THE MAILS

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 8073, 2 April 1906, Page 4

THE MAILS

MONDAY, APRIL 2. - For Auckland and North per Harawa, at 7 p.m. TUESDAY, APBIL 3. For Wellington and South per Takspuna, at 10.30 a.m. • For Auckland and North per Kotoit), at 7 p.m. WEDNESDAY, APEIL 4. For' Auckland and - North per Karaws, at 7 p.m. TffUBSDAY, APBIL 5. For Wellington and South per llotoiti,'at 10.30 a.m. • For Auckland and North per Takapuna. at 7 p.m For Norfolk, New Hebrides, Banks. 1 Solyuiori, and .Santa Cruz, ppr Southern Cross from AuckUnd, at 7 p.m. FBIDAY. APEIL 6. For Australian States at 6.1S a.m., due Sydney April 11th. For Sonth Africa, per s.s. Marathon from Melbourne, at 6.16 a.m. Due Durban about May 6th. For Auckland and North per Baraws, at 7 p.m. SATUEDAY, APBIL 7. -For Auckland and North per Takapuna, at 7 p.m. For Australian States at 7 pim., due Sydney April 13th., • For Ceylon, India, China, Straits Settlements, also United Kingdom and Continent of Europe, via Suez (for correspondence specially addressed only), at 7 p.m. Due London May 20th. The next best despatch for Continent of Europe and United Kingdom will be via San Francisco, closing at Chief Post Office, New Plymouth, on Thursday, April 12th, at 7 p.m. Due London May 12th. Mails for Chatham Island, per Bipple, close at Lyttelton April 3rd, at 8 pjn. Parcel mail for United Kingdom and Continent of Europe, per Buapchu, closes at Wellington on April 12th. Mails for South Africa, per Suvie, close at Melbourne on April 20th. Mails fo» Niue, per Yentura, close at Auckland on' April 13th: Mails for Baratonga, Tahiti, and Penryhu Islands, per Tavitini, close at Auckland on : April 17th, at 3.45 p.m. F. D. Holdswoeth Chief Postmaster.

« the 0&11 of the Qu&fl» :cr '

A Tale of Montana. fh§ quavering call of the quail reverWItad ihrough the darkening forest and aoroai the clearing around the rude cabin where the Keluotanl eonii coaxed bj the Brnlteß of fiunimar, east allots af green athwart the sandy Hell. The little girl looked up from the treasure Of wild flowers that ahe had gathered, dapped her hanij In glee, and laughed merrily. "Listen, papal They're singln 1 their babies to ilaep." The man, toll, gaunt, long-bearded, paused with his hoe poised in the air, turned a seamed and kindly face to smile upon the child, and resumed his task. " Singin' their babies to sleep I" he chuckled, shaking his head. "What a notion I"

A horse and rider, sweaty and mud-be-mattered, emerged from the forest and halted at- the edge of the clearing. The rider was sturdy of form and grim of visage. From the cartridge belt about his waist two holsters swung heavily, their buokled flaps protecting the hidden weapons from mud and moisture.

" Evenin', pardner," he called oat. " How far to Mound Oity 1" The tall man struck the handle of the hoe deep into the damp soil, and approached the horseman with long and leisurely strides. " 'Bout ten mile, straightaway," he answered slowly. *' Nearer fifteen as ye'll have to go. Ye're mighty nigh five mile off the eead."

"Tried fer a short cut and got lost," explained the other, wiping the mud from his bee. " Follered the call of the quail , fer lack and heered the little gal laugh, else I wouldn't have found ye in this out-of-the-way place." "Better light off and take pot luck with as," said the tall man cordially: "Supper's 'most ready. The moon'll be above the trees in a couple of hours, and I'll show ye the way back to the road. It's a bad trail in the dark."

The horseman slipped from the saddle and leaned wearily against the stump of a fallen tree..

"Don't care if I do," ho said. "I've come 'bout fifty mile through tho mud senoe mornin', and the horse neede lest and a bite of fodder. I've got the money to pay." " Keep yer money, stranger. Glad to have ye. Mighty seldom we see anybody out here." *

" 'Tain't very public," observed the traveller, smiling. " Been here long 1" " Seven year this spring." "Own the place?" "Only owe a hundred now," replied the settler proudly, seating himself upon the fallen trie. " Bnt it's took a power of hard work and scrimpin'."

The little girl sbyly approached the stranger and gazed up into his face with the curiosity of childhood. The' grim visage softened.

" Only one ye got ? " he asked. " Only one—now—there was a little feller."

The child turned her face upward toward the twilight itilrs. ' "He'sup yonder now," she murmured, the little mouth quivering. The eyes of the two men met. The stranger pnt his arm abouf the child and drew her closer.

"I've got one up there, too," he said softly. "The only one we had—a little gal." There was a moment's silence; then the tall man asked: "Have to make Mound City to-night?" " Yes. Want to git back to Montana soon as I kin." "Montana! Ye didn't come from that direction I" " No, had a little biznessin Pierre fust—with the Guvner." The tali man slipped forward on the tree and drew his long limbs under him, like a panther about to spring. " Montana, eh ? , What county ? " "Teton." " Teton I" muttered the other, dropping his head. Then he looked up and remarked: "Ye go purty well heeled, even for a man from Montana." " Yes. Have to in my bizness." There was a long sileice; then the tall man said quietly: "Lottie, run in and tell mamma we'll mtve -company fer stjfs6i--a man from" Montana—Teton Gocnly. fle'a goin' on to Mound City to-night." " 'Quainted in Monnd City ? " asked the man from Montana. " Some. Don't go often." " Know a feller named Hungutori—Bill Hungerford?" The questioner was still gazing after ihe ittle girl, and did not see the glare, like that Sf an enraged rattlesnake, that flashed from the tall man's steel-grey eyes. • " Hungerford 1 Yes, I reckon I know him." " Friend of yourn ? " " Wust enemy 1" The man from Montana regarded the tali man long and earnestly. Then hf .asked carelessly: " Like to git even and make that hunderd dollars ? " "How?" The man from Montana glanced around cautiously and leaned forward, his hands on .the tall man's knees. " Looky here, pardner, X believe ye're all right. I'm the deputy sheriff of Teton County, and there's a warrant and requisition for Bill Hungerford in my pocket—only his name's Prayno, Phil Frayne. What's the matter ? "

"Nothin', Thought I beared a rattler. Bo on."

