The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1884-02-08
Shoot the Hat.

An American Falls Qdaho) 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 a 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 silk hat Cold chills ran up
the backs of the ancient citizens, and the
tavern-keeper, with 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 seen him and were following
him doggedlY down the street in single
file. The man with the silk hat NAV
have noticed the procession, but it is
probable that he had no idea of its sig
nificance. He stopped in little store
for few minutes, and while he tarried
there the crowd on the outside increased.
When he emerged once more the bows
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 iewelry store, pro-
tending that he wanted to set his watch.
The boys came to halt on the sidewalk
and faced the store. The ieweler, whose
stock consisted principally of revolvers
and other shooting irons, looked inquis-
itively at his caller and then at the
throng in front. Thinking it a good OPP
portunity 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?"
Il can" said the storekeeper, laconi-
cally, They're after that hat"
What hat?"
AHON SOil hIAO" ciu
here, sir. Never been here beEore?'
Never" gasped the man.
''Well, now look here said the lew
eler, ''the boys are little full of fun to-
day, and they might make things I'M
comfortable for you. I'll 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 jeweler, the stranger
walked out arm-in-arm with him, the
boys falling in behind and following
them to the hotel. On entering the
bar-rOom the jeweler called one of the
boys to one side and said: This is Mr..
States"
The ''boy" seized him by the hand
with grip that brought tears to his
eyes, and said
IN take turpentine.'
Others crowded up and were intro
duced, each Oae smiling sirkly sort of
smile, but looking upforgiv.ngly at the
hat. All agreed that they would have
to have something, and quietly urged
tllC tON 1T II lilt bsii, ''ti W lIltiIl
the inn-keeper had placed the bottle the
minute the first speaker had IN minat-
ed medicine" When % &c ,hay were
arranged in front OF the lar, with
glasses in hand, the hat sudie lIy slip
ped from the head of it. wearer. a. ist-
cd by cowI o; in the yei., aud N less
time than it takes to tell it Il rng vas
formed around the ofeuting a~,icle ami
a score of revolvers We're bL,zing away
at it. The terrified traveller stepped
to one side with his new-found friend,
and was met wit the comforting remark:
Its 3 mighty good thing for YOU
that you got cato 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 off. 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 little wild in
Their shooting"