Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1902-02-07
THE DAILY
SHORT STORY.
The Quagmire.


ward became known to- fame as the
fastest PAGER in the west. This was
over thirty years ago, and Jimmy had
won only few scrub races when my
uncle bought him and was not yet
four years old. Uncle William, as well
as many others. saw in him future pos
sibilities. but when the husband died
the widow would neither allow Jimmy
to race again nor sell him. He was
used with other horses on the farm
and might have lived and died in front
of the pillow but for a queer incident.
After uncle's death l went TO live
with Aunt Mary. being then a. lad OF
fourteen. The horse had developed an
ugly disposition, and the hired man
had almost become afraid of him. He
took to me at once. for some unknown
reason, and thereafter no one else dar-
ed enter his stall. If turned out into
the field for run, no other hand could
catch Ism. Many and many night !
used to slip out of bed after the house
was asleep and take Jimmy out and
send him over the meadow or the high
way at his best speed, and he seemed
to enjoy IL as much as l did. 1t was
one of these nights when l had him out
on the highway that l passed and re-
passed two strangers in buggy. They
were evidently amazed ut the PAGERS
gait and stopped Inc 10 inquire all
about him. Next morning they offered
Aunt Mary $50 more than anybody
else ever had, though some one was
always trying to tempt her. She re-
fused to sell. / think she somehow
felt that Jimmy was a bond between
her and the dead. The figures were
increased by $50, but she was obsti-
nate.
The men went away disappointed,
but from a remark l accidentally over
heard 1 became suspicious that they
meant to have the horse whether or
no and intended stealing him. This
was in summer. and for three or four
nights after that / slept in the barn.
Nothing happened. and the strangers
passed on out of sight. 1t was Il fort
night later that 1 woke up one night
at midnight and heard Jimmy squeal
and kick. Without waiting to dress or
alarm the house l climbed out of nry
open window on to the roof of a shed
and dropped to the ground and ran to
the barn. My idea was that the horse
had got tangled up I'm his halter, but
no sooner had entered that barn than
a hand clutched my neck and a hoarse
voice exclaimed:
Now. hoy. IL you utter one loud
word I'll be the death OF you IN a min
uter'
There were two men there with a
dark lantern. and they were two
strangers They had been working
to get Jimmy out of his stall and lead
him Off, but he had kept them off with
his heels. / was ordered to bring him
out OF his stall, and when the man let
go of my neck he covered me with a
pistol. Had l been n man instead of
a boy | should have obeyed orders.
The fellows had hard. determined
faces. and they would have thought
nothing OF knocking me on the head.
Under my guidance the horse backed
out quietly enough, and l was ordered
to lead him out of a back door. The
fellows had saddle horses waiting
there. They had come across the fields
from ii highway a mile to the west
and intended going back that way.
When Jimmy was clear of the barn,
the man who had done all the talking
said to me:
'Now get on his back and come with
us, and if you try to play any tricks
I'll put bullet through you!
l dared not to say n word in reply.
AS we started across the meadow they
took their places on each side of me.
1 was riding bareback and had only
halter, and we had not gone ten rods
before Jimmy got the idea that it was
to be a race and started of. The
meadow was a field of thirty acres,
with a creek meandering through It,
and at one point in the bed OF this
creek was a small but dangerous
quagmire. Whenever we had live
stock pasturing there we put up
temporary fence at the spot. 1t so
happened that Jimmy headed straight
for this spot, though L did not notice it
at the time. He shot of like an arrow,
and the two men put their horses to
gallop and tried to grab his head. He
paced right away from them, even as
L pulled my hardest, and as he reach
ed the creek he gathered his legs under
him and made jump that few horses
viii ever eQudl II udS EOuG uOh
history with his name. as it deserved to
do. His amazing leap just cleared the
quagmire, and we were hardly over
before heard the two following horses
come down into it with a great swash.
Jimmy continued on to the fence and
then turned and headed back for the
barn, and 1 could not stop him until
we reached it, Then 1 slipped off his
back and ran TO the house and raised
an alarm, but 1t was quarter of an
hour before the hired man turned out.
Then we reached the quagmire to find
that both horses had already been
sucked down out of sight. while the
two men showed only their heads and
shoulders. They raved and cursed aud
begged for help, and we ran for ropes
and fence rails. We probably lost val
uaDle minufpS in Our confusion for