Wichita eagle., 1888-08-24
SMITHS FIREWORKS.


into the heavens some skyrockets to an
nounce her arrival to the lonely man at tho
lighthouse We thought that this would 70
mind Smith Of something Everything that
happened generally did. When we were
settled again in the smoking room Smith
said:
''That reminds me or
[Cries Of clear hear" Thought it would, ("
etc, etc.1
Smith did not heed the interruption. He
was on his way to England to buy goods
He had told moro stories than any one else
on board, and was generally looked up to as
our most accomplished liar.
"lt reminds me of little fireworks display
had myself on the plains ever so many
years ago. You see at that time was keep
ing general store out in one Of the frontier
! settlements. Trade was principally with the
cowboys, and right good customers they
were, too. Easy to get along with, when
they weren't drunk, and then all you had to
do was to give 'em the earth. That was all
they wanted, that and their own way. Next
week they would come back sober and pay
for the damage without grumble. They
never cared what they paid for a thing as
long as it suited them, and in that they diff
fered from the eastern customers I have
now"
eyes, but how about the freworksr
"Oh, Tn coming to that About the 1st Of
Maya lovely day it was, too-snow and rain
and then sleet and snow again-a typical May
day for that district, acowboy from England
rode up and"--
"From Englandr
'Why, yes. In every sense of the word
There was O ranch a couple Of days travel
from my place that we called England 1t
was owned by an English company. and most
of the boys were from England I guess the
majority Of them didn't care to go back,
either, for one reason and another. Some Of
them were Oxford and Cambridge men-at
least SO was told Pm not q college man
myself, although you may have thought So"
Murmurs of establishment, during which
Smith filled up his pipe again and took IAN
observation" as he called it, from the glass on
the table.
swell, be swung of his horse and said to
me: Smith, says he, DO you know any
thing about fireworksr
"'Eot much says I, except the kind you
fellows give us on Saturday nights, and the
sort Maloney keeps at ten cents q glass
"'Well, says he, we want to have bang
up display at the ranch on the night Of the
Mth.'
'Twenty-fourth Of whatr says I, you
mean the Fourth OF July, don't your
"'You bet We don't, although if this Is
success we will have ono then, too The Oath
of May is the queens birthday, and we are
ranch. Now, we don't care what it costs, We
: Ssch% or1o %
6reworksP
al can order anything, If you fellows say
you'll pay for it.
"'Au right. Here's $500 on account, now
you go ahead. Sky rockets, pin wheels, red
fire, Roman candles, bombs and ell the rest
of it. Besides we want q couple of barrels
full of squibs.'
Is 'Squibsf says I, whats themr
"'Well, fire crackers. I think they can 'em
here. Do you know how to set 'em off
81 Not a thing. Light 'em with q match,
don't your
81 fancy so, but we want this thing done
right, and don't you forget it. Where will
you get 'em fromg
-" 'Chicago.'
"'All right; tell them to send along ten
derfoot who's posted on that sort Of thing
We want first class display. Well pay all
his expenses and use him white. He'll have
the biggest time he ever had You come out
with him and show him the way, and we'U
use you white, too
swell, on about the Goth along came tho
Chicago man with the ammunition in lot
Of boxes and barrels. We loaded 'em up on
burros and of we started for the ranch. The
boys had been in, off and on, to see that there
would be no hitch in the thing, and the night
the things came two Of the cowboys came in,
and they said they would see us through to
the camp, for there were rumors of Indians
about, and we didn't want to lose our scalps
We kept sharp lookout all that day, but
saw nothing Of any redskins In fact, we
did not really have any fears for 'em, any
how, 50 near the settlement, and we camped
out the first night feeling easy. We ought
to have known that that was just when We
might have expected them, but the boys were
careless, and they had taken on board good
deal Of liquor at the settlement, and had
more with 'en. In fact, whisky was to form
good part of the celebration, and they bad
q lot with 'eIn.
st was about midnight when I woke up,
hearing a big yell, and before I could turn
around was tied SO tight couldn't move.
The Chicago man wasdreadfully frightened,
but / don't know that he was any moro
scared than we were, for we knew better'n
he did just what was waiting for US. Tho
cowboys were sobered up, now that they
were tied with their own lassoes 50 that they
couldn't bulge
'They tied us onto our burros, and at day
light they moved on for the mountains, keep
ing down the hollows as well as they could
This day was the Gath, and We had expected
to get into camp that evening. When ONO Of
the cowboys got near me be whispered:
Sour only chance is to let EN- know some
way that we have a lot of whisky with US,
and then they'll all get drunk and We'll have
a chance Of getting away
Don't you bet on that" / says; "some of
'em will keep sober enough to keep Us all
right, tied as We aren
'sTiedf" says the cowboy. ~ can slip out
Of this tie the moment want to. No Indian
can tie me up. used to travel with a spir-
itualist company and am up to the tieing
game"
Well, we camped that night four Or five
miles north Of the ranch, but in a hollow
where We were out Of sight They didn't
light Ere, and we knew there was little
chance Of the boys finding US, although we |
expected they would all be on the lookout. !
The cowboy motioned to his guard that be |
wanted to get at a bag that was on o1e Of /
the burros and the Indian opened it for him. /
It was full Of jugs packed in prairie grass
There YVES great excitement in camp when l
kks Indians found the whisky.
But it was just as I said; four Of EN- /
stayed as sober o. judges and kept the rest
rujet Still they could not resis. the ternr-
o.-uai 70 raKe sv1g Or Two. ana al were