The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, February 11, 1906, Page 8

THE . SAN FRANCISCO SUNDAY CALL. - Pt » nme T L LY right by the S. 8. McClure Co. abits the territory of Utah— understand a_power of things may seem a litfie misty to you at However, 1 can’t do that, nor n't, neither, if I was t> be made | superintendent of the whole - ow for my pams. I'll leave the ag- S gregated Mrs. Scraggs in the hands of ence, as bein’ the only power le of handling her. Yet I dont = I don't belleve Provider after, nor heretofore, nor mo >w; 1 don’t believe in no East nor nor up nor down, nor sideways, nter, top, bot- lost my faith ing a man can ludin’ everything Joe Bush.” He »uble,’ says he. nobudy’d mention n’ again.’ mmed fast, all fit could push world-without-end But Scraggs was & 't crowd us because now that he'd had up considerable, now and then he'd even 1 have utted t e every ne by the alma- where from three to ninety gure a man. Aleck he stood, But if you his curves he was high and wide, grour nter ¢ apple that ted of freck- im sudden he then he looked for all the rmy sunset. His eyes > was his hair, and white a kid , beyond guess- —not relatin’ to How he co to as a story appointed in One look at him So he sailed out re he s about d nighty. We al- Aleck a old got so make e. ien, findin® crowd and ow his trouble, he He'd never spoke oren to say, blush, and ious moves but there and Alex- poor old nakeg ‘en skeeries to ou f. He 2d to by 1 know w West, lasat »od between til th boy could ga Alas! says Ih want to " cries Scraggs, let- out « his mouth. d taps his brow g h his fi c a pitying eye Aleck. time on Aleck got worse had a case of ingrow- cut his weight down to With him leaving him- you could ts pen- gure to ths minute Fulton was booked to cross the big divide. And we liked tha kid. In spite of his magniicen: feet and his ymeliness and his thumb- 1 got to-feel sort of as if if ever I have k I put in my vote for being a failure and every- marriage thing lost, honor and all. Probably it was more if e was a puppy-dog, or some other little critter that couldn’t take care of itself. Anynow, we got worked up about the matter, and talk- ed it over considerable when he was of hearing. It come to this—there was no earth- ly use in trying to get Aleck to go back and make a play at the girl. He'd ha’ fell dead at the thought of it. That left nothing but to bring the girl to Aleck. You see, we thought if we told the young®Woman that here was a de- cent, honest man—hurrying over the rest of the description—just evaporat- ing for love of her, that she might be o i cliores on a farm. he result of m keep track of 'em) persuaded to come out and marry him. ges, and Bridget We weren't going to let our pardner e Scraggs, and Fa slip away ,without an effort, anyhow. ¥ and We couldn’t do less than try. Then and so come the problem of who was the me, it would proper party to act as messenger. The without bothering him by ing him into our confidence, decided 1t Scraggs was the proper man, be- dldn't know woman and of us, rest jo t cause if he rough me! ambi- her ways, the subject belonged to the dly toils. lost arts. sed si- “But, man! DIdn't he rar when we cake of him! wind “‘Me go after a woman! says he. the "Me!! Take another drink.’ But we la- mile up the t.ack bored with him. Told him what a hor- s back, sweatin’ rible time he'd had—he always liked to like water r about it—and there wasn't any- else fit to handle his discard in ng to tie to but the little game of matrimony—and the name of what was the use of sending a man »= T cut by tray- that would break at the first wire aylights. Wisht I fence? If he was going to do the you to Mrs. Scruggs as thing, we wanted to do it, and so forth and so forth, till we had him saddled and bridled and standing in the cor- ner of the corral as peaceful as a sol- dier’s monument, for he was the best- hearted old cuss that ever lived. “‘All right,’’says he. ‘T’ll do it, and it's “Get there, EIil” when I‘hook dirt. Poor old Aletk is as good as married, and the Lord have mercy on 'his soul! But there's one thing I wish to state: I'm running the job, and I run it my own way. I don’t want any interfering nor no talk afterward—'s that under- stood? i ‘It was. He was to cut loose. “‘All right” says he. ‘Poor Aleck! So that pight E. G. W. Scraggs took his cayuse and made for the railroad fon, bound East. Aleck had given us full detalls. We knew all about his little town apd about that house in particular; just how the morning glories g rew over the back porch, looking out on the garden patch, and where the cistern was, which, with his usuai good luck, Aleck had man- aged to fall into while they were put- ting a mew cover om it s “We suffered any quantity from im- patience before B. G. W. showed up. You see, there ain’t such a lot that hap- pens to other ‘people occurrin’ on a ranch, and we was really more excited over Aleck and his girl than a tender- foot would be over a gun fight, and for the same reason—it was out of our or- dinary.