The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 12, 1905, Page 6

THE SAN FRANCISCO SUNDAY CALL. ght, but the prairie. I looked stupid v sleep. The famil- iar sights m ye—Oscar tiptoeing about w-legged ead like ings, drawin rough his h, after of half-frozen ople. ©id at humped up the corner, s cob pipe. The A & smell of hot , a8 usual. On it n, wherein some snow ng for the morning ablutions. ected & sort of palpable into the gr: mass of icy As I slept in over- was no great matter. A palr of German socks and arctics completed my attire. Evidently I had »on the floor by the hand of For this, when Oscar stretched garment tight, in the act ing his face, I smote him upon ss thereof with a long plug of chewing tobaeco. “Aow!" he yelled, recurving like a bow and putting his hands to his wound. Promptly we clinched and fell upen old Charley, To the floor the three went, amid a shower of eparks from the cob pipe. “You dam pesky kids!” said the &ngry voice of Charles (the timbre of that voice, after traveling through four inches of nose, is beyond imitation). “Get off'n me! Quit now! Stop yer blame foolin"!™ Oscar and I swaliowed our giggles &nd rolled all over Charley. “Well, by Jeeroosha!"” came from the bottom of the heap in the tons of one who has reached the breaking point of estonished fury. “I'm goin’ to do some shootin’ when this is over—yes, sir, I won't hold back no more—ef you boys don’t git off'n me this minit, so help me Bob! I'll bite yer!” This was & real danger, and we ekipped him off briskly. been put up Oscar “Why, Charley,” explained Oscar, “you see, we got so excited that we didn’t notice—" “There’s Steve mow,” Interrupted Charley, pointing with a long, crooked forefinger to the doorway, “Well, Steve, I'm giad you come. I just want you to see the kind of goin's on there ig here.” Charles cleared his throat and stuck his thumb in his vest. “F'r instance, this mornin’, I sittin® right ¢here in that corner, not troublin’ nobody, when up gets that splay-foot- ed, sprawlin’, lumberin’ bull-calf of an Oscar, an’ that mischievous, sawed-off little monkey of a Harry, and they goes to pullin’ and tusslin’, and they jes’ walks up and down on me, same'’s if I was a flight of steps. > “Now, you know, Steve, I'm a man of sagassity an’ experiunce, an’ I ain't goin' to stand fur no such dog rassiin’. I felt like doin® them boys ser'us dam- age, but they're young, and life spreads green and promisin’ befo’ ‘em, Uke a banana tree; consequently I prefer jus’ to tell you my time is handed in.” Charley was proudly erect. His arms stretched aloft. His on® yellow tooth rested on his lower lip; his face, the thickness end texture of a much-worn Isather pocketbook, showed & tinge of Al lor. color like as the words went to his head wine, ve looked at the floor. “Too bad, ; too bad,” he said in grave “But probably we can fix it Now, as we have company, would mind hitting the breakfast trail?'’ After I've made a few remarks,” re- turned Charley haughtily. Steve dropped on a stool. “Sick your pup c¢n,” he said. Charley leaped at the opportunity. “There are some things I sh’d like to mention,” said he. We noted with pleasure that he wore his sarcastic manner. “F'r instance, you doubtless behold them small piles of snow on the floo’, which has come in through cer- tain an’ sundry holes in the wall that orter been chinked last fall. Is it my place to chink them holes? The oldes’ an' most experiunced man in the hull cathep? I reckon otherwise. Then why didn't they get chinked? “Why is it that the snows and winds of an outraged and jus'ly indignant Providence is allowed to introdoose theirselves into this company unre- buked? I have heard a great deal, su’, about the deadenin’ effeck produced upon man's vigger by a steady, rella- ble, so’thern climate. As a citizen of the State of Texas fo' twenty years I repel the expersion with scorn and hoo- miliation. Neverthe-less and no-with- standing, 'lowin’ that to be the truth, did you ever encounter anything in this here country to produce such an ef- feck? “For Gawd's sake, su’, If there's any- thing {n variety, a man livin’ here orter lay bolt of the grass roots, fur fear he'd git so durn strong he couldn't stay on the face of the yearth. Ef it ain’t so sinful cold that yer ears’ll drap off at a touch, it's so hell-fire hot that a man's features melt all over his face; and ef it ain’t so solemn still that you're scart to death, the wind'll blow the button- holes outer yer clo’s’. I have seen it do a hull yearful of stunts in twenty-four hours, encludin’ hot an’ cold weather, thunderstorms, drought, high water 2nd a blizzard. That settles the cli- mate question. “Then what is it that has let them holes go unchinked? I'll tell you, su’; it’s nothin’ more nor less than the tink- erin’, triflin’, pettifoggin’ dispersition of them two boys. That's what makes it that there's mo’ outdoors imside this bull-pen than there