El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1901-02-09
A LUCKY ASSIGNMENT.
BY a. &. BELL.

after q separation of more than a dec
ade. After the experiences of each
had been recounted at some length one
of them related the following story &c
a coterie of newspaper men who were
present:
1T was back in the eighties that
held a desk as city editor on the stan
of the Pottsville Pa) Democrat.
had been working pretty hard. and my
health was failing, SO one day the chief
advised me to take a month or two off,
go into the country and recuperate. He
further advised me that If l wished to
take the vacation l would be placed on
full pay on the condition that write a
letter each week which might be of in
terest to patrons of The Democrat.
81 had a friend located in n little
town in Washington county who was
engaged in the publication of weekly
paper, and at once made up my mind
to go down and pay him visit
Il arrived at my destination in good
time and was effusively welcomed by
my friend and his estimable young
wife and made to feel at home imme-
diately-
had q population of about 1,500 souls,
and struck up quite large acquaint-
ance within short time
Zone morning. after had been there
probably n week. | sauntered into the
office of my friend and found him in n
dreadful stew. His local man had TAX
en- suddenly i'll. and there was no one
else who could take an assignment that
had been mapped out for that days
work
''It seems that a man named Barron
had died at his home. about five miles
from town. and, as his father had been
man of wealth and he had gained
considerable notoriety as local char
acter. it was deemed n good idea to get
an extended obituary of the deceased
Barron. The man owned property in
the mountains of township that had
been named after his father and was
somewhat difficult of access.
81 was feeling well that morning
and, thinking a trip in the country
would do me good. offered myself as
sub on the occasion.
THE offer was eagerly accepted, and
within short time l was en- route in a
buggy for the scene, which was des-
tined to prove a lucky assignment, al
though l was not aware of the fact.
by making numerous detours and
inquiries from each person I met was
able to reach the Barron home. 1t was
located between mountains which FORM
ed a bowl shaped depression about the
house. which could be reached only by
a narrow pass
what an excellent location for q
robbers rendezvous 1 thought as I
passed along the narrow lane. Here a
of men could withstand n regi-
ment of soldiers 1 drove up to the log
cabin. which was built against the side
of the mountain in the farthest corner
of the depression. and stopped. A half
dozen dirty looking children were play
ing about the doorway, and they all
dropped their play the instant they
caught sight of me and ran inside the
hut.
Il walked leisurely to the door, which
stood wide open. and raped. A sharp
featured woman made her appearance
after had waited a few moments. and
/ stated the purpose of my visit.
Il was invited in, and a chair was
pushed forward for my use.
"The woman disappeared through q
low door at the rear of the hut, and
took the opportunity of making n few
of my surroundings. The
hut was furnished with a couple Of
beds. a rusty cook stove and a rickety
old table, and everything denoted pow
erty.
The woman returned by the time
hod fol-
lowed by a middle aged man with as
Villainous q countenance as you would
,are to see. He was n younger brother
If the deceased. and he began To give
ne some facts regarding the life of the
nan whose obituary ! was to obtain.
while l was taking notes another
nan came In and when | was through
With the task I'm hand took a look
lround the hut. AS quickly as my eyes
ell upon the third person it struck me |
hat l had seen him somewhere. He |
vas of rather nice appearance, had a |
andy mustache and was well dressed. |
had surely seen him at some previous |
line and, with an object in view, in |
luired IL that was Il son of the deceas- |
ID. / was gratified to know that his |
lame was Barron also. for at that very |
moment II flashed upon me that had |
cen him in police court in Pottsville
My few weeks before under arrest |
or passing bogus money.
81 began to make some inquiries of
lin, and he told me that he was en-
loyed in Pottsville and was at home
or the funeral of his father and in
ended going back to his work the next
ay.
Having nothing else to detain me,
ook leave of the people and started
ack to town. | drove slowly down the