| Show I iA TheT I he irr I wo o Ca 1 BY STEWART I EDWARD WHITE This happened at the time Billy Knapp drove the stake stake bEtween arid and Deadwood Deadwood I think can call still see the tho stage In Buffalo Bills BUls show I The journey from Pierre to Deadwood r amounted to something An All da day long Jong the trail led up and down long grassy i slopes and across sweeping intervening hats While cUm climbing bins tIle the slopes you uld never get your experience to con convince conVince vince you that you were not on top topping topping ping the hill a about b ut to overlook the entire for miles around This never happened you ou never saw an further than the next roll roU of prairie I While hurtling down the slopes you OU aw av the intervening flat as Interminably interminably I ably bro broad d and hot and breathless or interminably broad and icy and full I of arctic winds according to the sea season season son of the year Once in a dogs ag you ou came to a straggling fringe of i I The tenderfoot now understood the silent grim man an who unapproachable and solitary had alone occupied the thes s seat at on top of the stage Looking with more curiosity tenderfoot observed a shotgun With abnormally short barrels slung in two huo brass clips along the back backof of the seat In front of the messenger The uRual revolvers too were secured instead of by the regulation holsters in brass clips riveted to the belt so that in case of necessity the they could be snatched tree free with one forward sweep of if the arm The man met his gaze keenly Them Hills aint fur now nosy vouch ouch vouchsafed Bm Billy as a cold breeze breez from the west lifted the limp brim of his hat and a tUrn film of cloud drew with uncanny i and silent rap rapidity dit across the stars The tenderfoot had turned again to look at the messenger when the stage came to a stop so violently as almost to throw him from his seat Billy his foot braced against the brake was en engaged engaged in leisurely r winding the reins around it Hands up I say cried a sharp voice from the darkness ahead you observed BIlly to the tenderfoot at the e same time thrusting hi own over hs head and settling down comfortably on the of his ba back k Time he caned called facetiously to the darkness As though at the signal the night split spilt with the roar of buckshot and splintered with the answering cackle of a three times repeated The screech of the brake had deceived the messenger of the whereabouts of the He had jumped to the ground on the wrong side of the tho stage thus thuG finding himself without protection a against his opponent who fIring at atthe the tho flash of the shotgun had brought him to tb the ground The road agent stepped confidently forward Billy said he pleasantly jest pitch me that box Bill BIlly cUm climbed bed over the seat and dropped a heavy Iron bound case to the ground Danged if I thinks any anybody anybody body kIn git Buck he remarked in thoughtful reference to the messen messenger messenger ger gerNow Now drive on commanded the road agent Three hours later Billy and the so sobered bared tenderfoot pulled into Ten minutes taught the camp what had occurred Now it must be premised that Dead Deadwood Deadwood wood had recently chosen a sherif He I did not lack mu h like Uke a sheriff for he was small and weak arid and bald and most childlike as to expression of oo countenance ance But when hen I tell you that his name was Alfred you will know lenow that it was all rIght I ow many is they he a asked kc of Bill Billt Billy t b p o 0 c cc C 0 One ne Ion lonesome e one replied t th hC stage Alfred driver dller I plays her a l lone ne hand announced II You see sac Alfred Allred knew well enough defects He never make plans when anybody else w was near but always Instinctively took ool the second place Then whon wh n the others scheme schem had fallen into ruIns he would con construct a ex e He It di nt fr from JI the wreck of it observed one of th the chronic visitorS of the saloon door One of yoU boys saddle brone bronc requested Alfred and began to Q examine his firearms Yo aint gain goin to s set t out tonight they aSked tJ ly I am The f e snow make a L good trail but shell shon be c covered vered come ome mor morti 1 in So Alfred set out alone at night in I a snowstorm without the guidance of ofa ofa a solitary star to fin find a single ingle point in ill the vastness of o f the prairie He made the three hours of Billy and the tenderfoot in a little over an hour because it was mostly downhill So the agent had apparently four hours the start of him which discrepancy was vas cut down however by the time consumed in breaking open the strong strongbox box He is alone said Alfred to himself so he aint In that Black Hank outfit AInt to take him north an If he goes south he has to hit way down through the South Fork trail which takes him two weeks Th greenbacks In that plunder is numbered and old has the th numbers He sure has to pike in an change them bills blUs afore he is spotted So I he goes to Pierre Alfred staked his aU all on thIs reason reasonIng reasoning Ing and rode blindly eastward For Fortunately Fortunately the roll of the country was sufficiently definite to enable him t to keep hIs general direction well enough until about 3 when the snow ceased and the stars came out