Mexico weekly ledger., 1879-12-25
THE BULLY OF GILROY.

has not its bully Avery sWsepffig
statement, to be sure, but every per;
sou. who reads these werdssean,usafteE
moments reflection, put his finger
on q staggering, blusEering balig,
who is forever & bragging sofs his
strengths and displaying gas Sbfntaiitys
by his disposition to impose on some
person weaker than himself.
In the more ElaE.abiding districts,
these fellows lean. towards pugilIsm,
and delight IN dog4fghts. They are
the terror the tfmid aad the heroes
of the depraved, and usually spend
their declining years us guests Of the
State, or die with theft boots on.
/ As, the bully is invariably q coward,
he never blazes out in all his over
bearing brass till be feels secure in
the knowledge off ppisttoi. es knife knife COM
cealed on his person, where there@is
law, or ostensilaly displaying them
where there is none. Hence he is the
prominent figure in the frontier, Ytl-
lagos, where the daring pioneer has
gone on, and the law has not yet come
with the security its presence gives.
Gilroy is thriving, beautifully-lo-
Gated, well-to-do place now. Twenty
years ago Its location was just as at
tractive, but in every other respect
it was not hourishing place for bus
mess, nor a desirable place for quiet,
religious families to settle down. The
worst characters of the coast-range
made it their headquarters, and the
horse thieves of Tulare valley looked
upon it as their base of supplies. Yet
even twenty years ago the advance
guard of industry and responsibility
secured some of the best positions on
the park like lands around Gilroy.
Prominent among these early set
tiers were the families of Ernest Rob-
erts and Hector Mason. They had
come from the Eastern States togeth-
er, and the heads of the families had
been friends and the children playfel,
lows ali their lives. AS they brought
considerable means with them, they
were enabled ut once to stock anC
oI5an up their farms in a way that Sc
/ cured Immediate comfort and prom
iscd prosperity.
They were just the people to settle
q new country, for in addition to thei
great probity and eminent respecta
bility, their homes swarmed will
healthy children, some of whom haC
not even learned to hop, while other
had learned to love.
Jennie Observation-Disclosures tn
oldest of her fathers many children
and young Frank Mason thought her
/ by all odds, not only the prcttiest ant
best OF her own family, but of all he
sex, SO far as his experience extend
Ell. To be sure he could not sc
well--not that he had any defect G
vision, but Love plays strange prank
with the best of eyes, and Frank Ma
son was one of his victims. In tai
case, however, Love could scarcel
have exaggerated the merits Of il
object.
There were many Gark-brown sen
oritas near GilroY, and at certain sea
sons Digger Indian s4uaws, i'll til
scautiest Of calico lig-Ieaves, came I
the settlement to trade; but the a
fractions OF the aborigine and nativ
born paled in the eyes of Gilroy's al
my Of bachelors the moment Jenni
Roberts made her appearance.
1t did not take long for the better
inclined to see for themselves ths
Jennie's heart was another's, SO the
prudently Withdrew from the contes
though they could not cease to admin
and respect one who was As good an
modest as she was bright aid beaut
full.
At this time Cilroy had a bully
To be sure il had doze1 fellows viii
similar ruilianly tendencies, but JAG
Culp was prominently the mast'
in his way. lie Was stout, thlck-s
man Of thirty five, with long-red hai
tlorid face, and always appeared i
an ;ttire that might be described :
loose and loud.
Jack Culp was oslcnsibly a horst
trader, and undiSguisably gambler
He put OH the belt containing Ii
knife and pistol with as much pune
uality as his boots or e-brimme
slouch hat. He WAS fierce sWeare
Il loud talker, and as such men a
invariably braggarts, Jack Gu
proved no exception to the rule.
There was general impressic
among the people of Gilroy that |
had killed scores of men III fights al
duels but as this belief had its orig
in Jack Cups statements, there We
not few rash enough openly to q
sert that they thought Jack Gu
. could lie without feeling any subs
quent pangs of conscience.
The protection and exclusiyene
that society throws around the hon
in the older states are unknown in
new settlement. Everybody know
everybody, and there is a free-an
= easy way of getting acquainted tn
is often pleasant, but as often the r.
verse, for there is not a frontier Gu
throat who would not get murGerou
ly indignant if any one intimated til
he was not gentleman and fit ass
ciate for the best.
Under these circumstances 1t is n
to be wondered at that Jack Gu
soon got acquainted with the Rober
and Mason families, nor that such
man should, from the first, attem
to render himself attractive in i
eyes of Miss Jennie. .
= He soon learned the relations th
\ Frank Mason sustained to the youl
u lady; but what cared he for that!
i would put Frank Mason out of t
way, or scare him away, if he dar
to cross his path.
He was frequent visitor at y
Roberts house, and at last becal
7 so repulsive to Jennie that she refu
! ed to see him when aware of his CO..
ing. He waylaid and watched
her; he sent her ribbons and jewelr
which she returned. And he went
far as to send her a letter, in whic
in bad English and worse spelling,
tmade her an offer afs his heart q