THE 'OMAHA. DAILY BEEx SATTJIIDAT, RKl"l'MnR ti. 1902.
9
Angel of
Uy IZOLA L.
(Copyright. IMS, by Isole L. Forrester.)
It would have been different It she hadn't
looked like on, but when the stsge drovs
tip to headquarters tent, that spring morn
Inc. and Lea Maaon helped her out. Ilttls
Put called her Angel, Just on the strength
of general appearances, aad the name clang.
It M e first Impresilon. One of the
specialties of Piety Flat was first Impres
sions. Sometimes they were vivid. There
wss oacs a man who roae la from some
where. ' He wore sa alpaca coat, carried a
Vodak aad looked at Piety Flat through
eyeglasses. Ons day he kicked a dog. It
. was little Put's dog. The third day after
Angel came Put took her across the weed
and showed her where we dropped the
kodak man, down Into the river bed. .It
was one of ths Flat's first Impressions.
"Did he dleT" asked Angel, andithe regret
and marvelous tenderness of her gray eyes
made little Put hunger after the slaughter
of th kodak man, that be might tell the
tale of gory vengeance, and see her weep.
"No." he said, regretfully. "We dropped
kin easy. I did It myself, the same way
he did the dog, you know. He Just had to
take another way back home. That waa all.
It waa a good dog."
Flung out Into the heart of the wilderness
was an extra ridge of wilder wilderness,
- with the giant cacti upeprlnglng on the
edge of tha desert like a fhorny barrier, be
tween it and the outer world. A tew men
had Ventured beyond the barrier and
pitched their tents on the ridge and called
It Piety Flat. Incidentally, across the
wash they struck copper in the foothills
and they lived and worked and hoped with
the promise of the future luring them on.
There was sand and tents and more sand
and llsarda and a little more ssnd, snd
thea nothing until you struck the river
aad eould look up at the ragged purple line
of the foothills stretched out against the
western sky.
Nothing much happened. Sometimes there
came a sunset so glorious that it made little
Put get out his mandolin and go mad until
star time came and we put htm to bed
gently. There waa the stage from Florence
three times a week. Sometimes there was
a sudden flash of excitement over on the
t other side of the wash, where the copper
diggings stabbed the hillside. Little Put
or some one else had hit a new run and was
eelebratlng. The celebrations usually
lasted tea minutes, then we woke up again
and went back to grubbing. The stage and
sunsets were perpetual. The celebrations
were accidental. So was tha Angel.
Put said she was beautiful tnat day when
she faced us alt It had been over a year
since any of us had viewed angels, and ws
agreed with Put Her hair wasn't any spe
del color, Just fluffy and undecided, and
the deep soft brows gold that the frost
trlngs to the cottonwoods on the hills In
October. There was a long wavering- knot
of pale blue ribbon, tied sailor fashion, at
the collar of her white shirt waist. . We
wondered why all tha other angels In our
rt Uu uvtci tuvusiit to war blue rib
bons. It was another Impression, but ws
were glad little Put had called her Angel.
"Isn't JacV Raymond hareT" she asked,
and, someway -he looked at little Put We
felt tot hfcn. It was ths toughest proposi
tion he had ever faced. At that moment
he bora all Piety Flat on his shoulders and
answered for It
"He was hare," said little Put encourag
ingly. Tha Angel's Hps did not tighten of com
press, they did little act all their own
that would have wrung the heart of a dead
Apache. A little pursing up of the epeclal
center nerves, a little wistful drooping of
the side curvet, and the 'deed was done.
Piety Flat beheld and bowed In adoration.
Bo did little Pot.
"But ho will be back"
Put rallied, and there waa the red light
of battle la his eye. We knew he would
carry his colors to the death.
"Any day at all. Just struck out a little
farther west to see how the land lay."
"How long has he been gone?"
Pat swallowed back the lump 1a his
throat and smiled reflectively,
- "About a week or so."
' The Angel set her alligator satchel on
the ground and pondered.
It's awfully queer," she said at last
"Hs knew I was coming. I wrote him two
weeka ago, and he sent back word Just when
to come, so I came of course."
Put laboriously marked a star out In ths
sand with tha toe of his boot, then he atked
gently:
"Mrs. Raymond?"
The girl flushed warmly.
"Why. no, of course not I'm Japk'a sis
ter, Dolly, don't you knowf Dorothy Ray
mead." The sand star wss obliterated swiftly.
"I suppose," she added a trl.le nervously,
"I shall have to stay, now I'll here. And
he may bo back any day. I think I had
better go to his his, has hs a tsnt or any
thing special where I could stay!"
"O. vea. Indeed." Put's eyes wera clear
and bright Here at least be was on safe
a-rousd. The shadow had shifted for the
moment He pointed over the flat to where
there waa a rise of ground eastward and a
lone cottonweod spread straggling boughs
above the rough boards of a new shack. :
That's his place," he said, in a tone of
triumphant pride, which only Ptsty,
could understand. "You'll Had all hla
things there, aad U'a youra Just the asms,
yoa know."
"Just aa ha left ItT"
"Tee'm, Just exactly," Put said earnestly.
