empire took its course."

We camped out on the prairie within a short distance and in full
sight of the town. I made the acquaintance of a merchant, Mr. Samuel
Dreifuss, who kept a little store of general merchandise. This
gentleman liked to converse with me in the German tongue and was very
kind to me, even offering to employ me at a liberal salary, which I,
of course, thankfully declined. One morning after breakfast I went to
this store to purchase an article of apparel. The door was unlocked
and I entered, but found no one present. I waited a while, and as Mr.
Dreifuss did not appear, I knocked at the bedroom door, which was
connected with the store. Receiving no response to my knocks, I
opened the door and entered. There was poor Mr. Dreifuss lying stone
dead on his couch. I knew that he was dead, for his hands were cold
and clammy to the touch. I was struck with astonishment. The day
before had I spoken to him, when he appeared to be hale and hearty.
There were some ugly, black spots on his face, and I thought that it
was very queer. I did not see any marks of violence on his person and
nothing unusual about the premises. I looked around carefully, as a
boy is apt to do when something puzzles him. Then I thought I would
go up-town and tell about this strange circumstance.

The store was the first building met with in the town if a person
came from the railway station. As I went toward the next house, which
was a short distance away, I was hailed by a tall, broad-shouldered
man with long hair, who commanded me to halt. I kept right on,
however, meaning to tell him about my gruesome discovery. As I
advanced toward him he retreated, and I called to him to have no
fear, as I did not intend to shoot. The big man shook with laughter
and cried, "Hold, boy, stop there a minute until I tell you