Los Angeles herald., 1906-01-14

haint but a few men in these parts es cares
ter put in his jaw when Jake Brown o MIS-
souri's a-talkin', mind ye, an the best SHOW.
in fer We is ter button yer mug till gt
through"
The landlord nodded an emphatic assent to
this declaration, and we kept silent.
oyer see," he went on, them air mules
was temptin' bait fur Ike an his crew;
They air tolable fair mules, fur a TACT, an
Uncle Sans lookin' fur jest sech mules as
hundred dollars fur jest sech par, . crit,
ters es they was; an, ye know, four hundred
amt to be picked up every day III the week,
an Alf an Jim Salinger knows it. tew. Jims
you hear me talk. Wa-al, the long an short
NV the matter is that Alfs gone up river, a
drivin' yer mules, an yer pard's bundled up
his traps an left 'em in Cap Smiths hands;
got onter his pony an skipped arter EN-
Tght smart madden horHeb6 "a" M ,eir es
y to the ceiling, "t's my private, 'pini,on Ell
thet young feller lietches Alf, he'll fill him
so full o. cold lead that Their won't be any
room left fur whisky"
Having delivered himself thus, he raised
the lid of the stove, squirted into 1t mouth
full of tobacco juice, and sat down.
We were eager, OF course, to know more.
but the landlord seeming now, for the hrst
time to notice that we were wet through,
came forward and made, way for lis by NC
stove. we uTPW IL COuDlc Oi lu'""iH
and sat down, while he stirred the fire and
put in some dry wood.
After this operation had been performed,
he turned to boy. who stood leaning against
the wall, and told him to run and fetch Cap
Smith.
Hell be here in minute turning to MS,
"and he can tell we all about yer pard. Get,
ter have somethn ter warm We, with nod
towards the bar. Don't drink, hey? Wa-al,
so much the better fur yse, he. added, as we
shook our heads Cap'll be in directly,
We were now lett to ourselves, and the
games and drinking went on as before. Jud
sat looking gloomily into the fire, and | felt
too depressed in spirits to utter word. Our
thoughts could not well be of Il very cheerful
character.
guine expectations, against the will and bet
ter Judgment OF all our friends at home. to
meet with heavier reverses at the very be
ginning than had been predicted for us. Had
we been assured of Charles safety, we should
have felt much easier, but at present the pos
why" thought /, could he not have
waited until we came back? Why must he
start off upon such perilous chase alone! I!
And yet it was like Charlie; there was no
mistake about that"
NV thoughts were interrupted at the mo-
ment by the entrance of gentemanly look
ing person, dressed in the uniform Of a cap
tain. although it was somewhat faded and
worn. Catching sight of us: he stepped for
ward and extended his hand.
80 you are the young men who have been
camping above here and whose comrade has
left YOU upon wild goose chase?" he said.
as he shook hands with us.
We assanted to this, and he proceeded to
inform us briefly that the mules had been
stolen during the first night of our absence:
that Charlie had come down in the morning
to look for the sheriff. and found that both
he and his deputy had left the day before
for Sioux City, hot upon the heels of Yank-
ton rough.
Charlie had run across the captain. told his
story, and they together went to our camp,
and satisfied themselves that the thieves had
gone up the river with their mules and, as
these animals were in great demand at the
government posts above, there could be little
doubt but that such was the case.
He had endeavored TO persuade Charlie to
wait until his companions came back, or the
sheriff and deputy made their appearance, but
the boy would hear to no such advice. and.
leaving everything in his-the captains
charge, had followed them up the river on his
own pony-which, for some reason, was not
stolen, probably because they did not think
him worth taking-and leaving word for us to
follow with the sheriff as quickly as possible.
Il would have gone with the boy if | could
have left my family" said the captain; for
a young fellow unused to this kind of life. to
follow such well-trained villain as All
Salinger-with, perhaps, two or three half
breeds thrown in-is the height of folly and
presumption"
We made eager inquiries into the particu-
lars as to how the mules were taken yithout
it out, and the like; but the captain knew
little beside the bare fact that they were gone.
and Charlie after them.
"Your things are over at my place bows. -
said the captain, and You want some dry
nlentv of room" he added as he saw ne bac;