The Alaska citizen., 1910-08-13
A STORY OF VIRGINIA CITY IN THE SIXTIES

man wasn't al the supper station tc
 meet her. an the pore little sou seemed terrible down in the mouth an wondered if her letters got tC 1 him. l told her mebbe he was out in the hills prospectin' and p'raps 1 hadn't sent in lately fer the mail; l she said she'd sent them to Wolf i Rock. and maybe he was out on the roundup. and never got them.
 When We started out fer the night she was the only passenger had left with me, so l had her gc | inside the coach. an I fixed her up snug an cozy with the pliers and i robes. buckled the curtain down and i told her to rest as good as she could. It was a bright, starlight night. an still as the grave; the l black old mountains to the left, an | the rollin' prairie to the right. i could hear thu water tinkln' over | the rocks. an the moon seemed to me to be maxim faces at me felt all-tired queer an half wished the | little one hadn't gone to sleep. for l had queer dread about me an sor- ter missed her. Suddenly. from outen l the bushes an trees two men jump | ed right squar in front of my horses | heads and yelled Halt you son of a gun'-and you bet I halted. Throw up them hands, says one, an don't he slow about it, nuther' Up went my hands
 Look a-here boys, I've got no load-nothin but pore little wo- man in thar as will die on the spot of fright-take what you see in sight an call it squar On the level. boys, let her be-
 Will you stop yer blowin.' driv- CT, an git down offen that roost? This coach and four is our'n, and we're here fer the stuff. We're pre- pared to handle any an all corpses as die of fright.
 How l wanted to shoot him on the spot. the brazen dog They both wore half masks and false whiskers, and both looked game, you bet. We'll l held my horses heads while one of them pinted an ugly-looking bull dog a my face; the other one, who was the biggest, had said nothin', unbuckled the curtain and looked in side. l heered him say: Got a sleepin beauty in here, I'll bet yer. But we'll let her sleep
 "I waited to hear the little wo- man scream, but nary a word The rockin' of the coach allers makes 'em sleep sounder and I knew that she was all huddled up amongst the pillers and blankets and could hear no noise, but l was thinkin' about the purty kniCknack on her arm an fearin' he'd see it, when I heard him say:
 Here's some sparklers, an dead easy to git-noW, easy; there's no occasion to make a scene. Then We hain't no time to fool with hyster- ics. Here's a bonanza right here in these gems He struck a match and held it close to the locket. Then he sorter reeled and said: My God Then he came to me and said: Bill, shake You jest bet l did. Then turnin round to his tillicum, he says:
 Hank, it's all up with me; I'm a-goin' to play quits. That's my wife in thar and tearin' off his whiskers an mask I saw standin afore me no other than Dreamy Dick.
 He handed over his firearms an cartridge belt to me and says:
 Bill, yer do as yer heart and good sense tells yer, but be- fore God l shall devote the rest of my life to that little woman in thar. l hey lived a double life fer three years. This is the turnin' pint
 While he was talkin' his pard had jumped on his horse and, putin spurs to him, rode off in the dark ness, sayin'. I'm not with yer on that layout I'll never bother yer nor squeal, but l haven't quit yit' That's the last We saw of him, for he was killed the next week, in a little camp on the road
 "Turnin' to me, Dreamy Dick said, Bill, how's this goin' to end?' I'll leave it to yer says I, Dick; I've had lots of respect fer yer these last two years and I never seen yer do nothin' but the squar thing. I'll nev- CT believe yer bad at heart. You've alters acted white with us at the Hill. Of course, none of us knowed that yer was a road agent. But here's my hand, Dick, and I promise yer here-God as my witness-that as long as yer treat that little woman white and do the right thing by her, I'll treat yer the same. But, by the Eternal-if yer neglect her or go back on her. I'll tell yer right now that Montany won't be big enough to hold you and me. But Pm not