- “Scraggsy didn't keep us on the anxious seat. He was the surest thing I ever saw. Often I've watched him rope a critter; he never whirled his Tope, even when riding—always snap- ped. And he never made a quick move —that is, a move that looked in & hurry; all the same, every time he let 80 of the rope there was his meat on the other end of it. ~Women was the only thing that did B. G. W. Scragss, N siman? o COMLE ALV5 FERE AT i and that's because he wholesaled the business. 'That ambition of his wreck- ed him. When he trotted around the track for fun nobody else in the heat could see him for the dust. ‘One evening about 8:30, when the glow was still strong, here come Scraggs, prompt to the schedule. He ;vln riding and a buggy trailed behind m. “We chased Aleck over to the main house, where the old man, who stood in on the play, was to keep him busy uptil called for. “Then up pulls E. G. W. snd the buggy. In the buggy was a young ‘woman and a man. “‘Here we are,’ says Screggs, in the tone of one whe has done his painful duty. ‘Check the outfit—one girl and ~ LZEATEL FEORGE | pnsgren SCRIFFS. holt of one splicer—have you kept Aleck? 2 “‘Yes,' 1 says. ‘We've got him—come in folks. I was crazy to hear how he'd pulled it off. Soon's they got inside I lugged him to the corner, leaving the other boys to welcome the guests. ‘Tell me about it I says. “‘Short story, says he. “Moment 1 got off the choo-choo I spotted the house—couldn’t mistake it. Laid low in the dayvtime and scouted around as soon as night come. Girl goes down to the barn and comes back with a pail of milk. I grabbed her and put my Hand over her mouth so's she couldn’t, holler. “Now, listen,” I says to her. “There's a friend of mine wants to marry you. When I let you go you'll skip into the house and pick up what clothés is handy, and you'll vamoose this ranch at quarter of eleven, sharp, 80 we can make the next train west. If you ain't there, or If you say a single word to a human being—you see this?" and I stuck the end of my hoss pistol under her nose. “Well, T'll blow the head clean off your shoulders with it.” Then I laid back my ears and rolled my eyes around Well, sir, she was scart so's she didn’t know anythin’ but wist T ssifh. I hated to trest a Indy lika that, but if U've learned anyuung cencernmg Bandln’ the sect, it's thus— you got to be orm. Thera's whare i made my mistake formerly. Lhen I lat &0 of her und went back Lo e deppo. What she thought L couldn’t evea guess, but I knew I was gow' te have company, and, Surs enouga, ‘Bout tares minutes before train time Rere comes our friend. When 1 got her safe aboard I told her she needn’'t be scart. Lots worse things could bappen to her than marryin’ Alecik, and sae says, ‘Yessir, and she kept on sayln Yessir' to all I told her. Wisht I could bave found one like that, instead of eighty of ‘em that stoed ready to jump down my throat the minute I opened my mouth. £he told me she'd had a middlin’ hard time of it and didn't mind a change. Then I telegraphed Con Foster to have me & buggy and a minister ready for the § o'clock train, and to keep his yawp calked up. Eo as soon as I hit land again, there was the rig complete; ws hopped In and started a-coming at once and fast, and here we are; for which I raise thanks, and all the curses of the Mormaon gods be on the head of th man that gets me into such a play u‘ this again! Snake old Aleck out and get the misery don> with. That min- ister's chargin’ me 50 cents an hour, and I don't know whether he's the real thing or not at that. Con whispered in my ear that he worked In a g when he first struck town, deal poker for Johnny E: took to school teac up and preached. But v ference out here? He's @xpensive, any- how, and all Con could find. “So I wagged my legs for the house and trotted Aleck down to the bull-pen. “ ‘Friend