Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1896-03-09

night, ready for anything FROM pet
ty larceny up to murder, provided the
situation allowed crime without dan
ger to the criminal
They had a herd of stolen ponies
corralled some miles below and were
coming up to see what No. Ii might
afford in the way Of diversion. In
single file they fitted along noiseless-
ly as shadows, now and then stopping
heads up, to listen, as is the wont of
beasts of prey. Suddenly Wolf stop
ped shorter and more suddenly than
usual, giving vent to a startled grunt.
All stopped, rigid as statutes, to
listen. A faint wind rustled for
moment, died down, and then from
afar came an unwonted sound in the
wilderness. 1t was the sound of jim
my'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 up
lifted in old hymns and camp meeting
songs reminiscent of other days back
in Missouri. Quiet, but swift as crawl
ing snakes, the intruders swept up
the incline of the clay bank. A min
ute later they swarmed in on the
musician. Jimmy was sitting at the
side Of his fireplace, and his winches
ter was near the door. Thus he was
cut Off from his only weapon.
When those Indians came in, filling
up the little dugout, doubt if in all
the world there was more surprised
and frightened being than the keeper
of No. IS. The music stopped. TIE
hand that welded the bow dropped
as if paralyzed. Jimmy stared at the
apparitions, while old Wolf smiled
hypocritically and grunted "How!"
Somewhat treasured by this apparent
sociability, Jimmy managed to gasp
out, "Howdy do?"
The sons of the desert deliberately
Wolf once more grunted out:
"Play fiddle more. We like"
Jimmy played something at once,
and of course after awhile wound up
with flourish, as all performers do,
and stopped.
The somber audience gave no sign
of approval or dislike. They sat per-
fectly still, except that their little
eyes glittered and shone in the fire.
light like diamonds. But when Jim
my stopped Wolf grunted again:
'MOre."
Jimmy played more and kept on in
response to the request after each
cessation. Finally he lowered the bow
and protested:
cpd like to be obliging, but Pm get
ting too tired"
Wolf simply loosened winchester
from the folds of dirty blanket,
cooked it and presented it at the pro-
testor's body, granting again:
''Play more. Much heap. Damn
quick.
musical activity.
And so they kept the frightened fid-
dler to his work. He played his whole
repertory over and over again, the
audience never caring for the repeti-
ton. The night wore on. Far over
the flats came the answering bowls of
the coyotes, quavering and dying
away in a long drawn note of utter
lonesomeness, but the sound of the
fiddle never ceased. A 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 vibrated
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 him self. His com
panions 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 u, 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 a mule running for