"We didn't disturb a thing. I guess things
are kind of mixed up aad muddled, maybe,
for you."
"Oh, I'll soon straighten that out. I shall
love to do that for him. He won't know
bow badly he needed me until he sees how
It all looks when he cornea back. Tomor
row, did you sayT'
"Aay day. at las Raymond, any day at all."
said Put solemnly, and wo watched her la
alienee as sha walked alowly toward tha
new shack under the cottonwood.
There was a counsel of atate held that
Bight snd little . Put made a speech.
Speeches were one of his strong points.
Piety Flat held that he had many. He
stood ea a wooden bos up st. Eddie Bar
ton's tent. We chose that ens Because it
was farthest from the shack. It was a
great apeech. Eddie told him If he would
write It down for him to learn by heart he'd
give hla Bamaatha. Put led Bamaatha up
to tha door of the aew shack the next mora
lag and gave her to the Angel. r
"She Isa't real handsome, but you'll need
Xr, aad she belonged to Jack."
I "She's a dear," laid the Angel lovingly,
as she stood tall and slim and sweet as the
morning In the doorway aad surveyed Ba
maatha. "Are all burros like herT"
"No. she's a little more so than the rest;
laughed Put stroking Samaatha's hide. It
waa a faded gray color, like the old soiled
ladlaa blanket he had throwa around her.
aad many trips over the hills through ths
thorny -aeaqulte growth had deprived her
tall of Its aatural bushy glory aad left
wera spots here snd there oa her gray hide
like the moth-eatea patches oa the ladlaa
blanket
"But aba's ths beet one oa the Flat," he
added. ;
"Jack alwaye wanted the best." shs said,
merrily, . "What a, boy, he la. Isn't he.
Mr. "
"Cfcadwick." said Put, sedately. "Putney
Piety Flat
t - 'OHR ESTER.
Chadwlck anywhere 00 earth but here. I'm
just Put en the Flat"
"I don't remember the name, and Jack
told me of lota of the bore In his letters."
Put nodded, and studied the pattern on
ths Indian blanket.
"Did you find the pall of water all right?"
he asked, mildly.
"It was delicious. So cool and freeh. and
there waa everything here to eat. I found
the box of canned goods he bad hidden awsy
under ths cornmeai tin, and the coffee snd
the crackers."
"There's maple sirup In ths Jug up over
the cornmeai," Put Interrupted, eagerly;
"and the bacon'a hanging rlghtback of It
on a nail.'
"Is ItT He's an extravagant boy. Isn't
he? But then, there Is the mine. I sup
pose you are all budd'ng copper kings,
aren't your'
"0. yes," astd Put. heartily.
"Thea I must be a copper queen. I've
been watching you work over there, and
wondering which was our mine. Jack's and
mine, I mean. Tou know," she went on,
confidentially, "when Jack wrote first for
the money I didn't want to aend It to him.
It was all that we had left, you see, and
even when hs told me of the big strike he
had made It seemed a dreadful risk to take.
I'm sot sorry now, though. Da you know
Which la our claim, and Is It very rich?"
Little Put looked away from her, and the
lids of his brown eyes narrowed. There
was mosquito settling daintily on Sama
tha's ear.' He struck It- a blow that would
have felled .Samantha. and hU heart, was
full. He did not know It waa Quito as bad
as this.
"I guess It must be that last one this aide
tha break In the ridge," he said, ateadlly.
"Has It a tame?"
He nodded.
"Paradise mine Jack called It." ,
That night In the big tent he told us all
which waa Angel's claim, and that he was
going to work It for her until Jack cam
back. Thea the spirit fell upon us all. Len
Mason lugged his best slds of bacon, and a
new blanket over to the shack, and swore
Jack had loaned him bacon when he was
starving. Big Tom Wyndham slipped over
one evening when we couldn't aee him and
left his pet frying pan on the doorstep, to
gether with a brand new oil lamp from
Florence that he had flaunted at us tor
weeks as an evidence ot auperlor civiliza
tion? Little Put was all In at tha end of
a week. Eddie Barton gave him a shake
down in the corner ot his tent and he never
murmured.
"It's got to be,1' no said defllantly, when
big Tom stood him on his head and told
him not to make too gigantic a fool ot
himself. "When she told mo he'd got all
her mosey to buy a mine with out In this
devil's desert, I didn't give a hang rap what
happened. She's here and Piety Flat'a got
to look out for her."
"Until Jack comeS back?" asked Tom, and
Put wilted.
' "Not until wa have to, Tom," he said
pleadingly. "Let It go until we Just have
to, don't you understand? She believes In
him something terrible, and ahe'a hla sla
ter. Walt until It comes ef Itaeir."
After the first week she grew worried.
and It was up to little Put to keep her busy.
Ws made him special deputy aad he worked
over time. He taught her how to ride Ba
maatha, and when that palled he trotted
her down to the river and southwsrd to the
Indian camp and let her emtle on Broken
Arrow and his family of seventeen. Ehe
was disappointed.
"They're picturesque, In a way, and the
blankets are lovely, but they don't look as
It they had any go to them. Do they ever
wake spf
"No," ssld little Put grimly, "but they
have nightmare."
