The daily gazette., 1882-02-20
nv D1sREPUTARLE FRIEND,
BY WIN. M. BAAER.

When told the officers Of my church,
in that newest city of the Southwestern
States, that Mrs. Clark has called upon
me with the view OF joining our society,
those officials were struck with disngy,
| for che colonel had shot her former hus-
band. uH &t i@1 y
"I am glad to know her," / insisted.
: sAnd you would like to have her hns-
band, Coyote Clark, call, would you ?"
Mr.. Jones asked 1t derisively, bat re-
piled as promptly, 81 will be glad to have
him do 90 He shall be welcome. That
Is what am here for. IL is the worst
people who need me most" s d etf
"Do they ? WeliI am anxious to see
what will come Of 1t. Colonel Coyote
Clarklr and Mr.. Brown evidently co
lncided In the sarcastic exclamation of
Mr.. Jones. AS soor as they were gone
planted the dreadful reprobate In inn
aginatIon before me. ta%
"Itis plain," said to myself, that
he 10 large, rsd-faced, bushy- whiskered
bOisterous man, bully and blackguard.
Doubtless the sobriqaet OF Coyote, pra-
rie fox, haa come to and cllngs TO him
as naturally rs the name of Bob, Tom,
| Bill TO other men. 1 am not afraid of
the ruffian,' and If my fists do not in
stlnctively clInch themselves nay mar
ner became In anticipation frozen and
defiant.
A few weeks afterward, and when I
had forgotten the disreputAble colonel,
there called upon me one afternoon q
gentleman whom 1 knew at o glance to
be book vr insurance agent. He was
| an uDder-Sized man, but Well-tormed
aud well-dressed, closely-shaven, and
whose singularly youthful face was
made the more engaging by o pair of
frank and laughing eyes. There was
that in them which grasped me as cor.
daily as did his hand, which observed
was as small and white as that Of q lady,
and which adhered to my own with .
| curious magnetic warmth. His voice,
too, and whole bearing had such an In
nocent and child-like sincerity as won
me at once. No one could be less i'm
trusive or more respectful, and during
our conversation upon general topics I
observed that he listened most atten-
lively to me, and with more than his
eyes fastened upon mine. Il will SUBJ
scribe for his book whatever 1t is,'
murmured to myself st last. If he 10
an insurance agent how can l refuse to
take out q pohcy?' But he only re-
marked, as after avery pleasant visit he
arose 10 leave, Il am pleased TO know,
sir, that my wife desires to unite with
the church,
your wife, stammered.
'Yes, sir Mrs. Clark. My name is
Colonel CLARK. dare say he added
with the laugh of school-boy, that you
have heard Of me as Coyote Clark.
That 10 only their fun. For although /
am not myself Christian, as regret
to say, no man, sir, has deeper respect
for religion, and his face had taken on
the sincerest seriousness.
That was the way we began our more
than mutual acquaintance. Every day
heard OF some fresh rascalty of my
new friend. lie was . gambler, wal
horribly profane when enraged, could
become more thoroughly intoxicated
over night and show less signs of it nexl
| morning than any other topper. When
crossed IN his plana be could and did
; kill his man without symptom of regrgI
for 1t afterward. II Is absurd to sup
pose that liked him Notwithstanding
all this because he named race-horst
after me. 1t was a shame, but l did
like him. Like most men I was borI
twins, not like Chang and Eng, fol
mine is the innermost quality of JacoI
and Esau, In eternal strife, and the hid
den Esau In me, shocking as 1t Is to con
fess, spring forth to greet him ever
: time we meet, as We very often did.
may have been because had so intens
, | desire to save the man from himsel
sn Impending doom. He is sure to b
Z killed in the end,' urged upon myself
I 'he Is apt to be shot down at any nom
ent; whatever he doea will not breal
with him-will do my best to win hin
over.'
He gave me every opportunity to d
so. After very long probation hi
wife became member of my church
; Not only was she . regular attendant
but she brought her husband with her
On prayer. meeting nights, when 1t wa
too cold or the rain was falling In tol
! rents whoever else was absent It was nc
j Colonel Coyote Clark nor bis wife
Every child was In the Sunday-schoo
During sermons the colonel gave m
his, If not, deYOut, at lest undivided al
tentIon, / met q cordial reception whe
| visited at his house. was httl
: surprised when, on calling one hot Au
gust evening, two or three OF his younj
est children raced In and out of the pal
A. lor as naked as the hour they weT
N born, but they were very beautiful chill
dren, and were soon hustled eff to bet
N and the father sat listening tor an hou
:: after, aud with sympathetic eyes, to o.
;" l could urge upon hira as to change {
life.
ID AS knew at the outlet, cannot col
VI dense into limits 80 brief q tenth
what would like to say of my trienC
mn For, Notwithstanding everything like
nj htm; yes, and like him to this houl
'OG | recall the picnic dinner he gave to I'll
lO0 Sunday-schOol In the woods on q brigh
m October day, the profuse generosity {
lO6 the man, then as always, who, for som
)00 occult reason, wore ruffled shirt, an
w was apparently the ideal of refine
100 gentleman. We had to repress and r.
700 fuse his peenniary gifts 10 the churcl
.ccs believe he would have built us ne
~ editice had we allowed 1t. HE
100 sAnd you still think you can make
or Christian of himp The question Wi
sY continually dashed upon me like col
'n- 'n- water, and from, 1t seemed to me, e
< cry quarter, Il can Ont tryp / alwa.
n said so, but II was With . sinking hear
5ss5 ~, nv friend seemed to belong TO q who'll
y. different species somehow, always