Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1903-08-07
MOUNTAIN VISITORS.



ored with such confdence-such ter
rible confdence-by their visitors as
were my friends, the Crawfords, in
their mountain home near the Chi
huahua boundary.
| Stephen Crawford had owned a
sugar plantation-bought after the
war-in southern Louisiana, where
he lived until malarial fevers reduced
him to little more than skeleton.
His physician ordered him to the
southwest, and brother who had
owned a cattle-ranch near the Rio
Grande was able to furnish just the
| domicile sat just the altitude needed.
His abandoned and roomy log ranch,
grit by chaparral-grown arroyas
and backed by Lodges of painted rock,
stood overlooking the Mexican VII
lage of Oraibe.
Mr. Crawford's family was small,
consisting of grown daughter,
Eunice, two little girls, Essie and
Pearl, and an old domestic, of pure
Sudanese extraction, known as Aunt
Silver
Eunice, the housekeeper, found
her new quarters spacious enough
except for the lack of bedrooms. She
managed to overcome this difficulty,
however, by having two partitions
put up in large bunk-room, and by
furnishing an outside storage-room,
which adjoined and opened into the
bunk-room. This became the bed
room for the little girls.
1t had no window except a square
hole at the back, where the logs had
been sawed, well up toward the gable,
and through which it received some
light and ventilation Planning to
have windows in this room as soon as
sash and lights could be secured, Eu-
nice covered the opening with mos
quito netting, which was quite COW
eripg enough at any season in that
climate The door from her own
apartment opened into that of the
children, and thus she was able to
keep their room aired -
- Some months - passed, and the
ffosts Of November came to- the
nsountains;;- giving the nights and
mornings chill which is felt by all
outdoor creatures in that latitude.
Thus it was that Eunice and her
father had no particular surprise
when Essie and Pearl complained
that "Old Guy" had come to their
window and insisted upon sleeping
on their bed.
Old Guy was deaf and superan-
nuated old hound. A kennel had been
fashioned outside for him, since he
had been a privileged member of the
family. AS the outer end of the lit
tie girls apartments abutted against
some high rocks, there was nothing
but the mosquito-bar>to prevent his
jumping into their room. And as the
mountaineering was found to have
been torn away, the story told by the
cnll0ren was confirmed.
A cold wind had blown all night,
making the house somewhat chilly
inside, and the little girls complained
that Old Guy had scratched the bed
clothes off them to make a nest for
himself.
'And he damned his old cold nose
right into my face" said Essie, 'and
he lay on Pearl and nearly smovered
her"
Mr.. Crawford laughed. "Old Guy
mustn't plague my little girls that
way" he said seYou must call to
your sister; and Eunice, keep your
riding-whip in your room, and if you
catch the hound in there give him a
few cuts and drive him out and he
won't go in again"
That day the invalid, who was al
ready on the way to recovery, drove
to Oraibe, but as the road was long
and rough his strength did not per
nit him to return that night, as he
had planned.
Eunice, expecting her father to
come home, sat up until nearly mid
night in order to prepare a warm
supper for him upon his arrival. She
busted herself writing letters in her
room.
At about II o'clock, as she sat writ
ing, she heard a scratching sound
from the children's room, followed
by mufhed jar, as if some creature