The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1880-10-19
INCIDENT OF WESTERN LIFE.
La.k Malone n, n.totxr Californian.

Lock Malone IA nctoter Californian
Perhaps every person who is some
what advanced in years can remember
some incident OF his early years which
he would really like to forget, come
thing that resulted from the freshness
and vast inexperience Of youth. l re-
rember one which l have spent . good
deal of time trying to forget. Just
before the Union Pacific railroad
reached the Bitter Creek country. I
made my first overland trip to the
Pacific coast. / staged it from the
terminus Of the Union Pacific to the
Central Pacific, which Was pushing
east. The stage broke down OH Bit
ter Creek, and the passengers bad to
walk to the next station. l grew tir-
ed of walking before l reached the
station, and coming late 10 the after.
noon to where some teamsters were
camped, concluded to stop with them
for the night. On ssking them to do
so they assented 80 heartily that | felt
at home at once. Life in the west
was something new TO me. was
young and buOyant. and Just out Of
college. | was fond OF talking. /
thought it would be novel aud delight
full to sleep out with these half-ssvage
ox-drivers, with no shelter but the
vaulted. star-gemmed heavens. There
we're four teamsters with as many
wagons, while thirty-two oxen grazed
around in the vicinity. Of the team
sters, one was a giant in stature. and
wore a bushy black beard; another
was shorter. but powerfully built. and
oae-eyed: the third was tall, lank and
hame,jawed while the fourth was a
wiry, red.hesded man. In my
thoughts l pitied them. on account Of
the hard life they led, and spoke to
them il a kind tone, and endesvored
10 make my conversation instructive.
I plucked flower aud pulled it to
pieces. mentioned the names of the
parts-pistil, stamens. calyx and 50
on-and remarked that it must be ill.,
diginous to the locality. aud spoke Of
the plant being indigenous, 10 contra
distinction to exogenous. and that
they could see that it was not srypto-
gamous. Unlocking at some fragments
Of rock, my thoughts wandered off in
geology. and among other things, I
spoke of the tertiary and carbcnifer-
Gus periods, and of the pterodaclyl
ichthyosaurus and diuothurium. The
teamsters looked at me, then at each
other. but made no response. We
squatted down around the frying pan
to take supper. and rs the big fellow.
with his right hand, slapped, or sort Of
larrured, long piece Of fried bacon.
over a piece of bread in bis left hsnd,
sending a dropof bot grease in my left
eye, he said to the one-eyed man:
bill is my copy Of Shakespeare in
20 wagon, | missed it to-day"
"No. My Tennesm and volum' Of
the Italian poets is in thar-no Shaks-
Peare."
The Dk-looklng teacsstcr, biting of
a piece of bread about the size Of
saucer, said 70 the big man in a voice
that came huskily through the bread:
Jake, did yer ever read that vol
um' of po'ms that writ"
"No, but have often hearn tell on
'em.
Yer mean "Musin's of an Idle
Man."
Yes"
"Hev RI al every line of it at least
dozen times" said the tea MISTER with
the red hair; and as he sopped four
inch swath, with \ piece Of bread.
across the frying-pan he repeated sDme
lines.
"Them's they" nodded the poet.
The emp'ror of Austry writ me = let.
ter highly complimentin them po'ms. I"
They're very techin," added the
wiry man.
I took no part in these remarks.
Somehow I did not feel like joining
in.
The wiry man, having somewhat
satisfied his appetite, rolled up piece
of bacon rind into a sort of q single
barreled opera-glass, and began to
squint through it toward the northern
horizon.
"What yer dom. Dave ?" asked the
stout man.
'Takin' observations on the north
star. Want ter make some astrOmO.
m,cal Civilizations when get inter
Sacrysmenter."
"Well, yer needn't ter made that
telescope. ! could er TUX 20 observ.
atoms for yer, bein' as haint but one
eye"
"Git out thar, yer darned old car
boniferous pterodactyl," yelled the
hame.j awed driver to an OK that was
licking a piece of bacon.
81 give q good deal Of my time to
'stronimy when l was in Yoorup," re-
marked the tall man.
"Over thar long," asked one.
"Good while. Was minister to
Rooshy. Then I spent some time
down to Rome"
Rome" exclaimed the lank indi-
vidual. WAS born thar. My father
was a sculptor"
Good soul ptor?"
"Yes."
Zone wouldn't a thought i, to look
at yer"
Il never was in Yoorup," remarked
the one-eyed man. when I ocypied
the cheer of ancient languages 10 Har-
word College my health failed, and the
fellers that had me hired, wanted me
to 60 to Yoorup for an out, but I con-
cluded to come west for lOok-H0ld
up thar. yer Internal old 6ea-bitten
icthy' saurus," he hawled to an OF that