of your's t I told him. ““That so? says he. ‘Who Is 1t? “Lady,’ I says, kind of gay, thinkin’ he'd be pleased. “He stopped In his membered who I “‘Come along, b nalled him by the © Then I re- to. A ys I, and k. “You ain’t go- ks was n' to miss your happiness If main strength can give it to you. KHis toes touched about once to the rod. I run him into the pen ““There, says I ‘ls somebody you know." “Well, sir, old Aleck looked at the gal, and the gal looked at Aleck, and the rest of us looked at each other. s breath from the Soon’s the k got s, ‘I never lald eyes on shock, he ye that la b “Oh, H Maria' That was the awfulest minute I ever lived rough. Poor old B. G. W. S We all turned away from of pity. He had the expressic mar. that's fell down a hu pect hole ap ‘ been s B tauched the m ered unable to ¢ “At last he ral me, Aleck.’ he sa strong enough to & tache, ‘tt T've “Aleck was alw he was wrong. T ain’t mever seen No, sir—not swers the girl, with her eyes on ground. » G. W. rubbed his brow. ““Will you make g00 Aleck? he coaxed. I & and all right here—it won minute.’ “T'd let go of the excite- ment. At thes made one step fro w n the house, through the window, to ten foot out of doors, and a few re steps like that and he was out of the question. “Then the girl put her face in her hands and begun to cry. She was a mighty pretty innocent, plump little thing, and we’'d rather have had most anything than that she should stand there cryin’. “Then, sir, up gets Ezekisl George Washington Scraggs, master of himseif and the situation “‘Young lady,’ says he, T have got you out here under false pretenses. I'm as homely as a hedge fence, and my record is dotted with marriages worse than a 'Pache outbreak with corpses and burning homes. I aln’t adyj kind of proposition to tie up to a nice girl like you, and I swear by my honor that nothing was further from my thoughts than matrimony-—not meanin’ any slur on you, for If I'd found you before 1 might have been a happy man. “The girl reached out her left hand— 80 help me Moses! She llked him! I took a careful squint at old Scraggsy in this new light, and I want to tell you that there was something kind of fine In that long, lean face of his, and ‘when he took the girl’s hand he looked like a gentleman, “You wouldn't think that holding a gun to her head and threatenin’ to blow her brains out was just the touch that would set a maiden's heart tremblin’ for a man, but If a woman takes a fancy to you, your habits and customs, manners and morals, disposition, per- sonal appearance, financial standin’ and way of doing things generally is only a little matter of detail. “‘How will this figger out legally? E. G. W. asked the minister. “The minister, he was a cheerful, practical sort of lad., ready to Indorse anything that would smooth ,the rug- ged road of life. “Do you renounce the Mormon reli- glon?” he asks. “‘Bet your life,’ says Scraggs. ‘And all its works. “‘That settles It says the minister. ‘Besides, I don’t think anybody will ever come poking out here to make *trouble—whenever you say the word. “‘One minute,” says Scraggs, and he turned to the girl very gentle. ‘Are you doing this of your own free will, and not because I lugged you out here? “‘Yessir,’ says she. “‘You want me, just as I stand? “ *Yessir." “‘Keno! I won't forget it Then he put his hand on her head, took off his hat. and raised his face. ‘O God, h ‘you know what a prays, miseral time I've had In this line before. I ad- mit it was nine-tenths my fault. but now I call for an honest deck and the hands played above the table. And make me act decent for the sake of this nice little girl. Amen.' Then he pulled a $20 Fold plece out of hls pocket and plunked her down bdefore the min- ister. ‘Shoot,” says ne. “Tou're faded.” “Well, there old Scraggs—I say ‘old, but the man waren't more than 40— celebrated his eighty-first marriage in that old bullpen., and they lived as happy ever after as any story book. Which knocks general principles. “Whenever I think of that couple, they always seem to be singing, out of pure lightheartedness. And now, what do you think of Aleck? The scare we threw him into that nigit wound up his moanin’ and grievin' about the other girl. He never cheeped once after that. but got fat and hearty, ap when I Ift the ranch he was malkhy up to a widow with four children, as bold as brass. There was more poetry in E. G. W. than there was In Aleck after alk