Then there wss her kodak, and aba shot
everything In the place with It and devel
oped the films herself. But the Indians
kicked every time ehe pointed It at them,
and Put drew the line there. . 1
"It'a only prejudice." he told her. "but
they have nightmare over thoae little preju
dices. Don't."
"Only one more," the Angel begged. "It
I don't get a shot at that tunny little tad
ever there I shall break the kodak."
Put looked, and there In front of cne ot
the tepeee was a picture, ready posed.
Broken Arrow's youngest Sua Dog, stood
la ths sunshlae etrlng at them, He was
knee high to Samantha. A shock-haired,
ugly, dirty, halt-clad statuette la copper,
aad the Angel's heart went out to the
heathen. Ehe had caught him on tha film
before he moved, but ths tnsUnt ths but
ton clicked, he let out a yell of terror and
made for the tepee.
There was aa unsaay movement among
the Indians around, and Put hurried the
two burros on. out ot the village without
asking permission.
"First sign of nightmare," he aald. In re
sponse to the Angel's query aa to their
haste. She did not tee the point but was
Jubilant over aecuring Sua Dog's picture,
and he let the matter drop, for little Put
was wise In these ways la spite of bis 14
years aad beardless Jaws; but two daya
later he made a mistake. He warned the
Aagei aot to ride beyond the wash without
aa eecort.
"Why?"
- Little Put ecoraed to argue. Besides he
dtda't want to worry her, he aald,
The Angel atood la the dovrway ef Jack's
,.-tl "nvs-i ft.jt.,.?tjr .-iWiaTWV' T ... - .,,,,iTo7lT
cabin and watched Mm as he walked lrl-
surely back to ths diggings It was 9 In '
the morning. There bad been a belter-'
skelter shower for flve minutes, scurrying
across ths flat aa It it wers frightened to
death over the possibility ot having to water
such a waste, and leaving a fresh, vague
sweetness In Its wske that called one from
the sand and alkali to the cool greenness
of the hills. As soon as th figure of little
Put had disappeared over the yellow ridge
the Angel went over to Samantha's side
and deliberately, aerenely, with malice
aforethought, set out tor a ride beyond the
wash.
When Put came up at noon tor dinner he
missed Samantha from the lone cotton
wood's shade and Investigated aa special
deputy.
Ten minutes later be rode out over the
flat, following the trail of a burro that led
westward
Fourteen miles away the smoUe
of tepees rose straight in the atlll noon air.
Between lay the river and hill- range, and
then sand again and alkali and cactus and
little Put's face was puckered and grim, as
he thought of the word he had received
from the Indians concerning a white girl
that dealt In magic and shot death and woe J
from a terrible black box, a small black
box that clucked like a enake and winked
its eye and let loose a devil among the
tepees.
Just over the hill range he overtcok
her and found that his education In an-
IF TZ . -
- - -jl
THB BODY OF LITTLE PUT LAY
gels wss as yet Incomplete. She ssw
no neceeslty In his riding to the rescue.
She laughed and it waa not a friendly
laugh. It was a laugh ot angelic deriBion,
but atill Little Put rode on bealde her
and, therefore, was he honored by Piety
Flat as above his kind. The Angel couldn't
rattle him worth a cent.
"It's perfectly absurd, all this fuse about
a kodak," she said. "And, even if it were
all true, that . they want my scalp and
by the way, I don't blame them for It
It's a very nice scalp do you know what
I would do?"
- Put glanced back over his shoulder.
The hills lay In a low halt moon behind
them. Before was the desert of sun
baked alkali, seamed in great cracks, and
the edges curling upward like scorched
paper. In the blinding hase of flashing
sunlight ahead, a few black specks like
Ink blocks, appeared and vanished, and
reappeared larger than before.
"What do you auppoae I'd do?" She re
peated. "Run, yell or faint." said Little Put,
and he whiatled under his breath softly.
The Angel smiled and put back a whlap
of the nut-brown hair that fluttered lazily
across her eyes.
"It Isn't a Joke. One doesn't really do
those things, don't you know, not when
It's a funny, little old man like Broken
Arrow and those other greasy, halt-dead-looking
Indians. Why, I'd Just take the
camera to pleoes and explain It to them,
logically and practically, and"
"Turn back to thej river." Little' Put
laid his hand on Samantha's bridle and
Jerked her head around. "Where's that
kodak?" He took It from the supporting
strap around her shoulders snd dropped
It In their tracks. "To keep them busy
for a while," he explained. "There are
about twenty red gentlemen chasing us
and they all have prejudices. They'll at
tend to that logically, practically and
otherwise and Ood grant It glvea us time
to make the river."
They rode ateadlly for half a mile. The
Angel was very -quiet. She did not even
whiten, and he loved her for that. It
showed grit. So did the way she guided
Samantha's protesting hoofs, when some
thing whined past her ear and dug a neat
round hole la the ground ahead of them.
Put looked back.
"They went around the kodak, and shot
at It," he said, with a grin. "I wish It had
been a bomb. Can you ride a little faster?"
