Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1883-09-06


painted up with signs; but that fellow
made more fuss over his little shanty
than ever I saw before or since. He
said he was paying forty dollars a
month rent for that place Il wouldn't
give him forty cents for the whole
thing. and he made me paint all four
sides, from top to bottom, with good
black paint, while the whole town stood
around and criticised the way slung a
brush.
'They let me 60 after / got that
shanty painted; but the sheriff of the
town walked piece with me, and told
me I'd better get. He said the men
could stand little swearing, and lit
tie shooting and little gambling; but
when it come tomaking sign boards of
the houses, he was afraid lawlessness
was going too far, and he wouldn't an
swer for the consequences if l stayed
in town.
81 was determined that / would not
90 out of that Tombstone district with
out leaving my mark, anyhow. So /
Just bunked on the hillside that night,
and in the morning l made Decline
for the Milestone Mountains, which
are in sight of the city, and after lit
tie skirmishing around found canyon
with a precipice on one side of it as
clean straight up and down as knife.
"When l looked over the edge could
see the water in the little creek down
below dancing and singing along
through the boulders. 1t wasn't such a
tarnatiOn piece down there-only two
or three hundred feet-but it was a lit
tie further than / cared to jump.
Il had a coil of silk rope among my
tools, and after fastening one end to- a
cottonwood tree swung the other end,
with loop in it for seat, overheard,
and climbed down it hand under hand.
"What did / do with my paint-bucket
and brush? / put the brush in the
bucket and carried the bucket-handle
in my mouth. Oh, assure you this
kind of thing was common with me.
The next time you 90 among the mount
aims, if you will examine the painted
rocks pretty closely, you will find that
my way is really the only way TO get at
most of them.
"Give me a good silk rope-silk be-
cause 4 very small silk rope will carry a
man, and 4 painter don't like to lug
heavy rope around with him-and I'll
paint your name on the steepest preci
pice that ever was.
when I'm sitting down my brush
has got a seyen-foot swing, and set out
to paint the words Loves Lung Loz-
enges' in Scvcn-foot letters, didn't
on, ! /. I
to be bluffed by them Tombstoners.
"Well, sir, | was brushing away and
singing to myself like 4 mocking-bird
when stone came down and lit fair in
the paint-pot. splaShing paint all over
my sign. | looked up madder'n hor-
net, and there [ see two dirty Apache
heads grinning at me.
Il didn't say anything: but the sight
of them took the life out of me so that /
dropped my brush, and could hear it
bounding along from rock to rock until
finally it struck bottom. 1 swear it
seemed to me ten minutes from the
time that brush left my hand until it
struck the ground. Every time it
bounced from one rock to another /
seemed to say to myself: You'll strike
there. and there, and there
Il knew the Indians were Apaches
the minute | saw their heads, and |
knew, too, that the Apache is the blood
thirstiest animal on earth.
"They grinned at me, with sheir
heads stuck over the precipice and
then one of them swung out his fight
arm and began making passes at the
taut rope with butcher-knife IN his
hand. You won't find them fellers car
rying tomahawEs any more; they carry
guns and knives instead.
g watched that knife flying around
up there wi6h its sharp edge always
turned toward the rope. until it made
me sick, and looked down for relief.
Below me there was nothing but a little
bush growing out of the preci-
pice about half way down, and under
hat boulders.
Suddenly l thought of something,
md. whipping my whisky flask out of
my breast pocket, held it up toward
hem. They stopped grinning, the
knife stopped wheeling around, and l
saw in minute that they were two |
thirsty Indians, and that l had chance
yet. But, like blamed fool, was too
ure, and didn't take enough care of the
bottle, and the first thing 1 knew it
dipped from my hand and smashed to
finders on the rocks below.
1.-The Indians gave one howl, and
hen zip went the knife across the rope,
nd / followed the whisky bottle.
Ibid get killed? Well, not hardly.
lOu remember that mesquit bush?
Veil. the end of the rope managed to
,et wrapped around that bush in the
all, and it brought me up so sudden
hat the shock broke out four of my
ront teeth"
but You were still a hundred feet
bove ground, and your rope only fifty
Get long.
ITO be sure; but everything was plain
ailing now. T1ust Skinned up the rope
the bush. got the rope out of the
narl, and unraveled it so as to make
wo ropes. only half as thick each as the
ther was. See? The rope was plenty
trong enough to bear me, thin as it
7as, and down l came like creased
ghtning, and then footed it back to
'enson. where l bought a new outfit
nd went on 10 Frisco. ~ Cincinnati