Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-01-18
Shoot the Hat.

OuVUV VAA AANVS
An American Falls Gdaho) letter TO
the New York Sun gives the following
picturesque account of the experiences
of an afternoon preceding a cowboys
dance:
Things went smoothly enough until
about the middle of the afternoon, when
a travelling man arrived in town. Some
of the old heads expected trouble the
minute he appeared, for the boys were
in q humorous mood and ready for any
sort of fun. The travelling man went
to the tavern and did not show himself
again until about five o'clock, when he
was spied walking down the street
wearing a silk hat. Cold chills a up
the backs of the ancient citizens, and the
tavern-keeper, with a view to saving
the mans life, started after him to give
him the word, but before he could over
take the stranger eight or ten of the
boys had SEN him and were following
him doggcdly down the street in single
file. The man with the silk hat may
have noticed the procession, but it is
probable that he had no idea of its sig
nificance. He stopped in a little store
for a few minutes, and while he tarr.ed
there the crowd on the outside increased.
When he emerged once more the boys
fell into line behind him again in single
file and resumed their march, gathering
recruits at almost every step, until
finally there We're twenty or thirty of
the gang in the procession. BY this
time the stranger began to understand
that something was the matter either
with him or with the town, and he
darted into a little jewelry store, pre-
tending that he wanted to set his witch.
The boys came to u halt or the sidewalk
and faced the store. The jeweler, whose
stock consisted principally Of receivers
and other shooting irons, looked ,nquis-
itively at his caller and then at the
throng in front. Thinking it a good OPP
p%ortunity to say something, the travel
ing man observed:
You have a nice town here, but can
you tell me why those men are follow
ing me around?"
81 cam" said the storekeepr, laconi-
cally, They're after that hat"
"What hat?'
"'That plug. They don't allow 'em
here, sir. Never been here }efore?"
...Never!" gasped the man
"Well, now look here" slid the jew
eler, .the boys are a little fill of fun to-
day, and they might make things UNI
comfortable for you. III just escort
you up to the hotel and Introduce you
to some of them as my friend. Then
you put that hat away and don't wear
it any more"
Thanking the ieweler the stranger
walked out arm-in-arm with him, the
boys falling in behind md following
them to the hotel. On entering the
bar-room the ieweler called one Of the
boys to one side and SAID 'sThis is Mr..
b, a friend of mne from the
States"
The 'boy'' seized him by the hand
with a grip that brought tears to his
eyes. and said:
'.Ill take turpentine."
Others crowded up and were intro
duced, each one smiling a sickly sort of
smile, but looking unforgivingly at the
hat. All agreed that they would have
to have something, and quietly urged
the stranger toward the bar, on which
the inn-keeper had placed the bottle the
minute the first speaker had '.nominat-
ed medicine" When once they were
arranged in front of the bar, with
glasses in hand, the hat suddenly Slip
ped from the head of its wearer, assist
ed by a cowboy in the rear, and in less
time than it takes to tell it a ring was
formed around the offending article and
a score of revolvers We're blazing away
at it. The terrified traveller stepped
to one side with his new-found friend,
and was met wit the comforting remark:
its a mighty good thing for you
that you got onto me, for in ten minutes
more those chaps would have been
firing at that hat on your head. They
wouldn't have taken the trouble to
knock it of. They would have shot it
off, and you would have been in luck if
you had escaped with a whole skull, for
some of the boys are a little wild in
their shooting"