The Ogden standard. [volume] (Ogden City, Utah) 1902-1910, 1910-04-30

was on ticket of leave when he tried TO
hold up gold delivery single handed He was recoc-
niZed but escaped into the bush after months OF
wandering In the desert through to Port Darwin
and got away from Australia on a trading schooner
81 met him years afterward In Chicago He was
ot an old mnn but the suGerngs he had endured
nd broken MIN lie tried to turn a simple trick in
1nk was standing by and watching him. So was
he bnnk detective, When Blake made his falterlnG
ttempt the detective spranG at him but was before
'ond. Raising the hue md cry managed TO trip the
'ursuer and In the excitement the old fellow got
lear.
"He was grateful for some reason and when
found him again he told me about himself He was
ull of strange terrible stories the convict times
though none was stranger more terrible than his
own experience in the bush He wandered up through
the Northern Territory through the dust storms and
the choking heat, seeking the forgotten ruins of
mining camp. where two former associates of his
CoogID and OA1ara. had hidden themselves with the
black boys,
"Hc finally found his men--in peculiar circum
stances"
LET'S have It," said LnXton, as the master paused
And this the story told by the master who had
It FIRST from Blake, the ticket of leave man
Coogn and OAfnra had gone into the brush years
before and bad been again. Blake had
nothing 10 guide him 10 their whereabouts but that
knowledge and vague rumors picked up from blacI,
point Of giving mp the search for Woooo time and
time again. only TO return to 1t when hunger
thirst and the trackcrs pressed him
One thing puzzled Blake particularly. The black
boys never referred TO the two outcasts whom he
sought rs white They called the lone
dwellers. the strangers the men of Wooloo AID.
parcntly the natives had accepted Coogin OAIara
as Of themselves. But Bloke's first thought was to
find shelter aid and friends and he had doubt that
they would welcome him.
Blake Ind had two hard days of It, and finally as
he hoped had thrown off pursuit His garments
were in rags. Food water had passed his lips
for twenyfour hours Night him on the vast
mournful and desert wastes he staggered on,
hOustcd and dellrous. Then somehow, he found him
self In shallow hollow of the plain, surrounded by
crumblng skeletons of heaped with sand drifts
FlouDderlng on. he caught sudden. sharp glare of
light 1t came from the window of ruined shanty
and. creeping UP, he looked through Unable to
further cry ont for weakness sprawed on driftcd
hummock, he heard and what passed within. 1t
was O0Iara's celebration OF Coogins wake,
oAlara sat by Coogn's body. Three sputtering
wicks In cups OF fat lit up the and flashed
on tho unwnklng eyes Of a Of natives men and
women, sitting oil their heels about the wall.
O'Mnra beld eocoanut shell full of sticky. dark
liquor and nodded at Coogin. Beating a maudlin
measure he broke hoarsely into song
"T'r old Boru Is dead an gone.
No shindy he make;
Wen brew a smokin' bowl t. him
An drink ut at his wake"
The line of eyes stared unmoved at the lone roy
sterer Wreaths OF acrd smoke through which the
light showed red trailed from tho rude lamps. The
dead face flushed by the blood of life, but
lines and sharp bard shadows gave the lie to the
seeming Outside as a tangible thing, hung the
heavy silence of the desert with not a whisper to
break It's weight. The air was stiAing hot aud filed
with the scent of burning fat.
A Tale of Terror
OAInra finished his draught and stood buklnG
huge IN the flicker and flare. He unslung large
gourd from n rnttcr and passed 1t to the
native. Grasplns the rough coffin for support, he
cleared his throat Tor speech.
His tongue found the words of earlier days, grown
used though it had to the harsh native dialect-and
OF those that heard except Blake could under
stand. But the gourd passed from band to hand and
in the intervals Of waiting each pnir of eyes fixed
upon the speaker To Blake the whole scene was one
of those real but distorted visions that
In dcIrium.
Friends an neishbors.' jegan O'Mara, soemuly.
Y'ave been invited this night sit by the body OF
Danny CocGin an It's a proper wake wen give him.
Drink hearty"
lie arrested the progress OF the gourd long enough
to I'LL his cocoanut she'll
why" he shouted. suddenly, rceling upright iu
swift gust of sodden anger why do we call ut
Coogn's walker Tis has all the wake while
Coogn lies with word rr the lnds that pass the
bowl "ris us that wakes, an be sleeps
He crumpled into laughter and shortly In
fears.
Friends an nelehbors," be began again. weaving
unsteadly on his feet, Il have known deceased rr
many years We were IN the army together, an in
Van Dieman's Land tgether, an In this burnn'. for
saken hole t'gcthcr dnc lad was Danny, though
something quauclsome an over handy With his lists
an a soaker fr rum.
"Y' ask why did t Wooloo; why did we
come live In sand pit, eat y'r dog meat drink
y'r DEVILS cocoanut shandyga1I Sh-h-h" he peered
down at CoogD. DO y want / should tell Danny,
buck? Small takln' y II ever be dom Ills
can say the word Eth, Dan do y mind the daysl
The cat an the gag an the irons? SO do l. Dan It's
we'll L mind
His hand shook he raised his cup. But the need
for words. words, lashed him Iu u more
sober fash 1t reached him that here mark
10 remember Ie sMcDt the circle ot vacant