Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1899-01-12

Louis Blanchard was liked in the
settlement, but the shrewdest ac-
knoWiedged, as they could not under
stand him, that there was something
very mysterious about him. He de-
! lighted in 'readin' of the rocks. an a.
huntln OF flowers an YARDS, and call
in Of 'em names" they said, and a
| man who did this could not be alto
gether right; but in what direction he
was wrong, nobody ventured to sup
gest.
Nellie Thorne knew him. To her he
had been the key to new life, and
she looked up to him as a superior be-
ing, whom it would be almost a sacri
lege to love; yet love him she did. and
III her candid way she did not attempt
to hide the fact from her parents or
neighbors.
There can be no doubt Louis Blanch-
ard would have left Red Quartz Gulch
long before it aspired to the dignity of
a sheriff, had it not been for Nellie
Thorre; and now that he felt sure of
her love, the whole aspect of the
country changed, and it seemed to him
the most beautiful place in the world.
One night, as he was returning to
his cabin up the valley, from visit to
Sheriff Thorne's, his attention was at
tracted by groans coming from the
hill. Louis fastened at once in the di-
rection of the sound, and found a man
lying on the ground, with a horse,
from which he had evidently fallen,
standing near. Louis soon saw the
man was wounded and speeches.. I'm
der the circumstances he did not hes
itate as to what he should do, but
lifting the man on the horse, he con-
veyed him to his own cabin and laid
him on his own bed. HIS next thought
was to get doctor, and as the only
one in that region was at Smiths
Mills, eight miles away, Louis deter
mined to go for him, after making the
wounded and unconscious stranger as
comfortable as possible.
Mounting the mans horse, Louis let
the animal take the bit and dash away
in the direction of Smiths Mills.
It had been raining very heavily,
and though there was now moonlight,
the stream was so swollen at the usu-
al ford that he saw it would be down
right madness to venture across.
Not discouraged, he turned and
made for a crossing about a mile low
er down, where the stream was
wider:
He had ridden about one-half the
distance, when he became suddenly
aware of the presence of other riders,
and that they were advancing from all
points directly towards him.
Surrender! surrender shouted a
dozen men, raising their rifles.
Louis checked his horse, and as he
did so he realized for the first time
that there was a rifle strapped to the
sadie.
Believing he was being attacked by
outlaws, and stubbornly deciding not
| to YIELD he unfastened the rifle, de-
termined to charge through.
Before he could put his design into
execution, one of the men, from be-
hind, knocked him off the horse, and
for the time being he ceased to have
any interest in the wounded man, his
assailant, OF anything else.
When he came back to conscious
ness, daylight was breaking; and by
the dim light he saw, first, that he
was in the bar of the Red Quartz
Gulch Exchange, and, second, that
two bearded, rough looking men were
standing guard over him.
He asked for an explanation; but
they turned away, one of them re-
marking:
You'll git all the explanation you
want when Sheriff Thorne holds his
| court"
The morning came; but, in the
meantime, Louis Blanchard, from the
corner where he sat- bound hand and
! foot, learned that, on the previous
night, a horse and saddle had been
stolen from the stable Of Tom Billings
"a man, by the way, who had long
been a sutton for Nellie Thorne's hand
and that this horse was found in the
possession of Louis Blanchard, while
attempting to get out of the coun-
try.
All this, Louis heard in a confused
way, that seemed to him like trou-
bled dream: but the positive reality
of the situation was soon made evil
dent.
Sheriff Thorne came in with a trou-
bled face, but did not speak to the
prisoner, and everybody in Red Quartz
Gulch came and treated him in the
same way-that is, everybody but
Nellie Thorne. She came, and to hear
his story was to believe it.
A jury was obtained with little
trouble and less formality, and the
trial began in the same realistic way.
Tom Billings stated that, about elev-
en- o'clock the night before, he heard
somebody at his stable, and fastened
out in time to see n man galloping Off
on his horse. He fired, but the man