Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1889-02-20
JOE AND CAPTAIN JIM.
There's More Than One Way OF
Collecting a ELL

II nave collected DlllS IN many ways ana
in many places; have begged for pay
ment, bribed for payment, stormed for pay
ment; have wheedled, implored, hattered
and abused; have walked the heavens
above, the earth beneath and the waters
under the earth, but never collected
claim as Joe Smith once did-and / don't
believe I'd ever care to-"
So said a Georgia merchant as he
stretched himself out in big easy chair in
a Broadway hotel, filled as to body by the
comfort of an excellent dinner, and as to
mind by the consciousness of good days
work well done His trip to New York for
goods promised well, his stay in the city
was nearly ended and he had one or two
encouraging letters from the South. Nat
urally he was cheerful, and just as natural
ly his talk drifted back to old days, when he
was a deal younger than he is now, and
when things in Georgia were very different
from what they are now.
''Joe came to US from Connecticut five
years before the war broke out,' said the
old gentleman, getting fresh light for his
cigar and fresh grip on his story at the
same time 1--WE were ex-Nutherns our
selves, and we were glad to get him. He
was big, sinewy fellow, not pretty, by any
means, but about as tough physically as any
thing ever turned out by diet of pie and
landscape of rocks. He wasn't boy even
in those days; he must have been well on
toward thirty, and his face was so scanned
that he looked older. He looked strong,
and if stranger ever doubted his
powers Joe's voice settled it. It was
one of those big, deep voices that
made you think of a bass drum
and calculate that the owner must be
mighty hefty chap. Well, we liked Joe,
but it was very hard to get work to suit
him. He could sell goods sometimes, but
he was apt to frighten the women with
that voice of his. Then, too, he was too
quiet to get along with some of the young
bloods among our customers, who always
liked to talk cock-fghts or shooting or
horses when they came in to buy a bill of
goods. Joe was willing to please 'em, but
he couldn't. He'd roll out something in
that thunder voice of his, but what he SAID
never seemed appropriate. Then we sent
him North on trip, but even there ne
didn't shine as a buyer. So finally we put
him on making collections in the hope that
he would prove g good hand at that, but
while he was worker through and through
he never got the knack of wheedling people
out of their dollars.
cit was about year before the war
when Joe came in from one of his collect
ing trips about as empty handed as usual.
While it was, of course, a good while be-
fore the beginning of the hostilities, we had
found that among some of our customers
there was growing up a feeling against
US, not so much because we were creditors
| as because we were known to be from the
North. We were, of course, getting little
| anxious over the look of things, and few
days before had got piece of news which
increased our forebodings 1t was that
certain Captain Jim, who owed US a con-
siderable amount, was preaching among
: : his neighbors the doctrine that there was
no need of settling up the accounts we held
and that he didn't mean to do so.
Now, as he was the cock of the walk in
his district, a big, burly fellow, with lots of
| assurance, and had the reputation of a
fighting man, his stand did US great deal
| of harm. Many of his friends owed US
money, and they delayed settling up, pre-
| ferring to see how we would deal with Cap
tain Jim. Just how we were going to handle
him was the question we were discussing
| the day Joe came In. We had written the
| Captain, and that morning had received an
answer from him that if we wanted the
money wed have to send somebody to take
| it out of his hide
"' WELL SAID Joe, coolly enough, guess
I'd better call on the Captain
| "Now, as he had never seen the Captain,
and didn't realize what tough customer he
was, we tried TO persuade Joe not to go.
| But go he would, for he seemed to feel that
he ought to prove his usefulness in some
way. He equipped himself with the big
| gest knife he could find, brace of huge
| horse pistols, long double barreled gun
/ and an axe noticed that in choosing his
tools all he appeared to care for was size.
! Neither of the pistols were loaded, and
doubt if he knew how to charge the gun
Long before starting he took care to send
| by one of the Captains nelghbors who
changed to come to town news that he was
/ going to go up to tho Greek where the Cap.
tain lived, and that about Friday morning
there'd be about the prettiest fight Georgia
had ever seen if the Captain wasn't ready
to settle. The Creek was good two days.
ride distant and couldn't understand why
Joe should take such precious care to let his
enemy know he was coming.
"'Well,' Joe explained, 'look here If he
hears I'm coming he'll never wait for me-
He's too fond of fight for that. He'll SIM
ply.start out 10 meet me and III get him
/ of his own ground, where I'd have no
chance in the world He will have lust
| about time to get to the tavern at the
| Forks Thursday night and guess we'll
kinder compose our little difficulty there
where be won't have so much show to use
his guns
~ 1t happened that had business not far
from the Forks on Thursday, and, by hard
riding. managed to reach the tavern late
that night The people about the house
were full of excitement, and soon learned
that Joe and the Captain were both on the
ground. They had ridden up from oppo-
| site directions about the same time an
hour earlier, and their armaments, for the
Captains equipment duplicated Joe's, bar
ring the axe, had created a sensation.
Every body knew the Captain, of course,
but it so happened that nobody had ever
seen Joe before. Neither man would talk
Of his errand, and all the loungers could
agree upon was that there were two
mighty bad men In the house and that the
next day was likely TO see some fun some
where thereabout. Looking into the main
room OF the inn / saw the champions, each
sitting near glass and surrounded by his
weapons. But 1t was clear in an instant
that il their relations were formal they