is on the, top of Chunkey Smith’s butte; that's what makes it I can’t get up in the mornin' without having myself turned inter a three-ringed cireus. But I ain’t the man to complain. Ef there’s anything that gums up the cards of life, it's a kicker; 0 jes’ as one m:n to another, I tells you what’s wrong here and leaves you to figger it out fer yesself.” He glanced around on three grave faces with obvious satisfaction. His wrath had dissipated in the vapor of words. “Nor they ain’t such bad boys, &s boys, nuther,” he concluded. “I wil! exaniine this matter carefully, Charles,” sald Steve, “I thank you, su’,” responded Charley with a courtly sweep of his hand. “Not at all,” insisted Steve with & duplicate wave, “I beg that you won't mention it. And now, If you would travel toward the house—"" interests to their proper place. | ground things ual, charge often we are esse: a ,event money-worshiping people. s::hd-'u the. fas fermmrosesns: “Certainly!™ And out we went into North Dakota's congealed envelope, with the smoke from the main house chimney rising 300 feet ‘nto the vir a snew-white column, straight as « mast; Charley stalking majestically ahead, while we three floundered weakly behind him. “Ain’t he the corker?” gasped Oscar. “When he gets to jumping sideways among those four-legged words he sep- arates me from my good intentions.” “'With scorn and hoomiliation,' " quoted Steve, and stopped, overcome. “‘T tells you what's the matter and leaves you to figger it out for your- self,’” 1 added. Then Charley heard us. He turned and approached, an awful frown upon his brow. “May I inquire what is the reason of this yere merriment?" he ask:1 The manner was that of a man who pro- posed to find out. It sat on Charley with so ludicrous a parody that we were further undone. Steve raised his hands in deprecation, and spoke in a muffied voice that broke at intervals. “Can’t I laugh In my own back yard, Charley?” he sald. “By the Lord Har- ry, I will laugh Inside my stakes! No man shall prevent me. The Constitu- tion of the United States, the Declara- tion of Independence and the Conti- nental Congress give me the right. Now what have you got to say?” “I dunno but what you have me whipsawed there, 8teve,” replied Char- ley, scratching his head. “Ef it's your right by the Constitution, o' course I ain’t goin’ to object.” “Do either of you object?” demanded Steve of Oscar and me In his deepest HAT e deluge of talk about money métter has been poured out over this land during the last few weeks! The subject is congenial to the American mind and'is never very far below the mental horizon of almost every one of us. But recent events have conspired to give it unwonted pronmiinence. The startling dieclosure of sensational magazine articles and the spectacular career of @ brazen adventuress have been the theme of discussion in éircles high and low, rich and poor, learned and un- learned. Dining with a group of min- isters the other day I found that theo- logical and ecclesiastical topics were crowded to the rear by the ali-absorb- ing subject of finance. In fact, th atmosphere is surcharged with it an a good thunderstorm is needed to clear the air and to restore moral ideas and This popular absorption in .dilclll- sicns that range about money not only ints but it helps substantiate the mqi: by foreigners that & nation of traders, money-loving and The er, of recent 3 show s the chase for ::s‘flt.fiv. how it saps the virtm-.a_‘l,nen vengeful, lmc‘u to turn: State's evidence against one another, motes a warfare of words, incites play- ing for high stakes and running un- exampled risks until sooner or later ccmes the collapse, the public odlum and rage, the personal downfall and the sense of shame and which must go with it, no matter how brazen the attempt to hide them from view. 4 ever mgbeemm terial comforts. He. ual r bass. No, we didn't ohject; we fell down in the snow and crowed like chanticleer. “Hunh!" snorted Charley. Them boys hain't got brains in their heed- at ali—nothin' but doodle-bugs!"” “Hunh! ‘Well, Charley,” continued Steve, “‘as you don’t object and they don’t object and I don't object, for God’'s sake let's have breakfast!” “I'Il go you, Steve,” replied Charles seriously and we entered the house up- roarious. There in the kitchen was Mrs. Stewe and the “company,’” a pretty lttle bright-eyed thing, whose color went and came at a word—more particularly if Oscar said the word. The affair was at present in the formal state—the dawn of realization that two such won- derful and magnificent creatures as Oscar and Sally existed. But they were not Oscar and Sally except in the dear privacy of their souls. Yet how much that {s not ob- vious to the careless ear can be put into “Will you have a buckwheat cake, Mr. Kendall?” or “May I give you a helping of the syrup, Miss Brown?" It took some preparation for each to get pro- degradation There is profound suggestiveness