Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1901-11-29
a NIGHT
WITH THE
GOLD ESCORT
BY s. II. VEDDER.

Miller, the best whip In the Mouaro
district, saw his chance and Ike Light
ming whipped his horses round. The
bushranger fired, but missed the plucky
driver, and In an instant the coach was
dashing back toward Mruya at a mace
that baffled purusIt
They were mighty well sold that
time" grOwled Sergeant Fulton a. he
glanced over his shoulder at the his
torical rock.
Yes, by gum" said Landon. "and
served 'em right too. 1t was the worst
managed bit Of business I've heard OF
for many n day; leastways," he added
hurriedly, that's what n pal of mine
said when he read OF IL, but, Lord n
mercy, fancy n man having the grit to
be bushranger. with death staring
him In the face every hour of the day.
It's awful to think OFF,
Its more awful" replied the ser
geant, "fOr an innocent man coming
quietly along the road to have a hole
put through him by n murderous skunk
hiding behind a tree"
Quite true, quite true" answered
Landon quickly; but don't talk OF it.
sergeant It's too much for a chaps
nerves at this hour of the night"
What with tie Clarkes and the noto-
rious Moonbeam the conversation was
somewhat upSetting to at least one OF
the party, and | could not restrain a
start when on one occasion Landon
suddenly exclaimed in an awestrick-
en- whisper that he was convinced that
he saw the CLINT of a rifle barrel from
the scrub ahead. His audible sigh OF
relief when the suspected spot was
passed was silently echoed by me. and
feel certain by the bank clerk. too. to
judge from the manner i'm which he
had clutched his bag OF gold the mo-
ment before at Landon's terrifying sug-
gestion.
After two hours driving we reached
the foot OF the mountain. where we all
descended excepting Jones. who sat
tight. hugging his bag and walked In
front OF [ e coach. After half an hours
grind up the steep side Of the mountain
we all began to feel somewhat warm.
Presently an Incident occurred that
seemed to me trifiing enough at the
time, but which / have never recalled
without an involuntary shudder. l had
been walking for some time with my
cap In my hand to allow the soft breath
of the faint evening breeze TO play on
my forehead, when Landon. who had
never once removed his SLOUGH hat or
in any way altered its position on his
head since the first moment | saw him.
suddenly took IL Off. An instant after
ward the sergeant struck a match. os-
tensihly to light his pipe, and turned.
SO that the light fell full on Landon's
face.
1t was but for a moment, but in that
time was enabled to notice a deep.
livid scar on the mans forehead. Ii
was evidently the result of serious
wound. but the next instant Landon
had put on his hat and drawn II tight
ly down over his forehead. while the
sergeant was quietly lighting his pipe.
l had n strong desire TO ask Iandon
how he came by such n mark. but re-.
Trained from doing so. and as he volun-
teered no Information on the subject.
although he must have known that we
both saw IL, we let the matter rest.
For some time we walked on In ST.
lence, but II wasn't Landon's nature to
remain quiet long, and he was present
ly talking again in his old CHEEKY man
ner until we reached the top OF the
mountain. where we awaited the ar
rival of the coach and soon afterward
were once again I'm our seats.
1t was about an hour after midnight
when we reached our first stopping
place. This was nothing more than
long, low weatherboard hut containing
a roughly furnished sitting room and a
few tiny bedrooms for the convenience
of any passenger who dared to break
the journey. At the back were the sta
bles
The accommodation house." as it
was called, stood almost on the road.
and behind the stables the ground slop-
ed away TO deep gully, while in front
on the other side of the road the side
Of the mountain, with its densely grow
ing scrub, rose precipitously.
A few minutes later we four coach
passengers were seated in the sitting
room while the sleepy proprietress of
the establishment busted herself in a
leisurely way in preparing for us hot
tea and bacon and eggs.
1t was, as have said, n warm night.
and the door of the room was wide
open. Outside the darkness was in
tense owing TO the black wall of scrub
that fringed the road and rose like a
wall above us.
Coming into the room after our four
hours drive. we all began to realize
that we were hungry and had had
long, tedious journey. Conversation en-
tirely ceased and sense of drowsiness
began to creep over AL except the SER
geant, who sat facing the door, his be-
loved rifle across his knees. Jones. the
accountant, had placed the bag of gold
ON the small table in the center of the
room and sat with his eyes closed.
Landon, who was nearest the door. had
| made no effort to overcome his sleepi-
ness and was the first to close his ewes.
After time drowsiness began to steal
over me. and just before finally drop-
ping OF to sleep l noticed that even
the sergeant was beginning to blink