The Bryan daily eagle. (Bryan, Tex.) 1895-1898, 1896-04-04

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Iie nunR IL ga q Convenient Pes.
mncklng the loneliness ~ a tender.
foot"
BEYOND a trip GO Boston. ! had never
been twenty miles away from the me.
tfOpolis. aud here was. bag aud
baggage" yeriablc Johnny away
from h,s ma. Ia the toughest portion
lf the mountainous country of the
Southwest A as9ad box for n station
aud aoi a single sign or human hab.-
talon IN eight though l confess li
would have heen difficult o. discover
through the darkness and mist even
" there had been any. Striking a
match ! looked at NY watch. The
hands covered tbs midnight hour.
struck another aud n-rcad q few lines
from my letter OF Instruct ms: de
ruher - Reach Canyon Siio y N.
Mcci Rnmer0 who viii take You
through 90 pccos. Sketch ruins Of Old
spanish church. aud return 20 Las
Vegas for further orders by mall" Al
very simple and easy 10 comprehend.
had caught the only train that
would stop al THIS station within The
next f0riy.elght hourg. reached Canyon
Slio AMI but one thing was lacking
10 "nil the hlli' and that was TO
nero wouldn't nave known the
ilcmau with the spanish name from a
ihcrsand men might me Ia this
luasi-Sranish country lf had bump
ed up acaine him, AVID I determined
that there was 90 earthly as "a I r
rambling about on such a night In
such country searching fcr him,
Gathering up my traps. ! got under
the shed that served Tor 4iaiion.
turned Mp the collar of my overcoat
stretched out on the plank scat aud
waited Tor daylight aud Romero. Il
must have been an hour after sunrise
when awokc. chilled % the very mar
row by the raw. penetrating mlu b.
tain air. and saw standing In the door
way of the shed gauni-lcoking dark.
eompleNiuned. heayily-har,lcd Mex
ran. who intruduccd himself a. l'ciro
Romero and inquired u ! had any
business to transact with him.
That had and after the prcliml-
narieS were arranged. ! mounted the
horse De- had brought along far me.
and We started on quiet ing down
the trail toward rec1s. with little
gray hurro. upon whose back my traps
had been fastened, iroiiing leisurely
behind Ms
We made recos an right. got my
sketches 90 the beautiful old ruins Of
the spanish church. aud we took the
train back 10 Canyon Sllo BEFORE We
mached The canyon. say ten miles. Ro-
mern pulled up before the door OF a
rambling adobe building. In front Of
which group Of McNlcans. Indians.
and half.hreeis were luunging IN the
sunlight u was trading station for
the hunters 81 that region aud FOR the
Mexican herders who drive. vast fiocks
of sheep aud goats up the aroyas TO
the market ~ Santa ~.
could not get train TO Vegas until
the following day az noon and neces.
sIty compelled me 10 put up here aud
wait. with no oih9r alternative than
90 20 on aud spend the night In that
packing box station. The "lacal" was
Uttered with grat piles " pets from
small furbearing animals. while say.
eral bear aud deer that had been alo,
that DAY were sprawllng out upon
the rude platform before the door.
Through the center OF the building
was rough counter. and back OF this
shelves loaded with canned goods.
bolts OF jean goods, boxes " ammpnl.
ton aud tolmcco. bottles 81 medicine
aud "red dog" whisky.
Not the most Inviting sort Of place
10 spend night, with crowd Of
tough customers. who had come down
from the mountains or up frum the
valleys. ostensibly 10 trade. hut who,
to tell the truth. would return thereto
with - worth OF rum to every dollars
worth 81 necessities
Night came ON suddenly. as ie Us
peculiarly startling habit In that
mountainous land, where the sun. In.
stead Of setting gradually. seems to
drop out OF sight without further ado
about a.
After supper ~ vcnison steak,
pipes aud cigarettes were brought out
and those who were not engaged IN
putting ilrcwatcr under their belts
gathered about the fire and got "a
chatting about the big gamv they had
seen hack on the mountains, each IN
turn affirming that, 10 his mind, u was
the greatest year for bears that had
ever been known.
had never handled ride or killed
anything larger than a sparrow or q
stray crow In my life, aud there i
lule wonder that became 20 worked
an that when Romero proposed a short
trip over the mountain after bear q