The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1898-08-19
FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH,

No danger of that, boys, and if any
Of you ever come to. old Richmond, re-
member live there .s-r$=. ! .s.s.:s;
| The speaker is young man, hardly 80,
and as he sits in the "buckboard," tax
ing leave of the little crowd of men who
have assembled to bid him goodby, his
handsome face and well.knit form are
such as to attract attention ut once.
After an abssnce of years, Len Haw-
! Icy Is going home. Out Of the little
frontier mining town many another COM
rade has gone just as he is going-never
| 70 return. Many another who, day after
going. lay resting under the sod in. the
mountains around whose, crests are inst
beginning to be gildeu with the rays of
the early, summer sun. f., =. .l:,.s
We'll, everything is OIL board, Jose,
and You can drive round and pick up
Mr.. Dunsmier. and his wife, and then
turn yourself loose" ~'h<@ = -
1t is the stage agent who speaks, Civ
| ing his last command to the driver ~
As the, team of four half-broken bron-
chos. swings into the street the young
| mans face burns ut the words he has
heard; and, III the embarrassment they
cause him he almost forgets to respond
to the farewells shouted after him. He
feels almost like jumping from the
oqckboard and rejoining the comrades
he has left. ., = - ,1,
Jose stops his team at house in front
| OF which are already waiting man of
els own age, and woman some years
| younger.
The man has the trunk placed to his
satisfaction in the "buckb0ard," and then
with his companion takes the hinder of
the two seats. - -
With crack of the whip Jose turns
his team into the road, ind the weekly
mail between Prescott and Sun Diego
has begun its 500 miles of travel over
mountains and across deserts; to meet the
steamers of the Pacific:
Two, at least, Of the pAssengers-Len
Hawley and Mrs. Duhsmier-are thinking
how unfortunate is the coincidence that
has thrown them together to make this
long Journey in company. AS for Mr..
Dunsmler. he merely thinks how unfortu-
! nate he is to be forced to make it at ALL
In the past, when Mrs. Dunsmier was
simply Mamie, the admitted belle of the
little frontier settlement, she and Len
Hawley had been lovers. That was be-
fore the man who now sat beside her had
come into her life.
As for Dunsmier himself, Hawley had
never liked him.. There were very few
who did. Il Selfish, overbearing and un-
scrupulous, Dunsmier loved money as he
loved nothing else Oh earth. To him it
was god, to be deiied and worshiped
above all else.-~.- >.--... - 49,,
1t was his boast that with money any
thing could be obtnined, and when he
first began to visit Mamie Manning, dur
| ing her engagement to Hawley, his AFRO
CANT display of wealth, as we'll as his ill.,
concealed contempt of those of less
means, had incensed Hawley so much
that the quarrel that broke the engage
| ment ensued, and Mamie had been
pleased to charge it to his jealousy.
After that. it was easy for her to de-
fend Dunsmier; and then the drifting
apart had commenced, until she stood at
the altar as Dunsmier's bride ~
From that day Hawley had determined
to leave the country. He had gone for
the last time to look at the house which
during their engagement, Mamie and he
had planned, and of which they had su-
| perintended the building.
AS he Went from room to room, he
thought of the many times they had gone
through them together, planning for the
future, and dreaming dreams that were
never to be realized. u-.. -
For the last time he had locked the
door. and, taking the key from it, had
cast it from him. That had been months
ago. and the house still stood vacant
The ''buckboard' passed it in the early
morning 80 lE2
2 The mountains have been left behind,
and the road is now in the valleys where
the Spanish bayonet, the flat green leaves
OF the prickley pear, and the sage-brush
have taken the place of the pines and the
| oaks. Z : =.
The travellers have: only. STONED twice
Ito change horses and to eat the noon
day lunch. The sun has passed the merid-
lar, and is beginning to sink towards the
west. Ihe occasional cracking Of JOse's
whip and the muffled fall of the horses
feet IN the heavy dust as they trot along,
are the only sounds which break the
stiffness of the desert. >. :. :,s,s, d
Heat. and thirst, and silence. Every
thing is parched and brown, and the
yellow earth, where it is not covered by
sand or dust, is baked and cracked wait
ing for the winter rains that are vet
months away Even the rocks, rough and
Jagged pieces Of lava, are black as if
burnt with the heat >tf,s,.e y ~ ..,,9f.5f-.
-Ihe three. passengers sit in silence,
longing for the next station, Camp Date
Greek, more than ten miles away. 2~.zEs :;
It will, at least, be relief to reach it.
if only to refill the canteens that have
become so warm. 80" ~ :~".>-- -
Suddenly Jose rises to his feet. and
looks long and earnestly to the left, where
half dozen clouds of dust are in the
air: !: - - d" - - " :" -
He drops to his seat and says simply,
Then he stops the horses, and. handing
the reins to HaWley, jumps down. Draw,
ing his knife he steps to the back Of the
wagon, where the heavy trunk, placed
there IN the morning by Dunsmier, is
dashed. AS he is about to, cut the ropes
that tie it to the blackboard" Dunsmier
dlvines his intentions and turns on him
fiercely. ',.1".
No; no; you mustn't throw that off!
There's bullion in il, = he says, and. lean
ing over, he catches jose hand to pre-
hold it. u e 3 ISL a. -. ~
Los Indios son A paches!,, 1.-THE Indians
are Apaches9 says Jose, his face grow.
ing paler as he notes how rapidly they are
approaching while the. .buckhoard'' de-
81 can't help it; but YOU mustn't loasf, mn, i :
trunk, : said Dunsmaier. $. Cant Won
make him understand j can't speak
Spanish, he asks, III a pleading voice.
turning to HawIey. 6 i z a. -. -
It is the first time they have snOken
SINCE before the marriage, and. eyeing
him ,eontemptuousl sHawleyz interprefs
INTO Spanish what he has said and Jose,
thinking that he. too, is asking for the,
preservation Of tie trunk. leaves II. ~ and niii
jumping into the wagon, takes the rpins
once more into his hands and begins Ia
ply the whip. q <. 81 8 = -,
HaWley looks to see that his rife II. IN
order. and as he does so, he glances at
the pale faces of the husband and wife
behind him. As for himself, he is indif-
| Dunsmier has begun to throw into the
road the mail bags. His wife looks at
MIN as ut ito urge him to cut loose tie
trunk q. bat remains silent, as if afraid to
ask it sss 55sH-