in a recent remark of President Tucker of Dartmouth College: come when a man of many desires “The time is Ourselves country 2 ge lent restraint in “this directio: at are hundreds of par- Aftonidi beyond their lneo’l:e. ving. just t have not trained ves. to do mm certain ma- be conten out so simple a remark and invariably <he 6ne addressed started guiltily and ot crimson. It was the most uncom- fortable rapture I ever saw. However, they received very little fl:fln‘- 1 can remember but one hit. Oscar was pouring syrup upon Sally’s eakes, hls eves fixed upon ‘a dainty hand that shook under his gaze like a leaf. He forgot his busi- ness. Steve looked ~ at the inverted, empty syrup cup for some moments in sllence. Then he sald to his wife: “Emmy, go and get Sally a nice cup- ful of fresh afr to put on her cakes; that Oscar has in the pitcher is stale by this time." Oh, those cakes! And the ham! And the fried esgs and potatoes! We lived like fighting cocks at Steve's, as happens on most of the small ranches. The extreme glory of the prairie was not ours. We were wood choppers, hay cutters, and farmers, as well as punch- ers; but what we lost in romance, we made up in sustenance. No one ever saw a biscuit suffering from soda- jaundice on Steve’s table. And how, after a night's sleep In a temperature of 40 below zero, I would champ my teeth on the path to breakfast! Eat- ing was not an appetite in those days —it was a passion. Charley and I went forth after breakfast, Oscar lingering a moment, according to his use, to pass a pain- ful five minutes in making excuses for staying that time, where no one need- ed any explanation. “I wish to gracious Sally and Oscar would just act like people,” said Mrs. Bteve once in exasperation. “They get me so nervous stammering at i THERE ¥E STOCT WITH WS PALTR W_fiAPON.’RMfiE‘J each other that I drop everything I lay my hands on, and I feel as if I'd rob- bed somebody for the rest of the day.” The interview over, Oscar came out, burning with his own embarrassment, and made a sore mess of everything he did for the next hour. A man must have his mind about him on a ranch. Once upon a time Steve came to Charley and me, literally prancing. We had heard oaths and yells and sounds of a battle royal previously, and wondered what was going on. ‘When he neared us he moved slowly, his hands working like machinery. “I would like to know,” he began, and stopped to glare at us and grind his teeth, “I should like to know,” he continued, in a voice so weak with rage we could hardly hear it, “who turned the red bull into number 8 corral?” Charley and I went right on clean- ing out the shed. We weren't going to tell on Oscar. “So it's him again, eh? shrieked Steve. “Well, now I propose to show him something. I'Nl show him every- thing!” He was entirely beyond the influence of reason and grammar. where there is not much prospect of any large increase of income. en that fact is realized the wise man will begin to chasten his desires and seek his satisfactions in things which no money can buy. Perhaps, too, by and gain the whole world and lose that which is best in them-——their apprecia- tlon of art, music and literature, their respo ness” to friendship, their power of helping others through kind- ly service. The New Testament does not give much encouragement to people who upon money as the chief desider- atum. It is constantly pointing out the r of letting the money-get- tl:: ins! nctuom every mbmo'n. and constantly warns against trust in accumuiated riches. It points out the that environ the rich man and emphasis is altogether upon riches of the soul which come through the avenues of thought, feeling, love Tvice. ~ e v v e, = o1 1 ey. Exgetly how sordid and 1 are we, every one of us? To what extent do we cling to gg‘ reynna’trf Vei:hertl‘:]mu% s i&”“é& that we will in the com! month e the passion n:«’l the race for money to our better selves e that whether or not 1 that we dvised notion to Charley had an 1l- lay the paternal. p"glow, I'd cool down if I was you, " admonished. St‘e';%u :'eould. would you!” foamed Stave. “Well, who the devil cares what youwd do, anyhow? And if you tell n?e to cool down just once more I'll dri\e you into the ground like a tent-pin. I jumped through the window, and then laughed, while Charley adminis- teréd his reproof with appropriate ges- tures. His long arms flew in the air as he delivered the inspired address, Steve looking at him, a bit of shame- facedness and fun showing through his heat. “An’ mo' I tell you, Steven P. Hen- dricks!” rolled out Charley in conclu- sion. “That this citizen of Texas, Jus-ly and rightus'ly called the Lone Star State, has never yet experienced the feeling of bein' daunted by t:use of man, nor hoof of jackass. No, su ! By God, su'!” He held the shovel aloft like a sword. “Let ’em gome as they will, male and female after their kind, from a ninety poun’ Jew peddler to Mangus Colorado, and from a pigeon-toed Dig- ger Injun squaw to a fo'-hundred- weight Dutch lady, I turn my back on none!