The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1892-02-17
THE SUDDEN WIDOWS

ernoOn. 1t had been quiet for some time
past. Nobody had been shot or knitted,
and no iynching bee had occurred for a
! good many weeks Nobody had even been
drunk. Adamsville was becoming degen-
| Grated, and you could see ennui' written
on the countenance of every male citizen,
| in one form or another. There were no fe-
| male citiZens-that is, of the sort subject
! to ailments of that nature. Those who
were there always had lively time of it.
There was Spanish Dick across the street
now quarreling with one of her male
friends" i'll front of the Diamond saloon.
! Dick was one of the leading citizens of
Adamsville-or rather one of the most
prominent ones. She had another name
but it was too long for every day use, so
they called her Dick for short.
Dick was beauty-also devil in skirts.
That she was bad goes without saying.
She was not only bad, but she was the most
vicious, quick tempered ready to stab of
her kind and calling that ever infested a
mining camp. Everybody was afraid of
her; half the town knuckled to her, and
she did as she pleased. / think very few
people would have been sorry to see her
leave, because she had a habit of shooting
III n NCI Ill pdll Vial way WHICH III OAIO u
tempers, and of course nobody could shoot
back or defend himself.
On this particular afternoon she was
quite calm, and we loafers in front of the
hotel only heard word or two from the
pair across the street, but we could see and
guess, and our guess was that Dick was in
white heat and that something unpleas-
ant would result to the gentleman with
whom she was debating, who was Mr..
Frank Beasley, the ''gentlemanly and
obliging barkeep" at the Diamond. We
guessed very closely to the truth, but it
was worse than we expected.
After the discussion had proceeded for
some time Frank turned on his heel to re-
enter the saloon, but here an interruption
occurred. Phil Holmes, the gambler, came
out of the barber shop next door and said
something which caused Beasley to halt
suddenly and wheel around.
1t was all done in moment. We saw
Dick point her finger at Beasley tragically
and heard her voice screeching in Spanish.
We saw Holmes lips move in saying some
thing to Frank-the latter's hand flew
back to his gun pocket-there was report,
sharp and quick. We rubbed our eyes and
rushed over. On the steps lay Beasley,
shot through the heart-the gambler had
had his gun in hand behind him, all ready,
and had been too quick for the other. 1t
was coldblooded murder, but there was no
proof that Holmes had been ready, as the
first reach seen was that made by Frank,
and so there was nothing to be done.
However, Holmes evidently deemed that
his presence in Adamsville for awhile
could be easily dispensed with; SO in less
than an hour he and the woman were ON
their way to Woodruff, town about TWEEN
ty-tive miles distant.
There was good deal of serious talk in
Adamsville that night. Beasley, the dead
man, had been very popular; there was not
a man in the camp who did not feel his loss
as that of personal friend, and the purse
raised for his funeral was the largest thing
in the subscription line the oldest inhabi,
tant could call to mind
On the other hand, the murderer was
heartily disliked by nearly every one. He
was one of those cold blooded, heartless,
pale eyed, taciturn fellows, for whose oft
displayed nerve there were plenty of ad-
mirers, but whose real friends might be
counted on ones fingers. He had been at
the camp two years, but never, to any ones
knowledge, done kind act to man, wom-
an or beast. Although he had been uni
formly careful TO keep out of trouble OF
any kind, and there was no specific act ex-
cept the shooting of Beasley for which to
condemn him, there were rumors, and
plenty of them. concerning past record of
sufficient malodorousness to make it very
dissgreeable for him if said rumors had
found veriiication. The fact was. however,
that nobody heretofore had cared particu-
larly about his record, especially as Adams
vile owneds quite a number of citizens
whose escutcheons needed renoyating and
a coat of whitewash.
Tonight, however, all these rumors and
various other matters concerning Holmes
were dragged in for discussion and redis-
cussion, ana if Mr.. Holmes had happened
TO be about his usual haunts he would
have found the social atmosphere down
near the black ice point. AS | said, there
was good deal or talk. but that was about
all Talk is not an expensive commodity.
and l have observed that there are quite
number of people in the world who take
advantage of its cheapnesS, and We, of
Adamsville. were using the Americans
most cherished prerozatlve 10 the fullest
extent-and that was all
There was only one plan Of action sUg-
gested; this was offered by Tootsy McFad-
den, young man recently arrived from
the Fast" which term, as applied q;
Adamsvil,e. comprehended Kansas. Ne
braska, Missouri and other oriental com
munities moro or less distant toward the
rising sun.
TootSy's idea was an original one. II
had not, il is safe 20 say, entered the mind
Of any other citizen. II was too brilliant
and otherwise ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 80
and was expressed about as follows;
why not"-snd TootSy lifted his other
Root or Z, :he table and gazed upon il
somewhat ,tuiringly. for Tootsy's under
<lzed feet were never falling source of
Soy to their ov-ner-''why not send word 10
Aim 20 stay aways"
There were several seconds OF pregnant
silence. Then Colonel Bliss. the landlord
81 tie ho>.siry OF that name. laid one
Anger OF TIE table with some emphasis
Ny misguided An inherent youn. ten
s.ertoot." said he imprsssively. ''air yen
acquainted with tn subject OF this hyar
zuuf'r 'ncef"
wy, yes" responded Toosyy wonder
Engly
No, reckon &c ain't-nOthin o tn sort.