The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1886-10-09

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"Tbcu irr dom : pnHt no 1T ,r1,rout'
tn. grocery bushes, of Mr.. Eo-oommon
although adequate and sufficient for tn, vii
lo-r, an,rot pyhau@ius or everlasting TO tn,
proprietor. The reii!laS Of the porI, and -four
barrel of the average miner WAS the work Of
a brief hour on Saturday nights, hut the daily
ropleui,hmautof the average miner with WM,-
ks was arIuous and iuccsSaut. Eosoommou
spent NOR" time behind his lar than hi, gro
GERS counter. Add 10 this the fact that a long
shod-lllio extension or wing bore the legend,
Cosmopolitan Hotel, Board or odguS by
the Day or Week II RIOS Common, aud You
got an idea Of the variety of the proprietor ;
functions The "hotcl," however, wa, moro
directly under the charge of Mrs. Ro,com-
mou lady OF thirty years, strong, tru ulcnt
and goolhearted.
Mr.. Ros'ommon had early adopted tho
theory that most of his customers were in
sane. and were to be alternately bullicd or
placatcd, rs the case might be Nothing that
occurred, no extravaganza Of speech nor act,
ever RULED his equilibrium, which was as
dO-gtd and stubborn us it was outWarlly
calm. When not serving liquor, or in the in
toryal while 1t was being drank, be was al
ways wiping his counter with an exceedingly
dirty towelor indeed anything that caIae
handy. Miners, noticing this purely perfume
tory habit occasionally supplied him silly
with articles inconsistent with their service
fragments Of their shirts and undertaking,
-four sacking, tow, and once with "a flannel
pcttiCoat Of his uife's stolen from tho
line in the back yard Roscommon would
continue his wipins without looking up, but
yet conscious OF the presence of each customer.
"And its not another dhrop yen git, Jack
Brown, until yeve wiped out tho black score
that stands asin yer "And It's there ye arc,
darlnt, and it's hore's the bottle that's been
lukin' for yo sins Saturday" "And fwhot
hev you done with tho last sent yo yo divil
of n McCorkle, and here's me back that's bluk
entiorely wild dipping Until the pork bari IN
civ ye the best sides, and ye spending yur last
clint on a tare into Gilroy. Whist and if it's
fer foighting ye are, boys, there's an ILL
CANT bit of sod beyant the corral, and it may
be mesclf IL come out with shtick and be
socablc"
On this particular day, however, Mr. Ros-
common was not in his usual spirits and when
the clatter Of horses hoofs before the door
announced the approach OF strangers, he alb
somtely ceased wpinS his counter and looked
up a. DR., Guild, the president and secretary
Of tho now company strolc into the shop
"Wo are looking" said tho president, "for
man by the name of Wllcs, and three
Mcxicans known as Pedro, Manuel aud
Miguel
"Yo are"
awe nrc!'
"Faix, md hope yell foind 'em And if
yen git from EN- the score I've got agin EN-,
darlint, I'll add blessing to it."
There was n laugh at this from the by
ISLANDERS, who, somehow, resented tho intrl-
sion of these strangers
Il fear You will find it no laughing matter,
gentlemen said DR.. Guild, little stllly,
when | tell you that murder has been com.
hour of that murder put up that notice signed
by thee Names" and Dr. Guild displayed tho
paper
There was a breathleSs silence among the
crowd MS they eagerly pressed around the
doctor. Only RoScommon kept on wiping his
counter.
"Hou will observe, gentlemen, that tho
name OF Roscommon also appears on this
paper rs one Of the original locaters"
And sure darlint," said Roscommon, with
our looking up "if yo'vo no better ividcnce
agin thin boys than you have forninst me, it's
homo yc'd bother be riding TO wanst. For
its mcsclf ~ hasn't stirred fut out of tho store
the day and noiSht-more bctokcn as the boys
I've Saryed kin testify"
That's SO; Ross right" chorused tho
crowd. We've been running the old man all
night"
Then how comes your name on this
papor''
90 murdhcr, will ye listen To him, hovs'
Is If "vc'v f"'ly that owed me II whisky bill
didn't come To mo and say: AN, Misther
I.H-."amun,' or 'Mujkr,' as the Case
might hc, sure its an ilghunt sthrilsc I've
made thi, day, and it's mcself that has put
down Your name a. an ri,inal locator, and
Yer fortunes made Mr.. Eosnommun, and will
yer fiji me up another quart for the good
LUX hctuue YOU aud mo Al, hut ask Jack
Brown over yam II 1t isn't sick that | am C
bis ORIGINAL locations
..... !. to-. t..IT...-...l 81.
wac'ira. d.. F.icaiion, cony iur,I taoportv that
thy h.vt blunderel, that they could obtain
=. Glow To the real cillpri's here, audthat any
attempt Ly threats wupll meet violent ONO
.---- .-ADLLul.-., IL Au-tur WY -------. .-..t.