Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1885-10-14
HOW THE CAMP WAS SOLD.
BY BERT L. THOMPSON.

The change which came over tt
camp IN it's estimate of Billy Bunting
was as strange as it was overpower
ing.
The men had been used to running
their rings on him, had joked and
jeered him, until one evening, when the
thin, dropping figure Strengthened, the
mild face flushed to the very roots OF
the whitish hair, the Iack-luster eyes
caught depth and sparkle which no
one had yet found in them, and be
gave back his opinion of the treatment
he had received.
II hain't interfered with any of you
fellers, hev II" he demanded. :'Then
why do We all bully and hound me, till
thars no Twin among ye in peace and
comfort. My ways amt your ways;
know that, and | thank the Lord
for it. Wouldn't be so idle an wicked,
an wasteful as some of ye-not for
all the gold in these hills-and yet ]
don't fight We about it. faint my
business to. Ye've sort of looked
down on me, an been noways back
ward in calm me coward, an meb-
be | am 'cording to yer views; but not
one OF ye went down the shaft in the
mine after the tunnel caved in, and
the hull roof was saggin' to make a
way for the boys who was caught in
that trap-not one OF We, till I'd been
through and put in the props Not
one Of We went down through Black
Canyon to meet the coach and warn
them aboard of her on the night that
we heard that Red Riddles gang he'd
+10 g
near the tenderfoot who brought the
the smallpox up the mountain with
him when he lay raving alone in his
tent. l tellye thar's more'n onesort OF
courage, an I've got as much Of one
sort as you've got of the other. I
don't like yer rough actin, yer fights,
and yer drinkin' ways, and yet I'd be
friends with We, if ye'd hev it that
way. But to be put on and made a
butt Of, isn't to my mind; so now I've
spoke out free all I've got to say, ex-
cept this-that I'll go my way, and We
can 90 your'n. don't want no more
to do with the pack of ye"
Perhaps it was the ring of true grit
III that defiance of them; perhaps a
feeling of shame at being convicted of
the lack Of moral courage by one whom
they had held in such slight esteem.
Certainly it is that when Hark Mogg
broke the foolish silence which settled
over them, he only expressed the senti-
ment Of the group.
'"Thar's more In the chap than we
any ofus thought for, an thar's truth
in what he says. l wor in the mine
when she caved, an in the coach, too,
that night. l take back everything /
ever said ag'in Bunting; more'n that,
I'll fight any chap who don't do the
same"
As it would have been as much as a
mans life was worth to dispute Hark
Mogg, Billy Buntliug was taken into
the affections Of the camp. He be-
came a privileged character, coming
and going as he liked at their evening
gatherings, but never taking any &C.
tive part in the anusements which
claimed their attention.
He was present one night at the
Pioneers Palace when q messenger
came in from one of the neighboring
camps.
"What does yer think, boys? We've
had sheriff's posse over to our Flat.
Wanted to take Dan. Dare for suthin'
he'd done back in the states. II yer
knOWed that ar old war horse, We kin
guess how it turned out. The boys
kinder thought it wa n { their business
to interfere; but Dan. stood up ag'in
the lot, and sent three OF them over
the border, fore he bit the dust. We
give him a fust class funeral, done up
in style, an reckon everybody's sat
isfed or Ort to be''
A growl Of dissent came from Hark
Mogg.
us that what we call standin' by a
friend? [ tell yer, boys, eff a mans
been a good citizen hyar, We he hev no
call to stick at what he's done some
'ere else. | reckon thar amt many
up ag'in them. What 'ud a done
over thar to the fiat? Wall, ]
wouldn't q let Dan fought it out all
alone. Ye may call it resistin' the
law; but what bizness has the law
comm up hyar to interfere with us p? u
A little buzz OF approval went
around the circle, and encouraged by
it, Hank went on:
give ere to perpose. that if any one
of us falls into trouble O. that sort,
the rest sees him through it. Every
body that's agreed step up an Ticker
my treat"
Every man in the palace responded
save one; but as that one was Billy
Bunting, no notice was taken of the
omission.
The camp was annoyed by system
of petty pilfering, which began with
tools and eatables, and ended in the