Evening Star Newspaper, August 1, 1896, Page 17

THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, AUGUST 1, 1896—-TWENTY- FOUR PAGES. HUSRFAD BLL, THE AADT —_—__-__—_—_ (Copyright, 1896, the S. S. McClure Co.) ‘The roar and rumble of distant thunder had been heard in the nills ali morning, and along about noon a big black cloud came creeping up over the crest of the con- tinent, listed a little, when a peak of one of the hills caught the lower corner, ripped it open and let the water out. It didn’t rain; the water simply fell out of the cloud, and went rushing down the side of the mountain as it rushes off the roof of a house in a hard April shower. The litue fissures were filled rst, then the gorges, guilies and rough ravines, and when these emptied into the countless rills that ran away toward the foot of the range every riil became a rushing river Leaves and brush and fallen trees were Lorne away on the breast of the flood ihat grew in volume and increased in speed alarmingly. When all this water came m that rippled there was hush- bed of the creek was filled with big that had been rolled down by the and a great river went roaring down toward the plain. Up through this narrow crooked canon a narrow-gauge railroad ran to Silver Cliff. jilver Cliff, at one time, had thirty thousand people, then thirty hundred, ard now not more than thirty sie live there, unless their business pels them to do se. It produced some sational murder, one Congress- nd petered out. the flood had gone a mile in the canon, and picked up eight or ten railroad bridges and all the dead timber in the gulf, it presented a roiling front twen- ve feet high, and reached from hill to at spruce trees were uprooted, the , with the cross-ties still hanging to rails, was ripped up, and the rails, baling wire, wound = debris and clogged the canon. Then the welling flood would fill the whole gorge and roll on with such a mass of bridge tim- ber and fallen trees pushed in front of it out the that a col see no sign of water as the flcod bore down upon you, bui only a tangled mass of rails and ties and twisted trees. A couple of prospectors heard the rear of it, and climbed the canon wali just in time to save themselves, while ihe little burros, with their packs on their backs, Went down to a watery grave. Next came @ long string of freight teams bringing lupber down from a little mountain saw mill. The rattle and noise of the heavy Wagons made it impossible for the freight- ers to hear the roar of the flood, and, ag they were coming down the canon, they had their backs to it, and so were over- taken in trow place. Some of the men, leaping from their wagons, scrambled up the steep hill out of the way of the wa- ter. while others took to the tall trees, but when the flood came, the stoutest trees in ulch went down like sunflowers in a "Ss path, and the luckless freighters the horses and wagons and ashed away. tunately for us, leaving i rot yet we were an hour the junction that day and reached the narrow part of the canon. The engineer had been watching the black cloud as it came up over tho rarge, and knew we were due to run into a Weshout at any moment. The very winds that came down the canon, fresh aud cool, seemed to have water in them. ‘The three day coach filled with a hetero- geneous herd pushing to the cliff, which, like many other camps, was then posing as second Leadviile.* There were pre play actors, miners and me boys and confidence men, and here a gaunt-faced girls with on and wonderfully led for the variety. engine te express mes- r sat on a little fron safe. U, hip he a heavy six-shooter a Winchester rifle. s ly contented and happy may reasonably hope to be on this The refreshing breeze that came sweet with the scent of sum- ‘3 were green and his heart But his heart was not in the hat very Sunday morning he had t into the keeping of the warden’s s they walked without the walls YY prison down by the junction. within hearing of the townspeople d up and down, to and from the s that gushed from the rocks " oO the great canon, he had told her the secret of his heart.| The color, coming to her face the while she heard the told m that she was listening. When they had come to the corner of the wall, one step beyond which would bring them into full view of the warden’s resi- dence, he had pressed her for an answer. She could find no voice to answer, but put out her hand as if she would say gcod-bye. He took it and the touch of it told him all he wished to know. Now he grew so glad, ‘king {t all over, that he clasped his nds together, as a'girl would do, and the rifle, slipping from his lap, shot down into the river that 1an beside the track. The decor at his back and next the canon wall was closed and barred. The opposite door, overlooking the little river, was thrown wide open, and to the messenger sitting there came the splash of water and the smell of pine. die remembered that the agent, running ‘ de of his cer as he was leaving the had pointed to the iron safe and » your eye on the gun.” The little safe held $10,000 in paper, and over in one corner of the car, in an old clay- stained ore sack, were $19,000 in gold. We were cutting across a little piece of high ground in the bend of the river when the a-vful flood burst forth from the nar- row canon just in front of us. The engi- neer’s first thought was to back down and run away from the flood, but the recollec- tion that a double-headed freight train was following us caused bim to change his mind. The trainmen hurrted the passen- gers all out, the messenger carried the mail and express matter to a safe place, and y one gazed in wonderment while the od went by. The main force of it, following the bed of the creek, hugged the opposit» hill, but none of our party was jealous. Broad as the valley was here, it was soon filled, and the water rose high enough to float the rear coach, but the en- gine, being on higher ground, acted as an anchor and held the train. In less than five minutes the water had swept around and cerried away the bridge which we had just crossed, and there we were, on