Wichita eagle., 1888-07-14
rs. MIN falling swilisht had med With

The swfft falling twilight had hffed with
darkness the little room that the half open
door revealed. TIE ''slouch7 knocked, for
manners sake. and gave great start IS
low moan replied The moan was repeated,
and, otter calling questioningiy several
times, hs entered
A match. hu-riedly lighted, revealed the
only OCCUPANT of the shack, gaunr, feebly
tossing man. who, stretched on the rude bed,
seemed hardly conscious Of the intruder's
presence.
whats the matter, pardnerr the ''siouch7
asked, kindly.
The other. who seemed TO be CONSCIOUS only
in ghmmerirg fashion. strove fesoly 10
answer. and as the ''slouchS bent close to him
there came the one word:
Water"
A cooling draught from the well near at
hand seemed to revive the sick man. and IS
the s'slouch" bent above him again ne WINS
pefed hoarsely:
Thank We, pardner Giti Smallpox"
Out Into the darkness the ''slouch" fed as
il pursued By demon When he paused hs
was almost to the wire fence that surrounded
the claim. Ee took OF his battered hat and
looked up st the stars, swlnkhns into sight,
oae after another.
The deadly danger of the plague was only
one more link TO his chain Of misfortunes
Perhaps if De fed he could escape it The
man in the cabin, if LETT alone, would die OF
neglect, If not Of the plague. A ''slouch'
could help him 10 battle with death Just as
well as the most fortunate and infUentia!
citizen Of Coyote City TIE sufferer in the
shanty had no claim on him, but
Then he replaced the battered hat, and
turning about in the darkness, strobe toward
the open door, from which came long
cleaning shaft of light from the candle ne
had Lit Presently the door was shut, and
the SLOUGH and the sufferer were alone with
the SlagUe.
Il was lust s1ch another day as the one
upon which, two weeks before the ''slouch@
left Coyote City, that gaunt, pale man,
weary with his long tramp from the isolated
claim near the lone mound, stepped just be-
yond the end Of the one street Of Coyote and
shouted hoarsely to lad
Tell tie big gun IN the town to come
yar.'
The lad very properly sought Col Bender
son IS the Individual most worthy Of the
title of big gun" That gentleman rose
from a table in the Jumbo saloon, and
Piercs Fanshaw ana Arthur Lemon followed
him.
Halt. thar" cried the stranger, when
they had gotten within q hundred yards OF
him
News fies fast in a border settlement, and
quite squad OF curious ones stroLied up AID
joined the colonel and his friends
The colonel did not heed the command, but
continued to advance.
Halt, tharr' repeated the stranger
Smallpox You'll halt now, reckoi:.." lie
added, grimly.
Not only did Col Henderson halt, but he
turned so quickly that be nearly fell on his
face, and started to hurry away.
Halt, thar was the command
A huge revolver cleaned III the hand O.
the stranger, and the colonel stopped
What does this mean, SIR he demanded,
rather family "Who are your
Names Ike Masters" the stranger shouted
in reply. know William Hstfelds"
Never heered Nv hinli" Col Henderson
answered positively.
Hatfield was the 'slouch's' NAME" said
Pierce Fanshaw.
Never knowed it Waun-to the stranger
-''vhat " himT
sNrh'n." answered r.e Masters Hes
dead, that's all Don't reckon any w you'll
keer none, betn's yoI run MIN ont; but ice.
want TO say that the man you called the
SLOUGH died a hs-oi'
The group about the colonel listened in
awed silence as the stranger shouted TIE
story Of the ''sIopch's" heroism and death
"He sent you some word" Ike Masters
added, as be closed the recital said fer me
to say to you that tie last effort " the
SLOUGH want failure, bU5 that fer once La
'complshed what he set out TO do What he
set out to do was TO save the LIE Nv Ike Mas
tiers. which Ike Masters is me-
The colonel, usually ready tongued, was
silent
An Jest want 70 say furder," shouted
the caunt stranger, that l t'ain't over1y
strong yit, but il the cuss, or any two ~ taa
cJIsses, what bossed the rInnia' out Nv the
SLOUGH VIII step out from the crowd, NE and
ole Betsy yar7-tappiag his huge revolver
will give EN- au the satisfaction they want,
case they feel insGl.sd when | say tua- ever
man connected with the runnin' out w VIII
lam Hatfield is liar an boss thief,n
These epittess may not have been appro-
pirate TO the occasion, but they were OF tie
kind that on the border are regarded as the
Geedliest insultS
An Jest want 90 add went on Ike Mas
tiers, that nv claim is on the southwest
quarter Nv Section Three, an kin allurs oe
found thar or rharabouts, case any bod
wants to take this var matter Jpn
And turning &c strobe across the prairie.
The crowd that soon gathered n the Jumbo
saloon was less noisy than usual; they wanted
to hear what Col Henderson would say, bat
that gentleman did not seem inclined to
{ talk
! .sMabby / made mistake" was GIL be
said
Few Of Us would 60 as the 'slouch' did, "
said Pierce Fanshaw- Il, for one, would not
die for anybody bus myself"
I There is verse IN scripture began
/ Nj. Arthur Lemon, OF Boston
/ And with which i. will doubtless surprise
you 70 learn that l am passably familiar, y
! interrupted Pierce Faushaw- And greater
love hate 10 nan than this, that a man Lay
. down his life Tor his friends Frank Las
( hes Pictorial.
! z Suggested Thought.
! Maetstrate-Thirty days, Uncle RastTl