Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1902-11-09

It was the BIRD of last February / was
nuiet1v seated in a comfortable hotel lobby
in East Tennessee, when the clerk handed
me a telegram. ] opened the little veAo"
| envelope. and read: Work Ashe county,
with Jones & Co.'s man" My face must
| have borne rather an exceptional eN-
preston, as the clerk said: bad news
! from home? ANY one dead?
| I looked up, and he was eyeing me IN
the C,eerest fashion. mo one at ohme
| dead, old man, but / am afraid there VIII
be in a few days. if I obey orders, ana
| there is enough of me left for transpor-
tation.''
why, what's up? You amt mixed up
in any kentucky feud, are you!'
"No. but / am going down in Ashe
county next week with Jones man to
work the retail trade
Gosh! I'd rather risk it in Ken
lucky. You heard about the deputy
Sheriff who was shot last week at Deep
Gorse?"
oh, yes,'' I said, and again read the
telegram to be quite sure l was not mis-
taken. and I wasn't.
I did not enjoy the rest of my cigar as
did the first part. but 1 tried to tell my
self it was only that ! was afraid>of the
cold. for it was a cold spell. and the
trip had to be made in buggy.
I had the consolation Of knowing that
Sunday came in before I had to start. l
then read a letter / had gotten from my
best girl in the last town, and wrote
on to my best girl in the next town and
for the time my mind was at rest While
l was standing a the counter. stamping
my letters the man with whom | was
to make the proposed trip came in.
Hello Nick! Gotten that wire from
your house vet? Hope you have, be-
cause I don't want to make that trip
by myself. 1t is too cold for those yaps
down in Ashe to work, SO they are hay
ing fun a the expense OF Uncle sam
booZe-iinderS.'
I showed him what I considered my
death warrant, and he was SO much re-
ieved that he proposed adjourning be-
hind some green doors that open both
ways. Monday morning broke clear and
cold and promptly at We started.
I remember now, how ! wished 7 was
a hotel clerk, or d barber, or even a
bootblacz if I could stay within the pale
Of civilization.
Brown. my companion, was in very fine
spirits his competitor was sick-had been
for two weells-and as they were the only
Commercial angels who worked Ashe
county, they had things their own way.
Well, the first thing he said after light
ing one Oh my sample cigars u was a
specially man, better known to general
statesmen as .a good thing.'') was. 'Spose
you brought a 80 along?'
I fastened to evidence the fact by
showing him new one. The roads were
be>., as 1 heard Brown speaking to a
man that evening about them, say, I'VE
came from over an entirely new
road"
You did, aye?''
Yes twas two feet below the old one
The first day was uneventful, and we
passed a very pleasant night al a, country
hosiery. The next day was much as
the first, but the third day, the weather
damp, and some snow began to fall, just
down thick and fast. Brown said he
place before o'clock, but our poor old
horses feet began to clog. and that. OF
course. delayed us. About in the after
noon we entered very thick wood, the
trees arching over the road, so that
scarcely any snow was on the ground,
and here we tried to make time We had
gone, I suppose, five hundred yards, when
two men emerged from the woods with
countenances like Ham when Noah gave
him his final discharge. and rifles that
looked like Boer cannon
| had not lost any trouble in that do
cese. and I was not looking for any one
else's. and would have passed on, but for
the fact that these two men were stand
ing IN the middle of the road. I wondered
Why they pointed their rifles In our di-
Fee1s4. ! DID not see any snow birds Of
SQUIRRELS ON the ton OF gtir thfepy Jvb A.