The Argosy — page 188: what you’re looking at

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

Red River Gully. r93 Book in them days, and, thinks I, ‘She’s like the cherubim as we sings about at church.’ She was a simple, trusting child, and she soon told me all she knew of her own story. Her mother had been dead only a few weeks; father had gone down to the Gully to get gold, and had never come back ; and brother Ralph took care of her, and was out in the woods hunting. I met the boy soon after, trying to sell some birds in the village. He was a fine fellow, and he’d never told the child as the father—a drunken ne’er-do-well—had fallen over a precipice, and been killed. Ralph, he was tryin’ to make money enough to take his little sister back East. ‘‘ Wall, when I got back to camp, I began a-tellin’ of the find I’d made up there on the cliff, when a rough voice growled : ‘¢ Git out there—a-talkin’ about yaller-haired gals.’ “As sure as you're alive, ’twas Black Joe, one of the ‘ Devil’s Own.’ ‘Wall, Ishetup. Iwas but young, you know, and assoon and as often as I could, I’d go up the cliff and take something for that poor lone child. I’d about made up my mind to tell the story round, and get up a pile for the two children, when the Lord see fit to take the matter into His own hand—and this was jest what happened. ‘‘T was a-comin’ home one afternoon, when the sky clouded up, and all at once a hurricane struck the valley ; ’twas a kind of cloud- burst, too, and torrents began to pour down the Gully. The river rushed on at flood-tide, and the trees come crashin’ down at such a rate as made me look pretty keen for a place to shelter in. Seeing a light near at hand, I made a dash for it, but when my foot was on the threshold of the door, I knew I’d got right into the shanty of the ‘ Devil’s Own.’ ‘They was civil to me, though, and give me a seat by the fire, but they was a swearin’ pretty considerable about the wash out that had driven them from their work. ‘They took little notice of me after the first, and I sat on a log and tried to get myself dry. As soon as ’twas dark they lit their lamps, pulled out cards and dice, and began gambling and brawling, jest as I’d hearn they did. The rain and wind was over by dark; but I got so interested watchin’ them fellows that I kept my seat by the fire. I was jest thinkin’ what a fierce, wild ruffian that Dick Kent was, and wondering why t’others looked up to him so, when he turns to me an’ says: ‘Boy, you’d better go. This is no place for such as you.’ ‘There was something in his wonderful eyes as he spoke that went to my heart. I was afraid of him no longer. I wanted to stay with him, somehow. ‘Go!’ he says again. ‘This time I got up, and strapped on my rifle. Wall, just at that instant I hearn a low tap at the door; so did Dick; he turns round sharp and cocks his revolver. ‘The door was gently pushed back, and there on the threshold stood that little, yaller-haired gal. “The men stopped brawlin’ as if they'd been struck dumb, and CORNICLIOO <S (SO) am 5 Fe a Se gs Oe et ee OT eee ee ~~ "wz ae gD ee ee ae eee ee oe oe Le eee Se ee ee ee ee ee ee ee ae “* =~ lata. -”° bah tae “ae 2 ae eo. wea ce et — = Git Gie’ « ee ee eee Oe ee ee ee ee ee ee ee A A i i ll ce lee