Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1874-11-12
Helena, Montana, Thursday, November II, 1874

the honor thus unanimously conferred by his
! fellow citizens, by directing, with unerrins
aim, squirt of tobacco juice at distant
knot hole. and then made answer as fol-
lows:
Cause he's Sa.lus cove. He stoled the
girl what the other fcllcr wanted, an he's
, ailus sncakin round sly in the dark a-s;bbin'
an stabbin' felicrs in the back, an S up to all
SOFT Q teviltries, an never gets cotchcd. He's
a ram TN:
'Thats So chimcl the boys in chorus
''Nc re a--oin' to -it up a game ont O that
story. continued Tom, evidently please
with The addition to his audience Of such
q respectable member. lin a-yone to be
the Rugged Ruff n, an the rest of the fcllcls
air gone to be the pcrlicc, an hunt me an
hang ne me f they kin cotcl me: but they
can't. And Tom gazcd about upon his tel
lows with ali expression Of inctfable superb
Ority.
''You bet well cotrh i'm" they replied
with animation.
That right, boys, said Scribbleton. liam
glad 10 see such an impression made upon you
by the incidents of that story. Loye virtue,
boys, and nate vice. Hunt and hang the VIII
lain in play now, while you are boys; and one
of these days when you are men discounte-
nance the vile and preserve all unspottcd
character amid all temptation. But what
would you say to learn that I wrote The
Red Hand of the Ragged Ruf,ian:"
During the first part Of this harranyuc the
boys had yazcd at Scribblcton in silent won
der: hut when he laid claim to the authorship
of the story, the windows of their sco:n were.
broken up and poured their floods upon him.
''You. you writ that story
You look like ii now, don't yc:
''IIc thinks he kin cllaff US.
''IIe takes us for flats.
IL wonder f he sees anything -lccn rou.id
hcrc:'
"lEe can, play his cl;n-music on Us
NO, si;-ec" ''IIc's purity Bird" '.Don't
hc think he's smart" and amid chorus or
such yclls the boys, either to rcpcl ali expect
cd attack from the object Of their gibcs, or
still further 10 show their contempt for Il base
pretcnder hy stoning him, began to scatter
and fill their hands with b;ick-bats.
! Scrbhltton thought it best to retreat, and
forthwith did 50: but despite this rude treat
mcnt ii was with q smile on his fAce anl ::
rush Of i,lcasan: emotions.
"Thcre,' thought lie, ''is the beginning OF
a harvest Of good fruit from the seed have
sown. See the developing scorn oi he
wrong-doer cvinced in their proposed play Of
hunting down and melting out justice to the
simulated Ragged Ruihan: Witness their
indignant outburst when they think t'l"y de
tcct an attempted deception. This is the
! legitimate result Of my teachings. Those
! bows are not Of 4 class ovnIbuvt,cncci With
moral instruction. anA it is evident that MY
! story has touched tcir hearts, and awakened
/ in their hitherto s;n-dominatel breasts an
! impulse to better things The hatred Of
wlon~-doinr. the scorn Of base rrctensions
that have been The happy medium of plant
in. there. are two qualities alone sufficient, if
universal. to redeem the world from the
bondage of evil. The former would SIP
press vice, the latter would cOntinc every in
diyidual to his proper place in society; and
what else is there necdfu that would not fol-
! low?
Scribbleton got the hack, and was driven
into the country Arrived at the inn, he
took a row on the pond, ate luncheon, and
then strolled through the shaded paths into
4 a., u, arc
distinguished alike for love of nature, and
i: was this characteristic of Scribbleton that
led him on this occasion to seek the country.
When in the city, he was one Of the most
frequent and regular visitors at its beautiful
park, but though the grass, and trees, and
birds. and flowers of the country were there,
there was lacking the deep forest shadows,
the. inccssant hum of countless insects, the
complete seclusion that he found in the woods
of the country, and hence he sought the lat
ter at every convenient opportunity. Hehad
got fairly into the dense woodland, through
which it was difficult to penetrate, except by
the maze-like, winding paths, SO arranged as
to bring the stroller into unexpected places,
and develop constantly some pleasant sylvan
surprise, when he heard the ripple OF water
further on, and bent his steps in that direc-
tion. AS he advanced, the murmur OF voices
caught his ear. pleasant female voices at tEat;
and hearing his nem-de-p1xme mentioned, he
determined to see what it meant. BY parting
the bushes carefully, he was enabled to see,
without disclosing himself, an elderly lady