WHEN MEARS WAS SATISFIED.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 36, 11 February 1905, Page 11

WHEN MEARS WAS SATISFIED.

) r orto Menrs is known in Colorado as the . "Pathfinder of the San Juan" hooausc of stajre and toll roads ho bnilf. through tile. > mountains. One of hte stag*' lines was over l Marshall Pass. Ho yeas constantly eensur- - mc: his drivers for boia£ plow. The result r was that every man was anxious to get'him ; alone in a sta;o and demonstrate that they ■ could £o fast ennnpU to pleas* him. One morning he waited nt the summit of Marshall Pass for the stage driven bj- H«n- - ry Burns, a reckless driver, to leave for the I foot. He was dressed iv a black suit that f> was mouldPil to him. and on his head was i I n new silk lint, anil his linen was spotieesty ". i vkitp. Hp whs tliP only passengor. 1 J "I'll give him thr ride of his life,' , re- ' i marked Rnrn? u> ihp station men. " Konr of iho horsrs oa the Hnn -wern * hoclir-a op. Jlears aepped into the with a fresh cigar in his month, ami Burns * clambered on the bos. lie cracked his whip ' I with a volk-y of curses", and the leaders 1 ' marly jumped out of the barneßs 5 . He sent •j the four down the serrsentine road in record i tome, the ptajrp bnnpiuc; ajrainst the side 1I of the mountain, k l-^3^ll " the edges of prer j ripices. whirling around sharp rurres on " two wheels, and bounding over rocks with jars that raised the hi'avy vehicle, three i feor and lunged it forward -with a bump 1 I that started every !>olt and nail. The horses 1 were white with lather, but still Bnrcs urged them on. J At the foot of the pass Bnrns polled up his foaming and well-nigh spent horses, ! and Mears climbed out. His silk hat was ? .a battered wreeb. his elothc-s were torn iv ' j dozens of places, and his hands and face were w.rnrched and Weeding, for he had ? ; been tossed about in th* , like a pea >in ,i ear.: but his cisar was still sriprwd in ■ bis tee.th. >r*> said nothing, however, mitfl ' rhP singe was driven up to «-outinue on its way. when he remarked to Burns — ;ij "FTenrry, I tink I vill ride on to ontside mit you. T vas so lonesome inside I eonldn"t .- keep avake." ii —