™ “You win, Charley,” said Steve, and walked off. All Oscar caught out of ft was the request that when he felt like reducing the stock on the ranch he'd take a nile. Poor Oscar! All noble and herole sen- timents struggling within him, with no outlet but a hesitating advancing of the theory that “if we didn't get rain before long the country'd be awtul dry.” Small wonder that he burst out . in the bullpen one night with “I wish the would jump this ranch!” “You do?” said Charley. “Well, durn your hide for that Wwish! What's got Into you to make you wish that?” “Aw!" sald Oscar, twitching around on his stool. “I'm sick and tiredjof not being able to say anything. If the Bloux got up I could do something.” “Oh, that's it retorted Charles. *“Well, Oscar, far's I can see, if it's necessary to have a war party of In- juns whoopin’ an' yellin' an' crow- hoppin' an' makin’ fancywork out of people to give you the proper start afore your gal, it’d be jes’ as well for you to stay single the res’ of your days. The results wouldn't justify the trou- ble.” Afterward Oscar told me in private Ahat Charley was an old stiff, and he ‘@idn’'t believe he’d make a chest at a grasshopper if the latter spuked up any. That wronged old Charley. But Oscar must be excused—he was a sin- gularly unhappy man. To come back to what happened. Os- car that morning had the care of Ger- onimo, a coal-black, man-eating stal- lon, & brute as utterly devold of fear as of docility. A tiger kills to eat, and ocegsionally for the fun of it; that horse killed out of ferocity and hate of every living thing. A fearful beast is a bad horse. One really has more chance against a tiger. Geronimo stood seventeen hands high and weighed over 1600 pounds. When he reared on his hind legs and came for you screaming, his teeth snapping like bear traps, his black mane flying, a man seemed a puny antagonist, in- deed. One blow from those front hoofs and your troubles were over. Once down, he’d trample, bite and kick you untli your own mother would hesitate to claim the pile of rags and jelly he left. He had served two men so al- ready; nothing but his matchless beanty saved his life. Nowhere could one find a better ex- ample of hell-beautiful than when he tore around his corral in a tantrum, as lithe and graceful as a black pan- ther, His mane stood on end; his eyes and nostrils were of a color; the mus- cles looked to be bursting through the silken gloom of his coat. His swift- ness was something Incredible. He caught and most horribly killed Jim Baxter’s hound before the latter could get out of the corral—and a bearhound is & pretty agile animal. We had to tie Jim, or he'd made an end of Geronimo. He left the ranch right after that. The loss of his dog broke him all up. We fed and watered Geronimo with a pitchfork, and in terror theny for his slyness and cunning were on a par with his other pleasant peculiarities. One of the poor devils he killed entered the stable all unsuspecting. Geronimo had broken his chains and stood close against the wall of his stall in the darkness, waiting. The man ecame within reach. Suddenly a black mass of flesh flashed in the air above him, coming down: with all four hoofs—and that's enough of that story. A nice pet was Geronimo. An excel- lent decoration for a gentleman’s sta- ble—stuffed! ‘Well, Oscar turned him out this morning, and then he, Steve and I went for hay. As it was toward the last of winter all the near stacks had been used up, and we had to ul from Kennedy's bottom, eight es away. When we started the air was still and frozen, with a deep, biting cold un- to Dakota; the sort that searches steals all the heat you own. : numb by the time we reached the stack and giad emough to have A4ull gray blink upon the ern sky. line seemed to promise a blizzard. Wa were tying down the last load, when I heard the hum of wind coming, looked up, expecting to see a wall flying snow, and contipued looki seeing nothing of the kind. stood, in the air of an icehouse, a gust of that wind struek me | face. A miracle! In a snap of fingers I was bathed in genlal war All about me rode the seent of sprt and flowers! It was as if the doors a giant conmservatory were thro inook, boys! Chinook!™ I called casting down my fork. They ran fr the lee « throwing their coats o ng it in and ing, for, we were weary of w ter! TFirst it came in puffs, at leng settling down to a steady breeze of the sea. The sun that in the ear morning was no more than a pals effigy poured on us a heart-warm We hustled for home, know that the Chinook would make shor: work of the snow; in fact, we had not covered more than half the distanc before the prairie began to sho brown here and there, where it lay thin between mountain drifts. W sang and howled all the way to the sheds, feeling fine. Here Steve left us to go to the house, while Oscar and I unloaded the sleighs. Suddenly I felt uncomfortable, for no reason in this world. The land about us was rejoicing with booming of that kind, warm wind, yet a sharp uneasiness stopped me and forced me to raise my head. For three-quarters of a circle nothing met my eye but the vanishing snow drifts. I reached the house; nothing wrong there. Steve was walking briskly out toward us, smoking his pipe. Then the corrals— all right, number one, two, three, four —Lord have mercy! “Oscar!” 