The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1880-08-11
ga GENTLEMAN OF LA PORTE.'

"A GENTLEMAN Of LA PORTE!"
The First Appearance OF One Who Be-
came a Jusiice Of tho Peace..A Good
Story by Bret Ilarte.
He was also a pioneer. A par who
broke through the SHOWS of tue winter
of 81 and came upon the triangular little
valley afterward known as La Porte
found him the sole inhabitant. He had
subsisted for three months on two bis
cults day and few inches of bacon, in
hut made of bark and brushwoo6.
Yet when the explorers found him he
was quite alert, hopeful and gentle
manly. But l cheerfully make way
here for the terser narrative of Captain
Henry Symes, commanding the pros
pecting party: "We kem upon him,
gentlemen, sudden-like, jest abreast of a
rock like this s"-demonstrating the dis
tance-"e eZ near ez you be. He sees us
and he dives into his cabin and comes
out agin with a tall hat-a stovepipe,
gentlemen-and, blank me, gloves! He
was a tall thin fellow, holler in the
cheek-ez might be-and off color in his
face, ez was nat'ral takin' in account his
starvation grub. But he lifts his hat to
"s 30, and sez he: Happy to make
your acquaintance, gentlemenl I'm
afraid you expert fenced some difficulty
in getting here. Take cigyar.' And
he pulls out fancy cigar case with two
real Havanas in it. / wish there was
more, sez be.
"Ye don't smoke yourself p sez l.
"' Seldom sez be, which war q lie,
for that very artenoon I seed him
hangin' ontu short pipe like suckin'
baby ontu bottle. i kept these Gig
yars for any gentlemen that might drop
in
GO reckon ye see great deal o. the
best society yer sez Bill Barker, starin'
at The hat and gloves and winkin' at the
IA few Indians occasionally, sez
he.
"Injins = sez we.
"Yes. Very quiet good fellows in
their way. They have once or twice
brought me game, which l refused, as
the poor fellows have had pretty hard
time of it themselves
"Now, gentlemen, we was, ez you
know, rather quiet men-rather peace
able men; but-hevin' been shot at three
times by these yar' good Injins, and
Parker hisself havin' matter O. three
inches of his own skelp lying loose in
their hands and he walkin' round wear
in green leaves on his head like a
Roman statoo-it did kinder seem ez if
this yer stranger was playin' it rather
low down on the boys. Bill Parker gets
up and takes survey O. him and sez he,
peaceful-like
GO Ye say these yer Injins-these yer
quiet Injins-offered yer gamep'
"'They did = sez he.
60 And you refoosed p
"' did, sez he
"' Must hev made 'em feel kinder bad
sez Bill.
pointed
LIN course sez Bill. And now
mout | ask who you be?'
I" Excuse me- says the stranger; and
blame my skin! if he doesn't hist out a
keerd-case, and handin' it over to Bill,
sez: Here's my kyard.'
bill took it and read aloud, j.
Trott. Kentucky
SO It's pooty keerd,' sez Bill.
I'm glad you like it, says the
stranger.
al reckon the other fifty-one of
the deck ez as pooty-all OF 'em jacks
and left bowers," sez Bill.
1.-The stranger seZ nothin', but kinder
draws back from Bill, but Bill ups and
sez:
"'Wot is your little game, Mister J.
Trott. of Kentuckyp'
81 don't think I quite understand
you,' sez the stranger, holler fire comip'
intu his cheeks like ez if they was the
bowl of pipe.
SO WoL's this yer kid glove husinessp
this yer tall hat paradin'p-this yer
circus !oolin'? Wot's it all aboutP Who
are ye, anywayp
1.-The tlanger stands up, and sez he:
Ez don't quarrel with guests on my
own land, sez he, 1 think you'll ALLOW
I'm-a gentleman sez he.
with that he takes off his tall hat
and makes low bow-so-and turns
away-like this; but Bill lites out OF q
suddent with his right foot and drives
his number ten boot clean through the
crown of that tall hat like one o. them
circus hoops.
"That's about ez fur ez rem member.
Gentlemen! thar warn't but one man o.
that hull crowd ez could actooally swear
what happened next, and that man
jest then took place in that valley. I
disremember anythin' but dust and
bustlin'. Thar wasn't no yelling, thar
wasn't no shootin'. 1t was one O. them
suddent things that lett even a six
shooter out in the cold. When I kept
to in the chapparel-being oncomforta-
BILE like from hevin' only half a shirt only
I found nigh on three pounds O. gravel
and stones in my pockets and a stiffness
in my ha'r. I looks up and sees Bill
langin' in the forks of a hickory saplin'
twenty feet above me.
"Cap,' sez he, in an enquirin' way,
hez the tornado passsedp'
WhichP' sezI I.
"This yer elemental disturbance is
it overp'
"I reckon sez I.
Because sez he, 'afore this yer
electrical phenomenon took place I he'd
slight misunderstanding with a
stranger, and I'd like to apologizep
"And with that he climbs down,
peaceful like, and goes into the shanty,
and comes out hand.in.hand with that
stranger, smilin' like an infant. And
that's the first time, reckon, we know'd
anythin' about the gentleman of La
Porte. ."-Bret Harte. in BelqrdUiG.
Sm0thered In Their Beds.
A Geneva correspondent of the Lon
don Times writes as follows: A strange
occurrence happened few days ago at
St. Cierge, village in the Jura. The
principal room of an auberge, there