Samantha answered the question by stum
bling forward on her kneea. Put caught the
girl around the waist and lifted her back
safely.
"They've clipped one of her legs." be aald.
"Oat on my horse, quick. You can make
the river all right, and I'll explain to the
red gentlemen."
They stood side by side between the fal
len burro and Put's bay. The Angel laid
her hand tenderly on Samantha's hearing
side.
"You poor old dear," shs said aoftly.
Then, looking at the group of Indiana rid
ing half a mile behind, "I wonder what
they'll do to us. I wish Jack were here."
Little Put drew In a long breath and shut
bis eyes, aa If the sun glare blinded him.
"I'll try to take his place," he said. "Will
you go?"
"No. I hardly tank it worth whils. If
they could shoot Samantha they could hit
Hi, and I like company. It is better to
gether, don't you think so?"
She rslsed her laahes and looked at Put.
There waa no time tor explanation or
prepatory overtures. Little Put took off
hit gray slouch hat and kissed her like a
man. and all the world was sunablne and
glory, and the alkali dtscrt a boly of holies
) tor tha shrine cf his love. So It happened
he thought ot the word he had received A f
from the Indians concerning a white girl vV m 7
r . t Agjf 7v L J "1 ' haassT "
M W iH an fl S S s r J -yrKe- ' W Mt " S . 1
that when Broken Arrow and his men drew
bear Put went to meet them and be waa
trailing sweetly and benignly and wondering
In a rampant boylaa fashion whether It
would bring a quicker finish If he put a
bullet between the old chlet'a close aet,
beady eyes.
Tut there are points of honor even la
Art ton a and he bad been a welcome guest at
Broken Arrow's tepee, so he listened In sl
ip n re to the story of what the white witch
had done and rode back to the Angel with a
flve-mlnute truce.
"They want you," he said. "The last one
you took, little Sun Dog, you know, has
been gone since last night')
"The baby?" she cried, the woman's tear
and child-love leaping to her eyes,
"Tea. They say you have eaten him,
dear, or given him to the devil In the blaok
box." He spoke very gently. "I can do
one of two things. I can turn around and
shoot. It would probably settle about three
of the brutes. The rest would eettle us
AT THE FOOT OF THB ANGEL."
with variations and minor chorda In about
two minutes."- .
"What else?" . . .3 ', .:
"We can ride to their camp, aad I will
leave you and go for help."
She thought for a moment-
"Will you please glvs me one of your re
volvers?" i
It was pure grit.. Little Put could have
ahouted aloud to the whole world tha eour
age of his lady fair, as hs drew a email,
hamnierlets Smith Wesson from hla hoi
ster and gave It to her.
"1 can get help by dawn," he said. "They
wouldn't dare "
"But if they should." she smiled up at
him. "Don't worry. Only when Jack comes
back, you must tell htm,",
Her voice broke a little, and Put saw
there were tears in the eyes that looked
westward, where he had told her Jadk had
gone. He looked at hla watch. ' There wers
two minutes ot the truce limit left
"Dollle!"
Something In his tone mads her start
slightly. He had never called her by her
name before, and no one but Jack aver said
Dollle. -
"Don t be angry. You re brave, yon
know. You're awful brave!" Put dashed
ahead recklessly. Hs wished they had told
her that first dsy. He wished she would
cot look at him so . frightened. "He hs
won't come back." ,
"Jack!" 1 ... .
"He died a week before you came.
She waa white now. Ths color that had
defied the Indians fled at his words sod her
hands closed on each other tightly. When
she spoke her voice was trembling.
"Oh, why, why, didn't you tell me. It
wasn't kind all these weeks. Whst did
he die of?"
Put closed his eyes a moment and prayed
for the gift of Beexlebub, as hs remembered
the death ot Jack Raymond. The fight at
headquarters tent, the quick shot that aet'
tied It all, and Jack's face upturned oa the
floor among the scattered tarda and broken
glasses. It had been very white, as whits
as the Angel's now, and the two wers much
alike. As he looked at ber the strength to
lie came to him and he knew all Piety Flat
would stand by him.
"It waa fever. He had a chum, and nursed
him first, then took it himself and died.
The chum went away afterward."
He atopped. That Uat was trust After
he had fired the ehot Rogers had mads
tracks for ths Mexican border. There was
no danger ot purauit, though. No ons
blamed blm. ,
Ths Angel drew a long, deep breath,
There waa an uneaay movement among the
Indians and Broken Arrow held up hla hand.
palm upward. Put raised his la aaswer and
turned his hone's head toward them.
"But the houae, aad the mine and every
thing" faltered the Angel.
"They were Jack's and mine." said little
Put. "They are yours now." Hs caught
glimpse of her face and put hb arm around
ber. "Don't, dear; don't feel like that. He
died like a hero."
