Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1892-05-27


brutes, most of them.
You could see at once that Big Dorkin
though he owned Jess Beamster. jess
did not wear the poke bonnets of the
rest of the women of Mormondom, nor
that ugly gown that you see on them that
hangs straight down on three sides, is
short in front and trails in a pointed
pennant behind. No, she harnessed as
she pleased, and she always looked trim
and interested you. Her mother didn't
care. In fact, she leaned bit toward
the reformed Latter-Day Saints and the
revised Book of Mormon, and she didn't
believe that the Lord would strike her
daughter dead if she came out looking
rather smart now and then.
When Monte first saw that girl she
had on pink something and little fiat,
red hat with beads on it and dotted
veil that came down to her lips. The
combination struck him right between
the eyes. He was Eore babyish than
ever after that, and when Shorty Spence
laid out Frank Van Zile, he wet his hand
kerchief so that you could have wrung
out enough tears from it to have watered
a sheep.
demonstrated with Monte.
''You can't go in for Mormons,
greenY," said 1, in my off-haud way.
"Why don't you marry greaser girl,
and be done with itl She'd make it
lively for you-the greaser would-but
she wouldn't be bothering about the or
dinapces, the Paraclete, 'the imposition
of hands, 'the endowments' and the
seven bulls of Bashan."
al amt goin' to let her do anything of
that sort if 1 marry her." said Monte
with his Maine twang.
Eyes, you will. And the tribe will
curse you for a Gentle and all the peo-
pie will say amen You can't get
around 1t. You'll have to enter into
Zion yourself and become saint with
the rest of them, if you do this unholy
thing"
Monte reflected while he drove steer
into the corral. But what did the sap
headed young bull.puncher do but go
over to Beamster's place that very night.
Now, knew Big Dorkin wouldn't
stand much of that sort of thing, and l
was glad when Monte told me next day
that he had had big row with the large
man, and that he had been ordered of
the ranch.
1.-THE coyote, will be eating you in
about a week, Girly," l said, "unless
you keep away from there. Dorkin is a
dead shot"
Monte whipped out his six-shooter
and, without glancing at the sight,
pumped a nailhead in the door of the
dugout fifty feet away. 1t was the only
nailhead you could see from where we
stood, and it was rattling good shot.
81 kin shoot, too" he said, very
quietly.
The baby ives getting its teeth.
don't know how he got on with jess
after that, but he seemed to be light
hearted enough, aud take it that she
liked his down East ways, his twang and
his fresh, clean look, for he got her pic
ture and sent to Eureka for brooch.
wondered when Dorkin would kill
him. The TIM would not be far away,
| felt sure. The big fellow came up to
Lucin's every Saturday night, and no.
ticed he looked sourer and sourer each
time. All OF us made sure there would
be dead Maine man in camp before
long, and we were sorry that it was 60
ing 10 be Monte, for ne was such quiet
little fellow, and so clean.
The shooting took place just before
dusk in the second week of August.
Monte had been down to tne Beamsters'
and was coming back to camp. l was
lettering along the trail waiting for him
to come up. He was about half mile
away from me when first saw him COM
ing along in the queer little hop-trot
that his buckskin had. When looked
over there the second time saw some
one on horseback swooping down on
Monte from behind. The boy didn't
notice the newcomer at first, but ne
turned his head when he hearl the clat-
ter of the hoofs on the ground, and when
he turned saw he had his six-shooter
in his hand. So the fellow coming on
was Big Dorkin, of course, and | was
going to see some fire fly. Mind you
now, it was their own fight. Why
should have taken hand in itl A two
to-one combination is low-down thing
for a man to go into, even though you
do feel like helping out a friend. So
kept out of range aud the greasewOod
sort of hid nc, but they didn't notice me
anyway any more than as if Id been a
jack rabbit or coyote.
1t was the prettiest shooting | ever saw
for the distance. They didn't get close