Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1889-09-27


more or less. She was little thlngs
mid lin young, I lodged, though alays
calculated she looked a little sort o.
faded. She was kinder quiet, though
she had a pretty peart look, too. They
said she shot a feller at Sidney, but Pete
Ferris said it wasn't her a tail. so 1 don't
know nothing bout 1T.
ssAnyhOW, Bill jerks got acquainted
with her one trip. and they jess seemed
to muchuly fall in love with each other
at first sight. Well, We didn't pay no
attention to this, but we wa mt quite
ready for what fOlIered. Bill got a load
Of merch 'ndise for Lead City, an the
mex mOrnin' pulled out, and the pint Is
right here: Settin' up on the saddle on
the near wheel mule was Pearl Queen,
ies' 'sif she'd aIays been there; an Bill
was walkin' IOngside, mebby a little
cIoser'n gen'ral, swearin' at the mules
ies' 'sif he never pulled out no other
way.
"WeI, we all looked, an that's about
all we did do, when we see 'em comm
there happened to be quite lot of US
in camp there, an we was ies' hOOlzin'
Uphill had camped down by the
freight house. Pearl had on q new cali
ker dress, mostly red and perty like. an
I noticed she 'peared rather better look
in than gen raj thought. Big Smith
was camped with US. He's one o. these
ere smart AIecs, an a fghtin' man, an
didn't like Bill none too we'll, nOhoW.
He steps mp when they comes along an
says he: 'MOrnin' Bill 'MOrnin' Big
Smith, says Bill, an stops his team 4
see you got Pearl Queen with You.' saws
Big Smith. 1T does pear that way
says Bill. 4 b'lieve I'm somewhat
a'quainted with Pearl myself, says Big
Smith, kinder smart like. 4 low you
don't know anything bad bout her, saws
Bill, bitin' his teeth together hard.
We'll, T. Crack! an Bin hit him
one on the jaw, so we could all hear it,
sayin' at the same time: What is il you
knOw9' Big Smith fell like a log an lay
there for most a minute, Bill all the
time waitin' for an answer. Pretty soon
Big Smith got so he could kinder roll a
little an then said: Bill, it amt worth
mentiOnin'!' Then Bill Whistled to his
mules an went on.
''NotlIing but fights for Bill jerks
after that. He had to stop an lick the
man that KEEP the Red Corral fore he
got out o. town, and he pounded two
weighters at Willow Greek, an at Bad
River he an the man that run the road
ranch there fit twenty minutes, an Bill
finally got him up to the bank of the
stream an showed him in an that settled
him. He would meet a man, the man
would say something bout Pearl or go
to GRIMM, an Bill would stop, an step
up an whale him, come back, kinder
mop off the thickest of the blood with
his sleeve, swear at the mules an go on,
while Pearl reached down an patted him
on the shoulder an cheered him up.
''Pearl stayed with him right along.
She didn't ride on the mule so much
after the first trip, 'cept when they were
gOin' into town, when Bill always had
her ride it, so that if there was anybody
round that wanted to make any remarks,
that she would tract their 'tention and
they would make 'em, an Bill could
stop and have it out with 'em. But it
wasn't long fore folks got over sayin'
much IN Bills hearin'-aWful unhealthy
practice. One day when they was pullin'
into Rapid City one of these pictur' men
tried to take their pictur' with Pearl on
the mule, but Bill caught him at it an
went over an kicked one of the legs off
his outfit, an as that only left two on it,
it didn't stand very steady an the cJlss
looked kinder sheepish, put it under his
arm an made a sneak.
''BilI al'ays fixed her up a nice place
to ride in the trRil-WagOn, an when she
wasn't there or on the mule she would
walk long by his side. s'pOse it was
very pleasant for her to hear Bill swear
in at the mules all day, cause she
thought heap Of him. When one o.
the rest of US camps, of course we aPays
have to rustic round an cook our own
bacon, but she done his cOOkin' right
along, an good cOOkin' it was too, cause
Bill asked me to eat with them sev'ral
times. Biscuits wy she used to make
biscuits that tasted, wy, durn it all, they
tasted most like they used to at home
Bill an Pearl al'ays got along powerful
/ fine together. They wasn't married
regular, you know-Bill said he didn't
believe IN any such monkey business,
an / reckon she didn't neither, but Bill
told me it was going to be a steady thing;
an it was.
'Well, it was a hard life for the girl,
al'ays on the rOad-cold an stormy
through the winter an hot and dusty
when summer cOme-never sleepin' in a
house an not hardly ever being in one
at all, .cept occasionally nebby a store,
or freight depot, or something. But she
seemed to stand it first-rate an not want
EOthin' else. Bill was mighty careful
bout her stayin' in the wagon an keep
in warm in cold or rainy weather, so I
( dunno, mebby the life was bout as easy
as any she was used to. Her'n' Bill
was al'ays happy anyhow, an I s'pOse
that's a better record than some folks
that live finer an are more solder mar
ried can show.
''Well. I reckon there amt so very
much more to tell, though it's kinder
hard work to tell it at all. One night,
way long this summer, I camped back
here, near Sturgis. got up early and
/ pulled out for DeadwOOd, not thinzin
bout anything. I'd gone six or seven
come round a bend in the road right
'mong the biggest of the mountains,
when what should see but Bill Jenks's
outfit camped ahead ways 1t want