Gunnison news-champion., 1908-10-30

I hsr riaA ~ s~g - S~tS tsbsto0G yxs
= Indians said Mrs. Allbsishs. tsAs.,
laEg iaak sssssEa essr the hills.
d Sas an afterusoH late Ia A.sG.-s
a blse haze. ihe susose of aiSi am eos
esi Ares. ~ ugaE The land s..sa.nx 4.
the oid familiar hills a. al 81 nsy-t.ss-,
aud rcusnteHesa. hks thai II x.iles
facss. uusn Ia tns valleys and u.,os
the lnng hillzidos the BIN. faded s.ffl,
into the sTsy % the sage brush. .as
The E-sy into he vazso green of IA.
creek boftom
Airs Albri9hi. The sife of he man
azer and 4 the EoVeraess. OF IN. Bis
Rcd ranch. acre sitting on IA. porch
q doHt Know Why she continued
perhaps because tt's such a very Iazy
day~
Tea minutes later We discovered
more convincing reasons foT the tenor
OF her thoughts. "a the weekly paper
brought by a mounted messenger froa
the post Office over hffy miles away.
The population of the Zig Ned com.
prised three women. four men and nve
children. the co~b bows OF whom there
uers about hfty. being absent upon
the r0uHd-Hp while Mr. Albright ~ss
avay ou a trip 20 New York Ne were
50 miles from the railroad and from
the nssrest town. ten miles from any
other ranch. and quite 80 from any.
one whom We could call neighbor
And nov, as though aware Of our un.
protected position. the Indians had
taken occasion 10 go on the war.
path
"Willfully and msliciously," ex.
claimed Mrs. Albright. as she sat
reading blood chilling accounts 81 mas
sacres that had taken place or we're
about 10 take plscs-accounts which
we're further supplemented by the
messengers report Of the burning that
very morning of ranch only 30 miles
away.
Al the other end OF the porch sat
the five little Allbrights in q circle.
holding a solemn consultation. There
was Tony. the eldest, the 12 year-old;
the twins, aged ten; Billy, seven years
old: and Ethelbert Van Twiller All
bright, aged FIVE They were all look
ing very sober. and each child Was
decorated with a generous piece of
black silk, torn on the bottom Of an
old skirt. In the center OF the circle
stood an empty box, over which were
draped the remains Of the skirt, and
which probably represented TO Tony's
cultivated mind a bier. The twins
shared between them very crumpled
handkerchief, with which they Occa-
sionally rubbed their eyes.
What is the matter, children."
exclaimed, rs | took In the details Of
the scene.
Tony was silent until he had nar-
shaled his features into state Of due
solemnity: then, in q voice carefully
modulated to Mt the occasion, he re-
piled: AT the break of day Miss jug
departed this life"
"She has gone over the big divide"
added the twins, who never let pass
an opportunity Of using q cowboy
phrase.
"Ole Miss jug" as the children
called her. was a portly dog of great
age and immovable dignity. In the
opinions OF the five young Allbrights
she was as old as the oldest tree"
Certainly she was as old as the old
est mourners. And now, as Tony
would have said, in the fullness Of
sime she had gone whence no dog
returneth
she was a mighty fine dog" said
one of the twins, sorrowfully
And" said Tony. visibly brighten
ing, we are going TO give her the
very finest funeral we ever had"
Had Tony lived some hundred Years
ago, he would have become pope. or
certainly a cardinal, so great was his
love of ritual The burial of a hen
under his direction became most
imposing ceremony. Theatricals were
his passion. Robed in a scarlet table
cloth, and armed with a bread llnife,
he would recite Hamlet's solilouuy in
such a melancholy voice, and with
such expressive motions OF his weap-
on, that the twins would be thrown
into quite an ecstasy of horror while
the younger part of the audience
covered in terror under the bed
clothes, the exhibitions taking place
generally at bedtime, being more i'm
pressive by candle light
Late that evening Mrs. AIlbright and
l sat alone on the cool piazza. rock
ing, thinking, waiting. As long as
daylight had lasted and the little AL
brights had borne us COMPANY we had
kept up a pretense of cheerful conyer.
sation. But now that the small folks
were tucked away in bed. and the
men had foregathered in the barn. We
had relapsed into silence whose
gloom was accented by the deem minor
chords of night, the crnakinr of
frogs, the distant lowing Of thirsty cat.
tie waiting for the rains. and now and
then the hungry howls of the COYOTES,
holding reyel further down the creek
By this time it was quite dark
Even the long, narrow sea of smoky
green that had cleaned So lo,y oya-