Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1879-10-23
Joe. ne MoLf
A TRAGIC EPISODE or THE
SAGE-BRUSH,

Nevada, is not particularly at.
tractiye village. A railroad of.
fee and a freight depot, a row
of business houses and saloons
and a cluster Of unpretentioui
dwellings comprise its extent
At the time of which | write
some five years ago, it was
lively burg, howeYer,and a rougl
one. A small army of teamsterl
and miners, and a coterie of three
card monte men, who made i
their headquarters, kept the 9th
erwise-peaceful village IN a fer
ment of wild excitement. The
course of these reckless denizen:
was marked by periodical shoot
ing-scrapes, frequent fistic en-.
counters, and continuous drunken
bouts. ~~
Half doing one day in a sa-
loon, / was aroused by the re-
mark most emphatically deliver
ed: "It's fourteen inches between
my eyes,and / smell like a wolf r
The speaker, a large, magnifi-
cently-proportioned ruffian, sup
plemented the peculiar descrip-
tion of himself with, "Pards.
come an drinkp' With the ex-
ception Of myself every man in
the room gathered around the
bar, addressing the powerful
stander of treats as Joe. The
glasses were filed and tipped,
when he turned and noticed me.
| saw the quick, wicked flash Of
anger in his eyes. After mo-
mentary survey he broke silence,
and this terse dialogue followed
eyer from the city, ,ain't yer?'
81 am"
eyer don't know me, do yer?''
81 don't"
'eTake a drink, am git ac-
quainted, then"
"Don't drink"
"Smoke, then
"Don't smoke" !"
"Do yer shoot?''
"Not worth a continental"
My years Of assurance acquir-
ed as correspondent, and my
knowledge Of aggressive charac-
ters, did not prevent me from
feeling some uneasiness as | OBJ
served my interrogator's dexter
Gus fingers slide to his belt and
grasp the hilt of his "whistler." T"
An unpleasant termination of
the conversation was avoided by
the strange appearance OF a wo-
man who stepped from the over
land train, just then arrived, and
directed her steps toward the sa-
loon. She was rather a comely-
looking female of So or more, ,and
evidently Ill and suffering from
the effects Of an extended de-
bauch. Joe stared at her, as
one looks at the arisen dead, for
a moment, and then walked
quickly to the door, threw HIM
self into the saddle, and rode a.
way. AS he passed the woman
she lifted her hands imploringly
toward him and fell to the earth
unconscious. She was borne to
the hotel, and the kind women
of the village did what they
could for. her. She spoke no
word when recovered from her
swoon, but lay quietly, unmind-
full of her life fast ebbing away.
During The day | inquired of
Broken-nosed Charley, who
knew everybody and everything
about the farm, regarding the
man Joe. Charley said that
little was known of him except
that he had mined some, gam
bled some, drank like mad, and
altogether was a bad lo.. He
had killed two or three men.
and had been shot and cut HIM
self several times. He invaria-
bly, preceded an invitation to
imbibe, or to the shooting of a
man, by the expression, sits
fourteen inches between my
eyes, and ] smelll like a wolf"
From this idiosyncfasy and his
bloodthirsty disposition, he was
known as 1.-THE Wolf" Prn-
dent people, howevers address
ed him as Joe.
The Wolf returned TO town
the next day, and, on entering
the saloon from which he had
made his hurried exit, quietly
asked:
elias that ar woman goneY
He was told that she was sick
and could live but a short time.
a great change came over his
face; the hard furrows of dissi-
patton and crime We're trans
formed to the pitiable lines of
sorrow. Not noticing the dram
proffered by the bar-keeper, he
hastened TO the hotel and made
his way to the bedside Of the
dying woman. Abruptly b c
questioned.
"Was yer follerin' him?"
"No, Joe; | was hunting
him."