The ride to the tepees was hot aad tiro-
some. Put rods on one of ths Indlaa ponies
beaide Broken Arrow. The Angel was on
the bay the other elde. Her faoe waa sad,
Not for fesr et tha future, bat tor grief S7er
Samantha, left to die wlthtn sight of the
river. Some aay the other news seemed
like the halt-forgotten memory of a dream
Put argued and threatened. The chiefs
face never changed Its expression
Just before you reach the ladlaa cam
there la the sigsag bed of a drled-up creek
to cross. The ground Is yellow aad oosy
like qu'.ckaaad, snd strange, shy snakes aad
lass aaa
as UJ
llxards slip swiftly out of sight
r
tat ' . .
horses slide sad scramble up ths soft, slip
pery sides.
Put stopped midway on ths slope and
swung off his pony to exsmlns a mark In
tha clay. It was a slight, little Impression.
Five small toes snd a heel, as If a young
aps had atepped there. Put stood upright
and called to Broken Arrow, and showed
him the marks.
"It points east to the desert," he said.
"The child has wsndered. It Is no witch
craft It you lose a young coyote and It
runs away. Is It black devils V
The chief spread out his hands.
"Where la he?"
Put pointed to the east where the great
desert spread out under the hot sunshine.
"If I follow and bring him back will you
believe?"
Broken Arrow nodded slowly.
' If he still lives.;
Put hesitated. He puahed hla hat back
restlessly on his head, put hla hands In his
pockets and atared at ths chief, and hla face
was troubled.
"I want until sunrise," he said. "I'll come
back thea, unless I'm lying around dead out
yonder somewhere. And, ssy, we've been
friends, you know. That day a year ago.
when four of your boys stole our horses and
we caught them. Remember? Big Tom was
going to swing them up on the deed cotton
wood and let you know wo objected, and I
fixed things up tor you, and ons wss your
awn boy. Remember f
The old man looked at the warm, eager.
boyish face and nodded grimly.
' Then I ought to have some kind of a
pull with you, don't you know. You owe me
tor that yet, and I'm going to call you now.
Just be good and fair to her until aunrlse.
Don't let them devil her yonder In tbe camp
all sight Walt until aunrlse."
Broken Arrow put out his hsnd.
"Until sunrise," ho said, and added i
Your squaw r
Put flushed crimson.
"Not yet, old man. Some day, please God,"
and under his breath as he sprang to tbe
saddle. "It I llvs to sea sunrise."
They would not let him speak with her.
He raised hla hat and waved It and shs laid
her hand on her breast, where the revolver
lay, and they understood. Then he roae
away slowly toward tbo east following the
track ot Sun Dog, and Broken Arrow took
her to hla own tepee and set a guard on It
until sunrise.
And all night ths Angel sat there, sleep-
lees and waiting, with only ths eracxie
of the watch Ore to break the atUlneas or
the sudden sharp wall of a mother mourn
ing for her lost baby boy. In the next
tepee.
The moonlight allpped through the rift
where the flap of the skins closed the en
trance. Sha watched It with a kind of
fascination, and when It faded and turned
gray and shs could trace the outlines ot
ths tent poles over her bead, ane arew oui
the revolver and laid her bead back on tha
blanket of tha couch and tried to think ot
something beside the kiss of Little Put.
Broken Arrow played fair and true. oi
nntll the aun had risen a man's htght above
the Jagged horlson lino of the desert, did
ha order ths watch Area trampled out and
tha tepee opened. And at tha threshold
he paused, for there was no terrified, white-
laced witcU ssun ta t?" " s
girl who slept In peace aa a child and
smiled, and he thought of Put's last words
and turned back to tha east again tor a
last look.
And tharo was great stillness among the
group ot gaunt half-nude figures ertandlng
In the red glow of tha sunrise, ror some
thing moved like a wounded animal on the
face ot ths desert, and when It had reached
tha edge where ths giant cacti threw up
great thorny spikes it tell forward, snd
Broken Arrow bade them go and Drug oacs
what waa left ot Little Put.
It was tha ahrlek of the woman i had
mourned that awakened the Angel, and
tha prayed In her heart snd klefied the
revolver and rose to face the sunru. out
whan the teceo opened there wera do cries
of vengeance to greet her. no leapt g tires
of torture, only a half-clad Indian woman
crooning aad weeping over a etarvOd-eyed,
frightened boy child on ner aneoe, ana
before her the body of little Put lay at
the feet of the Angel.
Tha rest is on record at Piety Flat In
the hearts of the boys who rods ouc ai
midnight to And tha lost ones, or wipe
everv Indian within twenty mtiea on me
face ot the earth. They searched too river
bottom, and tha washes and the hills, and
found only the body of a dead burro and a
muhed kodak, but when the aim rose
they entered Broken Arrow'a vlllnge. re
volvara In hand, a troop of slnesT. sun
burned, resoluta American hoy a, looking tor
their own.
That night a memorial Jubilee a as held
up at the headquarters tent. They lifted
Put ud on a table ana ne orose ie news,
while the Angel smiled sadly at tin eager,
Joyous tacea of Jack's chums.
I found tha dirty little beggar out
under a cactus shads, sprawled out like
. ii..r4 fast asleep." aald Put. "It was
the getting back that broke ma up.
bad to leave the horse back there aome
where when ha fell and rolled on my loot
and It waa hard dragging along with dawn
chasing you up and a equalling, starved
Indian cub hanging to your back. And
that's all, boys, except that we fixed It up
all light with Samantha aa witness. She's
going to be Mrs. Putney Chadwlck and
I'll try to take jaca a piace.