about three hundred yards of track, and nothing befo e or behind us. The freight tvain, having a clear track, backed away to the junction, told the story of our distress, and at midnight the company’s agent came to the top of the canon with a white light, and in a little while we were all en out, and after tramping over a mcuntain trail for a half hour, loaded into wagons and hauled back to the junction. wore IL “Let's have a drink afore we go.” “Nary drink,” said the dark man at the head of the table, and one could see at a glance that wherever he sat would be the head of the table. “You promised me up in the gulch that day that you'd never get érunk again, an’ I proraise you right now, skinny, that if yeu do you'll never get sober, for I intend to have you shot while yer happy.” Nobody replied to this, The man ad- dressed only glenced acrcss the table and then, dropping his eyes, brushed the ashes from his cigar with the tip of his little finger. The man at the speaker's right, smiled quietly over at his vis-a-vis, and then there was a silence for a moment. The freighter and the prospector, leaning on the bar,*paid no attention to the four men who s nd smoked by the little pine table in a dark comer of the log saloon. The “Lone Spruce,” as the place was call- ed, had dong a rushing busin in the keom days, but Ruby Camp was dying, eyen as Silver Cliff, Gurmison and dozens of otber camps have died since—as Creede is dying today—and business was slow. A drunken Ute reeled in and wanted to play poker, shake dice or shoot with any dog of @ white man in the place. When all the rest had put him aside coldly he came over to the z and the dark man, being deep ip thovght and not wishing to be dis- turbed, arose, and picking his way between the two guns which dangled from the hips ef the nobie red man, kicked him along down the room and out into the night. Having done his duty in removing the red nulsance—for he hated a drunkard—the @ark man bade the faskeope: good night And passed out by the back door. The three men at the pi table followed him. All this occurred in the last half of the closing hour of the week. Thirty minutes later, when the four mountaineers rode gway from ibs Bleck Bear Carrel it was Sunday, but the people of Ruty Camp took no note gf time. When the sun came up on |_ that beautiful Sundzy morning it found the dark man and his companions at the top of the range overlooking the wet mountain valley. Before they had reached the foot hills the sun caught the two threads of Steel that stretched away across the park and disappeared at the entrance of the canon at the foot of the vale. Al} night they had ridden single file, but now as they entered the broad valley they bunch- ed their horses and conversed as they went along. The dark man kept his eyes upon @ barren peak that stood at the foot of the valley, where the railroad track, gliding smoothly over the mesa, seemed to tumble into the canon as swift Niagara tumbles over the falls. At that point the little party expected to dismount and take the train for the Cliff. The leader, who was able to read both print and writing, had noticed a paragraph in the Denver Tribune to the effect that the new Custer County Bank would open for busigess at Silver Cliff July 10. He had been assured by his own banker at Gunnison that the new institution would be perfectly reliable, backed, as it was, by the First National of Denver. Being a man of good judgment he reasoned that the necessary funds for the new bank would in The sheriff and his pesse, lost in the fog, had halted in a small basin and were wait- ing for the clouds to clear away. The sher- iff insisted that he had heard a man cough, and now the little party were sitting their horses in silence, which was broken only by the nervous tramping of a broncho. “What's that?” asked the sheriff, pointing to the rock above them. “I should say it was a bear setting on his haunches,” said one of the men. “I'll just tap it with a cartridge,” continued the last speaker, but that moment one of the horses gave a snort, and instantly the figure of the big messenger rose from the rock and stood out against the dark-blue sky. Until now he had been sitting bareheaded, and that gave him the bunchy look of a bear, but when he stood up and clapped his bell-topped cap |.upon his head, the sheriff recognized him in an instant. “Let's drop him,” said one of the men— “there's a thousand in it, and if he ever leaves that rock, he’s gone.’ “Hold,” said the sheriff- him a show to surrender. When the four men had swung their guns into position the sheriff commanded the messenger to throw up his hands. Instead of obeying, the man turned as if he in- “we must give “A MOMENT LATER HE LEAPED OVER A PRECIPICE AND WENT ROLL- ING DOWN THE SPLINTERED SIDE OF A DEEP GORGE.” all probability leave Denver Saturday night, and go up from the junction by the one daily train on Sunday. That was why he wished to take the train. When they had crossed the valley and en- tered the wilderness of pine and cedar they began to search for a side canon which would lead them down to the main gulch. Having found a proper ravine they watered assed their horses and had break- It was net yet noon and the train, the dark made out from the figures upon a time card which he carried, would not leave the junction until 2 p.m. It would probably e 3 or 3:15 when it passed the mouth of he little rill, upon which they were en- camped. Having breakfasted and smoked, the men stretched themselves upon the ground, all save the dark man, and slept like tired children. ‘The leader, leaning against a moss-cover- ed spruce tree, watched a black storm that was brewing in the hills to the north. Presently he heard a sharp clap of thun- der. In a few minutes there came the roar- ing sound of a waterfall, and the dark man knew that a cloud had given awa: but, as the main gulch was between him and the storm, he gave the matter no se- rious thovght. At last the hour arrived. The four men, leaving their horses, descended to the main gulch, only to find that there was no rail- read