The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1900-05-02


was not borrowing trouble. said
that | thought we'd better start for Lo-
rena S as socn as we could get away III
the morning.
Il reel.cn. agreed the foreman
>sNow there's another thing wanted ter
say. 9ou see how We was at the river
this mornin Were short handed, that 5
what we are, an We want more help.
This fact was not news to me, ard |
said so.
..We:l, were sho1ter'n ever now.
the foreman Went on. Hollis he won
oe no good fer awhile-o1c Of his arms
is a foot an a half lcnser'n the other
an il Il take er month ter get ii back
where it was. Now there's that kid
Spider. He done some mighty good
work YES Cay in the heriin. not ter talk
erbcat tAat iob he done fer Hollls-a
nan What t1iea ter throw him down all
be lnowed. S'rcse we take him on.
e.Bu5 what viii the cook do?' ob-
iected.
He's all right We c'n pick up
China,nan er sunthin fer him blmesy,
an now he says the kid'll be sight
more use roun the cattle than ever he
was with the cook outfit. l guess we
en- call that settled. so fur es the Bally
Curl goes Course know the kid cant
do mans work yet, an | only mean
ter give him boys pay fer now, till we
SEQ how he does. Are YOU willin?
was perfectly willing-more than
that. was delighted to give Spider his
chance. but I did not say SO. only
asked how Spider was to get suitable
outft-apart from the horse. If ne had
taken a fancy to the ugly brute he had
ridden that day he might have the
creature and welcome.
"Iguess that lets us cut-the horse,
responded the foreman. 1.-The boys has
got up a sorter chip in fer the rest.
Hollis, he'll come up with ccnsld able
of it, l reckon. He will fer the chaps
anyhow. He owes it. .
Hollis certainly did owe the chaps,
but I was rather surprised from my
knowledge Of the man that he should so
readily acknowledge his debt.
ssOh, yes, Hollis is mighty grateful, 1
reckon, replied the foreman when l
expressed my astonishment "Hollis'll
come down with the money all right,
don t you fear. There was something
peculiar in the foreman's tone that
made me suspicious.
..Does Hollis know that he's expected
to contributed" I asked.
s.No. not yet He will, though. I'm
a-gonter gee him now. The foreman
hitched his holster conveniently for
ward and departed. I shouted an order
after him to the effect that, whatever
Hollis might CT might not be willing to
give, there should be no coercion in the
matter. l rever knew whether or not
this order was obeyed. Irather think it
was not
/ did not witness the announcement
of Spiders promotion. Long before sun
rise had started out with the foreman
to arrange with Lorena for the use of
his pastures The herd was to follow as.
AS the foreman had said, l found Lo-
rena to be most villainous cid Mexl-
can and surrounded by most villain
Gus crew of followers. He knew that we
were at his mercy, and therefore over
charged us frightfully. Tie pasturage
on his range was good, and that at least
was comfort. but didn't at all like
the prospects in other ways Two days
later, when the cattle arrived, we
camped, as before. on the banks Of the
river Our ostensible reason for camp
ing there was, of course. that we would
be on hand at the earliest possible mo-
ment when the river should fall enough
to allow us to cross But really we
chose this place, the foreman and l, III
order to be as far away as we could
from the wicked little town oe Aqua
Caliente. the headquarters OF Lorena
and his friends st best the town was
far nearer Us than we liked. The dis
tance was only 20 miles Or sc.
For a week or two after we arrived
we did not seem to ME to have much
cause for alarm. In fact, would have
been rather relieved had not the fore
man kept up continual croaking The
cattle were in no way interfered with.
It is true that many of our men would
avail themselves Ct every possible op-
rortunity 70 get 20 Aqua Caliente. and
would frequently stay there much
longer than they ought; but this, IN
view OF the time that had lapsed since
they had seen town Of any kind at
all, was no mere than one must EXPECT.
There was little for the men TO do.
In fact, for this first fortnight, the
life settled back to its old monotony as
far as was concerned. To Spider the
new responsibilities that he had as
sumed seemed never failing delight.
He worked indefatigably, and at night
was quite ready to go to sleep without
the preamble Of setting the camp by
the ears, according to his former habit
Apart from ether reasons, | think that
Spider would at this time have consid.
l. !, h