The Bad Lands cow boy. [volume] (Little Missouri, Dakota [i.e. N.D.]) 1884-1886, 1885-06-25
''''NEL j. AND NJ. !

in front Of Major :Haslett's internal re-
freshment saloon gazing at poster,
stuck up on one Of the shutters. The;
thin, lanky man reading the notice aloud
for the edifcation Of the less gifted por-
tionsof the crowd Is the editor and pro-
prietor Of the only newspaper in the
town, the Silver Gully Bantam. and
the poster in question is sample Of his
skill in the printing line:
z sNoMcE The citizens Of Silver Gully will
be on hand tomorrow at ZIP. m. I'd meet the
San Francisco stage and give q hearty welcome
70 ouF new s'heS a1 @assssss HAsnprr, Mayor
9P. S-White shirts. 81 i,ti5 .g b. y5i
Ten minutes after the poster was
read there was q corner in. white shirts.
Old Levy's stock Of seven, which had
been his store ever since the town came
into existence, realized for their owner
1000 per cent profit. The unfortunates
who found themselves without the COW
7eted shirts were downcast and disconso-
late, but genius finally found q way ont
Of the difficulty. Aroll of muslin was
cut up into false shirt fronts which
were intended to be tucked under the
vest and pinned to % paper collar.
Noontime found the Gull ites out in
full force, arrayed in. their finest. The
Mayor soon; emerged from his home,
and the way lie strutted around, all re-
isplendent in full dress snit and q shiny
high hat, would have caused apeacock to
die with NOR fcation at being outshone.
The low cnt vest revealed 3 sssssparkler,"
big as q wa INIT, and emitted such bril-
liant rays that one would feel almost
inclined to believe The oWne assertion
that he didn't need any light in his
I house alright time. 7
Tt was 9 proud moment for the first
citizen Of the town whenshe mounted q
soap box and delivered himself Of q
speech, the preparation Of which had
caused him sleepless night: II. al .,;.
Fellow citizens vendi, vidii, vici-
we came, we saw, we conquered. We
came to this ,-now blooming. paradise
when it was MOI thing but u rocky waste.
!! We stuck to it and struck rock, and
then VIC, spread like grease spot on
our Sunday pants. Soon we was big
4 enough to- support q fust class lioker
saloon, and now have concluded that we
kin support 8 school teacher to make
3 scholars Of our young uns. Now when
I introduce you fellows you \ must
bow and take your hat oft,
like this" and suiting his actions to his
words he removed his head covering,
4 and in attempting to make a. bow; he
threw his center Of gravity cut Of line,
and as a natural consequence, the soap
box tilted and landed that. sfowery
orator all IN q heap on the ground. The
4 Mayor did not let this mishap annoy
him, and soon had them scraping and
bowling in manner that. would have
delighted the heart Of q French dancing
i master. I, 7 IS
Way down the road a cloud Of dust
was arising, growing larger and larger,
until finally from itsNmidst the stage
coach burst in view. The horses were
galloping like mad, and instead Of the
f brawny form Of Tom, the driver ;;rhold-.
ing theflines, there stood Q girl, herfeet
firmly braced against the foot board,
lying back with all her strength on the
reins. The trained leaders slackened
their speed as they approached their
1 usual stopping place, and stopped still.
As soon tas the coach cameto q stand
Z still the girlishs form dropped back,in q
{ faint. A dozen men Esprang to the
coach top, and % CHASTITY sight they saw.
There lay Tom, the driver, with. ter
rible hole in his chest, from which the
/ blood poured with each heart throb.
Tender hands lowered the .motionless
form to the ground, where ready arms
received him. y: 81 8 5
The Mayors house was turned into q
hospital and his wife, INTO nurse. The
5 girl soon regained her senses aud told
Il her. tale. She was the schoolmistresse
they were waiting tosSwelcome. About
I five miles from Gully the coach was
stopped by robbers She was j on the
seat with Tom, the driver, when the
robbers, with leyeled guns, brought the
I stage to ID stand still. Some half
dozen passengers we're ordered to
1 get out; and. while they were being
searched Tom slipped q revolver into
the little teacher hands and whispered !;
SIS Shoot at the man at the$ leader, s
head. Quick as q flash she leveled
the already cooked weapon. Bang
went the heavy Colt. .A bullet passed
I within q foot Of the robbers head and
struck the horses ear. The frantic
animal reared up, q and struck the rob-
4 Der with both fore feet. Down to the
/ ground tile crushed srobber dropped,
\ and the coach gave q jolt, jolt as the
wheels roll led Eover i? the probtrate
Swretch's body Bang Is bang crack !!
\ crack went the robbers guns, and one
!. bullet struck poor Tom in the breast as
& he turned around to yell defiance at the
outwitted rascals. With moan he
dropped back on the seat senseless.
Grasping the lines, which were
j dropping from Toms .perveless hands,
she guided the. horses to town.s,Aparty
Y from thu Gully rode back over the
! road and found the lifelesss bod of the
crushed robber. The passengers were
found close tied to trees
I and relieved of all their val:
uable les. The town rang with
Z praise for the pluck y soho olmistress,
and the Daily Bantam, in . special edi5
ton issued to comm emorata the lynch.
ing Of the three robbers who we're
4 caught the day after the affair, alluded
Il to her as o Joan of Arc. "a neat little
4 frame school house had been erected il
{ anticipation Of her coming, and soon
the school was one Of the Gully most
4 priced institute lions. IA 4
Miss u arden, the teacher, boarded
with the Hasletts, and was the pet Of
the town. Every man she met on the
street raised his hat and bowed respect
"a .s Il. v
About six months after the dramatic
1 entry into town Of the school mistress,
i q Young strang ger came tog the Gully,
and his name was IN every ones mouth
Parry the Tend arfo ot, y owner Of the
allie and ]" mine. One evening Mrs
Haslett commenced talking about the