The Lexington intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1901-1949, 1909-02-27

Turmoil and Riot. ShadOwy forms
danced madly about in the faint moon
light. shooting incOntinently. yelling
horribly. beating pans. Fact had It
that the occupant of the house having
that day been married, his friends
were INDUCING themselves in the in
delicate western custom known as a
"~ehivaree" - assailing the nuptial
abode with a sort OF epithalamial
chorus of hideous noises until the
groom should appear with brown jugs
OF sedative liquors. Fancy, however.
knew well that here was n wild night
OF battle; hoarse shouts of blood
thirsty outlaws: ~deafening %detonatiOns
OF musketry; %throbbing tom-toms OF
savage allies; groans Of wounded,
signs Of dying; rapine, pillage, slaugh-
ter.
With mo thought of retreat, but in
pitiable perplexity as to the identity
OF friend and foe, Don Quixote made
ready his weapons and urged Ros-
inante hither and thither about the
borders of the melee. The uproar
waxed terrific, eliminating in a vast
and universal ululation of victory.
when Benedict, yielding at last.
brought forth his tribute to the turbu-
lent disciples of Bacchus. a noisy
division of the spoils followed, and
Karl was edging in closer. when an
unsteady figure staggered toward him.
engaged with a furious combat with
his W shadow. The shadow be-
came superimposed upon Don Quixote.
and it occurred to the ~befuddled war
rior to discharge his pistol in close
proximity to the ear of Rosinante,
The result was retreat inglorious. un-
stayed, incontinent; and when Karl
at length pulled in his trembling
steed, darkness and silence enveloped
him.
Yet at last stern Fact took nimble
Fancy to wife. and their offspring was
Adventure. Crouching by the roadside
over a fire of %brushwood he had with
difficulty constructed. Karl passed a
sleepless night, obsessed by a haunt
ing dread that though the gods might
vouchsafe TO him a Pisgah sight OF
these, their promised glories. they
would deny him participation, And
at dawn, when he mounted stifiy
and spurred the unwilling Rosinante
onward. his heart was very heavy.
) Then 1t was, however, that he at
tanned and achieved.
For, 10! out of what could but be
l Dead Mans gulch there appeared an
S undeniable st~age-coach, drawn by six
quick-trotting mules. 1t debouched
: upon the main road, overlook Karl
e and passed him in a cloud Of glorious
4 dust. 1t does not matter that the
normal function of this vehicle had
q long since been usurped by a 40-horse-
power Mercedes; nor that it now
/. served merely as a reliable and dust
) proof carriage In which to transport
5 from the railway station the superin-
Q tendent of the Golden Eagle mine, the
n monthly satchel stuffed with pay-en-
i velopes and an occasional visiting
stakeholder. Nor is it even of impor-
lance that the man who stood waiting
with drawn revolvers behind a bowl
II der, q little farther on, was not
II a recrudescent road agent, but a
a discharged gang foreman, seeking
at once revenge and recuperated for
tune. Reality and appearance were
o in all fundamentals identical.
I, And so when Don Quixote, relent-
h lessly squirting Rosinante forward in
d the hope of one last glimpse, ~galloped
over the crest of a little ridge, he saw
e before him a true. real and indu.
a bitable stage coach robbery the
1t three hapless passengers standing
y with uplifted hands at the mercy OF
the menacing weapons in the hands Of
ID a lone. masked bandit. The supreme
Id moment had come, yet Don Quixote
Of did not hesitate, for his part in the
lc drama was all too obvious. Instantly
IL. he slid down from the unstable back
lie Of Rosinante, and, kneeling, rested
m upon a rock the long. brass-bound rife
lie of the S-chutzenyereiu. Facing about
lie the road agent opened fire upon him
O. but Karl did not hasten unduly. Foui
ID times the bandit fired, and though h,
d. missed, received no reply; the fftl
bullet from his revolver, striking Kar
m In the hip, spun him over in the dus
or unconscious. But in that anne In
slant, the long target rifle had Spoken
N also, and its word was deadly.
he Thus briefly ended Don Quixote 0
On the Market his knightly errantry Fo
OIL. hough the mine superintendent
IN caused him to be cared for most ten
ri derby, yet ven when he emerged from
en- the delirium OF the initial fever 1
k. appeared that he was not wholly sane
he And it was therefore deemed best t
or send him, under the care Of a doctor
w to that address which, along wit
m. some moneys, was found in a curiou
X. old wallet under his shirt. Thithe
m. he came safely. and when he had bee
he nursed back to health by his brother
he wife, he told a tale Of his adventure
sr in that far, free. fabulous western lanc
or. which they needs must believe even 2
". he did. for he bore its proof upon hi
fy. person.