The weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1878-1881, 1880-12-07
AN ANGEL FROM PARADISE.
He Demonstrates the Superiority Of
FbysIca. Courage.
Virginia New Chronicle.

Virginia New Chronicle.
SIN a roarin' ripsnorter from a hoorah
camp, and l can't be stepped on" remarked a
thick-set, white-eyed man, with a lower jaw
like the cow-catcher of a locomotive, as he
staggered into a G street saloon and thumped
the bar with his fist until the glasses jingled.
The barkeeper caught a whisky bottle that
was just tumbling eff the bar and told the
stranger that he needn't make so much noise
about it, as nobody wanted to step on him.
"You bet they don't, young Teller. I'm an
angel from Paradise valley, and a bad one,
too; and when l flop my wings theirs a tor
nado loose. Give me some O. your meanest
whisky, and a whole lot of it-somethin' that
tastes like bumble-bee stings picked In
~vitriol.'
While the barkeeper was hunting around
for some fusel oil and rubbing a glass with a
red pepper, a group around the stove surveyed
the stranger curiously. A thin gentleman
with bullying forehead and a dyspeptic look
said to the others: SHOW, there's an ~illustra-
ton of what | was saying. A bully is always
a coward. That fellow would have no moral
courage whatever were he put to the test. II
he were challenged to fight without cause he
could not attain the sublime height of moral
heroism to refuse. He would be afraid of be-
ing called a coward But mind you, he would
never brag and bully unless he thought he
had the advantage. You see he is a stout
man and presumes upon his physical superb
ority to most men to bully and blackguard
them. Now, Bill here is stronger than that
blowhard, but you never seen him in a fight.
He's quiet but get him started and he weuld
be a lion aroused. He's got moral courage"
The "Bill' referred to was a tall, power
fully built man, with steel-gray eyes and a
firmly set mouth. He said nothing in reply
to the compliment paid him, but quietly
watched the Angel from Paradise. The lat
ter drank his whisky and smashed the glass
on the bar. "What in - do yer mean by
giving a gentleman such stuff as that ? Did
ask yeh for %rinsins, yeh chicken-livered
Whelp? I've got a graveyard full of ROSTERS
that played that racket on me. I've got a
good mind to tan the air with yer corpse"
Snow, get out Of this" said the barkeeper,
becoming angry.
"Get out o nothin'. Gimme a drink, and
all you starved Gums around the stove come
up here and have a drink with a thoroughbred
high-stepper for once, just to say ye've drank
in decent company. It'll be an honor to tell
yer children about it some day, if such an or.
merry lot of cusses own any children. Now
waltz up lively and take yer medicine"
"Den't care for anything, thank you,' said
the dyspeptic philosopher, quietly.
"Yehd ont? Well, l tell yeh to take suth
IN. l hold the age in this game, and when
chip everybody comes in. Ante up to the
bar, now, and look pleasant. Great Scott
1eh need suthin in yer belly to balance thai
swelled head O. yourn. Come up, the rest o
you buns"
"Nobody stirred, but all looked at the dys
peptic, who quietly said: awe will not drinl
with you"
"No? It'd be cheaper for yeh to crawl into
a prospect hole and pull a tombstone over ye
head. l kin lick this whole town from hel
to breakfast, and l believe I'll st art in on thi
deadfall. Look out for a hurricane when
swoop. Wboop! l'm'a comm"
In about two minutes the bevel-headed ad
mirer OF moral courage was a dilapidatet
PIECE of bric'a-brac, the big man called Bill
was sspping cold water on his eye in the bacl
room, and the rest of the crowd We're scat
tered about the place in various stages of dis
couragem-nt, while the angel from Paradls,
was standing on a billiard table and shout
ing:
''Where's the rest of yer population ? Tro
out yer cohorts and fetch on the mob. In
an angel fiom Paradise, and a holy terro
when | flop my wings. l swallered a cyclon
for breakfast and a powder mill for lunch
and l haven't began TO cough yet. Where
the pspulace of this broken down chicke,
ranch? I'm not myself Tonight and wan
exercise"