there. Skinny, still smarting from the effect of the rather sever temperance lec- tures he had received the evening before, lecked at the leader and started to laugh, but the dark man scowled and crushed him. He knew the country and knew that the road had been there, but was now Washed awa; A little way up the canon they came the torn end of the track and knew for a surety that no train would come up the gulch that day. The silent leader made no show of dis- appointment, but quietly disinissed his men and watched them ride away toward the sunset, with their broad hats tipped sidewise and their ever ready rifles rest- ing across their saddles. For himself ne would have no rifies. “Only a coward or bureler,” he used to say, “will carry & carnon to do the work of a forty-fiver.” When the others had passed out of sight the dark man reined his own horse down the canon, intending, since he was so near, to visit his wife at the junction. The recent weshout had left the bed of the gulch almost impassable, and it was not until after midnight that the lone traveler came to the abandoned train, laying, like a living thing that had fallen asleep on its own trail. Finding the express car locked he opened one of the doors with the coal pick which he found on the engine. The little tron safe was secured, locked. Hav- ing remeved all the explosives from the car this experienced mountaineer quietly blew up the safe with a few sticks of dyna- mite, but there was no money in it. By the light of the engineer's torch he man- aged to read a letter that had been left there by the messenger, and which was addressed to the express agent. As the explorer finished reading it he gave a low soft whistle of surprise—not much above a whisper—for he was a quiet, undemonstra- tive man. From the car he returned to the engine, and with the clinker hook fished an old clay-stained ore sack out of the tank. When he had cached the sack in the bed of the river he hurried away in the direc- tion of the junction, urging his horse over the rough ground as though he were bent upon a new and important mission. = Tit. There was great excitement at the junc- tion when we arrived without the express messenger, who acted as postal clerk as well. When the local express agent learned that the messenger was not with the res- cued party, that the conductor had been unable to find him, and that no one could remember having seen him since we stop- ped and he was seen heading for high jand with his register pouch and some packages of express matter bearing red seals, he began to wire in all directions. In a little while mounted men were dash- ing out toward the hills so as to be ready to take the trail at dawn. It was plain enough, the agent argued, that the messenger had taken adVantage of the circumstances and cleared out with the wealth in nis possession, A thousand dollars reward was offered for the capture of the messenger. A deputy sheriff made up a posse of four, including himself, and put out for the scene of the robbery. They were amon; the first to leave town, and as they all knew the country, were soon upon the grcund where the open and empty safe left little to be explained. The safe, they argued, had been blown up by the mes- senger for a blind, but they would not be fooled. The messenger, it would seem, had re- mained in the vicinity of the washout until the train was abandoned, and then set out upon a long tramp through the trackless hills. He ew the packages that were most valuable, and with these he filled his pockets. The gold he must leave, for the journey would be a tiresome one. The coun- try, which was new to him, was extremely rough. At times he found himself at the bottom of a deep gorge, and again at the top of a steep bluff, and saw before him a black and apparently bottomless abyss. There was no moon, but the friendly stars would guide him. Pike's Peak, standing high against the sky, showed him where the east was, while the Greenhorn range rose rough and abrupt to the west. But when he had been upon his journey less than an hour a gray cloud hung like a heavy fog on the hills and shut out all the ght from the heavens and obscured the earth. Instead of waiting for the mists to clear away, he kept on going and was soon hopelessly lost, so far as any knowledge of the points of the compass was concern- ed. He might, for what he knew, be head- ed for the hills, or he might be walking in the direction of the junction and the state's prison. At last, having reached what appeared to be the summit of a little hill, he sat down upon a huge rock to rest. As he sat there he thought he heard a sound like that produced by horses stepping about on a stone floor. Presently the cloud rolled away, and although the valley below was still obscured, the stars were bright above and the crags of the main range stood out clean-cut against the western sky. Before him he aaw Pike's Peak and knew that a little way below him, hid in the mist, lay the junction. tended to bolt, and with the first move of his body the four rifles cracked almost as one gun, and the messenger went down. Throwing the bridle reins over the necks of the horses, the sheriff's posse dismou: ed and hurried up the little hill, but when they reached the spot where the messenger had stood there was no messenger nor sign of messenger. Anticipating the rain of lead,he had dropped behind the rocks while the bullets passed over his head, and by the time the posse had reached the crest of the hill and recovered from their sur- Prise the messenger was far up the side of the mountain hiding among the crags. “What d'you say now, cap?” asked the man wh> had been anxious to earn the re- ward; ‘do we git 'im nex’ time er do we let ‘im go “Git 'im,” said the sheriff, and the possi returned to their horses. TV. The white cloud rolled down the moun? tain as the fleece rolls from a sheep that !s being shorn, and lay in a tumbled heap at the foot of the range. The gray dawn came out of the east and revealed the peaks that were hiding high up in heaven's blue. Upon either hand—before and behind him—the messenger, crouching in the crags, heard the clatter of steel-shod feet and kirew that he was being surrounded. De- lay was dangerous. The coming of dawn meaat death. The whispering winds, hurry- ing away up the hill, reminded him of the approach of day. His only hope was in reaching a point beyond which the horse- men might not ride, and he hurried on up to the narrow gulch. At the exit his trail was blocked by cne of the deputies, and immediately both men opened fire.’ Now for the first time since it fell, muzzle first, into the river, the messenger thought of his rifle. He was by no means an expert with a six-shooter, but managed to hit the offi- cer’s horse with his first bullet, and at the same instant a slug of lead from a Win- chester crashed through his left shoulder, leaving it shattered and useless. The depu- ty’s horse, having received his death wound, plunged wildly and made it impos- sible for its rider to take accurate aim. Dropping his rifle, the officer began to use his revolver, but a chance shot from the messenger’s forty-five pierced his heart. Another plunge of the horse hurled him to the ground; his foot caught In the stirrup and the messerger was horrified to see the crazed broncho bounding away, dragging his rider, head down, over the jagged rocks. The maddened animal appeared to be blind with rage. He crashed through a low, broad cedar and a moment later leaped over a precipice and went rolling down the splintered side of a deep gorge, and when the sheriff and his companions came up the is i where the horse and ler had fallen, one mangled m: Se ae tattered flesh. giet ee lade desperate by this a) Hin; iF the three officers were soon hot ueon tite trail of the fugitive. Finding it Impossibie to run away from his pursuers the messen- ger cached his treasure, took refuge among some sharp rocks and awaited the coming of the enemy. To his surprise only two men came out of the gulch, the other, hav- ing taken another route in order to head the fugitives off, was now far out of range. The officers had the advantage of being armed with rifles, and to hold this advant- age, fought at long range. The beseiged, being sheltered by the rocks, was able to stand them off until both his guns were empty, but the moment he ceased firing the sheriff and his deputy began to advance. The messenger, weak from his wound, worked nervously with his one useful hand and had barely succeeded in refilling one one of his pistols when he was surprised by the sound of a gun almost directly behind him, and not ten feet away. He turned his laid his empty, smoking revolver upon the ground and gazed at his new-found friend. “Are you hit?” asked the latter, coming toward the young man, and the messenger made no reply until he_had given his hand to the stranger; then he answered simply, “Yes,” é The dark man ‘penta! the messenger’s shirt (and he did it a; geliberately as he had kicked the Ute frotn“tie Lone Spruce saloon), examined the_shattered shoulder, and then the broken ankle, and asked, “Is that all?” . ie “Yes,” said the wounded man—“isn’t that enough?” Bot “Not if they meant to ki!l you, for they haven’t found your vital. What a lot of farmers to go shootin’ a man in the foot— guess they wanted yow to dance—that top scratch wasn’t bad. Reckon you must have got that in the previous engagement, eh? The blood’s begirnin’ to thicken up. I see that fellow's hoss g@ oyer the cliff; gee! he must have fell a mile.” The dark man had risen after examining the messenger’s wounds, and when the lat- ter looked up his friend had his own shirt open and was squeezing at a little pink spot just under his right breast. “My God,” cried the messenger, “are you shot there?” : “Yes—that wasn't a bad shot, only on the wrong side.” “But why don’t it bleed?” “It’s bleedin’ on the wrong side,” was the answer, and then the stranger closed his shirt, looked steadily at his companion, and asked: “Where's your dough?” “Behind those two rocks that are partly hidden by the bows of yon cedar—can you bring it to me? There are five pieces.” “Forty thousand, eh?” said the dark man as he dumped the five envelopes beside the messenger, “and it ain't worth the ex- citement you've gone through; but I like you—there’s good stuff in you, boy.” “Half of it ought to be yours, for you saved me and the money, too; but who are you, and how did you happen to be here?” asked the messenger eagerly. “I got your note—the one you left in the safe” “But that was for the agent.” “Yes, I know—I opened it by mistake. “My, but those fellows did fight wicked, the messenger remarked as he picked up his empty gun and began to kick the shell out. “Hope that was old Huerfano himself that went over the bluff.” “The devil you do. ‘Say! are you bleeding-inside?” asked the messenger as his companion sank to the ground, with the air of a tired man. “I reckon so. Can you set a hoss?” “No,” said the messenger, “but if you've got a horse, for heaven's sake take this money and go, for those wolves will return, and I'd rather they'd get me without the money than the money without me, or, what Is more likely now, both of us and the money, too.” The dark man put two fingers to his lips, gave a shrill, wild whistle and a beautiful horse—plack as night—came leaping up from the gulch behind him. “My! but you're a verdant youth,” said the dark man as the messenger offered him the money, and there was a shade of a smile about his black mustache. “Come, let me help you into the saddle while I've got strength—be quick,” and he reached to help the messenger to rise. “I shall never leave you here alone—” “Ll be dead in twenty minutes—thirty at the outside. Now don't be a fool—and he stooped to lift the big messenger by his wounded leg, but the effort caused him to cough; blood spurt from his mouth, and beth men, weak from their wounds, fell down in a heap, and then, leaning on their elbows, they looked at each other, the dark man with a cynical, the messenger with a sort of hysterical smile. The black horse sniffed at his master, and snorted at the smell of blood. v. The warden’s dark-eyed daughter was taking