Waterbury Democrat., 1901-02-07
{ Til FIR FRS } { NIGHT IN CAMP }
"THEN Dr. Beeoher, curator at
 w Yale university, went to Wins

NTHEN Dr. Be.oher, curator at
 w Yale university, went to Wins
 low, A. T., few weeks ago with seven 1 New Haven friends and asked who
 would be good man to conduct an out
 fit to the Moqui snake dance at Oribi, it
 was "Chuck'' Hardy that was recom-
 mended to him.
 '.Thar's a man. said native, speak ing of Hardy, "who was never known
 to git inter a hole whatso he couldn't 1 fog his way out of 1t if yer only let hlm ! have his own way and his six-shooter- don't know as yer need to be so per ! tic'lar bout lettin' him have his own i way, though, fer he'll have that any
 way if he's got his cutter on his hip" 1 Hardy was known in polite society as l a ''cow rustler,' but the sheriff always ! referred to him in plain English as a
 cattle thief.'' For this outspokenness 1 Hardy admired the sheriff, and always | felt rather proud of himself when that <, dignitary referred to him by the latter | title.
 A half dozen times he had been ar rested, but he was never convicted. 1 Twice he was caught red-handed burn 1 ing out brands. The foreman of the ''Hash-Knife'' outfit was unluclSy enough to catch him at it the first time, and the following day the foreman was buried. Again Mexican was impSlite enough to interrupt him while he was burning out Long H. brand. At 1 Winslow a few days later the Mexican had a bullet taken out of his leg and then left for old Mexico, or as the cow boysputit, "he drug tt clean out of CT ea- , !rion.'
 Over the Indian trail that leads from ,Nins>ow to Oribi it is so miles. A com mon saying in Winslow is that coy ,ote has something to be proud of if he manages to go over the trail without either dying of thirst on the Painted desert or sinking in the quicksands of the Little Colorado. Because of the difficulties to be encountered upon the trip the doctor was careful to get . good man to conduct the outfit, and so "ChuclI' was engaged. Like nearly all COW punchers, he knew how to cock that is, he knew how to fry beef until 1t resembled a trunk strap, to make something which looked like coffee and ito make something else which he called bread.
 
 the start the commissary, piled high with bedding and provisions, rolled out of Winslow across Fuckers fats with Chuck" up on the high seat driving. Alongside the wagon. riding a half broken brocho was Rob Tickets, tall, loose-jointed puncher, better known as Rickety Bob. Some four hours later, after they had thsir 1nornin "bawth" and had spent an hour at breakfast, the doctor and his friends left in the light rigs, thinking to overtake Hardy at noon. But when their ''lugga ge was put aboard' the rigs were overloa aed, and at noon they were fully ten miles behind Hardy, and were thus forced to do without lunch.
 It had been cloudy all morning, and a bout one o'clock in the afternoon be- gan typical Arizona rain-a drench- ing pourdown that lasted unceasinrlv for hours, and seemed to come but from one little insignificant cloud that hung just overhead. At five o'clock darkness came on. To the west a little above Rabbits Ear range of mesas settled a heavy bank of dark clouds in which faint flashes of light Eing gleamed The eddying wind would suck one cloud scrap after an- other from the bank and hurl them out over the flats to reepforce the gushing cloud overhead. All the after noon Hardy kept the shoulders of his four horses hard against their collars. When darkness came on he had not reached the high ground where he in- tenCed to make camp. Water six inches deep covered the flats. and Hardy forced his horses on at a swift. CT gait than before. The heavy wagon rolled and tossed like g distressed boat as the front and rear wheels dropped alternately to the hubs into ! soft, miry chuckh oles. But Hardy kept on, and at seven o'clock, with a whoop of triumph, he pulled up his tired, weary team on the top of large sand dune.
 After the horses had been fed and : pile of green greasewood, the only fuel to be had. had been gathered, Hardy and Rickety Bob set abou. making camp. They built a large fire, so that those in the rigs behind might know where to come, and be- gan to prepare supper.
 Say, Chuck" said Rickety. as he
 ~ ~ous III the "a&On, CO you know we clean plump fergot to bring a coffee mill?"
 NO; you don't say?''
 "Ies, sir; and the hen fruit what yer got fer them hifalutin tenderfeet air jes' plump made inter an omelet already. And. good gosh! Look at the lid of this here bread oven. She's cracked plump clean acrosst."
 Well" 6rawlsd Chuck, "sf that's the case l guess thar ain't none of our friends whatso will suffer a great lot with gout afore they git back, anyhow"
 Say, Chuck" said Rickety, scratch. ing his b fully and balanc ing