coroner and was ordered to
hold a POstnlortem forthwith. But moth
ing came of it, and what money the doc
tor did not take for the Job was turned
over to the undertaken, and late la the aft
ernoon a mystihed throng followed Tug
Wilson 10 his grave The doctor made
brief prayer, and the pallbearers started TO
let the coffin down into the freshly pre-
pared grave, when a cry Of ACCOMPLISHMENTS
rose from the crowd
The grave was too short by foot.
The excitement was terrific. The Mex
leans ran about like ants, saying to each
other that il was meant for 8 shorter man
than Tug Wilson Was it for Biu, TIE
writer Of the blank letter. who knowsS'
they said
They heightened the grave and put him
into it. The amateur detectives Of there
about are working on the cose yet and
if YOU are q short man and stop off at En-
cinal some fellow viii be sure to pull you
aside and ask you cautiously:
Say, stranger, did you know Tug Will
sonf''-Cincinnati Post.
Abbot IsIip's Rebus.
One Of the greatest Of the many abbots
who have ruled the abbey was Islip, WHO