That waa the cue. Put had paasea tne
word around when wa first reached camp
and everyone waa ready for the memorial
service. Put led. He told how jsce Kay
mond had corns out with aim Rogers
among ths flrat bunch to hit tha Flat; how
his hope and Jolly good fellowship had
kept the rest alive and now wo an iovea
him.
Then Bis Tom started ta ten now win
had caught the fever, the horrible Insid
ious fever that steals like poisonous
quicksilver through the veins of a man
and leaves him as the fever la India
leavea its thousands.
"We were cowards," aald Tom Duskily.
"Ws left the boy alone over under the cot
tonwood and Jack took him home and
nursed him all through the night."
He battled with the fever," put In Leo
Maeon with gloomy emphasis.
"And beat It," concluded Tom. "And
then before we knew It he waa down him
self and ha died like a hero In Little
Put'e arms."
Put!" The Angel roea and atretched out
her hands to him. "Put and you never told
me that"
We stood back to let them by. Put
limped and aha made him leaa on her arm.
It waa awfully pretty, we thought. At the
door they looked back. The Angel's fees
waa wst with tears, aad Put's was a study
la happy misery.
"I shall ride to Floreace tomorrow, boys,"
he ssld. "And I'll bring one back with me.
You're all Invited to the wedding."
Piety Flat cheered. Gathered ea masae
Its cttizsns howled over the Joy of Utile Put
and danced for ths honor of his fair lady
until they were out of hearing.
Then there waa a strange dead alleaes.
Big Tom broke It. He gently moved the
box oa which the Angel had aat over to the
doorway, where he could aee tha stars. Wa
watched htm meditatively Uke out his bag
of Seal ot North Carolina plug cut and nil
his pipe bowl with Its golden brown tress
are. Then he spoke.
"Aad he was ths dog-gonedest, meanest,
white-livered, lying cheat of a kid coyote
that ever tame over the deeert, and got a
bullet la the right place." he ssld softly, as
ho passed ths bag on to the rest. "Only
1 m giaa we wrgea Dim in dots om aeroae
Us border, for her sake."
SCIENCE OF APPLIED CRAFT
Marrelem Bohemes for 8paratinjj Fosli
from Tfcair Money.
BARNUM'S EPIGRAM RIPE FOR REVISION
People Seeklaar to Get Rich Quickly
Worked to a Flalels Variety of
eke-nee Revealed ty the
Poeteflee Department.
"Notwithstanding the fact that we are
generally credited with being a newspaper
reading nation fern often tempted to believe
that there must be many millions of Intelli
gent persons In ths United Statta who
never so much as glsnce at the headllnea of
newspaper," relates an official ot tbe Post-
office department In the Washington Star.
At any rate, If tbeee millions to whom I
refer ever actually do read the newspapers.
their gullibility must be so profound as to
hs unfathonable. The Postofflce depart
ment Is constantly Issuing fraud orders
against Individuals snd alleged firms en
gaged In getting rich In the operation of
chemes that It would seem any shrewd
child of 10 ought to be able to see through
without the leaat bother.
"The other day. 'for example, the depart
ment got after a chap out In Cincinnati who
for some montbe hsd been conducting what
he called a 'turf bureau.' He alleged In hla
really admirably wrlttea circulars that he
had private and abaolutely certain methoda
of obtaining Information to the horaea that
were slated to win races on tracks all over
the United States snd he guaranteed returns
of tremendous proportions. Well, when we
looked this fellow up he promptly skipped
and his incoming mall waa seised. It seems
Incredible, but every day's mall brought In
thousands of dollars, In amounta ranging
from IS actually up to tSOO, and the lettera
Inclosing each and checka were nearly all
of them apparently written by persona ot
education. Tha book In which the man kept
his simple account of cash received showsd
that alnce hs put hta scheme Into operation
he had taken in no less a sum than $465,000,
almost out of the question, as It may ap
pear. He haa got away, but. even if he is
captured, I very much doubt If any very
heavy punishment can bo visited upon him.
Tbeee slippery ebapa whr work their dodgee
by meana ot the malls have the money to
employ first-rate lawyera and theee lawyers
can generally successfully construe their
clients' circulars as not having really prom
ised anything to the gulls, after all.
Bailees Chala Schemes.
The endless chain schemes that tbe de
partment runs down year after year are
all of them money makers for their opera
tors. It would actually seem aa if all a
busted' individual had to do to get rich Is
to get a lot ot circulars printed and aend
them out, borrowing the money for post
age, and there will always bo enough gulls
to start him on his way. The cherry tree
scheme worked by a gang of southern men,
one of them a clergyman, waa a colossal
success for its promotsrs, and yet not a
man In the crowd had a coin to aieee !iiw-
seif with when they started the endlees
chain acheme in motion. The more recent
fountain pen fraud, worked by a couple of
Pennsylvanlana, yielded returns that went
Into ths thousands every day, and I
haven't a doubt in Ufa that aay number
of similar endleas chain achemes are being
worked this very day that ws shall have
to go after later on.
