davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Los Angeles herald., 1910-09-18

imagine with tolerable distncness the sensations to
be experienced in such crisis. lie could have put
them paper with every appearance of realism
But he had touchstone by which to test their
truth. lie might be uneonsciously false to his art,
to which he had vowed allegiance at such cost 1t
would never do.
So naturally, he did the obvious thing-that is to
say the obvious thing to serious minded writer with
no sense of humor He went forth and sought an
quaintance named Colorado Jim, and made to him
proposition 1t took Severne just two hours and six
drinks to persuade Colorado jim. At the end of that
time Colorado Jim, in his turn, went forth, shaking
his head doubtfully, and emitting from time to time
cavernous chuckTes which bubbled up from his in
terror after the well-known manner of the "Old
Faithful geyser. lie hunted out six partners of his
own pards, - he called them--to whom he spoke
at length. The six pards stared at Colorado Jim in
oasping silence for some time. Then the seven went
into committee of the whole. The decision of the
committee that the tenderfoot was undoubtedly
crazy, harmless, and to be humored-at price. Be
sides the humoring would be fun. After number
of drinks, Colorado Jim and the pards concluded that
it would be lots of fun
Early the next morning they rode out of town In
the direction of the hills AT the entrance to the
dark gorge-or deep canyOn-they met Severne, also
mounted After greetings, the latter distributed
certain small articles.
Nov" +" said he, most gravely, 81 will ride ahead
about far that rock there, and when get ready
to start, 1 will wave my hand. You re to chase
just you d chase real horsethief, and ii try to
keep ahead of you. You keep shooting with the
blank cartridges fast you can. Underestimate
They said they did. They did not. But it was fun
Severne rode to the bowlder in the dark gorge-I
it the dark gorge-and turned The
pards lined up in eagerness for the start They
had made side bets to who would get there first
lie waved his hand and struck spurs to his horse. The
pursuit began.
The horse which Severne mounted was
good The way he climbed up through that dark
gorge a caution to thorOughbreds. Behind
whooped the joyous seven, and the cracking of
pistols a delight to the ear The outfit swept up
the gulch like whirlwind
Severne became quite excited. The swift motion
exhilaratng. He mentally noted at least hun
dred and ten most realistic minor details. He felt
that his money had not been wasted And then he
noticed that he gradually drawing ahead of his
pursuit. Better and better! He would not only ex-
perience pursuit, but he would achieve in his per-
a genuine escape for he knew that, whatever the
mythical character of the bullets the Westerners had
a real enough intention of racing each other and him
to the top of the ridge. lie piled his quirt, and
looked back. The pursuers were actually dropping
behind. Even to his inexperienced eye their animals
showed signs of distress.
Los Angeles herald., 1910-09-18

wealthy YOUTH he decided to go far, far away. This
necessary in order that he might bury his grief
He rather fanced battefelds and carnage, but there
were 1t would add to the picture if he could
return bronzed and battle Scared, but that i'm
possible, he resolved to return bronzed any
So he bought a ticket to a small town in Wyoming.
There he and his steamer trunk boarded Thompson s
stage and journeyed to Placer Creek where the two
of them, he and the trunk, took up their quarters in
little board-ceiled in the Prairie Dog hotel
The place admirably adapted for glooming. 1t
was a ramshackle affair of four streets and sixteen
saloons Some of the houses and all of the Saloons had
been painted. In front hitching rails. To
the hitching rails at all times of the day, tied
ponies patiently turning their tails to the Wyoming
breezes. Wyoming breezes always going
where at the rate of from thirty to sixty miles an
hour Beyond the town, in direction some
low mountains well supplied with dark gorges, narrow
canyons, murmuring waterfalls, dashing brooks and
precpitous descents Beyond the town, in the other
direction lay broad, rolling country, which cattle
and cowboys dwelt amid profanity and dust Severne
in cold room washed his face in hard water,
and descended to breakfast The breakfast could not
have been better adapted to beginning day of gloom.
1t started out with sticky oatmeal, and ended with
clammy cakes between which was much horror After
breakfast he wandered in the dark gorges, narrow
canyons, ct cetera and contemplated with melancholy,
but approving interest, his noble sacrifice and the
wreck of his life Thence he returned to town.
In town, various lncOmprenenSlDe individuals with
a misguided sense of humor did things to him, the
of which he could not understand in the least,
mainly because he had himself of humor, mis-
guided otherwise The things they did frightened
and bewildered him. But he examined them gravely
through his shortsighed spectacles, noting just how
they done, just how their perpetrators looked and
acted and just how he felt.
After days his literary instincts perforce
awoke In spite of his gloom, he caught himself sif
ing and asserting and placing things in their relative
values In fne he began to conceive Western story.
Shortly after, he cleaned his fountain pen by insert
ing thin card between the gold and the rubber feeder
and sat down to write. AS he wrote he grew and
pleased with the result. The sentences became
crisper and crisper The adjectives fairly sizzed
Poetic cOnnotaton faded a mountain mist. And
he remembered and described just how Alkal Ike spit
through his mustache-which disgusting, but
real. 1t was his masterpiece. He wrote on exctedly
Never such short story!
But then there pause lie had success
fully mounted his hero and started him in full fight
down the dark gorge or narrow canyon forget
which-pursued by the avenging band. There inter
posed here a frightful difficulty. He did not know
how man felt when pursued by an avenging band
He had never been pursued by an avenging band
himself. What was he to do? To be sure, he could
Los Angeles herald., 1910-09-18
SEPTEMBER ls, 1910.
LOS ANGELES HERALD SUNDAY MAGAZINE

