The Logan Republican. [volume] (Logan, Utah) 1902-1924, 1911-07-18


attacking travellers on the trails. raid. I
ing exposed settlements. and occa-
| sionally venturing to try open battle |
with the small squads OF armed men.
In this stress OF sudden emergency !
every available soldier on active duty I
civilians had been pressed into serv. I
Ice. and hastily despatched to warn
exposed settlers. guide wagon trains. !
| or carry dispatches between outposts. |
And thus our rider, Jack Keith, who
knew every foot Of the plains lying |
between the Republican. and the Can.
adian rivers, was one OF these thus
suddenly rcquisitioned, merely be-
| cause he CHANGED to be discovered I'M
employed by the harasssd commander
of q cantonment just without the en-.
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-
er page In q 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 a squad
ron Of troopers trot forth down the
valley Of the Republican. received the
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 q 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 az
he had slept three hours at Cairnes.
and a. 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 a tonic. the very
breath OF which made him forgstful
Of fatigue.
After all, this was indeed the very
sort Of experience which appealed to
him. and always had-this life Of
| Pciii IA thC opSh. uhuSi ZIG anu
the sky. He had constantly expert.
enced II for so long now, eight years.
as to make 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. II had
been a 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 W
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 10
/ with the South. he became a sergean
, in cavalry regiment commanded b,
!. his father He had enjoyed that lif,
. and won his spurs, yet II had cost
, There was much not over-pleasant 4
> remember, and those strenuous year,
, of almost ceaseless fighting OF lonj
night marches, of swift, merciles
, raiding, of lonely scouting within tn,
enemy's lines. of severe wounds
hardship and suffering, had left thei
a marks on both body and soul HI.
o father had fallen on the field at Ante
, tam, and left him utterly alone in th
> world, but he had fought on griml,
4, to the end. until the last flag OF tn,
, Confederacy had been furled. BY tina
, time, upon the collar OF his tattere,
/, gray jacket appeared the furnished In
:, sigma of a captain. The quick tear
dimmed his eyes even now as he re-
a called anew that final parting follow
a ing Appomattox. the battle-worn face
: OF his men, and his own painful joul
:, ney homeward, defeated wounded an
=. penniless. II was no home when h
\ got there, only heap OF ashes and
!. few weed.grown acres. No familia
y face greeted him: not even a slav
was left.
b. He had honestly endeavored to n
;. main there, to face the future an
self to feel that this was his pars
mount duty to the state, to the men
. DRY OF the dead. But those very year
, OF army life made such a task In
;, possible; the dull, dead monotony @
!. routine, the loneliness the slownes
" of results became intolerable As
, came to thousands OF his comrade,
). the call of the West came to him, an
at last he yielded, and drifted towar
the frontier. The life there fascina
ed him. drawing him deeper and dee,
er into its swirling vortex. He b,
VI came freighter, mail carrier. hunter
government scout, cowboy. foreman
g Once he had drifted into the mour
Is tains. and took a chance in the mine,
% but the wide plains called him bac
g once more to their desert loneliness
n What an utter waste II all seemed
y now that he looked back upon 4
-