We have all begged Faye to get out a warrant for the
man, but he says it would simply be a farce, that the sheriff would
pay no attention to it. The whole left side of Faye's face is badly
swollen and very painful, and the wound in his ankle compels him to
use a cane. Just how the man managed to shoot Faye in the ankle no one
seems to understand.
Granada must be a terrible place! The very afternoon Faye was there a
Mexican was murdered in the main street, but not the slightest
attention was paid to the shooting - everything went right on as though
it was an everyday occurrence. The few respectable people are afraid
even to try to keep order.
Dodge City used to be that way and there was a reign of terror in the
town, until finally the twelve organized vigilantes became desperate
and took affairs in their own hands. They notified six of the leading
desperadoes that they must be out of the place by a certain day and
hour. Four went, but two were defiant and remained. When the specified
hour had passed, twelve double-barreled shotguns were loaded with
buckshot, and in a body the vigilantes hunted these men down as they
would mad dogs and riddled each one through and through with the big
shot! It was an awful thing to do, but it seems to have been
absolutely necessary and the only way of establishing law and order.
Our friends at Fort Dodge tell us that the place is now quite decent,
and that a man can safely walk in the streets without pistols and a
belt full of cartridges.
FORT LYON, COLORADO TERRITORY,
October, 1873.
ONE naturally looks for all sorts of thrilling experiences when out on
the frontier, but to have men and things mix themselves up in a
maddening way in one's very own house, as has recently been done in
mine, is something not usually counted upon. To begin with, Mrs. Rae
is with us, and her coming was not only most unlocked for up to two
days ago, but through a wretched mistake in a telegram she got here
just twenty-four hours before we thought she would arrive. Ordinarily
this would have been a delightful surprise, but, unfortunately, things
had begun to "mix!"
Faye had suffered so much from the wound in his head that very little
attention had been given the house since my return from the East,
therefore it was not in the very best of order. It was closed during
my two months' absence, as Faye had lived down with the bachelors. The
very day that Mrs. Rae came the quartermaster had sent a man to repair
one of the chimneys, and plaster and dirt had been left in my room,
the one I had intended Mrs. Rae to occupy. And then, to make matters
just as bad as possible, there was a sand storm late in the afternoon
that had, of course, sifted dust over all things.
But this was not all! My nerves had not recovered from the shock at
Granada, and had given out entirely that day just before dinner, and
had sent me to bed with an uncomfortable chill. Still, I was not
disheartened. Before I went East many things had been put away, but
West had unpacked and polished the silver several days before, and the
glass was shining and the china closets in perfect order, all of which
had been attended to with my own hands. Besides, the wife of one of
the sergeants was to come the next morning to dust and clean the
little house from top to bottom, so there was really nothing to worry
about, as everything would be in order long before time for the stage
to arrive that would bring Mrs. Rae.
But after the chill came a fever, and with the fever came dreams, most
disturbing dreams, in which were sounds of crunching gravel, then
far-away voices - voices that I seemed to have heard in another world.
A door was opened, and then - oh! how can I ever tell you - in the hall
came Faye's mother! By that time dreams had ceased, and it was cruel
reality that had to be faced, and even now I wonder how I lived
through the misery of that moment - the longing to throw myself out of
the window, jump in the river, do anything, in fact, but face the
mortification of having her see the awful condition of her son's
house!
Her son's house - that was just it. I did not care at all for myself,
my only thought was for Faye whose mother might find cause to pity him
for the delinquencies of his wife! First impressions are indelible,
and it would be difficult to convince Mrs. Rae ever that the house was
not always dusty and untidy. How could she know that with pride I had
ever seen that our house, however rough it might have been, was clean
and cheerful. And of what use would it be to arrange things
attractively now? She would be justified in supposing that it was only
in its company dress.
I was weak and dizzy from fever and a sick heart, but I managed to get
dressed and go down to do the best I could. West prepared a little
supper, and we made things as comfortable as possible, considering the
state of affairs. Mrs. Rae was most lovely about everything - said she
understood it all. But that could not be, not until she had seen one
of our sand storms, from the dust of which it is impossible to protect
a thing.
