Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1910-04-01
HIS ROMANCE.
By

son OF q pluinDef. Iack read Il great
many novels based on life in the wild
west and became imiued with a desire
to mingle in the exciting scenes of that
region. He VAS twenty-three years old
when his father died and left him $780,
600. Jack ut nee SCI about obtaining
a realization of his boyhood dream.
Going to Arizona. he purchased a ranch
and became IL sheep raiser.
The %ranchnan continued to read ro-
mantle tales and longed for a chance
either to kill Il few dozen indians or
rob a ~stagecoach. But the Indians
were nc longer there TO be killed. and
the stagecoach had given place to
other methods of transportation. MOI
meeting with adventures and waiting
for sheep to multiply being an unex-
citing occupation. Jack grew lonely.
He wished for some young woman to
keep him company as his wife.
One day. while riding over his broad
acres inspecting his herds, looking up
suddenly be saw q speck in the far
distance. That it was moving toward
him was evident from the fact that it
was growing larger. Then he could
see a thin film of lust about 1t. Next
it revealed itself as a galloping horse.
A man with a burden in his arms be-
strobe the horse, and before long the
burden could be distinguished as a wo-
man. The two were coming lickety-
split. rising and falling with the con-
tour of the undulating country, and it
was not long before, arising from low
ground. they appeared on the crest of
a rise not half a mile away.
Jack saw the opportunity of his life.
Here was a clear case of abduction.
Though the girl was yet too far for
him to see her face, he knew she was
beautiful and he was just the. man for
a rescue. Riding directly before the
pair, he whipped out his revolver and
called a halt. The man drew rein,
shouting:
"Git out o. the way!'
Throw up your arms!'
The man threw up his arms.
"Dismount."
The man slid off to the rear, leaving
the woman In his place. Jack glanced
at her. She was a young girl and fair
~ good looking. In his eyes. gazing
through the roseate hues of romance,
she seemed a peri. The man on reach
ing the ground fell in the dirt. Jack.
Selling the bride rein of the horse he
had stopped. put spurs to his W
horse. gave the other the lash of a
quirt. and the two animals, with their
burdens, dashed away.
"What are you
"Don't be afraid" he interrupted.
'I1l get you away from him."
With that he cast a glance to the
rear. The man had risen and was
reckoning TO a dozen horsemen who
appeared far back where the single
hnrse- ~bad-appear ed n few minutes be-
fore. 1t was plain to Jack that where
at first he had one man to deal with
he now had a dozen. Urging on his
own horse with his spurs and the girls
with the quirt. the two went galloping
over the country like mad. The girl
made 40 further attempt to communi-
cate with him. She did not look ex-
actly pleased at being rescued. At first
she looked angry. Then she burst out
into a hysterical laugh. Jack kept
looking back and was urged to fresh
efforts by seeing the men behind gain
ing on him. Coming up TO the man
who had been ~abducting the girl, they
pulled up, he said something to them
and pointed to the fugitives. and they
started on.
The chase was long and exciting.
The girl held the reins of her OWL
horse and guided him in the path she
wished to take. Coming to a turn that
led up to Jacks ranch house, Jack en-
deavored to turn their course in that
direction. But the girl pulled her
horses head in a path of her W
choosing, giving Jack at the same time
a beseeching look to permit her to go
as she wished, whereupon be yielded.
After all, perhaps it would be as well
in the end. There was no force at the
ranch house to prevent the girl being
taken by her p%ursuers.
BY this time the girls horse began
to lag. Jack laid on the quirt and
urged him forward as best be could.
Looking behind, he saw that the pur-
suers were close on his heels. He was
about to give way to despair when.
riding between two clumps of trees
that hanked the road. he heard the
crack of rifles and saw puffs of smoke
emerge from between the trees. Cast
ing a glance behind him, he saw
his pursuers n by n falling from
their saddles and biting the dust.
Astonished at the rising up of this
friendly force, Jack pulled rein and
stopped at the door of a small house.
A man. followed by a woman and sew
eral girls. came running out, and the
girl he had saved fell into the arms
of the The man, seeing Jack,
looked surprised, but started at once
to administer r~estoratives to the girl.
The woman laid her tenderly on the
ground and was reyiving her when a
voice from I'm in q tree called: