The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1888-03-13
CHIQUITO GOT A CHEW.

One of party of four seated around
table i'll an up town cafe was a sedat
looking gentleman, small in stature anC
taultlessly dressed. Extreme neatnes
vas the first thing that struck one in
looking at him, yet there was a sugges
ton of virility about him that made his
careful attire seem out of place. One Of
the four addressed him Familiarity as
'ChiquitO." The name struck another OF
the party, who then heard il for the first
time, as a rather singular way of adj
dressing the sedate If not solemn Mr.
Smith, and he said something 10 that ef-
feet
ooh, that's what our friend here and
all the other fellows used to call me in
the old days when we were forty miners in
CT. :forria," said Chiquito. 'It is a sort
Of hybrid Spanish you know, and means
small; it fitted me exactly in those days.
I'm not of large pattern now, but in
those days, when l was a youth under 60
was not filled out and was very small
although l did carry the United States
mail on horseback over a stretch of forty
miles, nearly all of it lonely mountain
road
You must have met some queer people
and strange incidents on those rides, - one
of the party remarked
mot often" replied Mr. Smith
tance out and back without meeting a hui
man being. Sometimes, however, would
come across a stray Indian and sometimes
meet white man, who always had a
small arsenal strapped about his waist
and pair Of pistols in the holsters of his
saddle 1t was a rencOnter with one of
those gentlemen at the lOneliest spot in the
lonely mountain road that is almost the
only vivid memory have of those days
in the long ago.
There was q general desire expressed to
hear of that incident, and Mr. Smith con-
tnued:
We'll, you know, to be a forty-niner in
California you had to use tobacco in all
forms. [ don't know that there was any
cOmpulsOn about it, legal or moral, but
everybody did, and young as I was I did
what everybody else did. So it was nv
custom to go to the store just before start
ing on my journey and buy a large
hunk as they called it out there
weighing about half a pound which
would last me out and back. But, one
morning, having a small remnant of the
weed left from my last trip, I forgot to
get my usual supply before I started off
with my mail. Queer mail that was, gen
tlemen, and rather expensive to the gov
t@nment. What the contractor got never
knew, but he paid me pretty well for car
rying it, and never had over half dozen
letters. Once in a while a stray news
paper would sometimes escape the many
dangers of cOnfiScatiOn on the long route
from the eastern states and find its way
into my pouch. Sometimes after it got
To me it would reach the person addressed
to, but often it would not for when it at
last got to his postoffice he would be
dead.
''Well, that morning I had only half a
dozen letters and no newspapers, and had |
got about ten miles on the road when | |
made the unpleasant discovery that l
hadn't laid in my supply of tobacco. l
refined up to consider the horrors of the !
situation. l was carrying the United |
States mall which, small as it was, could |
not be trit1ed with by my going back to |
get the tobacco. Yet the idea of going |
without for two days was insupportable |
Finally made up my mind would have
to endure the hardship as best could, and |
logged on again. l had got about half
way on my journey and was we'll UP the
narrow winding mountain road when I
saw mounted man coming toward me.
He was mile or more away when | first
saw him, but owing to the sharp turns in
the road he seemed to be quite near, and
L saw that he was a powerful fellow and
knew he was we'll armed, for that was a
custom of the country. l knew, too, that
i could as safely ask him for his horse as
to have a very large supply, which was
not likely. But l made up my mind he
had to contribute, SO | got out my pistol
but held it so he couldn't see it. AS our
horses touched noses we stopped, which
was nothing unusual, as two white men
meeting always halted to exchange item
of news, of which, as a general thin.
neither had any.
'Mornin', stranger said he, and re
peated the greeting. ANY varmints
ABOUT" he inquired, meaning Indians, and
L assured him there were none Then it
came my turn to ask questions
. Got any tobacco, Stranger
Yes, an I'm goin' ter keep it
Bit 'ou io'
Guess not.
Guess must And in an instant I
had him covered with my revolver. He
TOOK IN the situation at once and was con-
vino l. He drew out long piece of the
blacI stuff called navy which some of
yon gentlemen may have seen, but hope
have never tasted. He extended it to-
ward me, and growled more gruf1y than
before:
Take off what you want But was
not 10 be caught in that way. Still keep
ing him covered with the pistol I sur-
gested that he had better cut that into =
two equal parts himself Drawing q dirk
knife of villainous appearance from his
boot leg he cut the piece as had sug
gested and extended one of them toward
me.
Just drop it in the road. stranger Z
! re old l6, put his knife back in his boot
le gathered up his bride reins and re-
Inarked; Guess you have travelled some
s st, Hope We'll meet again some
: 10u guess right answered, as he
= K