The record-union., 1891-07-25

rage, ana dashed at Paddy as though to
destroy him, and Paddy whined his
fear. Then, imperatively, and with
clenched hand and waving right arm to
emphasize his words, he said: go home
and wash yourself, put on clean clothes,
then eat heavy breakfast to sober your
sell, and do you get ready fer business"
Paddy fled in tear-inspired obedience.
"And," Jack shouted after him, ''if you
| get drunk to-day before business is over
| / will murder YOU" Jack turned to me,
and I was shocked to see that he, too, had
| been toying with the demon rum at so
early an hour. Colonel" he said, and
his voice was thick with hospitable well
come and his bright eyes smiled with bis
red lips, come have drink with Hobo
jack" which invitation I most politely,
but firmly, declined. Jack said that un-
der the circumstances he would have two
| drinks, which he did, and which appar-
rently refreshed him greatly.
CHARLES" he said, addressing the
saloon-keeper, ''how much for the oil +? l
found the case last night and will sell 1t
to you far below value."
on stole it," the saloon keeper re-
piled, "and I will not buy" which blunt
remark created an embarrassing silence
for a few minutes. Presently the early
morning drunkards crawled out of hol-
low cedar stumps and from under houses
and wandered by devious paths to the
saloon to drink cocktails and more cock
| tails in hopes to steady their Jerking
nerves and to quiet their rebellious stom-
achs. The saloon-keeper left us, and
| Hobo Jack and l sat silently for q short
time and then drifted into q preliminary
conversation that became confidential,
and which terminated i'll the remark
which is the initial sentence of this
sketch, and which / here repeat 81
swipes things" Hobo Jack said; "swipes
things steadily, and works game, and
good game it is, too, on the swedes on
pay days and on Sundays. l make
enough to live comfortably and to keep
! Paddy, too.'
''Explain the game to me, jack" /
said.
''I will if you will promise not to give
it away" he replied. | promised not to
betray him. He looked al me earnestly
for an instant and then said: Colonel, a
few months ago gentleman of Sedro
could live fairly we'll on the gripsackS
that he found. He could keep well
dressed even if the garments did not fit
him. Occasionally drummer for a cigar
and tobacco house would lose bag or a
small sample trunk and the fortunate
finder would be well supplied with ci-
gars, though some of those cigars were
not good" Jack ceased to talk He
| shook his head and puckered his face as
he conjured up the taste and smell of that
famous Skaget Valley Cigar, ''The I'm
|
which he found in one gripsack that be-
longed to gentleman who waved his
hands wildly and palm uppermost
around his shoulders when he discovered
his loss. Those were tough CIGARS" he
said. and then he resumed the one-sided
conversation. 1T was easy in those
happy days of the infancy of Sedro to
| 'rolP a drunken workingman. There
were no dance-halls to absorb money that
should be kept in circulation. Tin-horn
gamblers did not then infest the town and
rob honest Woodworking men at their
brace. games. Paddy and l lived easy
lives. The town grew. Gamblers and
dancing-giris flocked in, and an alleged
hotel was built, and now it is a red-letter
day if we pick up gripsack. We are no
longer particular as to the size or quality.
Time was when l would not look in
business way at anything in the shape of
q grip unless it were made of alligator
skin. AT present I am thankful if l find
a cheap, black oilcloth grip. And last
week, Colonel" here his voice fell to
| whisper and his head hung in shame,
"last week l swiped a Swede's roll of
blankets, and was glad to get them."
Jack, l am dreadfully ashamed of
you!' 1 exclaimed, in mock astonish-
ment.
''Well, Colonel I acknowledge that it
was not NICE but,"-he added briskly.
and as though to cause me to forget the
blanket business-''but next day picked
up bundle of law books that some fool
lawyer was toting to Mount Vernon to
enable him TO make a bluff at cheap
Judge before whom he was to try case
that neither of them knew anything
| about This lucky find gave me my idea.
| You may have noticed Paddy's head !r
he said, looking at me inquiringly. 1 re-
Scared head, and frankly acknowledged
that had noticed it and thought that it
was hard-looking head to expose to the
eyes of a critical world. ''It is a large,
well-shaped head, Jack said, land when
you make Paddy put on a clean shirt,
first having thoroughly washed his face,
and seat him behind a table, he is q
grand-looking man, and far superior in
appearance TO any judge before whom I
have been tried on this coast
"The idea came to me with rush. I
would establish court over which Paddy
should preside. | would be constable
and sole runner-in of drunken Swedes
and make complaints against them, and
collect such fines as the judge in his wis
dom and mercy should sentence the pris-
oner to pay. Arrived at home, 1 ex-
planned the scheme to Paddy. He fell in
with ii at once. We cleaned up the court
room and piled up the law books on the
cable. Then / cut a tin star out of the
bottom of a fruit can and fastened it under
the lapel of my coat, and after had
fashioned club we were ready for busi-
ness. We went to the saloons to search
for drunken Swedes. You see,,, he said,
IN explanation Of his apparent leaning
| toward that Scandinavian people,
''Swedes cannot talk English, they know
nothing of our laws, and, though hard
! drinking people, they are law-abiding
and respectful to officers who represent
| law.
"We quickly found Swede who had
bought semi-jag and who had money. in
his pocket. We watched him for hours,
during which time he passed from the
seml-jag stage to the wholly drunken
condition that results from too free drink
| ing of poor whisky. Paddy hurried
home, leaving me to care for the victim.
l talked TO him and extolled the excel
lence of the beer that was drawn at the
Sapp. Presently the Swede staggered
| out of the undesirable saloon he had been
ing stumps toward the Sapp. That was
my chance. / hastened after him,
grabbed him by the shoulder and said
savagely, What do you mean by getting
drunk in this civilized community?
You have broken the law. Come along
with mep 1 brandished my club and
made as though to strike him. jerked
| him and swore at him. He begged me
not to kill him, and walked as tottering
| child at my side. Soon | had him before
| the first Judge, who with commendable
promptness tined him $40, and who gave
him ten minutes to get out of town. He
paid the fine, and released he staggered
up the railroad track toward the camp
| where he worked.
About dark l caught another drunken
| Swede, who was inclined to resist arrest.
To him / show my tin star. He looked at
it and weakened and appeared at the bar,
/ and was fined S5, after paying which he
| dlgqpnnarpd inf Uc Il 81