The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1896-02-12


allowed crime without danger to the
criminal.
They had herd of stolen ponies cor
rallied some miles below and were COM
ing up to see what No. Is might afford
in the way of diversion. In single file
they fitted along noiselessly rs shad-
ows, now and then stopping, heads up,
To listen, as is the wont of beasts OF
prey. Suddenly Wolf stopped shorter
and more suddenly than usual, giving
vent to startled grunt. All stopped,
rigid as statues, To listen. \ faint
wind rustled for moment, died down,
and then from afar came an unwonted
sound i'm the wilderness. 1t was the
sound of Jimmy's fiddle.
Cautiously the Indians crept closer
and closer, stopping now and then to
listen, until they reached the foot OF
the bank at the water hole. Just above
them shone the light from the dugout
entrance. The noise of the tortured
fiddle was loud and clear, and at times
Jimmy's voice was uplifted in old
hymns and camp meeting songs re-
miniscent of other days back in Mis-
souri,. Quiet, but swift as crawling
snakes, the intruders swept up the in
cline of the clay bank. A moment
later they swarmed i'm on the musician.
Jimmy was sitting at the side of his
fireplace, and his winchester WAS near
the door. Thus he was cut of from
his only weapon.
When those Indians came in, filling
up the little dugout, l doubt if in all
the world there was a more surprised
and frightened being than the keeper
of No. IL. The music stopped. The
hand that welded the bow dropped as
if paralyzed. Jimmy stared at the APP
partitions, while old Wolf smiled hypo-
critically and grunted "How ~ Some
what reas.ured by this apparent socia-
bility, Jimmy managed to gasp out,
"Howdy do?"
The sons of the desert deliberately
sat down on the bare floor, and old
Wolf once more grunted out:
"Play fiddle more. We like"
Jimmy played something at once,
and of course after awhile wound up
with flourish, rs all performers do,
and stopped.
The somber audience gave no sign of
approval or dislike. They sat perfect
ly still, except that their little eyes
glittered and shone in the freight like
diamonds. But when Jimmy stopped
Wolf grunted again:
More
Jimmy played more and kept on in
response to the request after each cessa-
ton. Finally he lowered the bow and
protested
"I'd like to be Obliging, but Pm get
ting too tired"
Wolf simply loosened winchester
from the folds of dirty blanket, cock
ed il and presented it at the protestor's
body, grunting again:
"Play more. Much heap. Damn
quick"
There was an immediate revival of
musical activity.
And so they kept the frightened fid-
dIer to his work. He played his whole
repertory over and over again, the audi
ence never caring for the repetition.
The night wore on. Far over the flats
came the answering howls of the mel
anchOly coyotes, quavering and dying
away in long drawn note of utter
lonesomeness, but the sound of the fid-
die never ceased. 4 late moon rose
and slowly climbed toward the zenith.
The big dipper in the northern sky
dropped down and around the polar
star as though time were not the es-
sence of the performance. Still the
sound of the constant fiddle yibrated
in the chill air. At last over in the
east came faint streak of light, and
then all creation grew dim and gray.
And with the first light Crawling Wolf
stood up and shook himself. His
brethren did likewise. They took jim
my's rifle and everything portable on
the premises, never allowing him to
cease for moment, then quietly filed
out and disappeared in the morning
mists.
About 10 o'clock neXt morning the
keeper of station No. l., over on the
Beaver, happening to look up, saw
something coming very rapidly over
the hills from the southwest. The
something soon resolved itself into
man on the back of some creature. As
it came closer it was apparent that the
creature was n mule running for dear
life, while the man was using both
hands and feet with great energy.
The mule stopped, all blown and wet,
in front of the station, and the man
fell off i'm dead faint. He had a
broken fiddle bow i'm one hand and in
the other ruined fiddle, the body part
beaten to frazzle and the strings fly
ing all about in perfect maze of
tangies.
And the very next driver to arrive at
Dodge City announced to the powers
at the stage office.
'Fiddlin' Jimmy's done quit