her regular morning ride in the foot- hills. There were no dafly’ papers to spread the news of the place,’ and she had heard nething of the washout'of the previous day and of the fight of the messenger. Yester- day he had made her to feel herself the happiest woman in the world. She had gone to her bed happy} ut had awakened in a dreagfui dream, and had been unable to sleep from that hour until morning. Her heart was heavy within her breast. She felt haif inclined to be angry with her spirited horse, who was now cantering zway with her toward the fresh green hills. At the edge of the valley she met three orsemen riding hard toward the town. wo of the men were, wounded—one was bleeding—and she asked what was the mat- ter. The men appeared nat to want to stop, but when she had heard, jn a confused way, something about the express messenger, she turned and rode by the side of the sheriff until he had told her hurriedly all that had occurred. He made her understand that they had left the fugitive and his confeder- ate at the top of the guleh from which they had just emmerged, and that the “thief” was s2verely wounded. ‘He is no thief,” she retorted; “there is scme mistake. “Yes,” said the sheriff, “we made a mis- take in not shooting him down like a dog at first elght, but he'll never leave those hills alive. In an hour the whole town will be after him.” With that the sheriff drove the spurs into his horse and galloped away after his com- anions. Pithe dark-eyed woman reined her horse to a stop and stood looking after the deputies. It was some moments before she could realize the awfulness of what she had heard. ‘In an hour the whele town will be after him,” she repeated what the sheriff had said. ’ The guards at the prison, those who could be spared—eVeh her own father —would be upon his trail to kill him. It just not be. With a prayer upon her lips the bewildered woman turned her horse and dashed away toward the hills. From the valley the gulch showed plain- ly, but when she found herself among the rocks she became confused. The heavy growth of pinon and cedar obscured her view, and for nearly an hour she galloped up and down along the foot-hills unable to find the correct pass. Her horse was white with foam. Her veil had been torn awa: and her face was bleeding from many wounds inflicted by the stiff branches of the spreading cedars, At times she actual- ly cried out to God to guide her to her lover, whom she believed to be innocent. At last she found the trail made by the sheriff's posse as they came down the gulch, but a moment later her heart sank “IN AN INSTANT HE ROSE TO HIS KNEES AND BEGAN AGAIN TO USE HIS GUN.” > revolver upon the newcomer, only to find that the man was aiming at the deputies. Without a word he turned again to the work in hand, and at the next crack of the stranger’s pistol saw the left arm of the sheriff fajl limp at his side, while the Win- hester it was leveling fell to the ground. “Now, d— you, fight fair,” shouted the stranger, advancing. Following the fearless example of this man who had so unexpect- edly reinforced him, the messenger came from shelter and began to advance upon his assailants. One of the horses was hit by a bullet and became almost unmanage- able, so that the sheriff, finding the brunt of the fight upon himself, and seeing that the messenger had a confederate, was about to retire, when a badly aimed shot from his companion shattered the ankle of the messenger, causing him to fall. In an instant he rose to his knees and began fain to use his gun. The sheriff, glancing at his companion, saw that he had been hit in the head, for blood was streaming down his face. The battle had gene against them, and now the wounded sheriff and his bleeding companion turned their horses and galloped away. ‘The messenger sank to @ sitting posture, as she heard the rattle of horsemen behind her. Presently she came to the dead depu- ty and his horse, but the sight did not ap- pall her. Nothing could stop her now. Even in the presence of these silent wit- nesses—the horse and rider slain by the Messenger—she was able still to believe in his innocence. Such Is the capacity of a weman’s love. Now a new trouble con- fronted her. Her horse refused to pass the dead. In vain she urged, coaxed and whip- ped him; he would only snort and turn away. Nearer and nearer came the crowd of man-hunters behind her. At last, giving up all hope of getting her horse beyond the ghastly dead, she leaped to the ground and continued on foot. The horse, having been trained to follow her as a faithful dog fol- 1ows his master, leaped the corpse of his brother and galloped to his mistress. It required but a moment for her to remount, and when she reached the top of the nar- row canon she turned to look behind. her. The little guich was filled with a stream of horsemen, and at the head of the column rede her father, followed by the mounted guard from the penitentiary. From the mcuth of the gulch a ee and broken line of horsemen reached down to the stage road, and the stage road was lined with wagons and boys on the burros, while out of the town and-over the valley men and women swarmed like ants. “It’s awful for you to have to die for me,” said the messenger, as the two men leaned upon their elbows and looked at each other. His shirt was pasted to his shoulder. His shoe having filled up, the blcod was now oozing out between the lacings. “It is not awful,” said the dark man, rubbing the ends of fingers over the wound in his breast. Us a useful ending of a wasted life. I never dreamed that I should die so nearly satisfied. And such sport. Why, that fight between you and the—and Huerfano Bill, as you call him, was the best thing I ever saw. And the last wild plunge of the maddened horse. What a climax. I wonder where the soul plunges to at that last leap? Stuff, there is no soul, and no place to plunge to—I've al- Ways said 30. And yet,” he went look- ing steadily at his companion, “when I was near fainting a moment ago, I thought the end had come, and instead of darkness there was dawn—an awful dawn—the dawn of a