The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1883-02-19
cradle Importance.

! Il dOn rechin eZ now nit much big
! ger than San Antonio. | know the riy-
er kentry tolerbul we'll an I'll be darn
| ed eff ever / hearn tell NV Dead Mans
| Ranch till Jones jumped hit up
..But, SIR demonstrated, stMr. Jones
| told me that the Ranch would give hear
! II six hundred majority for his candi-
| date''
.s,Vallp' drawled the ranchman.
UNLESS it has a large population it
certainly can't return such q number of
votes, unless"
..Walla" again dr;swled the ranch
man, at the same time cycling me quiz
ideally.
| / hesitated moment and then, nolic-
ing that my companion looked peacea-
BILE. continued:
Unless you falsify the returns or stuff
| the ballot-box.''
Look a hyar," said the ranchman,
leaning over in his saddle in coniden-
| tial way. You're from the States,
amt ye.''
| | nodded assent.
"Wall, up whar ye KUN from this
hyar false returns and stuffin' may do
very web. Down hyar on the frontier
hit won't work. We're an ignor-
ant people an tolerable rough in our
manners, but we're honest. thank
| God?'
He delivered the information with con-
siderable emphasis, and / fastened to
assure him that my belief in the honesty
of the frontier people had never been
and could never be shaken. NY conf
dence in their integrity was blind, inn
plieit. This frank admission seemed to
mollify the ranchman.
We reached Dead Man Ranch safe
ly and were Hospitality received by the
owner, Don Patricio o. Italian, formerly
of New York City, who inquired after
the Major.
Hes tolerbul,'' said Jones. Sent
his best regards an he pine blank de-
ponds on Their ranch for his meiority."
Sure. he'll GIT it an its Their trooth
I'm teliin' yees. bought up that ould
devil nv Justice Juan Jose this bless
ed day for fifteen dollars an juguv mes
cal. All we hev ter do now is ter reg
lister Their votes. an Their divil fly away
wild us eff we amt shmart enough fur
that
The election took place three days af-
forward, and the night before the all
important day Jones assured me conf
dentialy that The Majors election
was settled fact. The votes were de-
posted in the reception room of the
casa. The s'ould divil NV Justice
Juan Jose, was Judge of the election;
the two ranchmen were inspectors, my
friend Jones was clerk and he pressed
me into service as his assistant.
Voting began early. The first thirty
votes cast for Sheriff were equally divid-
ed-fifteen for the t'presont Incumbent
and fifteen for ''KuHnul Smith,
Tibet thar's tew make Their thing look
al 4 las,
whisper We'll begin to roll 'em in
now for .'ther Major"
They did roll in at such a rapid rate
that for two hours my pen few across
the registration book, writing down
long and almost unpronounceable Cas-
titan names. At the end of that time
we rested, drank a bottle of aqua diente
and smoked a fragrant puro.
/ took stroll outside. About thirty
Mexicans were ranged in front of the
casa, each with ballot in his hand
The Don was bustling about giving or
ders in his native tongue. / noticed
then that several of the faces of the
waiting voters looked familiar, but it
was not until we adjourned for dinner
that learned that these thirty retain
ers of proud Don had cast all the votes,
which then footed up $50. By four o.
ClOCh tldl Ss0IiiifS OoO VOTES AdQ De0u
cast.
.sHow miney more duz yees want.
byes?' queried the Don, thrusting his
head into the room.
LET me see" said Jones consulting
the book. .ETher Major hez $40. L
promised pine blank to bring in 583 me-
jority. We want essackly thirteen votes
more"
BE yasus We'll give ther-wimin an
childer er whack ct it, cried the Don,
and he disappeared.
q crowd of blushing senortas and sever
al big-eyed children.
''Hooray for the fronteer be gobsr'
shouted the Don, as the Senorita Isabel
la de Casa Some-thing-or-Other blush
ingly deposited her ballot and was reg
istered as Juan Manuel de Casa. Hoo !
ray for the frontier, where we have uni
versal suffrage an the fullest liberty for
man, woman an childF'
dren, and the Major still needed one
vote to make up the promised majority.
Just then burro grazing in front of the
casa lifted up his voice and for few
minutes drowned even the chatter of the
and the shrill cries of the chill |
dren.
How'd on, byes.a cried the Don
when the vocal salute was finished, |
''here's wan more voter be gobs," and |
amid the shouts of the amused poems
and the laughter Of the ..officers of cleo
l. ! Ia Al 4