..Pl, ill H
VOL. XV.
NEW BLOOMFIELD, IJ.A.., TUESDAY, MAECH 1, 1881.
NO. 9.
THE TIMES.
An Independent Family Newspaper,
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THE SILVER WEDDING.
Come wife, sit here, and we'll rest a while
Till the merry dance Is o'er j
Our silver wedding has made me feel
As If youth was once more mine.
I've quite forgotten my fifty years j
Dear wife, can it be true
That twenty-five years have come and gone
Since I loved and wedded you t
Our daughter there God bless the child !
Far she carries her mother's face
Just as you looked when you won my heart
With your innocent girlish grace.
How fair she is I What 1 bless my soul !
Wife, what is that jou say 1
"Our little girl has given her heart
To that rascal" young John Grey 1
Coaxed mother to tell me, did she, eh I
Well wife, it never can be
I'll never consent you hear me, wife t
Just tell her that from me,
What is it you ask ? "If long ago
Tour father had answered nay,
What would I have donet" H'm, well, I think
I'd have married you anyway.
"Judge John by myself," you say ? Ah, well,
The boy's a good fellow enough j
But I don't encourage this falling in love,
And this courting, and all such stuff.
What is it you ask me 7 "Have I enjoyed
This silver wedding J" Therp, there !
When a wonlan attacks the weak side of a man
The game is hardly fair.
Well, because of our silver wedding, wife
(Dear, dear, how fast time flies),
1 can't say no moro to the child we love,
The girl wllh'her mother's eyes.
So here's a kiss for the bride you were,
And one for the wife you are,
And another to crown this happy night,
Of which you are the brightest star I
THE "WILD CLAIM."
"I7ELL, no. She's not exao'ly
VV mine, nor yet my wife's; but
we claim her all the same."
These remarks referred to a remarka
ble fine, not to say formidable looking
young woman, "who had just reined a
high mettled young horse out of the
home gate Into the townward lane.
" Take the kinks out of him," said
the old man, as he closed the gate after
the cavorting steed. To which remark
the fair horsewoman made reply by
flinging kisses from her whip hand, and
dashing away into a cloud of dust.
" Yes," he said in response to my
further question, "she's my gal; but
she's not my da'ter, nor she ain't my
wife's da'ter."
"Brother's?"
" No. No relation to either of us by
blood."
"WalfV"
" I dunno much what a waif rightly
'is. I call her a peremtion."
44 Do you mean a pre-emption V" I
asked, gently.
" Well, no matter If ye call It it a per
emtion or a pree-emtionf" he answered
a shade testily. " What I mean is, that
I took her up as a wild claim on the
unsurveyed lands of the U. S."
"Well," and I laughed a little as I
answered, "that's another way of get
ting children."
" Purty good way, though, if ye hap.
pen to get the kind that suits ye as well
as that'n suits me."
"Seems to be a fine horsewoman," I
said, half musingly, as we were ap
proaching the entranoe to the house.
" Btep in," he said ; "the door's open,
and that shows ye the old woman's not
to home; and the way she'll raise Cain,
and lecture on files when she does come
home will be muslo In this camp, you
bet you," and the mau chuckled In
wardly until he developed a touch of
asthmn that set him coughing In a way
that was more comical than serious.
"Now," said he, when he had recov
ered, "let's go out to the barn to see the
colts. There Is where I ban talk best.
Though I ain't a fust class talker no
time, I can get on better when I'm see
ing a good, healthy colt reaching for his
hay."
" I reckon, now," he said, after hav
ing shown me his horse seriatim, "you
are thinking I'd ort to tell you how I
perenited the gal that went out the gate
on the jumping brown colt. Well, sit
down here, and I will tell ye; but fust
wait till I say a word about that colt
she's a riding. Now, ye might think,
seeing a woman on him, that he's a
plcnio horse,, and that all bis cavorting
Is only frills and 'passear doings, but I
tell ye he means it. He's a son of a gun
on hoofs. I call him Quien Babe, because
I don't know his pedigree. He had just
as good a chance to be a Belmont as to
be a Patchen, on the side of the sire,
and which it is no one knows. His
dam was Abdallah and Medoc, and that
kind of a mix, ye knows, makes power
and ambition till ye can't rest. He looks
and acts like a Patchen, but goes like a
Belmont. Lalney, that's my gal's name,
say's he's the strongest, Inglnrubberest,
ion g-bot tomes t boss she ever had under
her. And she's a judge. She's nater
ally a judge as well as by experience.
