Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1898-07-08

hoping that whatever it was would 20
away end leave me nlono All sorts Of
thoughts went through my head in that
brief instant. / rcc0lloctcd all tho sto-
ries I had ever heard Of men ana nni-
mails that could mako themselves invisi-
bic, and while I had never believed any
of them ] remembered that some scien-
tiho men had held that It was possible
for organic matter to become as trans
parent as inorganic under certain con-
ditious and present neither of the pho
nomona Of refrnction aud reflection Of
light. / was convinced in a moment
that some boast possessing such quail
ties was confronting INC, and my belief
grew to certainty when / felt a hairy
paw carcssing NY hand. Instead Of be-
ing frightened at this unexpected dem
on8tration I was treasured, for there
was something in tho touch that as
sured me that my life was ia no dan
ger, but that on tho contrary the thing,
whatever it was, was trying to make
friends with mo. / graspad the paw in
my band and was reassuTod by what
sounded like a prunt Of whose existence
i had no longer the slightest doubt.
"Resolycd to ascertain what kind Of
q thing this was, I drew it closer to mo
and began to feel Of ID. Tho thing stood
perfectly quiet, ana Ii was not long be-
fore 1 recognized tho fact that 10 was a
kangaroo Of enormous sisa, but abso-
lutely invisible.
''SYoll, 20 cut q long story short, the
kangaroo developed tho strongest at
tacbmcnsfo for lo and followed mo wiser
ever l wcu5. l trained 10 10 tow DO up
hills and sometimes across thu level
plains, its easy method OK progression
by great iu-1p5 carrying ms along far
moro svL - than I could have podalad.
If tho kangaroo Et-nyed away, al I lad
TO do was 10 whistle. and IL would come
to me, boondirg across tho open With
great leaps, the progress Of which !
could trace by the depression in tho
grass where iteligitod. although 7 could
rot see the beast itself.
"Ono day we struck a gold mining
camp, and l decided to stay there fer a
fuT days. On the Grst night of my stay,
however, l got into an alteration wish
Il Of the miners, who WAS intoxicated,
and he drew his revolver and fred at
me. My faithful kangaroo, unseen,
stepped between rs and received the
bullet himself, as l afterward Leaned,
although it was a mystery to Inc 40 well
as to tho bystaudars that I did not fall
with d bullet i'm ny brain. AZ the same
instant tho kangaroo struck with
his powerful bind leg and caught the
miner full in the solar plozys, knocking
him cut completely. Tho whole affair
was so sudden that none realized what
had occurred, and somo we-o inclined
to believe that tho TuliGh had had q
strcke Of npoDlexy. Invent to my hotel,
and they took the miner 80 his shGnty.
"Along toward morning I was aWak
ened by my host, 4 decent sort CT es-
capped convict, and informed that the
miner had died and that some Of bis
friends were going to carry out the de-
sign which ne had formed before his
death Of killing me. Il don't dare lend
You u horse, said tho man, but you
get on your wheel and ride away "a
fast as you can, or they'll catch you
sure.
Il started out PROMPTLY, for dii no,
want 90 DO the object of a vigilance
committees deliberations, and was
soon wheeling over the plains, q bad
my faithful kangaroo at my side, and
1 noticed that he coughcd ard appeared,
from the sound, to bo splitting blood.
This puzzled mo at first, but l quickly
realized that no must have been shoe IL
tho lung, and / felt more SORROW than
can express at the thought.
81 was setting a pretty good pace,
but it was not long before 1 heard tht
sound OF hoofs far behind ne, and look
ing back l saw four horsemen follow
ing me at full gallop. 1 realized tha'
they were the dead miners friends, auC
also that there was no chance Of escap
ing them, for my wheel was in bad con
dition, sadly in need Of oiling, and i
was impossible to ride it over the rough
surface Of the trail as fast as the swift
bush horses could gallop. There wal
only one thing TO do. l called the kan
CARGO toward me and attached my stou
rawhide lariat TO his enormous tail
tying the other end to the head Of N,
bicycle. I chirruped, and the faithful
beast started OF with leaps and bound
that nearly unseated me, but ! man
aged to stick on, and soon saw that
was ~distancing my pursuers. 1 was no
satisfied with that, however, but re
solved that I must not slacken speed On
til safely beyond their radius Of action
l urged my invisible motive power o.
to creator efforts, and before suud0wl
we were more than 300 miles ava,
from the mining camp.
"It was just as the sun was siukiu.
over tho trees that the kangaroo stoppe,
short, and as 1 rods forward the vince
struck his prostrato body. Idismountc,
and knelt beside him. As did so / fel
tho warm lifoblood pouring from
great wound ia his side, heard "a fain
moan, and then the poor beast licked ~.
hand, gaspod conyulsively and died
He had given his life TO ~ mo.
Tho wheolman who had trayolei
paused, knocked the ashes from the in
visible pipe, replaced it in its case anl
wiped away a tear.
Ffn-a- II IL -s-Igfn .~f-.T -.