The people who bits on these endless
chain schemes all obviously want a whole
lot for nothing, or little or nothing, and
this, combined with their strange simplicity.
is at tha bottom of tbe success of tha fel
lows who attempt to make their fortunes
through the use of the mails
"You would naturally aupposs that per
sons sufficiently intelligent to possess an
Interest In stock speculation would be able
to ateer clear ot 'investment agents' whom
they only know of through circulars, would
you not? Aad yet the department is con
stantly in receipt of tales of woe from In
dlviduals who havs invested sizable sums
of money with New York and Chicago
swindlers claiming to conduct speculative
bualneases, who operate entirely through
the mails. These outfits are broken up
by the United Statea poetofflos authorities
soon as their fraudulent character Is
clearly established, but It seems Imposs
bis to drlvs these fellows who run the al
leged Investment agencies wholly out of
business.
Educated Saejtere.
"The game'a too easy for them, and they
are fully aware of the great difficulty found
In convicting them. Aa soon aa one 'brok
erage' firm that carriea on Its business en
tirely by mall Is smashed ths men who have
beea successfully conducting It almply move
down to another block and open up another
'brokerage' office under another firm name.
Tha ahltt only Involves their getting out
another batch cf literature. The thousands
and thousands of dollars which these sharp
ers take la year In and year out from peo
pie whoeo way of expressing themselves on
paper makes It patent that they are edu
cated men and women Is a perpetual aourca
of astonishment to me.
"Tbe smaller fry of the mail swindlers
era ths feUows who advertleo that they will
faend 'solid gold watches' and all that sort
of thing upon the receipt of $1. Now,
doesn't It seem reasonable to Imagine that
any man or woman ssne enough to run
loose in a civilised community ought to
know perfectly well that a solid gold watch
or whatever other article It may be, per'
haps a 'genuine diamond ring,' canaot be
bought for the aum of II? And yet there
are responses to these ads, reaching liter
ally In the millions, and ths promotsrs ef
these dodges nearly always get rich. Last
year we routed out a fellow In Boston who
advertised In a very elaborate and splurgy
fashion throughout the country that he bad
got hold of a lot of 'lucky atones' on bis
traveta through India, which he was willing
to purvsy by mall upon ths receipt of 11
per stons. The money that chap get was
something fabuloua. The dollars srere J uat
raining In when the inspectors swooped
dowa oa his office and cleaned him out H
didn't care then whether he was cleansd out
or not. He had got tha money.
Gamo of Shrewd Womna.
"Something ever a year ago tbe depart
ment nailed a clever woman who was
operating her little dodge down In Florida
a woman .of tremendous shrewdness this
ons was, sure enough. She advertised and
aent out circulars to the effect that aha
waa a natural bora healer of aay old die
eaaa that was ever included In a medical
book, mental or phyeiclal, aad she aet
forth the fact that, if anything, ehe waa
some better as sa 'abssnt healer than she
was as a contact healer. All the pereon
afflicted with any sort of dlseaee hsd to do
wss to hike a $5 nots along to her, and
aha would spend five minutes at a oertal
hour of ths day or night thlnklag ot tbe
person remitting ths money. Thus ths
afflicted one would be made whole. If
remember correctly, this little woman
pulled In something like $300,000 with her
scheme, snd, if abe had really devoted Ave
minutes of thought each day to each ot her
aubecrlbers, tbe day would have had to be
about two months long. The beauty of the
situation in her esse was that absolutely
nothing could be dona ia the way of pun
Ishment to her. Bbe clung to it when
nailed that she really waa aa abaeat healer
all right although there waa, a merry
twinkle In her eye as ehe aald It and the
government hadn't any way of proving
that she wasn't what she claimed to be,
even bad the government been dtepoeed
to establish any such contention.
"Not In recent years have any ot these
mall swindlers beea so bold as that hu
morist who, advertising that he would send
a certain way of getting rich on receipt
of a dollar, sent out little allpa containing
the words, 'Work hard and never spend a
cent,' bnt manipulators of the malls almost
aa brazen are constantly requiring sop.
presslon. When one stops to reflect upon
how many years this sort of mall swindling
haa been going on, and then considers how
many tens of millions of newspapers con
talnlng accounts of such swindles ars con
stantly being thrown off ot American
presses, one Is tempted to tske stock In that
old aphorism ot Hungry Joe's that 'there's
a sucker born every minute, and they never
die.' "
KO RADICAL CHANGES.
Westker Record toafaand the Oldeet
inkahltant.
"There Is nothing so untrustworthy as
unaided human recollection," onco remarked
tbe late John G. Nlcolay, who helped to
write the Lincoln memoirs; ho referred
particularly to hlstorto controversies, and
Intended to discredit those observations
which had not beea put In black and whits
at the time of the occurrence of the event
but Instead hsd been allowed to grow. A
forcible Illustration of his truth, save the
New York Evening Post is found In ths
populsr sstlmates of the weather. It was
only last year that ws had a aummer ao
hot as to break the records of the Weather
bureau, and yet this summer tha country
men hereabouts ars saying that "tha cli
mate Is changing," and specifically charg
ing that "the summers aro not what they
used to be."
