Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1882-06-29

away from eaves-droppers and observa-
ton. and therefore just the place for
confidential colloquy between two shady
people. In little while the agent
makes his appearance. He is gray
haired. gaunt, weather-beaten veteran,
very much stopped at the shoulders
and in very shabby attire. He has a
patch over one eve. The remaining
one. however. is bright enough, and the
unshayen face is hard and shrewd-
looking. A reputation for extreme age
enables him TO assume the drivel of Sc
nifty whenever awkward people, as the
police, poster him with awkward ques-
tons. He has been a fixture in the
tramp-house for eight or nine years past
ever since he was taken on TO fill the
place of just such another who had re-
treated to the work-house TO die in
peace. This one will do the same in his
turn ere long. and then there will be an
other broken-down tramp ready to fill
the vacancy. Ostensibiy he is wood
chopper, boot-cleaner, messenger, and
that sort of thing In reality he is adj
wiser of the tramps frequenting the
house concerning the best routes, the
best houses along them, and the best
ways of utilizing both, for forty miles
round. He has traversed them all,
highway and by-way, over and over. in
DAYS gone by: and constant intercourse
with yagabonds of all sorts and from
all quarters keeps him just as well ac-
quainted with this wide stretch of coun-
try, and all that concerns tramps there
in, as he was in his best days. There is
no tramp-house in the kingdom without
such retainer; in fact, he is indispens-
able.
The old man carries a roll of papers
and a ledger, which he places on the
table beside the visitor. Their in
| tercourse begins with little drinking
and hobnobbing; and while they are so
engaged we will take look at the
roll First comesa large travelling map
of England, with all the roads laid
down, and the distances from town to
town carefully marked. This is rs it came
from the publisher; but there is a good
deal more besides. 1t is thickly marked
in most directions. especially in the coun-
ties adjoining this particular tramp
house, with crosses. squares, diamonds,
ovals. triangles. and other marks neatly
drawn in ink. and all very pregnant of
meaning 10 the interpreter; and he will
instruct the querist of the moment in
every one that concerns his projected
tramp and its business. but not par
ticle beyond The cross denotes that
there the police are strict, and the
diamond that they are lax; the oval
signifies that there is house in the
vicinity where the tramp may dispose of
any little triile he may pick up on the
way, and he is instructed how to make
the acquaintance of its keepers; and the
square intimates that there is charity
hard by which may be laid under con-
tribution. Other signs tell the char
acters of the tramp-houses along the
road and of their keepers, and whether
they stand well with the authorities or
not In addition the tramp gets the
names of the gentry along the line OF
march. with useful hints concerning
themselves and their domestic usages.
Inside the map is folded plan of the
immediate neighborhood, and with this
our putter-up and the interpreter are
soon busy. 1t consists, it may he, of a
sheet or two of the Ordinance Survey,
or of roughly drawn sketch. not quite
50 accurate, but rs useful in its way,
since it conveys all the information OF
the more scientific plan in sufficiently
ineligible form. On this plan Is
marked every house of any consequence,
with number attached to it. And on
referring to the corresponding number
in the ledger, we find there quite a his
tory of the houses for the period the
book embraces There are the names
of the various families occupying it dur.
ing that time. the probable amounts OF
their incomes, and various particulars
respecting domestic arrangements,