Van Wert Weekly Bulletin in Van Wert, Ohio

Nighttime Visitor and a Circus Driver’s Tale

A moody, rain dampened night brings a lone traveler to a California ranch. The wagon teamster from Maine shares a long tale of desert journeys with a friend by the fire, recounting life with a circus, treacherous routes, and a comrade named Canvas who dies at a spring ambush, to be avenged. The piece folds into a sermon on employers and workers, then public notices about divorcé rules and local commerce, ending with notes on hides shipped to Chicago and a Connecticut discovery.