1 shrieked, and snatched him to his feet. He rose, bewildered and half angry, then looked to where I pointed. Throygh the center of number four corral tripped Sally, dear Nttle timid Sally, glad to be out in this lvely air, her eyes and mind on Oscar doubt- less, and In the same corral, shut off from her sight by a projection of the sheds, stood Geronimo. And he saw her, too, for as she waved a hand to us he bared his great teeth and clash- ed them together. The earth seemed to rock and sink from me. Every soul on the ranch was told to keep away frem the corral with the two buffalo skulls over the gates, 2 warning suffi- clently big and gruesome to stop any one. What fatal lapse of memory had struck the girl? She was beyond help. We were all of two hundred yards away, and Steve still farther: she was not a quarter of that from the brute. If we shouted, if we moved, we might bring her end upon her—and such an end! When I thought of that dainty, pretty little woman beneath those hoefs, I felt a hideous sickness. The man beside me said: “My God! My mistake!™ A corral opened on each side of the Box stall in which Geronimo was con- fined. One of these was usually empty, a reserve. It was into this that Oscar had turned the horse. fire. 1 he Th ;‘&\ other was the corral of the skulls. Geronimo leaped out. The girl halt- ed, stark, open-mouthed, every sign of life stricken from her at a blow. Geronimo sprang high and snapped at nothing, in evil play before the earn- est. It was horrible. We could do neither harm nor good now, so we ran for the spot. It avas down hill from us to them. I doubt that any- thing on two legs ever covered dis- tance as we did, for all the despair. Geronimo reared and stood upon his hind feet, as straight as a man. He advanced, striking, looming above his vietim. “All over,” I thought, and tried to take my eyes away. I could not. At that instant a white-hid¥fed, gaunt, tall igure rushed from the sta- ble door, a shovel in its hand, straight between the girl and her destruction. There he stood, with his paltry weap- on raised, unflinching. An oath came to my lips and a hot spot to my throat at the sight. No eye ever saw a bra- ver thing. At this a dip In the ground and the eight-foot fence of the corral shut out all within. God knows how we got over that fence. I swear I think we leaped it. I have no memory of elimb- ing, but I do recall landing on the other side In a swoop. Geronimo had old Charley in his teeth, shaking him like a rat. “Steve!” I called. “Steve!™ And then Oscar and I charged at the wick- ed brute with our pitchforks. All that followed is a tangle, bad dream of hurry, fear, yells, caths and myself stabbing, stabbing, stabbing with the pitchfork. Then a gun cracked some- where, a black mass toppled toward me that knocked me sprawling, and all was still. I gat for a moment, smiling foolishly and fumbling for my hat. Steve raised me by the arm. He still had his revolver in his hand, and his glance on the dead stalllon. He asked me if I was hurt, and I saiq yes. He asked me where, and I sald that made no difference. Then, as I came to a little more, I sald I guessed T wasn’t hurt and looked around. moved his head from side to side, like a man in agony. Her head was duried in his breast, her hands locked around his neck. It was well with them, evi- dently. But imp upen the ground. his forehead varnished red, lay oid Charley, We turned him over tenderly, wiping the blood away. Steve's lips quivered as he put his hand on the old man’s heart. He kept it there a long time. Then he said huskily, “He's gone!” At the words the sound eye of the victim popped open with a suddenness that made my heart throw a somer- sault. It was as sane, calm and undis- turbed an optic as ever regarded the world. “G-a-w-n h—il* came drawling through the nose of Charley. We laughed and wiped our eyes with our coat sleeves and got the old boy to his feet. o “Same old Texas,” said he, feeling of his head. The hoof had scraped in- Stead of smashing. “Slightly gdisfig- gered, but still in the ring.” He caught sight of the lovers. “Hellca!" he said. “Oscar’s made his ante goed at last—bad hawse works as well as Injuns.” We started to lead him by the pair. “Naw, boys,” he commanded. “Take me 'round t'uther way. That gal don't want tQ see me now, mussed up Jike this.” It was useless to try and make a hero of Charley. J all bloody and LY