At this place the guch divided Severne
turned to the left, being more nearly level Down
from the rght-hand dissection came the boys OF the
Triangle outfit.
To the boys of the Triangle outfit but one course
was open Here were Colorado Jim and the pards on
foundered horses pursuing rapid individual who
was escaping only too easily. Never desert COM
rade The Triangle boys uttered whoops and
joined the game at speed. Not gaining as rapidly
as they wished, they produced long reyolvers-and
began to shoot 1t is little difficult to hit anything
from a running horse Severne heard the reports,
and congratulated himself on the realistic qualities
of his little drama Then suddenly his hat went
spinning from his head. At the same instant
bullet plowed through the leather on his pommel
Zp zipl went other bullets past his ears. The boys
of Triangle X outfit were beginning to get the
range.
He looked back To his horror he discovered that
Colorado Jim and the pards had disappeared, and
that their places had been taken by number of
manacs on jumping ponies. The maniacs were yell
ing ''Yipi Yipl Yipl' and shooting at him. He
could not understand it in the least but the bullets
were mighty convincing. lie used his quirt and
spurs
If Severne really wished to experience the feelings
of man pursued, he attained his desire. 1t is not
pleasant to be shot at Severne entertained sensa-
tions of varied coherence but and all of vivid
which of the greatest literary value. Only
he was not in a mood to appreciate literary values.
the excellent animal on which he mounted as
rapidly possible the ground. In this he at
tanned moderate Venturing backward
glance, after few moments, he noted with pleasure
that the distance between himself and the maniacs
had sensibly increased. Then of those tipping
bullets passed between his body and his arm, cut off
three heavy locks of the horse s and entered
the base of the poor animal s skull Severne suddenly
found himself in the road The maniacs swept up
at speed refining in suddenly at the distance of three
feet, in such a to scatter much gravel
over him. Severne sat up.
The maniaos, with commendable promptness jerked
Severne to his feet. Several bent his
horse
jess s I thoughtl'' shouted of these "Jess s
I thought lie s stole this cayuse. This is Hank
Smith s bronze I'd know him anywharl'
''That s right Bar brandt" cried several
Then who held him yanked Severne here and
there. END of yore rope this trip! Steal hosses,
will vel" said they.
''I ddn It steal the horse" cried poor Severne;
ct hired him from Smith. -
A of laughter greeted this statement.
g Hired Colorado and the boys to chase you, too,
didn' vel" suggested one, with heavy sarcasm.
eyes, did, answered Severne, sincerely.
Continued FOlloWing Pdge)
The Comrade. (Winnfield, La.) 1890-1914, 1910-11-25
She felt that she had been stupid

