The St. Johns herald., 1901-04-06
; TUCKER AND ROSE
By ChaS. 2. Brimb!ecOrn.
@a@4@4@t@p@z@ @4@p~1%a~u@p@S $
THE denntr asseseor snc

elastic band around his bulky book
 after Guly setting forth therein the pos
 sessions Of Tucke4 G Rose: "Real es-
 tate; $. e. F section 15, township s
 south, range west, etc.; S3 acres or
 chacd. 12 acres pasture and hay land, C5
 acrsS timber and
 Well, you ain't a-goin' tefcre din Ter, so jest set right G~Nvn lere,' said
 Ezra Tucker. geniauy. and the tired of
 ho.ai Gid ret hesitate to accept q seat cn the ccoi rcranCa beside his host.
 You've lived here q long time" said
 the deputy.
 IWenty-seven years this spring" re-
 piled Tucker. Made some little changes in that time, too. Mighty nigh
 this whole claim was thick weeds when fust seen it.
 Twas 2 curious thing, too. I'll tell you how twas. You see, kinder got a nct:ol that it would be a good idea to take Up some goy'meEt land, so rcGe uP here from santa Cruz, 16 mile, ever . pesky bad trail. and ny friends, the CrawfordS, over here On the SaE Loren 70, they showed 1ne this guarter-sec- ton.
 There was little shack Of a cabin Cn the place. built by Tom Tutor, fe!,er who used 70 hunt and trap for twin, but ke never pre-empted the land. and at that tiI2e he'd gene tc Arizona. So tc0k up tbe ranch, ": acrt arr iGee of trouble, and then went tlcl. Co Santa Cruz to g.t some things. cause 'corGin' to law ycu haG to i've CT your claim six mCrths before you could prove up.
 But the next tine I come up. Nal coim Crawford he told Ire that ke'G heard there was another fe!ler pros rectir round ny rlrcII. Ee'G been ED there himself with his gun to inquire about it. but diGn't see nobody; bat he said I'd better git Up there as quick aS the Lord would let me and held down the claim.
 ''I left my horse at Crawford's. cause there want much feed in the weeds, and made ID pack Of flour, bacon, cof- fee and snGGr, and Malcolm lent ne shotgun that Ee said might come in kanGy. On tke way up fred both bar r2is of the gun at some quail, and then found that I'd forgot to bring any am muait;on.
 Everything was still as death, ex- cept the cr;ckets chirPin' with lCne- some sornd, and put the things in the cabin. There w2s 8 little fireplace built of mud and sticks in one end. with a chimney Of srlit boards. and I built a fire 10 cit Q bite Of supper.
 ''As. ! was stand.r' in the doorway feelia' kinCer dCieful, see man with a pack On his back comin' up the trail. He was stout ana his face was pretty red, and when ke see me it got quite bit reG5er. He come up pufin' and seemed put out Tout something, and jest then it come into ny head that mehhe he was the other feller.
 "'{Yhat ycu Goin' in that cabin?'' he says, real cross.
 My residence at present, says I. 'Won't you come in?'
 None O your blarsted sarce wi me- he says. This ere is my claim, and I want yolI to git of t directly
 :" You're IabCrin' under slight mis- take says I. This is my claim; but l you neoGn't be in a hurry bout goin'. | Stay til morain'. anyway. Darned if I 1 tin't glad C. company
 "Well, We talked awhile, and he kep' i yittin' maGGer ard madder.
 "'YOu'vs got the advantage of me low.' he roars out. but if it want for hat bloody gun you've got so andy I'd put you out of my cabin quicker'n vink.'
 You needn't fret about the gum rays. Ud left outside leanin' against he cabin) Why, I fired off both bar els at some quail down here, and I .idn't bring a mite of ammunition vith me-
 You carn't come it on me- he says. finder sneerin'. You'd like to hentice ne to come on and then let me ave it, wouldn't you?'
 Well, take the pesky gun and see or yourself, I says, holdin' it out to- ward him.
 "'No, you don't, old smoothly he avs, turnin' away.
 "'Come in and have bite of supper, nyhOw,' I says. The waters bilin' nd I'll make some coffee in jiffy.' ''He grumbled something and went if and camped under an oak tree a lit le ways off. That's the very tree down here by the barn.
 'I'd done my best to be sociabIe, so I lade my coffee and fried some bacon. ome way twas kinder pleasant to see he other feller's fire, but he looked nightly crusty and didn't have word nOre to say.
 After supper I lit piece Of candle nd read newspaper that I'd brought rom town, but I got sleepy pretty uicli and spread my blankets in the unk. I shut the door and put prop gin it-nOt that I was afraid. but I sst happened to think that I didn't sally know anything about the other aI!er.
 T was off to sleep in a minute, and ne next thing I knew was seein' a big iare of light and feelin' things gettin' esky hot. l jumped up, and, Lord. if le whole end of the cabin want in a laze!
 "'Gosh all hemIock!" says. 'Fe's a ad man, and is tryin' to burn me up, Ire as the devils an Injun.' Hut just then I heard an awful ham, erin at the door and the other feller ollerin': '' Git up. you blarsted fool! Do you ant 10 be cooked alive? Turn. out, Id be Ga-ned to you Then l iedged that the fire had , ught in the old dry chimney. )unccd ID and grabbed the coffee pot I'd threw the grounds on the confla-