new life, and the glare and uncertain- ty of it frightened me. I can’t remember ever having been frightened before. Did you ever see the sky so blue?” he asked, as he leaned against a rock and turned ‘his face toward the heavens. “And the hills so green and the air so fresh and cool and Sweet?” And again there was silence and the wounded man appeared to be trying to listen to the life-blood that was trickling into his lung, and wondering how long it would take it to filter away. The messen- ger dozed. The black horse bit off a month- ful of bunch grass, and holding it still, raised his head and listened. The men sat up and reached fcr their arms. The sound of the approaching army came from the canon, ve heen reinforced,” said the dark man. “But you're all right—I can square you in two minutes—and, as I’ve got to sh in anyway, it makes no difference, Look out—there’s a woman,” he said ex- citedly, as the warden's daughter emerge? from the canon and galloped toward them. ‘Hello, gal,” said the dark man, “Where is he?” sne called. “Here! here,” criea the messenger from behind the rocks, and a moment later she was bending over him. For a brief moment she suffered him to hoid her to his breast, and then, pushing him a she looked him full in the face and asked In a tone that almost froze his bloud: “Are you guilty or innoc ‘eli me quickly.” But the messenger appeared to be utterly un- able to answer or even to comprehend her meaning. She stocd up and glanced toward the canon, “He's all right, gal, you've made no mis- take,” said the nger, “He saved my life,” sald the messenger, pointing to his companion- thank him?” “How can 1?” she asked, turning to the stranger and offering the gloved hand. “Take this package to Mrs. Monaro in vhite cottage on the river, down by the er—she's my wife you'll find” her; and if you'll take the trouble to be kind to her I shali die in your debt and remain » $0 long as I'm dead. Now take this gun and protect that boy—they won't fire en you and I don’t care to kill anybody else, now that I’m already overdue in an+ world.” She tock the gun, mechanically, and turred to face the pesse that was at that mement beginning to swarm from the canon, ‘Are you mad?” shouted the warden. “Drop that gun,” cried a sheriff with his left arm in a sling. The messenger, utterly unable to under- stand what the row was all tempted to and in his exc stood on his oken ankle and a quick pain caused him to fall in a “why don’t you “Look after the hb said the dark man, and the wa: jaughter dropped the ugly weapon and lifted her lover's head from the ground. “Drop that gun,’ repeated the sheriff. A cow boy shied a rope at the dark man, but he dodged it. “One minute, and showing h no trouble arresting me “Where's the murderer? citat citizen. “There's the chie! pointing to the wou cwled. the expres al speake id he, opening his shirt you'll have death wound, shouted an ex- said th ed sheriff. ‘k man, e sher- agent here?” asked the » and a fat man with a ard. nger is innocent. I mean to kill the first man who offers to lay a hand on him; after that you must protect him. This letter, which I have taken the liberty to open, explains it all. Tie sack of gold he Jeft in the tank, you'll find where L cached it in the river opposite the en- gine. The paper, I suppose, is all there by his side. He was afraid of being robbed, and was trying to reach the junction when he was assaulted by these idiots whom he mistook for robbers, and how well fought his own weurds and the dead man down in the gulth will show ycu.” The messenger, having regained con- eciousress, sat up and looked wildly about. The agent, realizing at a glance what an awful mistake had been made, fell upon the bewildered messerger and wept like a woman. Every passing second added to the general confusion and excitement. Cries of “hang them, hang them,” came frequent and fast from the rapidly increasing crowd. ‘The warden, who also understood, lifted his daughter, held her in his arms, and kissed away the tears that were filtering throvgh her smiles. “I don’t believe it,” said the sheriff to his companion. “Because you're a chump,” sald the dark man. “What's it all about?” asked the mes- senger of the agent. “Where is the murderer cried a new- comer, a brother of the dead deputy, and then catching sight of the messenger, he ran straight toward him, holding out a cocked revolver as though it had been a sword with which he intended to run him through. When he was within four or five feet of the wounded man, the dark man struck him a fearful blow with a 45. The man went down, the dark man coughed and a great flood of blood gushed frem his mouth, he clutched at his throat and fell forward upon his face. When they turned him over he dead. “My poor friend,” the messenger almost moaned, dragging himself toward the pros- trate form, “and I don’t even know his name. “I do,” sald Sheriff Shores, who had just aries aes the scene and pushed him- se rough the crowd. “It’s Huerfa Bill, the bandi ss was ————— About Opening Letters. From the London Graphic. Perhaps it is a little bit late to make the discovery, but I find from time immemorial we have been directing all our letters on the wrong side. The direction ought to be on the back instead of what ts now called the front of the envelope. There would be much fewer mistakes about opening letters belonging to others if this were the case— in fact, it would be well-nigh impossible for it to oceur. People with a large amount of correspondence frequently put all their let- ters face downward and then proceed to snip the envelopes; then they go through them again and take the letters out, and sometimes find they have snipped an en- velope belonging to some one else. All this might be avoided if we wrote the address on the side the envelope is fastened. It would also have another advantage, the stamp would be absolutely canceled by be- ing tern across when the letter was opened. This would effectually put an end to tho nefarious machinaticns of those people who are said to be able to remove the official obliteration in order that