She felt that she had been stupid
where she should have been most deli
cate. but you don't understand she
protested, leaning far toward him as
if to coerce him with her generous
warmth. 1.-The ChatWOrth ring was
nothing but fancy I had. never
thought of it for moment as an en-
gagement rng!!"
BY the light stir Of silk she was
aware that Clara had risen. She look
ed up quickly to encounter that odd
look. Clara's face was so smooth, so
polished, so unrutf1ed, as to appear al
most blank, but none the less Flora
saw it all in Claras eye-a look that
was not new to her. It was the same
with which Clara had met the an
nouncement Of her engagement; the
same look with which she had con-
fronted every allusion to the ap-
preaching marriage; the same with
which she now surveyed the mention
of the engagement ring-a look Meth
err approving nor dissenting, whose
calm, considerate speculation seemed
to repudiate all interest positive or
negative in the approaching event ex'
cept the one large question, what
is to become of me?" Many times
Clara had held it up before her, not as
question, certainly not as an ac-
cusation; as a fiat assertion of fact;
but tonight Flora felt it so directly
| and imperatively aimed at her that 1t
| seemed this time to demand an audi
Bile response. And Clara's way of get
ting up, and standing there, with her
gloves on, poised and expectant, as if
she were only waiting on opportunity
to take farewell, took on, in the light
of her look, the fantastic appearance
of final departure. I'm afraid
she mildly reminded them, that
Shima announced the carriage ten
minutes ago!"
"Oh, dear, I'm so sorry!" Floras
eyes wavered apologetically in the di
rection of the waiting Japanese
Clara's flicker of amusement made
her hate herself the moment it was
out. She could always depend on her
self when she knew she was on exhi
bition. She could be sure of the right
thing if it were only large enough
but she was still caught at odd mo
ments by the trifes, the web of Ger
tain social habit into which she ha(
slipped, full-grown on the smooth sur
face of her fathers millions. Clara:
! feeting smile lit up these trifles t.
her now as enormous. It took advan
tage of her small deficit to point ou
to her more plainly than ever to wha
large plumbers she might be liable
when she had cut loose from Clara
guiding, reminding, prompting genius
and chose to confront the world with
out it.
To be sure, she was not to confron
it alone; but, looking at Harry, |
came to her with moments Qualn
that she did not know him as we'll a
she thought she had.
The Comrade. (Winnfield, La.) 1890-1914, 1910-11-25
CHAPTER II.

A Name Goes Round Table.
For tonight, from the moment he
had appeared, she had recognized an
unfamiliar mood in him, and it had
come out the more they had discussed
the Chatworth ring.
She wondered, as he heaped her err
mine on her shoulders, if Harry
might not have more surprises for her
than she had supposed. Perhaps she
had taken him too much for granted.
After all, she had known him only for
year.
She herself was but three years old
in San Francisco, and to her new eyes
Harry had seemed an old resident
thoroughly established. So firmly es-
tablished was he in his bachelor quar-
tiers, in his clubs, in the demands
made upon him by the city's society,
that it had never occurred to her he
had ever lived anywhere else. Nor
had he happened to mention anything
of his previous life until tonight, when
he had given her, in that mention OF
a London ball, one flashing glimpse of
former experiences.
Impulsively she summed up the pos
sibilities of what these might have
been. She gave him look, incredu-
lous, delighted, as he handed her into
the carriage. She had actually got a
thrill out of easy-going, matter-of-fact,
well-tubbed Harry It was comrade.
ship in itself. Not that she would
have told him. This capacity of hers
for thrills she had found need always
to keep carefully covered. In the days
when she was shoeless child-those
days Of her fathers labor in shaft and
dump-she had dimly felt her world
to be creature of keen, fairly
cruel humor, for all things that did not
pertain to the essence of the life II
struggled for. The wonder of the
western flare Of day, the magic in the
white eyes Of the stars before sunrise
the mystery in the pulse of the pound
ing mine heard in the dark-of such
it had been as ruthless as this new
world that looked as narrowly forth
at as starved prospect with ever
keener ridicule. Instinctively she ha(
turned to both the hard, bright fact
they required.
Fatherless, motherless, alone upol
the pinnacle of her fortune, she hal
known that such an extraordinary en-
:. trance, even at this rather wide socia
portal, would only be acceptable i
toned down, CLOSED over and draw
, out by a personality sufficiently neu
, trail, sufficiently potent and suficientl
in need of what she had to give. TIL
; successive flickers OF the gas lamp
! through the carriage window made Q
!, Clara's profile SO hard and fine a littl
) medallion that it was impossible t
conceive It in need of. anything. An
r yet 1t was just their mutual need tia
had drawn these two women togethe
The Comrade. (Winnfield, La.) 1890-1914, 1910-11-25