But I, for my part, I wouldn't throw a
leg over Quien Sabe not once for the
price of him, and I refused a thousand
for him when he was a two-year old.
He's raising five now, and Lalney's
been riding him off and on for two
years."
" Where did Miss Lalney, or, that is
to say, Miss Miss "
" Woods Lalney Woods,, that's her
name. My name is Moasick. Elden
Moaslck."
"Ah, yes. Where, I would ask, did
Miss Woods find a field for the develop
ment of her peculiar talent V"
" That's what I'm going to tell ye,"
said Mr. Moasick ; looking very serious
ly, yet somewhat comically, at me, he
shook his finger and added : " But don't
ye ever fall into the idee that Lainey
don't know much above or below a
saddle. If ye ever should fall into that
idee and happen to be a-conversing with
her at the time, she'll take the starch
out o' ye mighty quick and ye won't
be the fust young fellow that's gone up
the flume that way."
And here th e venerable Mr. Moasick
had a very slight attack of risible
asthma. When he recovered he said :
" The way I peremted Lalney was
this. I waB in California when' the
Reese River mining excitement broke
out in Nevada in 1862, and wasn't doing
much good. I bought a cheap little
Mexican jackass, packed my blankets,
grub, tools, and cooking outfit upon his
back, took the road behind his tall and
went a foot Into the Nevada mountains,
away east of Reese River, determined to
find a silver mine. I had a little money
on hand and a little more a-coming to
me from good men, when I started. I
sunk it all in two years and worked
hard, but found nothing in the mining
way wuth talking about. In the sum
mer of '64 1 heard of the drouth in Call
fornia, and of how cattle and bosses
were dying there of hunger, while where
I was there was any amount of good
hoss grass. Now Is my chance, I
thought. I'm losing big money not
having stock to eat this grass. I took
my Jackass and started for East Nevada
on foot along the over land stage-road
for California, calculating to fetch bosses
on the shares to Nevada. Besides my
jackass, I had also a dog a dog that
peremted me a mixed dog a kind of
St. Bernard and shepherd dog and he
was a mighty wise dog.
"On the stage-road them days there
was no houses no houses anywhere
near it only the stables and 'ostlers'
quarters at stations fifteen to twenty
miles apart. At these stations weren't
no women or families just men, and
mighty hard citizens most of them men
was. There being no place to slop, at
or fool away time on I kept right ahead,
day after day, with my percesslon.
There was fust the Jack, then me, then
the dog, one behind 'the other, all as
solemn as could be.
" I wasn't feeling no wava cheerful
myself, but by the looks of things when
my face wasn't too thick with dust, I
was the cheerfulest of the lot. If the
jack wasn't solemn his looks belied
him, and as for that dog, Nep, being a
black dog, with a down tall, I think he
was the most serious critter I ever did
see. He seemed mostly to be on the
point of going to sleep, but he wasn't
half as sleepy as he was sleepy looking.
There was mighty little carrying on day
or night within a half mile of him that
he didn't sabe. And the fondest dog he
was of little children that ever I saw.
" Well, I used to make with my
solemn little percesslon twenty or thirty
miles a day and, as I had about eight
hundred miles to go, ye see, including
delays, I was in for a month's steady
tramping. Some days I would travel
for hours with one or another of the
west-bound emigrant wagons or trains,
as they came creeping along toward the
end of the hard journey across the con
tinent, foot-sore, weary, dusty, and
dilapidated. These trains had children
with 'em of all ages, and when my dog
got in among them children he was
happy. He waked right up, raised his
drooping tall, and was a new dog. But
I never camped at night with any of
these trains on account of my jack being
liable to make mischief among the emi
grant stock, and so I gln'ely waited
only long enough at the common camp
ing places to let my animals drink and
to fill my water keg with fresh water,
and then I'd pasB on a mile or two
or more and go a' little off the road to
good grass and some kind of shelter, if
any was to be had. In such a place I
would unload Canary (that was the
Jack's name) strip him of his saddle,
give him a piece of biscuit, scratch his
head a little, tell him how handsome he
was, and let him go to grass. I always
found him in sight, sound asleep In the
morning. After letting Canary go I
would gather a few sticks or dry weeds,
make my little fire, cook my little sup
per, eat it, give Nep a bite, roll out my
blankets on the ground, lie down and
sleep soundly till after daylight. Nep
mostly laid down along side of me on
the edge of my blankets, and though he
often growled in the night, I never paid
much attention to him unless he got to
be extra ferocious; because, while I
knew the plains were prowled over
every night by coyotes, just as well as
Nep knew it, it didn't need to affect me
as it did him. I wasn't afraid of no
coyote.