The climate remains tha same, as will bo
proved by the truthful records ot solentiflo
ppliances. There are periods during which
It varies; times when cold or rain or heat
prevalla to a larger extent than tho nor
mal. But when the whole Is summed up.
covering a reasonably long period ef time,
It is found that the frost line Is Just where
It used to be, snd the cold or hot or ths
rainy periods are no more or less frequent
than when grandfather was a boy.
Thomas Jefferson was a victim to ths
popular delusion, and writing In 1771, said;
A change of climate is taking place very
sensibly. Both heats and colds aro Decerni
ng more moderate within the memory of
even the middle-aged. Snows are leea fre
quent and less deep. They do not often
Us below ths mountains mors than one, two
or three days, and very rarely a week.
The snows are remembered to have been
formerly frequent, deep and of long con
tinuance. The elderly Inform ma that the
earth used to be covered about three months
in every year."
But in those dsys there was no weather
bureau, and the "elderly" were free to give
their recollections without the danger of
an official observation being I quoted. In
Europe accurate records have been kept ot
the datee of tho opening ot navigation of
atreama at certain points for several cen
turies, and It Is shown that, covering a
long period ot years, there has been no ap
preciable change. The first twenty years
of record, compared with the totals of the
last twenty years, gives the same reault.
Observations made by geologists convlnco
them, and Prof. Moore of the Weather
bureau, than In our lake regions no changes
of climate have taken place for several
tboussnd years. Osslan Guthrie, the noted
civil engineer, says that "the sama variety
of trees now growing in the lake rogtons
were growing soon after tho glacial epoch."
Ths records of the weather bureau show
that the maximum of heat recorded In ths
United States was In Colorado, at Mam
moth Tank, a station In ths desert, where
In 1887 the thermometer recorded In ths
shade 128 degrees Fahrenheit. Again la
1884 124 degrees waa reached In the aame
place. ...
Prof. Moore advises psopla not to stand
In doorways or at open windows during
aevere electric atorms. Ths neighborhoods
of trees and fireplaces aro to be avoided.
On ths other hand, be says It will do little
or no good to wrap up in a feather bed.
Alarm, in case of lightning, is quite super
fluous. Remember that one who lives to
see the lightning flash need not concern
himself about the possibility ot harm from
that flash. Also recollect that heaven has
more thunders to alarm than thunderbolts
to punish. It serves also to calm tbe spirits
to think that even though struck by light
ning, the consequences are not always
fatal; even If stunned, and apparently dead
ths victim may be resuscitated. Prof.
Moore saya sot to cease efforts at artificial
respiration and stimulation for an hour.
Lightning stuns, but does not often kill.
If you eat without appetite you need
Prickly Ash Bitters. It promptly re
moves Impurities that clog snd impede
the action of tha digestive organs, creates
good appetite and digestion, strength of
body and activity of brain.
------------- V
Oae Faro aad Two Dollars.
CHICAGO, Sept 8. The Western Pas
senger association today granted a round
trip rate from all polnta In Its territory
to the International Live Btock exposition
at Chicago of ons fare plus 12 for three
selling days beginning November 80. For
exlhibltors a certificate plan haa been ar
ranged, at tho aame rate, to be on sale
from November !t to 80.
CHILL VJIUDS
Are the dread of tfcoee whoa ltwtrs ars
"weak." Soma fortunate people can
follow the summer as it goes southward,
and escape the cold blasts of winter and
the chill airs of spring;. But for the
majority of people this is impossible.
ram u y cares ana
business oblige
tiocs hold them
fast.
"Weak" lungs
are made strong
by the use of Dr.
Pierce's Golden
Medical Discov
ery, it cures the
obstinate cough,
heals the in- -flamed
tissttes.
stops the hem
orrhage, and re
stores tbe lost
Related body.
M am a vallread
areet, writes I.
btaolcs. E.. '
of
Co..
Barclay, Oaage Co.,
ana
fear
years age ssy work
seeping sse ia
roos
and
Ire-
Stepping aat
qimbUv tale e
tbe
Cold air gave aae braachlila. which becsme
chronic aad deep seated. Doctor failed IS)
reach say case aad advised me to try a higher
air, bat, krtunllv (or me. e friead also advued
aae to try lir. Pierce's Mdlciaee. I oosnmeaced
takiag your ' Gotdea Medical Discovery,' aad by
the tiaie I bad tohea the Brat bottle I was Wet
ter, sad after uaiag about four bottles my
causa was entirely gooc. 1 have Ibuad ao ae
ccsslty for seeking another climate.
Sometimes a dealer, tempted by the
little snore profit paid oa tha sale of leas
Bieritorioua medicines, will offer tho
customer a substitute as being "just as
good" as the "Discovery."
You get the People's Common Senas
Medical Adviser, the best medical work
ever published, fret bv sending stamps.
to pay expense of mailing eayn. Send
ai one-cent stampa for book ia paper
covers, or 31 stamps for cloth boand vol
tuus, to Dr. K. V, Pierce, BuOalo, N. Y.