The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1908-01-15
THE EVENING STORY
Crossing the Divide.
(By Azile Aidy1.)

The stage coach ratified out Of the
little town Of Redding at o'clock on
snappy December evening. The
driver swung his six horses with great
flourish and cracking Of whip through
the rough but level road of the main
| street, and out at the north end Of
the town. A brilliant dash down the
steep incline to the creek. and he
brought the coach far up the road on
the other side. where the mountains
rose so suddenly from the plains. And
so began the climb over the Divide.
The three passengers inside the
coach, young girl and two men, ap-,
parently accustomed to this mode of
travelling, did not brace themselves to
| resist the pitching and rolling of the
ponderous vehicle, but allowed them
selves to sway with It's every motion.
The road was broken and rough
from the heavy autumn rains. Once
the coach struck "chuck-hole''
| which almost brought the inmates to
their feet and caused general friend
ly laugh.
Up to this time the girl had paid
no attention to her fe1Iow-travelers.
She had been absorbed with her own
homesick thoughts. To start to the
from nowhere. with no prospect of
even returning home for Christmas,
was depressing. oh, we'll, she must
make the best OF 1t. She tried to dis
lluS ulSl Lie Iuen 8 races, DuI II was
| too dark, and both were muffled in
heavy overcoats. AS they boarded
| the coach at Redding she had noticed
one was an old man, the other gray as
to hair, broad, strong and youthful as
| to shoulders.
the back seat. The two men chatted
about the rich strike in Deadwood,
where fortunes were being made in a
| day. She gathered that the young
old man was mining an old hydraulic
property just beyond Lewiston, and
| he was On his way there. Well, she
was going 'just beyond Lewiston" al
| so, and she wondered if this huge
person was to be a neighbor of hers.
Their desultory talk gradually died
away; the old man fell asleep, and his
head bobbed and swayed and ducked
about, until he seemed in danger OF
losing it, but he slept on oblivious Of
such alarming possibilities.
| At II o'clock they reached the
driver changed horses, the passengers
stretched their cramped limbs, pac-
| Ing the narrow porch of the inn. Lat
er they went into the low, long dining
room, where cold lunch and hot
coffee was served them on a table
spread with a red and white cloth.
| The girl saw that the young-old giant
| could not be more than thirty-seven
1 or eight years old, though his hair
was silver. And such blue eyes! They
seemed to belong to child, so clear
and unclouded were they.
| He supplied her needs at the table,
| without seeming to do so, and when the
driver called "all aboard" he helped her
into the coach in the same unobstrusive
| manner.
| The fresh horses, only four now, as
| the heavy climb was over, pulled the
| stage along at livelier pace, and with
| in half hour they had reached the
summit of the divide and commenced
| the descent.
The driver cracked his whip and they
whirled down the narrow mountain
| road swinging the horses far out on
| the very edge of the embankment as
| they turned the outward curve of the
| mountain, and then sweeping rapidly
in at the bend-as only stage driver
| can, and keep his coach in the middle
| of the road.
| It was a magnificent night-the moon
| light making it clear as day. The girl
| from her window could see innumerablc
lofty peaks of the great Coast Range"
| stretching in what seemed level line.
The passengers were startled by a
| sudden jerking of the coach and a wild
1mprecation from the driver.
| Something's wrong" said the giant,
| and he opened the window on the right
! hand side and looked out. In a moment
| he drew back
| 1.-The off lead has broken the inside
trace and is frightened" he said, as he
| Invested himself Of his overcoat. The
driver must have some help. Don't be
| nervous"-this to the young girl. "We'll
| fix 1t all right"
| He opened the door and stood on the
step a second. BY this time the terror
| of the runaway was communicated to
| the other horses and they were fast
| getting beyond control. The coach was
rocking and pitching at a tremendous
| rate.
4
he called to the old man, who was thor
| oughly awake by this time and then,
waiting until the coach swung around
the inner curve, he put one foot half
way up the door on the open window
| ledge and grasping the low railing
above, pulled himself up on to the top
| of the coach.
| The girl had closed the door. and
| leaning far out watched him, as the
| swinging coach permitted, step to the
| seat of the driver and over the dash
| board to the tongue terrible lurcll,
| and he had to pause and hold on for
| a moment.
Pull hard on the wheelers." he said
to the driver. ''Pll look after the
| Others"
| Slowly he began moving along the
| tongue of the wagon, and the girl felt
sure he was talking to and reassuring
the horses, for his presence did not
seem to further alarm the poor fright
! ened brutes.
| The girls hands suddenly grasped
| the sides Of the window. as she saw
| him near the end of the narrowing
| tongue, and realized what he purposed
| doing. For a moment he paused to
pat the neck of the wheeler, then
| standing with one foot on the swinging
single tree, he gave tremendous
| leap and sprang to the back of the
maddened leader. He drew himself
| along over the foaming creatures
oh M
ceeding In freeing the bit from its
| clinched teeth, then, taking softly and
gently patting its neck, gradually
| quieted the poor animal, which now
| responding to the saving of the reins,
came to a standstfll half way down the
mountainside.