Year: 1872




O'Clock boat. SO [ rose and, looking
significantly at his huge soft hat hang
ing on my bust of Clytie, stood. ready
to snow HIM the door. He said, . Oh,
Wen, IL don't make any difference to me,
L can jest wait here for him. reckon
you can bunk me in somewhere. and it
won't be lonesome for you if you have
man about the house, seeing as your
old mans not round" In vain | DO
tested that was used to being alone
(Which was a fb) and then [ did not
mind 1t (Which was another), and that i
would not be convenient tor me to have
him stop. He declared, with horrible
irony, that [ should be half scared to
death If [ was left alone, and that he
could 'Elop down" on the floor any,
where, if had no spare bed for him.
He had Jared much worse before now
in Rene.


SO he stayed. l can never forget nor
can depict the horrors of that night.
He sat after supper chattering with
rascally nOnchalance of all sorts of i'm
probable things which tMe and HANK
had done when they camped together
in Brandy Canon in 1850, just as though
my refined and precious husband ever
knew this rough creature before me, or
had shared i'll the adventures which he
now spun out in his wild talk of the
days of 80 at Hog Bar and Brandy
Canon. He took up one of my fragile
hyacinths blooming in the window,
(the wind blows so we cannot raise
flowers out doors in Jinklns street., and
nursing it with his plastered lips, said:
Now, that's purity; we don't have no
flowers up in Reno" I deluded NY
self into the notion that he gave lit
tie sigh, but he added, disdainfuliy, as if
rallying himself, owe don't have no
time to fool away on posies, you bet. F"
Every once in while he got up and
walked the room, and then I thought
my time had come, but he only strobe
across the littleparlor with two or three
long steps. making the house rattle in
every JOINT, so that [ thought it would
come down about my ears again. Once
he extended his walk into the door
yard, but soon came back, smelling
dreadfully of tobacco smoke, which
the wind, now lulled to a zephyr, was
not strong enough te blow away. The
children having been put to bed, and
Norah, shivering with apprehension,
being permitted to curl herself up IN
corner of my own chamber, had moth
ing to do but sit up with a fearful sort
of fascination and listen vacantly to
the discursive talk of the gentleman
from Reno. [ sat and looked at him
as he half nodded in his chair wildly
wondering if he could not go to sleep,
and if [ could not seize him and pin
L.. i
thought how terribly he would struggle,
and how Norah would hear him and
come bowling down stairs, or vainly
scream for help from the windows
Sometimes [ thought [ would rise up
and fiercely ask him why he did not
begin his bloody work, and put me out
of misery? But as ] am a tim1d and
nervous little woman, [ did DO such
thing but let him run on with his talk,
and wonder at his voice, which actually,
now that the wind was down, made the
house shake


Led by some awful spell upon me, I
showed him shudderingly, to the cham
ber, and after his gray suit had dropped
in detached parts all over the floor, [
heard him throw himself. with a sort
of snort, upon the pretty little spare
bed in the best room, with a crash that
threatened to bring the frail thing in
fragments through the chin floor. I
did not dare to take off my clothes,
but softly placing chair before the
door of the gentleman from Reno, /
slipped into my own room, locked the
door, and lay quaking through the
night, waiting for the signal when the
violence would begin. Confused
dreams of a great many gentlemen
from Reno carrying off my children
and best china in small 1nstallments,
made my night long and troubled. [
started up at every sound, rigid with
terror as / fancied heard my lodger
fall over the chair which [ had placed
to trap him, or [ was sure that [ heard
the cracking of fire on the stairs, or
the low whistle of a confederate under
the windows. But no sound smcte on
the ear but the melancholy boom of
the fog-bell at Fort Point, the occa-
s1onal barking of the dogs in the West
ern Addition, and the stertOrous breath
ing of the gentleman from Reno.


Daylight came, and brought with it
sense OF security if not Of rest. ] had
passed a miserable night, but some
what to my astonishment found myself
alive and unframed, and the house as
peaceful and serene as usual. When [
heard my visitor stirring in his room,
[ went and took away the chair from
his door, feeling a little ashamed of
the feat that looked so very ridiculous
by daylight. We had an early break
fast, after which the gentleman from
Reno, who was now as much of puz-
zle as a terror to me, announced that
he would go to meet my husband at
the boat. AS he went out he stopped
ana kissed little Minnie, saying, g Say
what you will, we havn't got no such
nice Little gals as this over to Reno
CrOcker-he's the chief contractor of
that town-he's offered prize.of town
lot for the first baby that's born on the
place, and you just better believe the
women are all looking after that lot,
and they do say some women are COM
ing up from Cisco, and those in town
are mad to think-but I guess I'll tell
Hank about that" he added, with
queer little laugh and so went off over
the sandhills, and with a great gulp of
satisfaction [ actually saw the last of
the gentleman from Reno


Harry came driving up to the gate
about noon, just as that wretched wind
began to blow again; and as soon as I
could get him inside the door, said,
rIeproachingly: ooh, Harry L have
had such timel"


Have you, my dear? Why you
look as if you had seen a ghost. There,
there, now, don't set the deck-pumps
going, but tell me all about it,


Harry used to be in the navy, and
had that injurious manner of twitter-
ing me about deck-pumps," that [
never dare let the water come into my
eyes when he was about, so [ swallow
ed my grief, under which [ was weakly


inclined to give way, and told him the
whole story from beginning to end,
mlnutely describing the mysterious
visitor, Having listened attentvely,
hls big eyes growing bigger and dane
ing with fun as [ went on, finally he
] hnrSt p11t IL