Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1891-09-05

sir--the middle Of the roal-clo~a mo 10 the
wagon Do you think yuu vii ever buck at
monte again, Armstrong;
And 10 the poor culprit, self arrested. self
condemned, coughcd and sneczed and choke,l
and walked and talked, mile after mile, hour
after hour, while the great wagon groaned
and creakod, the driver bawled and swung
his whip, the patient oxen gave their
shoulders to the yoke, and the golden sun
OF September sunk wearily toward the west
The shadows OF evening were beginning TO
fall when the wagon halted at the place
called Packers Roost, ON the Yuba.
Here we rest" sighed Armstrong, just
above his breath, as he looked at the stream.
'No you DON'T answered the head Of the
firm. You buck your money away at
monte and talk about rest Now, Arm
strong, 90 right down the bank, sir, into the
river As the command was peremptory
and "A spirit of olssiience seemed the safest,
Armstrong obeyed without parley and down
he went, over his head and ears, store clothes
and all, into the cold mountain stream. II
was u long time that he remained in the
water and under the water. He would come
20 the surface every little while To talk, you
understand II was impossible for Arm
strong 10 forbear talking. ''Oh, .es,n he
would say as he came up and snuffed the
water from his nose, you'll buck your
money away at three card monte, will youi
How do YOU like the water curefr His
words were. of course, duly punctuated by
irregular plunges and catchings Of the
breath.
1t so happened that the man who kept the
shanty hotel at the Packers Roost had "A
for xxif Sha lunfpU m Kind
hearted creature, sesought her lord To 30
down and ''help the poor crazy man out of
the water.n
"Pshaw," said the or driver, she amt a
crazy man; he's fool He walked behind
my wagon and talked TO himself all the way
from Scrabbletown.n
Thereupon arose a lengthy discussion about
the difference between crazy man and a
fool But after while the landlord and the
OK driver went down to the bank and agreed
70 60 TO Armstrong; security against buck
ing at monte in the future il he would come
out of the water. So he came out and went
up 10 the house.
"will you have a cup of tea or coffeef
said the woman, kindly.
''Yes madam" said Armstrong, ~ will
take both"
"He is crazy, sure as can be- said the
woman. But she brought the two cups as or
dered .'Milk and sugar. she inquired,
kindly as lefore.
'No. madam, mustard and red pepper"
answered Armstrong.
IL do believe he is a fool" said the woman,
as she went for the pepper aud mustard.
Armstrong, with deliberate GOODNESS, put
spoonful of red pepper into the tea and
spoonful OF mustard into the coffee. Then
be poured the two together into tin cup.
Then the old conflict ragged again, and high
above the din of rattling tin cups and pewter
spoons, sounded the stern command: Arm
strong, drink II, sir-drink IL down. A mo
mentary hesitation and a few desperate
gulIs and il was down. "Oh, yes,n said our
hero, as his threat burned and the tears ran
down his eyes, "you buck your money awny
at three card monte, do your
Now, the Thonpsonian dose above de-
scribcl, very nearly ended the battle with
poor Armstrong. He was silent for quite
time, and everybody else was silent After
while the landlord ventured 10 suggest that
a bed could he provided IL one was desired.
"No,n said Armstrong, "l'n sleep ON the
floor. You see, stranger" said he eyeing
the landlord with a peculiar expression,
''this fool has lccn sqnandering gold dust at
1tAh Asioheo AAAA 49, hoe wv
serve To sleep in bed"
So Armstrong ended the days battle by
going to bed ON the floor Then came the
dreams He first dreamed that he was sleep
ing on the North Pole and his head in the
tropics, while all the miners in Yuba were
ground siuicing in his stomach. Next, he
dreamed that he had swallowed Mount
Shasta for supper, and that the old mountain
had suddenly become an active volcano and
was vomiting acres and acres Of hot lava
Then the scenes shifted, and he seemed to
have found his fsnal abode in a place of vile
smells and fierce flames, politely called the
antipades OF heaven. And while he writhed
and groaned in sleeples agony fork tail
fiend, with his thumb at his nose, was saying
to him in "A mocking voice; You buck your
money away at three card monte, do you
heyf' But even this troubled sleep had an
end at last and Armstrong arose. When he
looked at himself In the broken looking
glass that hung ON the wall he thought his
face bore traces OF wisdom that he never saw
there before. So he said, II think you have
learned lesson, Armstrong. You can go
back 10 your mining now, sir, and leave
monte alone
Time showed that he was right His lesson
was well learned The miners looked little
curious when he reappeared at the camp and
still called him crazy. But he had learned a
lesson many Of them had never learned, poor
fellows They continued their old ways,
making money fast and spending IL foclishly
even giving it 10 monte dealers. But the
Armstrong firm was never broken in that
way but once After that, whenever he saw
one of the peculiar signs, Robbers Roost, y
"Fleeccrs' Dem or Fools Last Chance
\
knowing air and say to himself as he passed
along, "oh, yes, Armstrong, you've been
there; you know all about that; you don't
buck your money away at three card monte
mot mnchf'-overland Monthly.
Bought but One Volume.
happened in a Dakota settlers house one