St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-01-12
THE ALIDOR.
Bx fla OLD w1THRAE.
CONTINUED from last sunday.1

I the 0tfenSe OF his formal manner-f0r
/ the men and women reveling in those
! dens despise all heights but their own
! low level. So it was a necessary con-
! comitant to cover with grease. dirt and
! indifference cool nerve that could play
! effective measures III case of a braWl.
| The most notorious and most villainOuS
resort of the entire range was located in
| the woods about seven miles from Bes-
! semer. Bill said there was a round
! about tape road to the place, and sug-
| geSted hiring a lumber wagon and
| span of last century mules, by which
means we could better proceed than to
! tramp it-for ''youse got ter dance milf
de gals" said he.
"Ye gods!'' groaned Loot, who by this
time had become so terrified that IA
! tional expression from him was out of
the question. His nerve all seemed to
be on the avenue. riding up and down
! on the cable. The idea of associating
with those flagitious wretches TO the eX-
tent of dancing with them, was morti f.
cation supreme. Bill got the mules by
nearly buying them, and drove up to
where we were crOuched behind kero-
sene barrel-the property of the town
Stoiekeeper.
1t was an Egyptian night. as dark as
the ground floor of well, but the night
never decked those wildS in which Bill
Bickner could not find one of those dim,
tlickerIng guard lanterns, which the
keepers of dens habitually posted as
beacOnS at the gate of the high board
fence which inclosed their isolated lairs.
After brisk drive, in which the adult
mule baked few hundred times, we
came IN sight of the signal light. The
sound of revelry grew more and more
audible as we neared the infectious
I haunt.
Slowly and cautiously Bill drove up
to within 200 feet of the entrance to the
corral, where Loot said he would dis
; mount and walk. With an unusually
! soft and whispered 'whoa! Bill halted
the mules. Loot alighted and said he
would follow the wagon. With full
| confidence in my cigarettetiqu,
! frien'l's integrity,I told Bill to drive OF
! leaving him to guess why the avenue
| god was so anxious to foot it. whoa
jimmie, you'll beast O. apertite. skin and
| eyres,' grunted Bill as we drew up 10
i the gate. "Whoo you bin fust, af0,e
you tether yoah boss" shouted a va ce
! from behind the fence as dark #, IN
emerged from the inside. Bill b.,
you old buck: come out'n help!" was
the f1ippant retOrt of my braWny col
league. ''Well, Bill, yoah owl goV'nel;
glad to see yer; girls all wondrin whe. e
| TT
yer twist every day, some days unce."
Supplementing this salutation, Il e
stranger tied the mules, clutched 3 II
| by the shirt and uShered him into e
/ yard, preSnming, as suppose, t.
Bill's cOmpany-which had as yet o
opportunity for introduction-wou
/ follow up the path which led
to the house. l called, but on.y
aroused the dogs, of which there seemed
an army. They yelped and barked and
! fairly beloved. | could hear the
! chaos of sound issuing from their hid,-
ously jawed heads. Bill heard the
| and reiterated his footsteps to the Wa =
/. on. An expression of mingled COLI
i tempt and disgust settled upon his face
as saw it in the CLEAN of the lantern,
i when told him Loot had probably gone
: into hiding.
A veritable fusilade Of imprecations
and pyrotechnical eXecratiOns were
spread upon the minutes of our meeting
as Bill let loose Orally-a force of ex-
pressiOns such as | never before had
heard him display.
Bill tarried but a moment, and that
was TO finish curSing. Arm in arm we
! then hurried up TO the noisy hut,
/ structure built of huge logs. The con-
! fines of the yard were quite indistinct
to me, the night being so densely black.
, l should judge. however, from close
scrutiny of the kennels and most of the
| yard. as | was led about by Bill and the
/ watch" that the estate thus devoted to
the most d1Uauched lives of men and
women, about two acres In eXtent-aIl
cleared OF timber, except small grove
near the entrance to the yard and few
Eastwood trees near the hut. This
ranch of sin fourished about fifteen
female inmates and watch and gem
eral scrapper, presi ed over and ruled
! with smarting tyranny by man and
woman who seemed to once have seen a
life OF far greater res;pectability. was
astonished beyond belief when,
great, large room. with low cell
ing, blood and filth-stained floor,
and surmounted at an end with grog
stand, to see standing behind that Shiny
counter, man in whom L recognized a
once respectable youth of this city.
The discovery paralyZed me! There he
was dead to everything but that life and
the greed for gold, which thus came
fast to him. but with risk and in the
SUM of hopeless degradation. Bill's
introduction in his quaint and homely
way gave me the entree to every nook
| and corner and brought the house to
| our toast-Which we, of course, offered
frequently. Drink and dance; then
dance and drink. Occasional matinees
for a fight between two or dozen bear-
| eyed toughs. The floor wiped up with
the habiliment of the vanquished. and
then the common whirl again. So on
through the entire night did this round
of vulgarity continue. 1t was shock
ing depravity which met my gaze. Once
L was seized by some female mon
strosity who yanked me out into
the middle of the floor and forced my