bility is the thing'll be returned and
no questions asked. Purdie's keen
very keen. He's responsible, the exec
utor Of the estate, you see."
But Clara Britton leveled her eyes
at him, as if the thing he had pro-
duced was not at all the thing he had
led up to. "Still, unless there was
enormous pressure ,somewhere-and
in this case don't see Where-I can't
see what Mr.. Purdie's keenness will
do toward getting it back"
Harry played little sulkily with
the proposition, but he would not pick
up the thread he had dropped. II
don't know that any one sees. The
question now is-who took it?''
"Why, one of u.s." said Flora flip
PANTY. "Of course, it is all on the
Western Addition
Don't you believe it," he answered
her. 'Its a COMPOUNDED fine profess
sional job. 1t takes more than sleight
of hand-it takes genius, thing like
that! There was a chap in England,
Farrell Wand"
The name floated in little silence.
"He kept them guessing" Harry
went on recalling it; ibid some great
vanishing acts"
| "You mean he could take things
before their eyes without people
knowing it?" Flora's eyes were wide
beyond their wont.
Something Of that sort. I remem-
Der at one of the embassy balls at
1. St. James he talked five minutes to
Lady Tilton. Her emeralds were on
wnen he began. She never saw 'em
again"
Flora began to laugh. HE must
have been attractive
WELL" Harry conceded practically,
"he knew his business
But you can't rely on those sto.
ries," Clara objected.
| "You must this time he shook his
tawny head at her; II give you my
word; for I was there"
1t seemed to Flora fairly preposter-
GUS that Harry could sit there looking
so matter-of-fact with such expert.
ences behind him. Even Clara looked
little taken aback, but the effect
was only to set her more sharply on.
"Then such a man could easily
have taken the ring in the Maple room
this afternoon? You think it might
have been the man himself?"
His broad smile of appreciation en-
veloped her. "Oh, you have scent
like bloodhound. You haven't let &C
, of that once since you started. He
could have done it-oh, easy-but he
: went out eight, ten years ago"
"Died?' Flora's rising infection was
lament.
!, event over the horizon-over the
r.nge. Believe he died in the col
, onies."
s"Oh,' Flora sighed, "then I shall
have to fancy he has come back again
t just for the sake Of the Chatwort1
ring. That wouldn't be too strange
j, It's all so strange keep forgetting i
: is real At least she went on ex
) planning herself to Harry's smile, 81
r seems as if this must be going on .
: long way off, as if it couldn't be 81
| close to us, as if the ring wanted 81
much couldn't really be the one tina
E has disappeared" All the while sh
felt Harry's smile enveloping her witt
r an odd, half-protecting watchfulness
/, but at the close Of her sentence h
t frowned a little.
= well, perhaps we can find anothe
i ring to take the place Of it"
The Comrade. (Winnfield, La.) 1890-1914, 1910-11-25
She Read It, Reread It, and Read 1t Again.

element over what he had actually
seen. For the evidence that he had
seen something was vivid in his face.
She shook the paper at him. "Tell
us everything, INSTANTLY
He gayly acknowledged her right
to make him thus stand and deliver.
He shot his hands into the air with
the Tightening vivacity that was in
him a sort of wit. mot guilty" he
grinned at her.
Harry, you know you were in it..
The papers have you the most i'm
portant parsonage
upon my word! But look here
wait minute!" he arrived deliberate
| ly at what was required of him. IF
you want to know the way it hap
I pened-here's your Maple rcom." He
began a diagram with forks on the
cloth before him, and Clara, who had
watched their sparring from her point
] of vantage in the background, now
leaned forward, as if at last they were
getting to the point.
"This is the case, furthest from the
door," He planted salt cellar in
his silver Enclosure. II come in very
early, at half-past two, before the
crowd; fail to meet you there" He
made mischievous bows to right and
left. IT go out again. But first see
this ring"
"What was it like?" Flora de.
manded.
"Like?" Harry turned a specula.
tive eye to the dull glow Of the can.
delabrum, as if between its points OF
flame he conjured up the vision of the
/ vanished jewel. Like bit of an old
gold heather god curled round him
self, with his head which was most
| ly two yellow sapphires, between his
knees, and big, blue stone on top
Soft, yellow gold, so fine you could
almost dent it. And carved! Ever
through a glass every line of it is
! right. I couldn't seem to get away
| from it. / dropped into the club and
talked to Butler about it. He got
keen, and went back with him tt
| have another look at it. Well, at the
door Butler stops to speak to chat
| going out-a crazy Englishman he
had picked up at the club. I 90 on
| By this time there's a crowd inside
but manage, to get up to the case
i And first I miss the spot altogether
! And then see the card with hi
name; and then, underneath see the
hole in the velvet where the god hat
been"
i Flora gave outa little sigh of sus
, | pense, and even Clara showed CLEAN
Iof excitement He looked from one
J, to the other. "Then there were fire
:, works. Butler came up. The detec
tive came up. Everybody came up
/ Nobody'd believe it. Lots of 'en
:, thought they had seen it only few
J minutes before But there was tn
) hole in the velvet-and nothing NOR
4 to be found
Il "But does no one know anything
) Has no one an idea?" Clara almos
!, painted in her Impotence.
Il Not the ghost Of a glimmer Of
) clue. There were upward Of two hun
II dred Of us, and they let us out Xix
t a changing, one by one. My numbe
] was 1913, and so far can vouch Their
a were no discoveries. It has vanishe
e sunk out of sight
b Flora sighed ooh, poor Bessi
d Chatworth!"
Q Harry stared at her. He had the al
/ Of man about to give information
a and the air of a man who has though
9 better Of it. His voice consciousl
81 shook OF its gravity. 'Well, there
The Comrade. (Winnfield, La.) 1890-1914, 1910-11-25
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
Crouch justified.