to together together gether with the wanIng moon Twenty minutes later he c came me to th the bed of a stream Up or down queried Alfred thoughtfully The state of the weather decided him It had been blowing all night strongly from the northwest Left without guidance a pony tends to edge more or less away from the wind in order to turn taU tail to the weather Al Alfred Alred red fred had diligently counteract d this tendency all night but lie he doubted whether ln n the hurry of flight th the fugitive h had d thought of it Instead of I keeping directly east toward Pierre he I had probably fallen away more or les less toward the south Down Alfred de decided decided He dismounted from his horse and began to lead the animal parallel to the stream but about two hundred yards from it first taking care to as ascertain ascertain certain that a little wat water r flowed in the channel On that there did he nodded his head in a s satisfied man manner manner ner He ave no trail till she slie be begins begins gins to snow he argued au an he nat naturally expect no mud turtles like me of him eastward Consequently he feeds when he strikes I water This Thi yere ere Is water All of which seemed satisfactory to i Alfred He walked on foot In order to todis dis discover over the trail in the snow gnaw He I withdrew two hundred yards ards from the bank of the stream that his pony might not scent the other mans horse and so give ghe notice of approach by After a time he came across the trail So he left the pony and followed it to the creek bottom n foot At the top of the bluff he peered over cautiously Wen Well you got nerve he remarked to hImself If I was this yere game Id sure scout wIth my blinders off The fugitive evidently believed film self safe from pursuit for he had made camp His two ponies cropped browse and pawed for grass in the b bottom land He himself had prepared a a warm arm niche and was sleeping in it with only one blanket over him though by b now the thermometer was well toward zero The affair lad Teen een sImple He had Imd a long hot fire in the L of an and the When upright ledge ground I ready to sleep he had raked the fire three feet from out from the angle and 1 had lain down on the heated ground I between the fire and the ledge He rifle and revolver lay where he could seize them at a mom its notice Alfred co could ld stalk a deer but he kne knew bet better er than to attempt to stalk a man trained in the west ll st h he worked himself into a protected prote ted po position i tion and ear f liy planted a Winches Winchester ter bullet some siX Inches from the mans ear The m man n work up sudden suddenly suddenly ly and made an Instinctive grab to toward toward ward his weapons Drop It yelled Alfred Alfredo So o he dropped it and lay like a rab rabbit rabbit bit in its form Jest Je t select that y the end of the barl and hurl her from you some advised the sheriff Now the Winchester Now stand up an lets look at you The man man obeyed Yo I dont really that other gun under the circumstances pursued the little littleman littleman man No dont fetch her loose from the holster hoister none jest unbuckle the whole outfit belt an aU all Good Now you freeze and stay tay froze rIght whar you are areSo areSo So Alfred arose and scrambled do down downto n nto to the b bottom Good mornin he observed nd pleas pleasantly antly H He cast east about abou him and discovered discovered ered the mans lariat which he picked up and overran with one ote hand until he hail had loosened th the noose You aU all are some I able he re re remarked I marked In fn conversational tones an like enough nouh you OU cats me tIp up jf If I sett lost enough to tie you Hands up Witt a deft twist and flip lie he tossed the open noose o over er his erS up upheld upheld held wrists and jerked it tight uTI ar you u be 9 observed laying aside his rifle He loosened one Que of hi revolvers sug suggestively suggestively and to tie the thel knot l not Swing her br down dOUn h he commanded He contemplated the result Dont like that v tied in froL Ste Ster i through your hands a whole lot The man hesitated Step I say said sharply at the same time pricking the prisoner with his long knife The other contorted and twisted a awk awkwardly wk w but finally managed to thrust first one foot then the other between h his s shackled wrists Alfred bound to together gether his elbows at the back youn do he approved cheerfully Now we sees about grub Two flat fiat stones placed a few inches q c nil 4 v t j fL fLa wc t a 41 Y YI Yr I r 1 r t L r Two Men Seated on Presented but a Small Mark to the Indians Shooting from Running L nning Horses cottonwood trees Indicating a creek bottom The latter was either quite I dl dry or in flood Close under the hill huddled two buildings half logs half mud There the horses were hanged changed by strange men with steel glints gUnts in their e eyes res lUte those you see under the brows of a tugboat captain Passengers could there eat flapjacks architecturally war warranted k ranted to hold together against the most vigorous attack of the gastric juices and drink green tea that tasted of tannin and really demanded for its proper accommodation insides It was not an inspiring trip Once a tenderfoot came through in the fall of the year simply for love of adventure He got it