«| " Well, he's be«n hidin' out in Mound City ior eight year, goin' by the name af Hungerford, and I've jest located him. I never seen him, and I need a iiule help. If I call on the sherifi at Mound City I'll have to split the reward. lou come along and lend a hand, and yc get that hunderd dollars." " What's Bill been doin' 1" "Shot a man named Miller. Beokon he had to, to save his own hide; but Miller was a sport with a pull, and the gang'U swear against Frayne. That ain't my lookout— I'm after that reward. It's easy money fer yon. What d'ye say 1"

• "Stranger, it's rcsky. He's a desperate mn, and as quick with a gun as—l am." "And how quick air you?" asked the man from Montana banteringly. Beaching to his guest's nearest holster, the tall man unbuckled the flap and drew forth a revolver, gold-mounted, with curiously carved and modeled stock. He sprang from his seat with an exclamation, of surprise. The man from Montana grinned proudly. " Ain't she a beauty 1 Try her." A screaming blue-jay flew swiftly overhead. There was a quick movement of the long arm, a flash and a report, and the shattered body of the bird whirled to the earth. The man from Montana smothered an ejacul*Sion of wonder. The little girl called from foe cabin door: " What you shoot for, papa ? " " To skeer a hawk," the tall man called back to her. "A beauty, sure," he concurred, caressing the weapon with his left hand. " fj t'other one like it ? " " No. I give the mate away." What fer;" The man from Montana reached down, Clucked a blade of gras;, and ehewed it

was Mlled. Vhtv mads & rash and bfoks toy right firm with a ball* 'Twould have been all over In another minute, when* toiler oomeß gallopln 1 up the trail and opens Are. Never Been sloh Bnoothi'. Throe went down to stay, and the other twe broke and tun, one of 'cm llmpln'. The fsller had hil coat collar up and oap pulled down. I'd run (rum the shanty to some rocks, and he could Dot soo mo. -

"'Stay right where ye air,' he yells. 'I don't know ye, and don't want to. No thanks oomln'. I'm alters fer the under dog,' says he. 1 All I ask'a another gun and some cartridges,' he says. " I'd dropped one gun when my arm was hit. The feller got of! his hoss and picked it up. I didn't kick—he could have had both fer the askin'. Then he took a belt of aartridges from one of my dead friends, and got on his hoss and galloped off. That'i how it was."

Tho tall man balanced the weapon admiringly in his tanned right hand. "Now, supposin'— jeßt supposin'," he said slowly, " that ye had a warrant fer that man fer—well, say fer murder, and there iras a reward—say a thousand dollars—and ye was the only manasknowed where he was, would ye take him 1" The man from Montana shifted around the stump uneasily. " That's a hard one, pardner. It would be a dirty triok, wouldn't it 1 But a thousand dollars don't grow on every bush, and I need 'em bad."

" And, in course, Miller's friends know ye've found Bill ? " ventured the tall man.

" Not muchee 1 I'm too smooth for that. Nobody knows but me. Worked this up myself. The rest give it up long ago. Even the Guvner'a signed without readin'. It's an every-day thing with them." Tho man from Montana was smiling shrewdly, and watching the hungry horse crop the grass. The muzzle of the weapon in the hand of the tall man was swinging slowly toward him j the tanned forefinger was tightening on the*, trigger. The slight form of a woman appeared at the door. " Supper's ready," she called.

At the sight of her the steel-gray eyes softened, the deadly muzzle dropped, the tanned forefinger relaxed. "Take yer gun, stranger, and lead the hoss to the shed. I'll be with ye in a minute."

The man fiom Montana watched the other striding toward the cabin and muttered : " Now, how'd he know 'twas a thousand?"

The woman, with anxious eyes filled with the light of love, watched the tall man as he entered the cabin and took a belt with its holster from » re. (ho vtuii. " What je goin' to do ? " she asked, laying a Kembling hand on bis arm. The tall man buckled the belt around him.

" That.depends. Ef he ever gits to tba sheriff the jig's up ; but the trails mighty slippery 'round thq clay bluff, and the river's nigh." " Oh, Phil, Don't I It's bad enough now, and " The man from Montana stood in the door. The child ran laughing to him, holding out ner hands. The stranger came into the room, stooped down, raised her on his left ami, and whispered something in her ear. " Why, my name's Lottie—Lottie Hungerford," fhe laughed. The revolver leaped from the tall man's holster, but the woman caught his arm, and he lboked down the muzzle of the weapon in the hand of the Montana man.

"Handsup," the deputy growled, "and give mo that gun—butt foremost—keep yer fingers outside the guard ! Ye played me puvty smooth, but it's " His eyes fell upon the extended weapon, carved and goldmounted, and he stalled back.

"You're the man I gave my other gun to! " lie cried. The tali man nodded. The woman held out her hands appealingly. The child threw her arms round the stranger's neck. " Please don't hurt my papa! "she sobbed. The threatening weapon trembled, drooped, and dropped into its holster. The man from Montana held out his hand. "The gal wins," hejsaid huskily; "the gal and the gun. But it s lucky for you that I follered the call of the quail."