" One night, howsomever, after I had
made a very long and mighty tedious
day's tramp, I thought the dog was
mighty onsettled about something ; but
after rousing up a couple of times and
finding nothing, I laid down and fell
into a very heavy sleep, from which I
did not ' awake until near sunrise. I
don't suppose I should have awoke
when I did, only that I thought I heard
a child's voice saying :
" 1 Oo mus' not make such a big noise
wiz oo nose.'
" Well, sir, I opened my eyes, and
there, standing beside my face, was a
four year-old girl, holding Nep by the
ear with one hand, and shaking the
forefinger of the other hand at me, re
peating: " ' No ; oo mus' not make such a big
noise.'
" I was not, and never had been mar
ried, up to that time, and didn't know
much about children, but I began right
there to feel like a father. I took the
little blue-eyed, red-cheeked, white-haired
plumpness, and sitting her upon my
breast, I was just going to commence
talking to her, when she said, pointing:
" ' Look at oo dog.'
"And sure enough, there was that fool
dog just a tearing around camp, a-wal-loping
his tail on the ground, and every
now and again jumping high over me
and the young one, as he had plumb
lost his natteral senses. He was the
gladdest dog I ever see.
" 4 Now,' I said to the young lady,
4 what is your name 5"
" Lainey.'
44 4 Where do you live V
" In ow wagon.'
." 4 Where does your mamma live V
"Oh, my other mamma, she's dead,
the bad Ingins killed her. Now me's
gotanuther mamma.'
" 4 Where does the new mamma live V
" 4 In ow wagon.'
44 4 Where la the wagon J"
44 4 Down there,' pointing forward.
44 4 Down where V said I, rising with
the child in my arms.
44 4 Down there,' pointing again.
44 4 Oh, no, there isn't any wagon
down there. That's away off the road.'
44 1 No, oo ask'e dog. He knows.'
44 1 looked Inquiringly at Nep, but he
had fallen into his old, solemn, sleepy
look again.
44 4 Where did you sleep last night 1"
41 4 Oo knows. I sleeps wlz oo and 'e
dog.'
44 1 held the child in my arms, and
looked all about the sage covered plain,
and up and down the lonesome, desolate
dust-line of road, but I could see no sign
of camp-smoke, nor any object indicat
ing civilization.
44 4 How far did you walk, to come
here V
44 4 Oh I such a long long way me and
'e dog. I so tired I go to sleep, and 'e
dog tlss me In 'e face and wake a long
way, some more, and come here to sleep
wlz oo.'
44 4 Well, now. Miss Lainey, you set
right down here on the blankets, along
side of the dog, until I get us some
breakfast,' and I put the child out of my
arms.
44 4 Me vewy hungwy.'
44 4 All right I We'll soon have some
breakfast. Which do you like, Miss
Lalney, tea or coffee V
44 4 Toffee, and heaps of sugaw.'
"And so, chattering along to the
child, I fussed around until I got our
little breakfast ready In the midst of the
wilderness.
44 She was a very hearty young lady,
and did justice to my rough efforts to
please her palate, and after breakfast she
insisted on a large pan of hot water to
'wass 'e dlsses,' but as I could not afford
the luxury in the midst of perpetual
drought, we compromised the matter by
my agreeing to let her ride on top of
the pack animal's pack. This arrange
ment delighted her no little for a while,
and also suited me first rate, until she
got into the idee of standing up like a
circus rider. She never had much sense
of fear. I argued, and even scolded
against this circus business, but it was
no use, and finally I gave her a rope's
end In each hand, which suited her
mighty fine, until she got too sleepy and
laid down on top of the pack and fell
fast asleep, while I walked beside the
pack to see that she didn't fall off.
44 1 didn't reckon that we should go
far without hearing inquiries for a lost
child, yet, as I passed emigrant wagons,
and was passed by other emigrant wag.
ons, they had none of them lost a child
or heard of a child being lost.
44 My little percesslon wasn't quite so
solemn after we got Lainey, cause the
dog, instld of walking behind with his
tall drooped, now marched in front, with
tail and head up and Canary, calcu
lating to keep up with the dog, stepped
a heap more lively than he did before,
and we gee hawed splendidly. And
now if ye think that.when Lainey was
standing up on top of Canary's pack
that we wasn't some circus, ye'r mis
taken. 44 1 don't know what the emigrants
and stage drivers took me for whether
they thought I was a Morman running
away from too much wife, or a widderer
In distress, or a man who had killed a
family in order to steal a gal."baby and a
jackass and black dog but I took my
self for a man with a powerful responsi
bility on his hands.
