Weekly Trinity journal., 1877-08-18
THE STORY OF ROARING DICK


mother, his Sunday school teacher, and
other persons ofequal familiarity with the
habits and customs of hullirs. A. the
small boy grows mp he never has doubt
bullying manner is coward All ltcra
turr, whether of the Juvenile or the adult
variety, agrees upon this point. The
sunday school story and the dime novel
tcem with large and cowa, dly boys, whn
are put Ia flight by courageous little fell
lows half their size, who simply threaten
them with determined look. No less mn
authority than DR.. II dmud himS shows
how one brave young man with holy mo
tiveS i always more than n match for at
least three bullying. and conscqueutlv
cowadly, ruilirns. The following little
narrative concerning large Calitornian
bully and n conSumptive Theological stu
deLt need therefore surprise me- one who
has thoroughly learned the great lesson
that nature, in order to preserve the bal
ance of thing, serves out full rations of
courage to small men, and gives mrgr
men only n very small proportion Of that
precious commodity.
Roaring Dick had been the despot of
Blue Dog from the day when he fist en-.
tered the pro.prrous mining town. He
WIS more than six feet high and weighed
fully two hundred pounds. Apparently
he consisted exclusively OF bones, muscle,
and an inferior tank ct huge dimensions
lo2 the storage of whisky. Dressed IL the
/ picturesque costume nl the miner, which
consist, mainly of red hint and boots, and
wra;ing II long gIizajcd h,nld, he nntu-
ally awakened universal ndmiratinn aud
wheo to this groundwork ot dress he add
cl bell continuing two revolver: and IL
large bowie knit, admiration was ccips
ed by awe When he strobe into the
lmpcrinl saloon aud struck his i-t on the
counter, the bar keeper sud lrnly hnul, Il
him the whisky bottle and never dlcHm,d d
of hiuling at pay Refreshed With fun
umhicr, Roaring Dick would lazily lean
against the counter and survey the in
mates of the saloon. Occasiounily he
would n-k in deep rich voice. "ls there
but not n soul would answer the polite
invitation. With one exception the " hole
town OF Blue Dog was cowcd toy the mans
terrible reputation. 1t was said TINT he
bad killed thirty seven different men, and
TINT he carried in one OF his pocket.
thirty seven front teeth, it being hi
chalmirg custom 10 always knock out Il
front tooth OF every ncW corpse OF his
own killing. On ut least one orca.ion hc
had ordered every nan IN Blue Dog to
remain within doors duIiugA CeljHih day,
under pam OF death, and when the ap
pointed day arrived he pnrolcd the
streets with his repeating rife without
Ending Il hend visible at window. The
one " ho was not cnnfe,sedi y afraid ul
Roaring Dick was Pinchurst the ganh
lrr. This mans pale face never bHuch
ed ut the sight of the terrible bully, nor
did the deep color of his Romun nose ever
fade in the face Of any peril. Puchur>t
was extremely gentlrnanly and protnuc,
and was known Ia be dead shot with n
revolver, although he rarely hnd occn,iur
to display his skill. Whenever Roaring
Dick accidentally came into Pincburst's
presence the latter would steaithily glide
away, lest he be tempted to engage in ~
,hooting mitch. Thus the bully and the
gnmbler never came in conflict, and the
former wns careful never TO enter the
latterS elegant bank ing house.
One day there came to Blue Dog thin
delicate young man. dressed in black
clothing, carrying II vali~c full of tncts.
He could not have been more than %
wears old, and lac was evidently 20 far nd
vauced in consumption that his presump
tiun in coming to die in California was ut
first resented ns II delibernle insult to the
unequal ed cimtte OF that gorinus
) ate. Nevertheless, he soon gained first
the pity, then the regard of :he rough
miners Of Blue Dog. He would enter
their cabins md beg them to accept Il irw
crowded saloons and press trncts upon
every drunken or sober man present. He
even visited Pmehurst's bank, and inter
rupted the proprietor while dealing by
pacinga n tract entitled "Bcwsre ofcaId- ;"
upon the "iay out" No one was angry.
The patrons Of the bank merely laughed,
and Plnehurst, renarking. "Yon will
fud II lqunre nenl in the next room, Mr..
Simpkin.." proceeded to turn up win
ming enrd, aud swept in all the checks on
the table.
Mr.. Simpkins had been in Blue Dog
for II whole week, and had distributed
tracts to that extent that the whole hand
scape bosspmrd with them, before for.
tune brought him lace to face with Rpnr-
ing Dick On the evening Of the eighth
day nitrr his arrival he entered the I'm
prrial saloon, at about 8 ocluck and u
his surprise found the place profoundly j.
lent. Rualing Dick was lrnuipg ia his
ihvoritc attitude against the counter, and
bad Just announced his readiness to cut
any mnn intn fine slices who felt de-irous
to undergo tlat pleasing process. Mr..
Simpkins had hardly entered the saloon
when the bully remarked, in pathetic
voice, that he really must kill soncbudy.
IL haven't killed "A man in ten days, bar.
"and ! can't sleep peaceful without blood.
| amt particular who it Is; I'd just rs
soon lay out one of these yere coyotes as
another but l put it TO you as white
.,.nL 49,, L.. ,..h.lLnn .l.... ..