Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1911-08-31
CopyrIght A. c. Mcclurg & Co. 1901

vi d CuutOuAiSuC just WITHOUT Lu0 GIL
virons Of Carson City. Twenty min
utes later he was riding swiftly into
the northwest, bearing important
news to General Sheridan, commander
Of the Department who happened at
that moment to be at Fort Cairnes.
To Keith this had been merely anoth-
err page In a career of adventure; for
him to take his life in his hands had
long ago become an old story He
had quietly performed the special
duty allotted him, watched n squad.
ron Of troopers trot forth down tho
valley of the Republican, received tho
hasty thanks Of the peppery little gen
eral, and then, having nothing better
to do, traded his horse in at the gov
eminent corral for fresh mount and
started back again for Carson City.
For the greater portion Of two nights
and day he had been in the saddle,
but he was accustomed to this, for he
had driven more than one bunch of
longhorns up the Texas trail; and as
he had slept three hours at Cairnes.
and as his nerves were like steel, the
thought of danger gave him slight
concern. He was thoroughly tired,
and it rested him to get out Of the
saddle. while the freshness OF the
morning air was tonic, tho very
breath Of which made him forgetful
of fatigue.
After all this was indeed the very
sort Of experience which appealed to
him, and always had-this life of
peril in the open, under the stars and
the sky. He had constantly expert
enced it for so long now, eight years,
as TO mako II seem merely natural
While he ploughed steadily forward
through the shifting sand Of the cou-
lee, his thought drifted idly back over
those years and sometimes he smiled.
and occasionally frowned, as various
incidents returned TO memory. 1t had
been Il rough life, yet one not unusual
to those Of his generation. Born of
excellent family in tidewater Virginia,
his father a successful planter, his
mother had died while he was still in
early boyhood, and he had grown up
cut off from all womanly influence. He
had barely attained his majority, a
senior at William and Mary's College,
when the Civil War came; and one
month after Virginia cast in her lot
with the South, he became a sergeant
In q cavalry regiment commanded by
his father. He had enjoyed that life
and won his spurs. yet It had cost.
There was much not over-pleasant to
remember. and those strenuous years
Of almost ceaseless fighting, Of long
night marches, Of swift. merciless
raiding. OF lonely scouting within the
enemy's lines. of severe wounds,
hardship and suffering, had left their
marks on both body and soul. HIS
father had fallen on tho field at Ante
tam, and left him utterly alone in tho
world, but he had fought on grimly
10 the end, until the last flag of the
Confederacy had been furlod BY that
time upon the collar of his tattercd
gray jacket appeared the furnished in
sigma of g captain. The quick tears
dimmed his eyes even now as he re
called anew that final parting follow.
ing Appomattox, the battle-worn faces
Of his men, and his own painful jour
ney homeward, defeated wounded and
penniless. 1t was no home when he
got there, only heap of ashes and
few weedgrown acres. No familiar
face greeted him; not even slave
was left.
He had honestly endeavored to re-
main there, to face the future and
work it out alone; he persuaded him
self to feel that this was his para
mount duty to the state, TO the mem
DRY Of the dead. But those very years
of army life made such task i'm
possible; the dull, dead monotony OF
routine, the loneliness. the slowness
of results, became intolerable. AS II
came to thousands OF his comrades,
the call Of the West came to him. and
at last he yielded, and drifted toward
the frontier. The life there fascinat.
ed him, drawing him deeper and deep
er into its swirling vortex. He be-
came freighter, mail carrier, hunter,
government scout, cowboy, foreman.
Once he had drifted into the noun.
tains. and took chance in the mines,
but the wide plains called him back
once more to their desert loneliness.
What an utter waste II all seemed,
now that he looked back upon It.
Eight years Of fighting, hardship and
rough living. and what had they
brought him? The reputation Of a
hard rider. a daring player at cards,
n quick shot, scorner OF danger, and
bad man to fool with-that was the
whole Of a record hardly won. The
mans eyes hardened, hts lips set Arm
ly, as this truth came crushing home.
pretty life story surely, one to be
proud OF, and with probably no better
ending than an Indian bullet, or the
fash Of a revolver IN come barroom
fight
The narrow valley along which he
was travelling suddenly changed its
direction, compelling him to climb the
rise of the ridge. Slightly below the
summit he halted, In front extended
the wide expanse Of the Arkansas
valley. a scene of splendor under the
golden rays OF the sun, with vivid
contrast of colors, the gray Of rocks.
the yellow of sand, the brown OF dis
tant hills, the green OF vegetation,
and tho silver sheen OF the stream
half hidden behind the fringe OF cot
tonwoods lining it's banks. This was
sight Keith had often looked upon,
but always with appreciation. and for