44 The fust two or three days I was
awful feared I wouldn't find any one to
take Lalney oft my hands. Then, by
jlng, I began to dread meeting or find
ing any one who would take her. And
at last, to tell ye the truth, I left the
regular stage road and sneaked off over
the Sierra into California by an old
abandoned route.
44 1 got some changes of clothes for
Lalney here and there from emigrant
women, piece at a time, and by the time
I got down into the coast counties
4cow counties' some calls 'em I was
mighty bandy in taking care of that
young lady.
44 1 got down to my stopping place
well on a ranch, rented a little cabin in
a little town not suoh a very little
town and went to keeping house and
attending to my hoss speculation. I
hired an old Mexican woman to look
after Lainey when I wasn't at home.
44 At last it came Christmas day and I
had Lalney by the hand, going up street
as big as could be, to fill her stocking,
when we meets a lady, and down drops
that lady on her knees en the board
walk right In front of us, and, reaching,
out her arms, she said :
4,4 Lainey Woods I Lainey Woods 1
Thank God, I have found you at last I'
"And that lady took my baby into
her arms and began kissing her.
44 Well, it cut me so to the quick that
I started away without saying one word,
and wouldn't stand no such nonsense,
but she came a crying and a tearing
after me, dragging the women by the
hand.
44 4 He's my papa my new papa. I
won't stay wlz nobody but him.'
41 Well, you see, to shorten a long
story, the lady and me talked It all over
how she was Lalney's mother's friend
how the Indians had killed Lalney's
mother, and how disease and grief had
killed the father how disease had pros
trated the friend how Lalney had wan
dered ofT In the desert at night how
part of Lalney's father's property, con
sisting mostly of fine brood mares, was
left over in Nevada, temporarily In
charge of the Overland stage company
in fact, how all this business and this
child and this friend needed a man to
look after 'em. So it came about, one
way with another, that I married the
lady, fathered the child and got into the
hoss business.
44 Which being just about what I
wanted to do, makes me free to say that
my wild peremtion In" the desert was a
pretty lucky lay out."
44 Yes, indeed, very lucky," I said.
44 But now, after all, don't it seem to
you as if the black dog went off in the
night and Btole that young 'un ?"
Here the venerable Moasick had a
slight asthmatic paroxysm, and as we
walked toward the gate out of which
Quien Sabe and his rider had made their
picturesque departure, he finally suc
ceeded in saying :
44 Wall I That brown colt's yours for
just what I told you. Say the word and
I'll hold him for you mos' any reasona
ble length of time."
I'll say the word, and I'll put up the
money, but I'm not going to be in any
hurry about taking "that brown colt"
away from the scenes of his childhood.
If I were a married man it might be
different but I've got my eye on your
44 Wild Claim," you understand.
Rag, Tag, and Bobtail.
The writer, when a young man, work
ed for some time at his trade in a certain
village which had, however no denom
inational church, but a very large build
ing was used by all ministers who came
along and wanted to preach. It was
called a Union house of prayer. A
Methodist minister came along and
made application for the privilege to
preach there on a certain evening. The
directors told him there was no objection
tp his preaching provided he could com
mand a congregation ; they told him
there were many young men in that
village, that would always attend the
meeting and when the minister was
preaching they would get up and stamp
out of the church, thus annoying the
minister and whole congregation; and
so they would continue to act every five
minutes during the service, and the
directors had no power to put a stop to
such actions. This minister told the
directors to leave it to him and be would
settle it. When the time came to
preach, after taking his text, but before
commencing his sermon he told the
congregation that at many places where
he preached he generally found a certain
set of young men who loved to go to
the churches for the purpose of disturb
ing the preacher and the congregation,
and he found that they were divided
into three classes. The first was the
"rag," the second the "tag," and the
third the "bob tail." He then proceed,
ed with the sermon. In the course of
ten minutes up jumped one young man,
who stamped out. 44 There goes the
rag," cried the minister, and went on
preaching. In ten minutes another
jumped up and went out; "there goes
the tag," said the minister, "and now
look out for the bob tail." He then
resumed his preaching, but the 44 bob
tall" did not go out, and there was a
good and quiet meeting.
I