Argosy and Railroad Man's Magazine — page 110: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

452 ARGOSY AND RAILROAD MAN’S MAGAZINE. sort of man who seems to be quite capable of holding on to that which belongs to him.” CHAPTER XX. A GHASTLY FIND, N due course Fred grew strong enough, he fancied, to permit of the departure of himself and. Mary Ann for their new home in the Red Lands. ‘They took with them a negress named Polly. With infinite diff- culty they had secured the services of this woman, not that Polly did not wish to work for them, but servants were hard to find in Texas. This one, Mary Ann declared, she had positively stolen from Mr. Bailey, in whose employ the negress had been for three years. The Carringtons had promised to let them have two of their men until they got things running. Indeed, Thetis had planned to have the house all in readiness to receive them, but Mary Ann and Fred were ar- riving more than a month ahead of time. They journeyed across the prairies without any adventures or mishaps. The Carring- tons had made various trips back and forth to Nacogdoches, and had marked out a shorter and easier way than they had pur- sued: on their first fatal journey. Fred and Mary Ann had a little drawing of this new rotite, and availed themselves of it, with the Fesult that they arrived at their log house on the third day after leaving Nacog- doches, and they had traveled slowly, too! Fred had stood the trip very well, and they were both in great spirits at the pros- pect of eating before their own hearth- stone. Early the next morning the Rogers boys rode over to see them; they had ob- served the smoke from Fred’s chimney and, suspecting his premature arrival, came to wish him welcome. Since Fannie’s death the brothers were living together in a little cabin which they had built for themselves on the edge of a small pool. Their land lay between the property of the Carringtons’ and that of the Popes. : Steve said that he knew the entire Car- rington tribe would come over to visit them that evening. “How far away are they?” Mary Ann inquired. “A little more than five miles; but our house is on the way, and that is less than two. Fred, you must get strong soon and come and help us,”’ Steve continued. “ We are building a blockhouse for our common protection against the Indians.” “What about the Indians?” Mary Ann asked apprehensively. : “Oh, they are quiet—have been ever since we arrived. They come around some- times, begging, but they are friendly,”. Ed declared. “Never trust a friendly Indian,” Steve began. “ Ed is too trusting, I think—” Mary. Ann broke in by asking: ‘‘ Where is the blockhouse being built?” “ Just half-way between your place and the Carringtons; in other words, two and a half miles from all of you folks, but only about three-quarters of a mile from us.” And Steve laughed: ‘‘ We don’t have to ride to our work.” After a certain time had been spent in conversation of a more or less trivial na- ture, the Rogers boys returned to their work on the little fort, and Fred and Mary Ann began their unpacking.’ Their house consisted of one big room with a dirt floor, and above this were two small rooms reached by a ladder. “It’s terribly crude,” Fred commented, “but we'll soon build a shed close by for a kitchen. First, though, we’ll have some stairs made and put in the place of that ladder.” “And who will do all this?” Mary Ann demanded sharply. ‘‘ You certainly are not strong enough. I tell you we should not have come out here so soon!” Fred thought so himself, but he made no remarks to that effect. That evening the Carringtons and the Misses Lord came to call, and they all passed a very pleasant time. Even Melissa was less catty than usual, perhaps because every one left her alone to flirt to her heart’s content with Steve Rogers. ‘Hamilton announced that he and three negro men would come over early the next comicbooks.com