Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1890-10-11
The door through which i had burst like a

III.
The door through which i had burst like a
ba~terng-ram opened straight into a sort of a
kitchen. so although | entered in a most UNI
dignifed way, In fact on my hands and knees,
1 was well-eStablished in the center of the
room before the man and woman emerged
from behind the door, where my successful
assault had thrown them. | stood up and
faced them. They were a couple of ordinary,
respectfully attired country people. The man,
a sturdy, st%rong-built, ~bull-necked rascal,
stood Sowing at me, and, l concluded, max
ing up his mind as to what course to pursue.
my good people" i said, ''yOu are behay-
Ing In the most unheard-of manner. Can't
you understand that | mean TO pay you well
for any trouble j give you? But whether you
like 1t or not, here l stay tonight. TO turn
Inc ont would be sheer murder.n
So saying | pulled off my overcoat. and be-
gan shaking the snow out Of my whiskers.
L daresay my determined attitude, my re-
spectacle, as well as my muscular appearance,
Impressed my unwilling hosts. Anyway,
they gave In without more lido. Whilst the
woman shut the door, through which the
snowilakes were whirling, the man said SUI
lenly:
We'll, you'll have to spend the night on a
chair. We've no beds here for strangers.
Specially those as amt wanted
Very well, my friend. Having settled
the matter you may as well make yourself
fEN"'HhAs w oh' aAh pun MY ibINf uIlltE
cover, and give him a feed OF some sort
make q mash II you can"
After given the woman a quick glance as
II warning, my scowling host lit a horn Ian
tern. and went on the errand / suggested. |
gladly sank INTO a chair, and warmed myself
before a cheerful fire. The prospect of spend
ing the night amid such discomfort was not
aliuring, but l had, at least, a roof over my
head.
As a rule, the more churlish the nature. the
more avaricious IL is found 10 be. NY prom
Use of liberal remuneration was, after all. not
without It's effect upon, the strange couple
whose refusal 10 afford me refuge had so
nearly endangered my life. They conde-
scended 10 get me some tea and rough food.
After | had disposed OF all that. the man pro-
duced a bottle OF gin. We filled our glasses.
and then, with the aid of my pipe, | settled
down to make the best OF a night spent in a
hard wooden chair.
1 had come across strange people in INV
travels, but | have no hesitation in saving
that my host was the sullenest, sulkiest. most
bo0Tish specimen of human nature | had as
yet met with. In spite of his recent ~ill-treat-
ment of me / was quite ready to establish
matters on q friendly footing, and made sew
eral attempts to draw him into conversation.
The brute would only answer In monOsylla-
bleS, or often not answer at all. So j gave
up talking as a bad job, and sat in silence,
smoking and looking into the fire, thinking a
good deal, it may be, of some one | should
have met that morning at Lilymere, had the
wretched snow but kept off.
The long c~lock-that cumbrous eight-day
machine which inevitably occupies one cor
ner of every cottager's kitchen-struck nine.
The woman rose and left MS. | concluded
she was going to bed. II so | envied her.
Her husband showed no sign of retiring. lie
still sat over the fire, opposite me. BY this
time / was dreadfully tired: every bone I'm
my body ached. The hard chair which, an
hou- or two ago, seemed all l could desire,
now scarcely came up to my ideas of the com
tort | was justly entitled to claim. My sulky
companion had been drinking silently but
steadily. Perhaps the liquor he had poured
into himself might have rendered his frame
If mind more pleasant and amenable to rea-
lon.
"My good fellow / said, "your chairs are
excellent ones Of the kind, but deucedly un-
comfortable. i am horribly tired. IL the re-
bed for me to sleep in, couldn't yon find a
mattress or something TO lay down before the
iire2''
You've got all you'll get tonight" he an
swered, Knocking the ashes out of his pipe.
'Oh, but / say?'
$50 do 1 say. l say this: II you don't like
1t you can leave il. We didn't ask you TO
come"
You internal beast" | muttered-aId
HNesb ~ ~ nNitdtC utI u NV btti NJ bt
teriy, worn out, / would have had that bullet
headed ruffian up for a few rounds ON his
own kitchen floor, and tried 10 knock him in
to a more amiable frame OF mind.
Never mind" i said, but, remember,
civility costs nothing, and often gets reward
cd. However, II you wish to retire To your
w couch, don't let your native Doliteness
stand In your way. rray don't hesitate ON
my account Leave plenty of fuel, and l
shall manage until the morning."
where FOL stay, L STAY" he answered.
Then he filled his pipe, and once more re-
lapsed into stony silence.
l bothered about him no more. l dozed off
Tor some hours. l was in an uncomfortable
sort OF half sleep, crammed full of curious
dreams-dream from which l started, won
dering where / was and how / got there. |
even began to grow nervous. All sorts of
horrible travellers tales ran through my head.
1t was in just such places as this that unsus-
pecting voyagers were stated to nave been
murdered, and robbed, by just such unmiti-
gated ruffians as my host-I can tell you that
altogether i spent a most pleasant night.
TO make matters worse and more dismal,
the storm still ragged outside. The wind
moaned through the trees, but it had again
changed, and knew from the sound on the
wlndow-panes that heavy rain had succeed
ed snow. AS the big drops Of water found
their way down the large old-fashioned
chimney, the fire Kissed and spluttered like a
spiteful vixen. Everything combined To de-
privc me OF what dogs sleep l could by sheer
perslstency snatch.
l think I tried every position which an ordi-
nary man, not an acrobat, Is capable Of adopt
ing with the assistance Of a common wooden
chair. / even lay down on the hard flags. l
actually tried the table. | propped up the up
per half OF my body against the corner walls
OF the room; but found no rest. At last I
o. "a nm all than of aIAartp< .~1 x.Il..
aroused myself. / comforted myself by say
Ing that my misery was only temporary-that
the longest night must come to an end.
MY companion had by now succumbed to
fatigue, or TO the combined effects of fatigue
a gin-and-water. His head was hanging
BILE attitude. / chuckled as / looked at him,
feeling quite sure that II such q clod was cap
able Of dreaming at all, his dreams must be
worse even than mine. / filled another pipe,
poked the smoldering logs into q blaze, and
sat almost nose and knees over the fire, find
condition Of the churl before me, and thank
ing the Lord ] was not like unto this man.
Suddenly an idea flashed across me.
had seen this fellow before. But when
or where ! could not remember. His feat
ures, rs ] looked at them with keener inter-
est, seemed to grow more and more familiar
to me. Where could ! have met him? Some
where or other, but where? racked my
brain to associate him with some scene, some
event. Although no was but an ordinary
c0untryman, such as one sees scores of in q
ride, only differing from his kind on ac-
count OF his unpleasant face, ! felt sure we
were old acquaintance. When he awoke for
q moment and changed his strained attituce,
feeling grew stronger and stronger. Yet
puzzle and puzzle As 1 would I could not call
10 mind q former encounter; 30 at last Y be-
gan 70 think the supposed recognition was
pure fancy on my part.
Having smoked out several pipes, I thought
tina, q cigar would be Q slight bFeaklto the
monotony Of the nights proceedings So 1
drew out my case and looked at It's contents.
Among the weeds was one OF a lighter color
than the Others. As l took II out Il said %
myself, Why, old Brand gave nle that ord
when I was last ut his house" curiOusly
enough that cigar was the missing link In the
chain OF my memory. As j held II In my
hand ! knew at once why my hosts ugly face
Deerned familiar y me.