The herald., 1896-12-31
TUG WILSON.


but no other stranger got off, 80 he walked
hack to his boarding house, but the next
Jay he met the train, and the next, and
The next, and every day till the day before
he died did ho meet the evening express
The evening Of tho second day Tug was
| In town some Mexican boys playing in the
brush fell into hole freshly dug In re-
tired spot out on the hill, and they return
ed breathless and told Of the grave some
body had dug. The story spread till by
bedtime every one of the 400 Mexicans and
30 whites in town had heard it. The next
morning the marshal, the postmaster and
n crowd of 30 idle Mexicans went out to
the place with the boys in aweful lead and
found Tug Wilson sitting on heap Of
earth and looking down into freshly dug
grave Tho 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
| at Tug.
"Well?'' said he pleasantly, CHANGING at
| the craning crowd.
Whats up?" inquired the marshal
"Nothing," was the quiet answer.
| Nothing but grave. l dug tiny
grave Ii you don't like it here, I'll fill it
up and dig it some other place. No secret
| y
| Ho pointed to the head of the grave.
where was placed u wooden slab, and on
the side facing the hole was the inscription
In ink letters, Tug Wilson. His Grave" ="
| The marshal and the postmaster OK
| changed puzzled glances, 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 sidewise with raised brows, as
| Mexican will. But nobody said word.
| At last Tug remarked
"I don't 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 l said, If you object, III move 1t. Z"
ut amt so much the grave, stranger"
said the postmaster, ''as the wonder how
you are going to ill it,
Tug grinned and replied, 81 amt going
10 kill anybody, and you all can rest easy
chat it amt you I'm after
"I reckon we can't hinder O man if he
wants to keep an empty grave" 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 MS if on guard, but sure as the San
Antonio express was due he would be at
the station waiting. One night there was
| cloudburst, and the next day he baled
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 mystified to have any the
ory. He gradually grew more and more
! terrible in the eyes Of the villagers Moth
ers would snatch their babies from the
path where he walked and cross their
hearts and say, ~sValgame Dios," as he
passed. The storekeeper laid in n supply
of cheap prayer books and sold them all in
. week. His comings and goings were
watched with whispers, and no villager
felt like doing anything of morning or
going to sleep at night without hearing
the latest news of Tug Wilson, and it was
always the same. He 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 it, yelling:
.'Hyar is Encinal Oh, Bill! This
hyar's tho place! Hayl This is Tugl
Bllp' But the train was too fast, and
whoever it was on the train either did not
hear or paid no attention, and Tug at last
stopped his shouting and hurried out to
his lodgings in q flush of excitement.
Tho next morning he was found ly-
ing on his bed fully dressed-his clothes
stained with fresh earth-and dead At
tho mo ri mo this RI ccovorp fhs,
arrived from Laredo, and in it was a big
sealed envelope, addressed, ''Tuggles Will
! son, Encinal, Tex 1t had been mailed
that morning.
Altogether it was considered case for
the coroner; so the squire resolved himself
into coroner's court and opened the let
ter. 1t contained nothing-not a scrap
of paper nor writing of any kind-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 gtipsack, but not q clew to tell
| who or whence he was The doctor whis-
pered to the coroner and was ordered to
hold postm mortem 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 in the aft
ernoon mystitied throng followed Tug
Wilson to 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 astonishment
| 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 it was meant for shorter man
than Tug Wilson. Was 1t for Bill, the
tay NJ fbs,h
| they said.
They icngthened the grave and put him
into it. The amateur detectives of there
about arc working on the case yet, and
If you are short man and stop off at En-
cinal some fellow will be sure to pull you
aside and ask you cautiously:
Say, stranger, did you know Tug Will
| sonf'-Cincinnati Post
| Abbot Islip's Rebus.
One Of the greatest of the many abbots