Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1885-04-08

1 Will towards men, ..ss~. =. @ss55zss -:
"tAbner, says my old lady when sht
sees my pile, 4 don't believe that
little gal down to Jake .Pearson't
ranch is got g. blame thing. Jake il
that mean that he'd never souander q
dollar for fool toys, and it Jest natchel.
~ makes me tired to think of ou1
brats rolling in goodies and that little
yeller haired gal without even molas.
ses.'
II saw her bluff and raised it.
Gimme that there doll, old lady, , SEE,
| and a tin horse and about two pounds
OF that confectionery, and we'll see il
she don't have Christmas yit, all the
same
II put 'em in sack and waltzed
along the road tell KEN to the place
jest above PearsOn's ranch, which lies
at the foot of the mountain, and after
stumbling down fur about g. hundred
yards could almost look down Pear
sons chimbly, directly underneath
me, and all at once heard the little
gal scream.
'Pearson hadn't lived in them dig
GINS more'n six months, and we neigh
bors did't know a great sight about
him; but our wimmen folks they'd a
spled out the land q little, as wimmen
will, and they lowed that Pearson
was a~living in the shanty all alone,
'cepting fur his little 7-year-old gal,
and they swOre up and down that he
didn't treat her right. They knew he
was a rascal the first time they seed
him, they said, and once or twice he
wuz seen a-whippin' her with luther
strap. We men didn't take much
stock in their talk, but we laid low
and lowed that the frsC time we
ketched him red-handed a-whippin' ary
gal with a luther strap 'ud be mighty
unhealthy time fur Pearson.
"Well. sir. boys, he wuz doing that
very thing when lit down on him
with the buckle end, too, mind you;
and If l hadn't been law-and-order-
abiding citizen l swan I'd a shot him
then. But l lowed it wuz best to have
witnesses, and eff I'd killed him 'thout
no one by to see fair play, it might
have caused talk. So / Jest tux the
strap frum him, and kinder scared him
into decency with a touch or two of it
on his own shoulders, and then tux
him to one side and guv him the knick-
knacks.
"'You put them in the kids stock
ing tonight, so she will find 'em when
she wakes up in the morning. SEE 1.
It's Christmas morning, and we are all
Christians up yer in these diggings, ,
SEE /, |and if you don't l swear I'll
smash your head
"He snarled and showed his teeth,
like a bull dog that wants to bite but
is afraid to, and 1 swan to man, gen.
tlemen, I wuz down right put out that
we'd let that littlegal live all aloneso
long with such human hyena. But, AS
said before, didn't like to take the
law into my own hands all alone, 80
waltzed off and hunted up some of the
neighbours, and told them Jest how the
land lay, and asked their advice.
They all said the same thing.
"'We'll 20 down and talk to him.
right off, SEE they.
bring the little gal up to our
ranch, after you get through with
him, sez my old lady; she kin have a
nome with us so long as she blame
pleases.'
"Thet druv the nail home and
clinched her on the other side. The
wimmen WIZ with us. So we TUX along
a stout luther lariat, with running
moose in one end, kinder handy fur
talking to sech carrion ez Pearson,
and jest as night wuz beginning to set
in we got under way toward his ranch.
They wuz six of us-Hank Fletcher,
Gale Bledsoe, Stumpy Bluebaker, old
man Bassett, 1njun Pete and me-
Jest enough to be Judge, jury and execu-
TONER"
Cap. paused here to light a fresh
cigar; but before the flame of the
match had taken hold on the tobacco
he tossed the burning match aside.
"Jest excuse me fur about two
seconds, gentlemen, whilst waltz in
and see ef my little gal is a-hankerin'
for anything that kin get her."
The girl was contentedly cuddled
up in a corner of the green plush
covered seat, fast asleep, with her
head resting on soft black and white
plaid shawl. With her delicate feat
ures and beautiful yellow hair, she
where, and after seeing her it was easy
to understand the look of tenderness
which lighted up the old ranchman's
face whenever he mentioned his "little
GAL"
"Well, sirs," he continued upon
gaining his seat in the Sunderland
by this time every man in the car was
q listener,-"well, sirs, we didn't say
much, becuz our heads had powerful
sight OF thinking in 'em and our feet
wuz busy climbing over the rock to-
wards Pearson's. It wuz a long time
sense we'd a ben engaged in SIGH bust
ness; but we knowed Pearson deserved
it, and We meant to give him
SIGH attacking to as he wouldn't have
no chance to forgit.
''But the cards wuz packed again us.
In the center OF the road, jest where
we meant to leave it to climb down
toward Pearson's an old greasly bar
wuz camped as cool as you please,
diggin' among the rocks fur worms. 1
hadn't seen no bar in those diggin's
fur years, and begun to think that
things wuz happening powerful brisk
e"AA GU oAANC) 0AO CAOC ~ FCA A1lAl6 1uu
but it pores, when clip went old man
Bassett's rifle and clip went Pete's and
the greasly started down the hill to-
ward Pearson's, with a bullet in his
forehead and another in his chist.
"You remember told you l could
almost look down Pearson's chimbly
from the road. Well, that's what
the bar did, an more He Just natchelly
tumbled down the side Of the noun
tain and gave one big bound jest above
the shanty and went kerplump onto
the roof, smashing in the rafters
like they were straw and knocking the
mud chimbl y seven ways fur Sunday.
"When we got there the little gal
wuz in her night dress, standing in the
middle OF the floor and rubbing her
eyes.
"Is it Christmas?' she SEE, and is
St. Nicholas come? And what woke
me uD?'