Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1879-08-21
CHEERFUL HARRY.
How He Imposed on a Very Bad Man

Whenever Eel River Dan went on a
'ftear'' CONSERVATION reigned in Pilot
City. As soon as his strident whoop be-
gan to resound through the redwoods
surrounding the village the citizens hush
ell their murmerings at lesser evils and
silently skulked to their cabins, there to
listen, with bated breath, for the first
sounds of warfare sure to follow Dams
arrival in the town. Often-times the
guileless stranger, unacquainted with the
truculent rufffan's record, was the vic
tim; but as general rule it was some OBJ
stinate lumberman, who sacrificed him
self for more timid men. 1t was singu-
lar fact, that no matter how peaceably
inclined Pilot City might be, at the mo-
ment Eel River Dan came down from his
mountain home, con time,'' somebody
had to suffer. He was ''bad'' in the most
literal sense of the word, and there were
but few who dared to approach him after
he had ''declared'' himself and ''turned
himself loose.'' But on this particular
occasion-this bleak, windy day in Feb
ruary, when the principal inhabitants OF
Pilot City had gathered around the glow
ing stove that warmed the somewhat con-
tracted limits of the Raftsman's Home
the gaily chattering congregation had
received no intimation of the approach of
the mountain desperate. Not single
whoop had he uttered as he strobe through
the signing pines, not a yell announcing
his coming had been heard by the grace
full residents of Pilot City, and when the
| gigantic frame ofthe "terrOr" darkened
| the door of the Home thunderbOlt
would not have produced as much genu-
inc surprise, not to call it astonished ap-
prehension, in the breasts of those pres
ent as did the appearance of Eel River
Dan. For an instant the assemblage sat
petrified. Then there was a fiuttering
movement, and Big Mike, the boom hand,
made a break for the rear door. The 9TH
ers only waited to satisfy themselves that
Dan was con it," This important doubt
having been dissipated, and the noun
taineer was in an unusually disagreeable
frame of mind, the remainder of the com
pany withdrew-rather precipitately il
must be confessed, but with sufficient
order and regularity to escape injury in
the crush at the side door.
As soon as the last boot heel had passed
over the threshold Dan smiled-it wa
not very seraphic smile, to be sure, but
notwithstanding its sardonic character
! there could be no mistaking it for frowr
or scrowl of displeasure. With thu
; grimace still irradiating his bloated fea
: lures the desperate passed behind the
: bar, and with freedom peculiar to hi
, loose habits, grasped the demiiohn con-
tanning an unusually ardent article o
, lumberman's solace. Throwing tht
jug deftly into the hollow of his right
} arm, he poured the yellow distillmen
: into a glass which he held in his left hand
! allowing the liquid to mark four finger
before he threw the muZZle up and re
: turned the demijohn to its shelf beneath
! the bar. He contemplated the content
I of the glass for a moment, held it up t.
the light, smacked his lips in anticipation
of the Joy it was about to confer upon him
S and then placed the edge of the tumble
e gingerly to his mouth as if he would pro
h long the delig ht of feeling it trickle dow
. | his copper-plated throat into his sheet
t iron stomach. Inch by inch his rub,
d nose went upward, drop by drop tn
. whisky flowed downward. The las
globule had Just passed between his teeth
when his fiery red eyes, glancing throug
y the bottom of the glass, fell upon an OF
d iect. the light of which seemed to para
d iZe him. He could not believe his senses
. He imagined that some defect in the glaS
!, through which he was taking the obser
Il vatiOns must have produced the visio
/ that greeted his gaze. 1t could not poss
It bly, be the form of a man standing theT
II beside the stove! What an idea! Whs
L. mortal ndividua1 would have the hard
IL hood to remain when he, Eel River DaI
10 the terror of the entire lumber regiO
d from MendocinO to Trinity, saw fit
# enter place of resort All! no, it ce
tainly could not be a real, living, f1es
l. and blood. human being; it was prob
It bly, straw dummy set up by those d
" hulks that had just left, and the insu
= thus offered would afford an excuse for
general cleaning ont of the whole d
l. town. So he placed the glass on the ba
It, and, leaning upon his elbows, leveled h
;e gaze still, more intently upon that Fdun
N.Y. Great Caesars ghost! it move
Was it the wind sWaying a bundle {
u. clothes stuffed with straw? Or was it
by the great boom that swings over tt
river Jordan! it rubs its hands. 1t is
man! Never before, during a care
checkered by almost daily surprises, HI
ed Eel River Dan ever experienced such
M sudden shock of fastonishment. For ten sc
~ onds by the bar-room clock he was po'
'o erless, ,speechless, well nigh lifeless. TIL
OF he raised his hands to his face, and lean
m his cheeks upon them while he studio
a the apparition beside the stove.
It was a little man, hOllOw-cheste
cavern checked, mild-eyed, meek lOokil
les man. Pity had never been dist
gushing trait in the composition of DaI
OH nature, but as he gazed upon his ragge
IA forlorn looking being feeling akin
II" sympathy began to usurp the place
surprise in his breast, and it was in to
a almost tinged with kindness that he {
dressed the sickly vagrant:
70 E'Bin var long?"
fly The reply sounded like the gurgling
blood through the sink pipes of disse
ny ing room;
TIC more'n minute or two, hev ye?"
Dams tone was so insinuating, and
put intention to avoid hurting the poor
'he lows 1eellhgs SO eVHlehI, ChaG d u'aIi w
icy gree whatever would have underst
the kindly motive. But the rash maj
md the stove must have been abnOrmally
nan tuse, for he gurgled forth the exasp
ating reply:
esEver since those other roosters lit OF
as "What!" Dams eyes were dilated "
ma the intensity of his emotion. Wrath
Won taking the place of pity.
The little man made no reply,
glC rubbed his hands and held them, pa
hat outward, in front of the stove.
my "Mebbe you wasn't payin' pertic1
,noe 'tention to W at made 'em git up an dn
- It was a forced calmness that permea
ears Dams manner as he made this last
per mark.
sfDidn't know but wat ther was a
light or somethin' down the street."
''Dog fight or somethin' !" sneered I
reaching a glass; "mebbe yer not
-, quainted 18th me-
aple FsWho're you ?" The man at the ST
did not make this inquiry as if he had
tie a particular desire to ascertain the iden
on of his interlocutor, but gurgled 1t
,H,o mechanical way, like phonograph c
aiue automatic talking machine.
'FI'm Eel River Dan, stranger, ana
e in bad.''
If Dan imagined that this annoH
ment would discompose the vagrar
your was mistaken. 1t had no more effect
so much wind, and the stranger did