The Lincoln County leader. [volume] (White Oaks, Lincoln County, N.M.) 1882-189?, 1890-05-03
A BAD, BAD MAN.

II was la n little hamlet on tho Clinch
river. Tennessee. There was a general
store. In which dry goods. groceries. sad
dlcrj hardware. croCicry. meats and
whisky were sold in about EQUAL proper
tiuns. a Llack.riiib shop. two houses. a
bridgc--ufd that was all When ! got up
In the morning II was raining. and tho
s.,y that lcldcn hue W iiciI means a driz
zlirg day JciTers would not hear Of my
going on. and observed that 1t would be u
good day for the nonlii uinecrs to come In
and reveal their leading traits Of Char
acter.
We had scarcely finished breakfast
when they bcsai. 10 come in. each man
mounted on n mule. and each man wear
ing II rubber coat. Dy 10 o'clock there
were ~ dozen. III seemed to have Il little
money. but the only purchases made out
sidc Of whisky were a pound of wet.
brown sugar and some plugs Of tobacco.
One man had Il mule with three shoes oil
and the fourth one Gathering. AS lie dis
mounted at tho blacksmith shop he said
to the smith:
"Bill. | want yer to look at that ere
mcwl."
I'm a.lookin'. Tom" was tho com
placcnt reply.
"Do you reckon she'll pull through the
winter"
Bill picked up each foot, squintcd at 1t
like II judge sizing up n witness. and pull
ing of the loose shoe with n twist he spat
three ineS in tho direction Of Ills anvil.
cooked his hat anew, and gravcly 70.
marked:
Tom. she cam possibly do it-no how
can't"
':Shoo. Dilli"
Cant do it. for shore. Nevis Is mcwls
II slio vas II elephant she might. but she's
n mcwl. an aforc spring them feet will
wear of cl'ar up to the jints. Got to hev
shoes on, Tom"
'Shool That's what I rcckoncd. Is
shoes cheaper"
"Skeercely."
'Sllool ! heard thcy was. Kin ye make
II ~ bits, BIZ"
With that for iron. Tom. Six bits
ar tho lowest"
sec about it aforc night II ye hev a
bigger, he wants clothes, an If ye hcv a
me"l, he wants shoes. ON he'll take 'ticu
lar pains to kick agin every rock lie ON
10. It's all wrong. boys. al sometimes !
feel like lcttin' myself loose and lickin'
numbody."
There were ten of us ia tho store, and ]
was listening to the story Of a Union man
Who guided n party of refugees over tho
mountains into kentucky. when a great
%clatter was heard ont doors, and some.
body said that old Dick T'rasker had
''arriv." Next raomcrt hc came in. lis
was u man So years old. six feet high.
weighed 200 pounds. aud was the spcci.
men bad man of tho four counties. lie
didn't look it. lie he'd q smile OH his face.
large blue eyes. Gnd a child would hnvc
gone to him in preference to any other
man in the store. But. if he didn't look
it, he acted it. His first movement was
TO drink IL common tumLicr even full Of
rccnahinc whisky. AS he sat the glass
down L. y; 81 lis rroUtil on the back of
his hand, surveyed each one of us in turn,
and finally growlcd:
"a cursed mean day"
Ono or two replied. but all others were
silcnt. Old Dick was in ugly mood,
armed with knife and revolver, and was
evidently looking for a victim. Not nn
ot..cr man vas armed, and there was the
Ci9 play of nerve which those mountain
mon are celebrated for. Not n man at.
tempted to natter or conciliatc. Not a
man attempted to sneak out doors. They
were helpless, to n certain extent, but
were as cool as %iciclc3.
Old Dick called for aud put down two
More drinks. and each one of them large
enough to bcfliddlo u weak man in five
minutes. While he had his back to tho
crowd LETTERS Whispered TO mo-:
Look out for him. Ar yc hcclcd?"
Yes, ! have ny revolver"
Then git the drop on Him! Plug him
right through the head or hrart!"
"Eut. heavens. man, | cant shoot d per.
can tln,-t, fl.t t-,N IIn l,c,,'t n,-a, .,.l..,
to nc YETI.
wall, keep your eye on him, aud If he
makes II move let him have it,"
began to figure. | began to add up
TIC wealth Of tho Astors. ValGsrbilts,
Coulds and knicicrbockcrs. and feel that
l would give every collar Of it to be ten
miles away. ! had just added tho wealth
OF California. and reduced tho ten miles
10 five. wien old Dick pulled his gun and
fired six shots arouid tho store at various
objects. ut tho sarle time uttcrinG six
blood curdling war vhoops. Not q man
moved. He slowly reloaded the revolver,
ard singled nc ont and came forward
with extended paw.
''llowdy?" lie rrowlcd.
II cribbiAN. Thank you"
I'm Old Dick-bad man."
"lcs."
dad, very bad"
Yes"
kin We foutg'
"No."
That's bad Dad kentry fur a Quaker.
III learn yc."
Say, Dick. remarked ono of tho men,
''he'un hain't ono of us. Hc'un's "a stran-
ger from the moth"
Jim, you shctl' replied the bad man.
Pm rCiup to learn Ioun how ~ font