Smyrna times., 1912-12-04
A Companionable
Girl
By EDGAR l. THOMPSON

When | was a tenderfoot In New
Mexico. clerking in a bank. was sent
one day with $1,000 for a man who had
Just opened store in a settlement on
the Pecos river.
had about fifty miles to go, Travelled
on horseback and. OF course. carried a
G2 caliber revolver at my hip. took a
snack with me. but ate it up before 10
o'clock. About . in the afternoon l
passed a house where there were lot
Of horses tied to posts before the door
Thinking l might get a dinner. rode
up to the door and called out:
"HellO, there!'
l heard a commotion inside, and
pretty soon man came to the door.
He looked as if he were ready to kill
some one if necessary. and | noticed
he held his right hand behind him, so
that he could have easily drawn on me.
He asked what l wanted. and when |
told him he said there were little salt
pork and corn pOne in the house that l
could have If 1 could worry them down.
1 dismounted, went in and found an
OlACI man anu a 6iAA 0OCNb
twenty years old. They gave me the
eatables, and when had finished my
meal one of the men asked me where
was going. told him. and after a con-
ference with the others he came to me
and said:
'Neighbor, would you mind helpin'
gal through ON the way you're gOin'?"
ffTlI I,o erlo6 fO do CO - I ronliad
"Well. Moll. you'd better go with
him. and you'd better take two OF the
horses with you. We won't need 'em.
You wouldn't mind leadin' 'em. would
your
'Not bit" said Moll
We'd been on the road together about
an hour when we heard a distant clat-
ter of horses hOofs behind us. MOll
looked at me. frightened. l asked her
what scared her. and she said she was
afraid road agents were coming. At
the same time she turned her horses
head into Il thicket beside the road.
followed her. and after riding few
hundred yards from the road she stop
ped. We listened and failed to hear
the fOotfslls. MOll looked awfully
scared, and said she believed whoever
she had heard behind us had seen us
turn into the wood and were following
US and that the reason they made no
sound was because they were riding on
the turf.
/ thought of the thousand dollars l
carried. and. thinking a girl might be
better able to keep it from men. told
her had money with me and asked
her If she could conceal 1t on her per-
son for me till the danger had passed
She was too frightened to reply at
once. but when l got her attention she
took the bills and crammed them into
her bosom. / was much pleased. for
felt that they were safer there from
men than on me.
1t was soon evident that some per
son, or rather persons. were after US.
for we heard them near us in the wood.
but we were in a depression. with the
bushes thick between us and them. and.
although we got glimpses of them.
they didn't find us. Our great fear
was that one Of the horses would be-
tray us by whinny. but fortunately
we escaped that and in time our pur-
suers gave up hunting for us in that
vicinity. We heard man call to an
other. We've come too far; they turn
ed in farther back" Then we heard
them go in the direction from which
we had come.
The girl. taking the lead. started up
and made for the road farther on. |
following. But when she reached II
she kept on the turf. | was astonish-
ed at the energy and foresight she
displayed. She chung to the led horses
though occasionally when fearful OF
being Overhauled she showed signs OF
turning them adrift Finally. hearing
approaching hoof beats on the road In
the direction we were going. she lei
the horses 70. striking them with heI
whip. and they made off into the wood
This done. she modulated her gait
and we rode on at a slow canter. w,
met man driving a team. and ex
pected MOll would warn him of tn,
road agents ahead Of him. but sh,
didn't. and we went on till he hat
passed out of hearing. when she be
gan to lash her horse like a fury.
spurred my own mount to do his best
but it was soon evident that he coul,
not keep up with hers, and the frs
thing knew he stumbled and fell
throwing me over his head on the tur
beside the road.
/ heard the road agents coming, bu
could now do nothing to escape then
Indeed. it wasn't necessary since Mo
had gone on with the money, at whic
was much pleased. as considere
IL saved. When our pursuers-thre
men-came up to me / recognize
one Of the customers of the ban
where I was employed. and he recoI
nized me. He told me that they wei
after horse thieves. and when | toI
him my experience he pronounced M
friend MOll one of them. The look O
my face startled the party. and whe
they asked for an explanation ] toi
ehrs1 khaN I'LL -