The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1901-08-16
Mrs. Williams Wild Ride.
by oLAucr ilEvr oL,vouAy.

- - - - "a ~ - 49,
The women 81 the east, secure in
their guarded homes, have little con-
erpCion Of the perils which in years
past attended their pioneer sisters on
the frontier. They may have a theo-
retical idea. il is true. but one must
have had actual experience to realize
fully the constant dangers that besCt
these brave souls
The Williams ranch at Rockdalc.
Wyoming. lay near the foot of the
Medicine Bow mountains, and was
40 miles from railroad station and
pOstOtiice. A young married couple
had settled there, and invested their
Swings in cattle and horses. They
throye and were happy, until one
unfortunate day. when Mrs. Williams
brother. Addison White, arrived from
q mining camp in California where he
had been prospecting and working for
two or three years. In boyish glee he
produced from his capacious pockets
four stout buckslIin bags tied with
thongs. which he fuag upon the kitch-
en- table.
'Opea EN-. Nab. he said to Mrs Will
liams. She united one of the bags.
tuCned it upside down, and was as
tOnished to see an avalanche of
bright. gold pieces roll over the table
aud down upon the foor.
%, Ad." said Mabel, pursuing the
spinning rUnaways." what does it
mean? Where did you get them?"
They're my savings of the last four
years" replied Addison. proudly.
"Hsch of those bags has twenty-five
$40 gold pieces in it,
Two thousand dollars! And you
brought it all the way from the rail-
road station alone ON horseback!
exclaimed his sister, aghast. How
gerry imprudent Don't you know this
country is full of desperadoes? Why
didn't you deposit it in savings
bank?"
Because want to invest it right
away. and didn't want to be bothered
putting it In and then drawing itright
out again." returned Addison, with
self-satisfied air, walking up and down
the room with his hands in his peck
cts I'm going to leave it in your
hands. sis, for safe keeping. Mean
while I'll look around, and when /
strike a nice little location in mining
camp for general merchandise store,
I'll use the money in buying stock. "
Being thus left in possession of the
treasure, Mabel cast about for suit
able hiding place; but the secluded
little hooks, the corner cupboards, the
mysterious oak closets and big, ram
bling garrets peculiar to old-fashioned
eastern houses were totally lacking in
this small, bare walled, three roomed
log cabin.
First Mabel loosened board in the
ROOr and put the four buckskin bags
underneath. It seemed to her excited
imagination that any one might no
tiCe that that particular board had
been pried up and nailed down again;
and besides, the first thing a robber
iR search of concealed wealth would
do would be TO look under the floor,
So after a few days. she removed the
fOW bags and put them with affected
carelessness in the dark recesses of a
little cupboard where she kept her bot
ties and frying pans.
But this was worse still. Her eyes
seemed fixed in a telltale gaze on the
place where the treasure lay concealed
SO one day after dark she pried ur
one OF the fiat stones which formed
part OF a walk leading to the spring
house, dug out some OF the soil under
meath to make room, placed the -four
little bags therein, and then carefully
replaced the stone.
Il was not surprising that Mrs. viii
Iiams was a little 6pprehensive. fol-
she was usually quite alone during thu
daytime. Her brother had gone on his
trim to look up mining camp, and he
husband was busy branding calves anC
colts at roundup seven miles away
Nevertheless, Mabel was by no means
a Hmid woman She broke all he
husbands colts, and was never 81
nanny as when conquering mettle
some bronco She was now subduinl
n particularly fine thoroughbred col
named Taurus, which was kept in tn
stable instead of being allowed to fol
low the herd, much to his anger an
disgust.
One morning. while she was en-
gagged with household duties in tn
cabin, a loud, ringing blow sounde
uDon the door. Upon opening it, sh
vas confronted by two rough lookin
mon one Of whom covered her with