the stamps may be used again. I do not suppose my sug- Sestion will immediately change the uses of a century, but I fancy there are not a few of my readers who may be inclined to think that the idea is worth trying. ——-e-____ No Shrinkage. From the Chicago Tribure. See the maiden with the downcast eyes. Observe the rich red color of her cheek. It has had that rich red color all the even- ing. See the young man. He is talking earnestly to the maiden, Ha! He is about to kiss the maiden. Does the color deepen on her chek? It does not. It cannot. It is not a fast color. It will not wash. Does the maiden flinch? She does not. Although her color will not wash she is warraated not to shrink. ss No Equal to. It. From the Boston Transcript. Dr. Jalap—Let me see your please. Patient—Oh, doctor, no tongue can tell how bad I feel. tongue, SIX YEARS AFLOAT + A Captain Who Sighted the Famous Lost Lumber Raft, Some Believe the Story and Others Do Not. HOW THE MOD TER WAS BUILT By Stephen Crone. Capt. William B. Hiller sails the bark Tillie B. His ship now lies in Erie basin and both the captain and the Tillte B. just recovering from a most singular ad- venture of the sea. When questioned, the captain was reticent; ke is a sane and hon- €st captain in the American merchant ma- FIVEHUNDRED MILES FROM a speed naturally the 1,000 feet about thirty increased until it cleared ween it and the water in seconds without straining a chain or showing the slightest change tn its form. When the cradle was removed the raft was found to draw only 19% feet of water. The object in bringing timber to New York in this manner is to get the longest logs bere, since vessels trading to Nova Scotia cannot handle sticks over sixfy feet long. In the general market those of greater length come from Michi- gan — Ohie by rail, which is very ox- sive. : “Having such full knowledge of the strength of the raft’s structure, I make little doubt of the truth of Capt. Hiller's report.” At the offices of the various transatlantic lines word had been received of the Tillie B.'s discovery, and the report seemed to be generally credited. Like the Sea Serpennt. Collector Kilbreth, however, is really the man who keeps tabs on the sea serpents and other ocean mysteries for we Uuiieu States government, and he was openly and shamelessly bored when the story was brought to his ears. “It’s all right, my he said, waving his hand wearily “It’s all right. Don’t get excited. It -s only another menace to navigation. Listen; have you ever heard of the phantom stove factory which prowls the sea at midnight looking for unwary ships? No? Do you know that last April the ship Actoronhis- uppers from Khartum heard the wei “IT IS NOT LAND! IT IS NOT A SHI as IT? rine and he objécts to gaining a reputation | as a purveyor of sea yarns, But there are many old salts in his forecastle, and no old salt that lives could let slip a chance to tell what they saw when 500 miles off the coast of Labrador on the Ist day of last July. It seems that the Tillie B. was bowling along on her course before a fair wind when the man forward espicd something long and black some two points off the starboard bow. it was monstrous in size and lay quietly on the water awaiting the ship. The man at the bow was non- plused for the moment. The thing wa not land, It was not a snip. It was not a whale. It was not anything that enters into the ordinary vocabulary of a man at the bow. It was could be called. mystery; that is all it Recolecting his busin the lookout cried: “Something mysterious, sir, p’int off the sta’board The mate went to the rail an jooking at the thing, sald: “It is not land! It is not a ship! it is not a whale! Then what is it?” Everbody on deck went to the rail aud looking at the thing said: “It is not iand! It is not a ship! It is not a whale! Then what is it?” Meanwhile the Tillie B. was sailing near- er and nearer to this formidable object. Finally the mate grew nervous and going to the cabin stairs called down to Capt.Hil- ler: “We've sighted something, sir, and it's not land. It's not a ship and it's not a whale and we don’t know what it i The captain came on deck and going to the rail looked at the cbject and said: “It's not la—* but here he seized his speaking trumpet and an instant later the wild or- ders roared through the vessel: “Slip the trolley!’ Throw the ship onto a switch: send a man back with a flag—tire th perintendent—hell to pay—this Rere’'s a sea serpent!” On Board the Tillie B. Immeiiately all was panic on board the Tillie B. Men rushed to and fro dragging ropes and blaspherming at their misfortune, while the captain roared more orders than nine shiploads of sailors could possibly have obeyed. But before they could stop the ship she had sailed very close to the thing and the capiain. going to the rail, said: “It {is not land! Ii is not a ship! is not a whale! It is vot a sca but may I have my own mainm down my throat if it is not the famous lumber raft which was lost in the North Atlantic some years ago and for which U. S.S. Enterprise and the revenue cutter Grant mace such painful but useless search.” ‘And so Capt. William B. Hiller of the bark Tillie B., now lying in Erie basin, solemnly states that on July Ist he discov- ered the celebrated raft some 500 miles cff the coast of Labrador. It was headed southwest, he says, but was not makiag much more way than a foundry. The raft is larger than any ocean liner and it wold be an ugly customer to meet under the con- ditions of a twenty-knot gait and a dark night. The sea serpents do not object to navigation by ships, but lumber rafts are more unreasonable. John Leary, the lumber expert, who first conceived the plan of transporting lumber at sea by means of a raft, was recently in- terviewed at his Newton Creek saw mill. “I think Capt. Hiller’s story to be very probable. 