Met A Bad Man In Texas

"Only on one occasion in my life have I feit the neer! of a weapou, " said au officer of the United Statt'3 army. "I havo never oarried a gnu, bnt it has BometiniüS ooourred to me that do man ought ever to be ■without ono. One cannot be sure but that sonie time the weapon would save one's life. For instauce, I wiü recito to-you a littlo experieuce of my own. It was iu a wild mouiitain región oí' Texas. 1 wasriding along a loneiy path, mounted on a governiuent mulo. Not a thing did 1 have on my perBon whjob conld havo been regardcd by the mout impoverished citizen as of vaina Whiatling as I went, I approachert a large rock, about which the path ran to avoid a sharp ascent. Ju.st as 1 reached it a fierce lookiug man rose ont of the bushes and cried 'Halt!' "What coulc! 1 do? Perhaps you will say that 1 onght to have eiiarged npon bim with my froveruiaent mule, overpowered hun, taken away bis arma and demanded why he should thus obstruct what was the best substituto available for a public bighway. I did nothing ot tbe kind. The only reason I can allego is that 1 vas afraid. Such a method of dealing with highwaymeu does well enough in story books, but in real life it is dangerous. Accordingly I obeyed the suggestion of the bold bandit and halted. For a moment niy heart jumped into my throat as I saw him tbrusfc a band into his hip pocket He drew from it something and poiutod it at me point blank. I perceived that tbe something wasnot apistol; itwasa bottle - a large black bottle. Said the highwayman, 'Drink!' "I held out my hand and grasped the bottle with nore than ordinary eagerncss. I drank. It was the -worst whisky I ever tasted.and that is saying a good deal, for I had lived in thewilds of the west for a number of years. But to me it was a grateful draft. 1 handed the bottle back to the bighwaynian, and as he went his way with a beuevolent smile upou his countenanco I resumed.with a thankful heart, my journey upon my governruent mulé. I had meaut to offer him that raule, but would hardly have had the nerve perhaps, lor he might have regarded the proffer of such an obviouslv valueless gift as an insult. "-