Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1880-06-12
CHEERFUL HARRY.
And How He Imposed Upon
Very Bad Man.


CHEERFUL HARRY.
And How He Imposed UpOn
Very Bad Man.
[E. II. Cough, in the Argonaut.l
whenever Eel River Dan went
on a "tear" CONSERVATION reigned
in Pilot City Assoon as his stri-
dent whoOp began to resOund
through the redwoods surrounding
the Yfllagethe citizens hushed their
murinurings at lesser evils and ST.
lently Sh1lked TO sneir 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, unac-
quainted with the truculent ruffian's
record y who became the victim,
but, as a general rule, Ii was
some Obstinate lumberman, who
sacrificed himself for more tim
id men. 1t was q singular fact,
that no matter how peaceablysin-
clined Pilot City might be, atEthe
moment Eel River Dan came down
from his mountain home, son a
time, somebody had to suffer- He
was tfbadP in the most literal sense
of the word, and there were but few
who dared to approach him when
he had tsdeclared" himself and
turned himself loose" But on
this particular occasion-this bleak,
windy day i'm February, when the
principal inhabitants of Pilot City
had gathered around the glowing
stove that warmed the somewhat
contracted limits of the Raftsnan's
hOme-the gayly-chatteringe ongre-
CATION had received no intimatiOn
of the appruach of the mountain
desperado. Not a single whoop
had he uttered as he strobe through
the signing pines, not a yell an
noaHCing his coming had been
heard by the graceful residents OF
Pilot City, and when the gigantic
frame of the "terrOr" darkened the
door 81 the Home, q thunder-bOlt
would not have produced as much
genuine surprise, not to call it as
tonished apprehension, i'm the bOs-
Oms of those present as did the ap-
pearance of Eel River Dan. For
an instant the assemblage sat petri-
fled. Then there was a huttering
movement, and Big Mike, the
boom hand, made a break for the
rear door. The Others only waited
to satisfy themselves that Dan was
"On itn This important doubt
having been dissipated, and the
conclusion arrived at that the noun
taineer was in an unusually disa-
greeable frame OF mind, the remain
der of the company Withdrew,
rather precipitately, it must be con-
fessed, but with sufficient order and
regularity to avoid a crush at the
AS soon as the last boot-heel had
passed over the threshold Dan
smiled-it was not a very seraphic
smile, to be sure, but notWithstand-
ing its SardOnic character there
could be no installing it for a frOwn
or scowl of displeasure, With the
grimace still irradiating his rugged
features the desperate passed be-
hind the bar, and with9a freedom
peculiar to his loose habits, grasped
the demi-john containing an unus-
ually ardent article Of lumberman's
Solace. Throwing the jug deity
into the hollow Of his right arm, he
poured the yellow distilment into a \
glass which he held in his left hand
allowing the liquid to mark four
fingers before he threw the muzzle
up and returned the demi-iohn to
its shelf beneath the bar. He con-
templated the contents of the glass
for a moment, held it up to the
light, smacked his lips in anticipa-
ton of the joy it was about to con-
e.. L. 4
edge of the tumbler gingerly to his
lips rs if he would prol0ng the de-
light of feeling it trickle down his
appropriated throat into his sheet
iron stomach. Inch by inch his
ruby nose went. upward, drop by
drop the whisky flowed downward.
The last glObule had just passed be-
tween his teeth, when his fiery red /
eyes, glancing through the bottom
of the glass, fell upon an object, the
sight of which seemed to paralyze
him. He could not believe his
senses. lie Imagined that some de- |
feet in the glass Through which he |
was taking his observations must |
have produced the vision that greet |
ed his gaze. ft could not possibly |
be the form OF a man standing there |
by the stovel What an idea! What |
mortal FindiVidual would have the |
hardih0od& TO remain when ne, Eel \
River Dan, the terror of the entire |
lumber region from Mendocino to |
Trinity, saw fit to enter place of |
reSOrt2 AhnOl il certainly could /
not be d real, living, Hesh-and-
blood human being; ii was proba-
bly, straw dummy set up by those
id hulks that bad Just left, and |
the insult thus offered would afford |
an excuse for a general cleaning out |
of the whole id town. So he !
placed the glass ON the bar, and,
leaning upon his elbows. leveled
his gaze still more intently upon
that dummy" Great Caesars /
ghost! it moved. Was it the wind
swaying a bundle of clothes stuffed
with straw? Or was it by the
great boom that swings~over thed
river Jordan il rubs its hands. 1t
is a man! Never before, during a
career checkeEed by almost daily
had Eel River Dan ever
such a sudden shock of
For ten seconds, by
the bar-room clock, he was power
less, speechleSS, Wellnigh lifeless.
Then he raised his hands to his face,
aud leaned his hands upon them
while he studie1y the apparition be-
side the stOyes VA "A JAY ~
1t was a little man, a hollow
cavern-cheeked, mild-eyed, l,
neek-looking man. Pity had new
n been distinguishing trait in the
of Dams nature, but :
IS he gazed upon thisA ragged for Y
orn-l0oking being, feeling akin
o sympathy began to tIsurn the |
Ia - nF -Irrricn in his hrnasf and [