1 was employed personally in the construction of this raft and I know that it was constructed as strong, if not strong- er, than many ocean steamers. Its gen- eral compactness and solidity made it al- most as inseparable as one great massive log. The Largest on Record. “This raft was the largest by some 300 feet of any ever shipped by sea. In fact, it was too large. Nothing like it is now at- tempted. It was constructed on an im- provised dry dock at Two Rivers, Nova Scotia, in the fall of 18% and launched on the plan of an Atlantic liner’s launching. The largest rafts we now undertake are 300 feet long and weigh about 4,00 tons. The one we lost was 00 feet in length—longer than any liner. It weighs 10,000 tons. The method we used in constructing the mon- ster was new and has been patented in this country, Canada and Europe. We now use it on a smaller scale. It took us just one day over six months to build the great raft and we required the steady employment of fifty-five men. The distinguishing feature ot the system now patented—and what makes me feel pcsitive that wherever the raft 1s, it ls whole—is the method of faste! ing the structure together with chains. It is not a matter of merely bunching the logs and then binding them, as many might conclude. The method in fact is quite in- genious. For instance, the strength is all concentrated in one long and powerful cen- ter chain. The raft may be towed by either termination of this chain. Side chains placed diagonally to the center are added at the ends so that the greater the force applied to the tow line, the stronger the logs are drawn together, and at every yard or so along the body, chains leading from the center line are brought through to the surface and after being carried over a distance of about six feet return to the center chain. Its Dimensions. “The great 600 feet raft was 62 feet beam at its widest part. It was constructed like a monstrous cigar, as this form seem- ed to us most seaworthy. The necessary tapering to accomplish this design was mainly secured by arranging the timbers with the butts toward the center. When completed the structure contained 25,000 sticks of spruce and pine timber, from thirty-five to ninety-five feet in length and a great quantity of beach, birch and maple, making a total of 4,500,000 feet of timber. | The diameters of the logs ran from tweive | inches to thirty-five at the butts, and from six inches to ten at the tips. At the time it was launched and ready to be tow. the raft had cost us about $32,000 and th contract price for towing it to our Long Island yards was $3,500. “The launching of ihe raft was a most n- teresting event. A vast crowd came to see it. The ways upon which it was slid into the sea were twelve hundred feet in length. The raft at first moved slowly, but its IT IS NOT A WHALE N WHAT chortle of many frogs when seven hundred miles from land? Do you know that every ble combination of inventive imazina worked on m ry day? Talk about the wonders of the deep! Why I— I, aS a matter of br y, I do not be- € the raft story. Common se that by this time this celebra’ ster is torr to pieces.” p tells 4 mon- P From the Pall Mall Gazette. An interesting experiment is now being ied on the statue of James I, which ts the ornament of Whiteha Work- mnen, having carefully cl 1 the bronze which was in a very filthy condition, are now apparently varnishing ft, } e ir reality painting it with a very thin solution of ac tain chemical product, use of which in such a connection is the invention of Prof. A. H. Church, F. R.S. We believe that one of the Was recommend test acts of Lord Ls the hton office of works to epply ty Prof. Church for advice in thi matter. The eminent chemist has for years past been experimenting on this mode of preserving the na of bronze, but has never before had the oppo f trying it_on a public work. od that when perfectly coating will take a hi if so, the question of enabling bron ¢ndure the London smuts and dirt wi haps be solved. The e potish; ai ion of the statue, a master piece from the hand 8f Grinling Gibbons and certainiy one of the most precious works of public art in England, led to th discovery ef a lerge hole in the shoulder in which rain woter was setting, and which was disintegrating the mass. This will be stopped up, and the roll in the mon- aurch’s hand, which was found to be merely painted wood, will be replaced by a solled scroll of bronze. oe Seized the False Teeth, From the Chacleston News. The metropolitan specials, as is well krown, have a peculiar way of raiding places. Wher examinations are made ‘to find liquor or gambling lay-outs they go in large bunches and seize almost every- thing. The articles accumulated from these raids would make « ity shop and some of them could be put in a mu- seum as things of more than ordinary in- terest. When a gambling place is raided it is the general belief that on’ he ar- ticles used in gambling are seized. This idea is erroneous, for there is now at the station a sct of false teeth taken by cre cf the specials from a King street Place. The teeth are knocking around the Staticn and have not so far proved at- tractive enough for any one to claim them, They will perhaps never be claimed and in the absence of a pair of jaws they carnot epeak for themselves, ‘It is be lieved that the special who seized the teeth was acting up to a high 1 sense duty and thought that perhaps they been used calling out “feed the P'g,”" which is a technical expression used in “the game.” Some man who visited the place with the expectation of losing his money must feel that it is very hard luck to lose also his teeth. Ss She Got Her Transfer. From Memphis Appesl. “I want a transfer to the depot,” said the lady with a fe: in her ertainly, madam; which depot?” asked the conductor. “I want it to the depo repeated the lady of the feather. But I don’t know which depot you mean,” replied the conduc’ “Never you mind what you know and what you don't know a the wo- man; “you do as you are told. You give me a transfer; do you hear?” “But “I won't have your but. Just you give me that transier or I w port you.” And the conductor gave to her, while every one on the car hoped he sent her to the wrong place. -~—. soe The Pace That k From Life. “Prithee, kind sir, I would briefiy state ‘That I am going to vote, and the hour is late.”