J 7 Driver saId he to Billy as the brakes were set for another plunge were you ever held up Billy had been deluged with ques questions quest ions t like this for the last two hours he looked straight in front of him spat accurately between the tail of the and the whiffletree e and answered in monosyllables The tenderfoot did not know that asking questions was not the way to induce DUly Billy to talk Held up replied Bm Billy with scorn Young feller I was held up thirty seven times in the last year exclaimed the t tOn n What do you do Do you have much trouble getting away Have you had much fighting g Fight I aint hired to fight Im hired to drive stage And you just let them go through you jcu cried the tenderfoot Billy was stung by the contempt In Inthe Inthe the strangers tone Go through ugh he explained They the me none what whatever whatever ever Put her down fer argument that Im damn fool enough to sprinkle lead round some Bome and th t I gets away What happens Nex time I drives stage some of these yere ere agents mas me from behind a bush Whar do I come In Nary ary bit Hes the fel feller feller ler hired to fight jerkIng his thumb apart improvised a stove when fire thrust up its tongue from froni a crevice and a frying pan and tin cup laid across the opening cooked the outlaws provi provisions provisions Alfred hospitably ladled some bacon arid and coffee into their former owner Not that teat I needs to he observed but Im jest that tenderhearted At the close of the meal Alfred inti instituted a short and successful search for forthe forthe the plunder which he found in the str strangers saddlebag open and un unashamed unashamed ashamed Yore sure a tenderfoot at this game stranger commented the sheriff is plenty abundance of spots to tocache tocache cache such the hum linin of yore saddle or a holler hoUer horn Has you ou any choice for ridin Indica Indicating Indicating ting the grazing ponies rhe man shook his head Ue He had maintained a lowering silence through throughout out all these cheerful proceedings I Alfred and hIs prisoner finally mount mounted ed and rode northwest As they scram scrambled scrambled bled up the precipitous sIde of a gully i ithe the stranger being In front was the first to see a band of Sioux that topped a distant rise for a single instant Of course the Sioux saw him too He communicated this discovery to Alfred Well said Alfred they aint hos hostile hostile tile These yere jere savages is plenty hos hostile hostile tile contradicted the stranger and dont you make no mistake thaI I jest lifts that pinto offen them and he jerked his thumb to toward toward ward the pony in th the rear And you camps cried Alfred in pure astonishment You must be plumb I aint had no no sleep in hi three nights explained the other in apology Alfreds opinion of the man rose at aton on once e eYo Yo has plumb nerve nere to tackle a holdup under them circumstances he observed The rhe savages appeared on the next rise barely away and head headed headed ed straight for the two men menI I reckon yeres where you jou takes a hand remarked Alfred simply and riding alongside he released the others arms annS by a single slash of his knife The two dismounted without further par parley parley ley tied their horses noses dose close to I theIr front fetlocks and sat down ba back k to back on the surface of the prairie Each was armed with one of the new Winchester just out and with a brace of Colts revolvers chambering the same sized artridge as the rifle Each man spread a little semicircle of shells in front of him At the corn com command mand of the two without reloading were When the Indians had approached to within about foul fou hundred yards of the white men they paused Alfred Affred rose roseand roseand and held his hand toward them palm outward In the peace sign His r rO I 1 I was a a orus I 1 tells teUs you commented the holdup I Alfred came back and sat down The savages one by one broke away from the group and began to circle rapidly to the left In a constantly contra ting spiral They did a great deal of yell yellIng lug Ing Occasionally they would shoot To the latter feature the plainsmen lent lentan lentan an attentive ear for to their trained sens senses s each class of arm airn spoke with a different old oid I the Remington th the e long heavy Sharps fifty ea each h proclaimed a Itself plainly The mere bullets did them in the least Two men seated on the ground presented b but t a small mark to the Indians shooting pons from r running nning horses at three to I four hundred yards lange That outfit is rank outsiders con on eluded Alfred They aint over a dozen In the layout A commotion a squeal a thrashing about near at hand caused both to turn suddenly The pinto pony was down and kicking Alfred walked over oer and stuck him in the throat to save a cart cartrIdge cartridge rIdge I u Move love up pardner said he heThe heThe The other moved up Thus the men became po possessed essed of protection from one side The Indians had v vented a yell or of rage when the pony ped Now as each warrior approached a certaIn point in the cIrcle he threw his horse back on Its haunches haunch so that In a short time the entire band was gathered In a group Alfred and the I outlaw knew that this maneuver por portended portended tended a serious charge An |
