St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1902-03-22
of these he found that his PIPE va.

Apo'o7oPS VI highway 1ODOelleS "CAt
quite infrequent inthe Blue Duck
try. While many people were en- the
trails when the weather permitted.
they carried few valuables and the
temptation to rob was slight. Then,
too, men prone to highway robbery
were not many in numbers. They
never found the climate healthful
Torson in his journeys with the mail
carried more wealth about him thar
any man in the region. Nearly all OF
the letters he brought contained
money from friends at home to those
who were making the life of the from.
tier. Yet day after day and month
after month Torson pursued his way
u~nmolested.
1t was a New Years week that Tor.
sol found himself at the Cub Creek
with owe 600 letters in his posses
sion for the settlers east of that
point. He knew that everyone of them
was expecting mail and that the
quicker he crossed the prairies the
happier they would be. He took his
supper at Harper's and refused an in
vitation to speuI the night there at
a sitting of cribla ge.
II am going to Blue Duck tonight"
he said, "and finisi my route by to-
morrow night. Letters are worth
more than food out there, I think
He filled his pipe, bundled himself
into his sledge, gave his ponies the
rein, and they struck o'lt over the
plain at a rapid pace. To1son's head
was hooded in fur; but there were
openings for the eyes, nose and mouth.
He could look down at the bowl of his
pipe and see the gentle glow ct the
coal within. 1t was his habit to KEEP
his tobacco-pouch strung about his
neck and outside of his fur coat, sc
hat he never had to unbutton to reach
it.. Now i" laid on the robe which en-.
veloped him, its long cord hanging
loosely about his neck.
On his journeys, having no one else
to talk to, Torson usually ~conversee
with his pipe, and this night proved
no exception to the rule. The mai!
carrier told the pipe all the inner Sc
crets of his soul, he whispered OF am
billions long since dead, he chatted OF
his well-beloved children, he said fono
words of his wife, he related past New
Years experiences, he wished he were
a boy again and he was thanful that
he was a man. He expressed wonder
over the failure of the hay crop in
the early fall and was delighted that
he had lost none of his cattle. He
spoke contemptuously Of the govern
ment for the small pay il gave itn serv.
ants and he was delighted th*t his
horses were sure-footed.
The pipe listened. To Tctson's
mind it was better than a woman be-
cause it never talked back. The smoke
wreaths curled up from it and float.
ed back of the sledge in white rings.
A delicate aroma was left OF the air
by which if the mail carrier had been
followed quickly he might have been
traced from Cub Creek to Blue
Duck. ....m
The ponies kept their even pacs and
the night worked its way on. Hill
slopes, buffalo wallows, frozen Water
courses, ranges, all were passed. and
still Torson smoked and dreaeced,
Perhaps it was ten o'clock, and maybe
it was midnight, but Torson die 1ot
care. His ponies were doing ;Jeil
best. Sooner or later the lighk OF
Blue Duck would come in sight. II
was good to think of Blue Duck be-
cause the town meant his own oed
for him and a nights rest undef his
own roof.
just then the ponies sud6l My
swerved at the bottom of a deeI
wallow, and tLen sat down on
their launches as if some one had
grabbed them by the bride and
thrust them back. On the crest Of
the east bank of the wallow stood a
man, in his hands a rife and by hin
two horses and a sledge. They cams
up SO suddenly before the eyes ol
Torson's ponies that they seemed
to have risen from the depths of ths
snow. The rife was pointed at Tor
sons breast and a rough voice tole
him to keep himself and his ponies
still. Then the voice said:
"Throw out the mail, Torson."
Torson chung to his pipe. Thu
smoke still curled from its bowl. Ht
was thinking of a great many things
but he made no o to reach thu
mail in the bottom of the sledge
Again the voice ordered him to throw
it out and again the smoke curlet
from the pipe. That second whit
gave Torson new courage, new in
spiration as to what he should do
He had been stupid for a moment
but now he was awake. Still holding
the pipe between his lips he uttered
hoarse growl and the ponies under
stood. They knew that Torson never
spoke as other men, because his pip
was always between his lips. The.
leaped forward, and with a dash wer'
by the highwayman. The rifle spok'
lust as they sprang, and Torson fel
over his heart a singing, sickenini
blow, but he bravely held his pip
and the reins and in a very shor
time was out of the reach of his as
sailant.
Later in Blue Duck Torson took hi
tobacco pouch from his neck, ant
found that the bullet from the high
wayman's rife had gone through i
and the tobacco, also into his heav,
coat and through his flannel, but hat
not broken the skin. Just above hi
heart there was a little blue mark
r..,on ehook himself filed his MIN
and smoked again.-Chicago Record
Herald.