Crouch justified.
Excuse me for looking grouchy this
morning" says the Philosopher Of Fol
", but a fellow owned SIS to has
just recovered from pneumonia y
The Charles Mix new era. (Wagner, Charles Mix County, S.D.) 1???-1911, 1910-09-23
LEADS THE SIMPLE
Ii E

San Francisco, Calf. - A shining
example of simplicity is set by Mrs.
Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.. who, greatly
to the amazement Of Pacific Avenue,
does her own gardening. In the early
evenings she trails a pretty house
gown across her lawn, dragging a
fraction of a mile of rubber hose, with
which geraniums and roses are care
fully sprinkled. The retiring son Of
his famous father follows with advice
and suggestions, but Mrs. Roosevelt
herself does the work. Back of the
house is a garden. where Mrs. Roose-
welt spends much time among the
~nasturtiums, roses and heiotrope
whose profusion is a delight to her.
The Charles Mix new era. (Wagner, Charles Mix County, S.D.) 1???-1911, 1910-09-23

ley; 4, James T. McDermott; 5,
Adolph j. SABBATH; 6, Edmund j. Stack;
Z, Frank Buchanan; s, Thomas Gal
lagher; 8, Lynden Evans; 10, Richard
J. %Finnegan; IL, Frank o. Hawley; II,
no candidate; 10, Henry S. Dixon; IA,
no candidate; Is, Albert E. Bergland;
16, Claude U. Stone; II, Louis Fftz-
henry; IS, VIM. l.. Gundliff; 10, T. C..
Grady; 20, Henry Trainey; 81, James
NJ. Graham; %, Bruce A. Campbell:
%, Martin D.. Foster; "a, H. Robert
Fowler; 25, w. d. Lyerle.
Caleb Powers Nominated.
London, Kentucky. - BY a deci-
sive majority of more than 1000 Caleb
Powers defeated Congressman D. C..
Edwards for the Republican nomina-
ton for representative from the Elev-
enth district of Kentucky in a primary
election. Congressman Edwards is
serving his third term.
Powers, who defeated him for re-
nomination, made his race upon an
appeal TO the voters of the district
The Charles Mix new era. (Wagner, Charles Mix County, S.D.) 1???-1911, 1910-09-23
Cannon IS SAVED
LATTER CONGRESSMAN DEFEAT
ED BY PROGRESSIVE, Ac-
coRDING TO RETURNS,
FROM ILLINOISPRIMARIES
Speaker Believed to Have Carried
Every County in District.-Lori-
mer Democrats, Including
Browne, Win.

Chicago, Sept. 17.-Insurgents were
victorious in three out of the twenty
five congressional districts of Illinois
in the primary election.
Henry S. Boutell, standpatter repub-
lican, who has represented the ninth
Chicago district in congress for twelve
years. was defeated by Frederick H.
Gansbergen, who conducted his cam
paign on an out-and-out insurgent plat
form. G~ansbergen was supported by
the regular republican organization.
In the eleventh district Colonel Ira
c. Copley, the first man in Illinois to
come out as an insurgent candidate,
won the republican nomination over
George w. Conn, who classified him.
self as a progressive conservative.
This seat is now occupied by Howard
NJ. Snapp, a standpatter.
George Edmund Foss, standpatter
and head of the naval affairs commit
tee of the house, won the republican
nomination in the tenth district by
about 500 votes after a hard contest
in which he was opposed by George P.
Englehard, i%nsurgent.
Speaker Joseph G. Cannon was re-
nominated in the eighteenth district by
a majority close to 5000. He was op-
posed by Henry B. Downs, an insurg-
ent of his own city.
James r. Mann, an o%utspoken Can
non man, met stout resistance from
his progressive opponent in the Sec
ond district. Returns were exception
ally meager, but the first few pre-
cincts showed a close race.
The Democrats who made Lorimer's
election to the senate possible were in
nearly every instance renominated.
The standpatters and progressives
split even in the 18th and 18th dis
tricts. John c. Mckenzie, a progress
i've, was renominated in the 18th by
the Republicans
The so-called Lorimer Democrats
won in large numbers. In the great
majority Of instances they were re-
nominated for the state legislature.