The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1921-12-01

Its whistle valve held open n making
q racket to wake the dead. The be-
reft motOr-car riders had found q To-
connective somewhere and were chasing
me.
One mad heave al the stranded gas
oline car, a mighty boost that got all
but one wheel Of IL In the clear, and
l was gone-streaking 1t like a jack
rabbit for the tall timber-only there
wasn't a stick of timber nearer thar
the slopes of the ba%ckgrounding noun
tains.
One glance over my shoulder as I
fled showed me what l was in for:
that the story was to be Immediately
continued In our next. Both engineers
tried to stop; did stop In time to avert
the greater catastrophe. Three or four
men Jumped from the freight and two
from the wild engine to come tearing
after me. l fancied l could give them
their moneys worth at that game
being In pretty fair t~ralning-so I
pitched out to try to turn the hypo-
thetical theory into a condition.
1t was a great race. Through one
gap and into another we went, max
ing figure Fights around the hills and
back again, lodging into new ~ravines
and out Of them into others, circling
among great sandstone boulders that
took all sorts Of weird shapes In the
passing glimpse.
I don't know just how long the chase
lasted, but 1t was long enough to give
me a very considerable degree Of re-
spect for the nerve and persistence Of
those highly indignant railroad men.
We must have been miles away from
the scene Of the disaster when I final
ly left them behind and lost them.
When I looked back and found myself
alone with the solitudes l sat down up-
on a fiat rock to gasp and laugh. 1t
had all been so supremely ridiculous,
and so beautifully In keeping with the
reputation I had left behind me at
Angels, that I felt sure that now moth
Ing less than q verdict of expert allen
lists would ever serve to convince these
Red Desert folk that I was anything
but an escaped lunatic.
After the breathing spell l kept on
up the valley, heading away from the
setting sun, and feeling certain that,
sooner or later, / must come out some
where in the neighbOrhood Of Atropia.
Two hours later I came into q sort
Of an excuse for a road. Being pretty
well winded by the stiff climb out Of
the canyon ravine, I sat down at the
roadside to rest a bit and to decide
which way l should 60, to the right
or to the left. Just as I was making
up my mind / heard q patter Of feet
and a dog barked.
A moment later I could zee the
beast, indistinctly. He had been COM
Ing up the road and had stopped at
the sight-or scent-of me. Since q
dog argued the proximity of a dog
owning human being, I called coaxing-
ly: "Here, Towser-here-ceme on.
old fellow-that's a boy |" and the cur
ious thing about 1t Is that he did It,
running up a little way and stopping,
and finally coming to squat before
me and to lift a paw for me to shake.
/ jollied him a bit and let him nose
me to his hearts content. Then sud-
denly, as If he had discovered a long
lost master, he broke away and began
to leap and dance around me, barking
a furious and hilarious welcome. In
the midst Of this hubbub I heard hoof-
beats and the s~queaking Of saddle
leather, and the dogs owner rode up.
At first l thought the dim'y outlined
Stetson-hatted figure In the saddle was
that of a boy. But 1t was a woman's
voice, and a mighty pleasant one, that
called to the dog: "Down, Barney,
and behave yourself-what's the mat
ter with you, sir I"
stood up and pulled of my cap.
I'm chiefly the matter" l said.
"Your dog seems to think he knows
me. and I'm awfully sorry that his
memory Is so much better than NINE"
You'd think-anybody would think
that q woman riding alone In the
dark on a solitary mountain road
would be handsomely startled, to say
the least. at seeing a man rise up fair
ly under her horses nose. But II my
little lady were scared, she certainly
didn't parade her fright.
Barney Is such q foolish dog, some
times" she said apologetically. HE
has a double brain, you know; half
OF 1t is good-natured and silly and
the other half is-well, it's"
The dog had come around again
wagging his tail and at that magic
word "half" I stopped to let him stick
his cold nose into my palm. The act
brought me ear enough to enable me
to see him better, and I had to clap q
hand over my mouth to keep from
shouting out and soaring the entire
combination into a Wild stampede.
For, II you'n believe me, the dog wal
my dog. One-half Of his face was
white and the other was so black that
1t merged and faded harmoniously In
to the night
II KNOW" I said at~raighteninl nm