Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1892-07-21
CHATTER i.
-C

employed them whenever and wherever
occasion seemed 70 demand. He was an
outcsst and desperate, who was the one
because his social preferences were
those far removed from the customs OF
polite society, and the other because the
value OF q human life was measured al
together by the weight OF provOeation
that existed when he felt himself called
upon TO take one, and he had taken
several.
If, In game of draw, his opponents
dong continued to hold stronger hands
than he, the dexterous and eOmplacent
way in which he would stock the cards,
and turn the apparent tide OF chance,
would have done credit to the most ac-
complished skin gambler" Of the West.
If-as was often the ease-an cleo
ton, or holiday, or a vigilance com
mittee meeting had caused depletion
in his stock OF whisky, he would brew q
vile decOetton of alcohol, water, dried
peaches and burnt sugar, and sell il as
Pure Old Bourbon. warranted ten years
old"
Sometimes 4 better Judge OF spirits
than were his usual run Of customers
would swallow this compound with q
painful grimace, and eriticisa it in
language grotesquely impolite. Where
upon our hero would launch forth an
avalanche of profane pyroteehnics, and
hurl it at the wholesale Hquor-dealers
in Denver. He would declare between
the periods of invectivs that II there
was one thing above another which Oe-
cupied large percentage OF hio spare
time it was the study of the welfare of
his customers appetites; that he paid
more money for one gallon Of whisky
than any other dealer in Aspen paid for
ten, and it was a blickety- blanked shame
to be stood up and robbed by the man
for whom he was always too ready and
- !. fe q, 4.
phorically termed the payment of out
standing Indebtedness.
And yet this uneonscionable rogue,
this bare-faced swindler, who would as
willingly tell lie as the truth, whose
dealings were oftener crooked than
square, who was never invited to break
bread at the family boards even of men
who called him friend, had a heart in
his breast as soft as woman's and d
hidden nature as gentle as a childs
large percentage of HE yearly earn
1ngs were divided every New Year 8
Day among the charities OF his State.
and the families of three unfortunates,
who had been driven to suicide by losses
at ms fero table, were cared for as Law
ishly as though they had been his own
When they built the little brown
church in Aspen he sent a thousand dol
lars in gold to the committee, accom-
panied by the message that they could
have as much more II they wanted it.
But the hands of these deVout Chris
tians were uplifted in holy horror at the
thought that some of the foundation
stones of the house of God should be
paid for out of the wages of sin. SO the
sum was returned with daintlly word
ed letter of regret, to the effect that,
much as the enterprise needed money
it could not possibly receive assistance
from such a source.
But Jack was naVar wanting in oftar-
native when faced by a dilemma, and,
although tho reply of the committee
wounded him, he kept his counsel, and
sent TO Chicago for an organ costing
twiee'as much as his original subscrip-
ton. This was shipped direct to the
church people, labeled:
ITO the First - Church of Aspen
from a devout friend"
The pretty little ediflce was duly fin
ished, the mysteriously begOtten organ
crowded Into the tiny loft, and on con-
seeration day the good minister twice
referred to it in his sermon, under the
text OF The Lord will provide"
Jack was there, standing alone in a
remote corner OF the church, as though
conscious that he must not contaminate
the good Christians by coming into
closer contact with them. The day be-
fore the conservation he aceosted a
worthy member Of the congregation on
lOquy ensued:
Say, Deacon, would that there church
blow up If rs to go to the openln' to-
morrow"
THAT is a strange question TO ask, ."
replied the worthy man. -Why?"
Well, yer see, they sent back the lit
tie bag o twenties 1 subscribed, and as
that showed there wus a feelin' agin
me, 1 thought I'd ask fur an invitation,
fur wouldn't like to go there and get
fired out"
The sinner and wayfarer are always
welcome in the house of prayer, Mr..
BOwdOin."
We'll, If any man in Colorado knows
any more about sinnin' and Wayfarin'
than me, fetch him along and I'll make
him rich. I'll be there, dead sure"
i hope So. And the good parishioner,
with a nervous glance at a corner saloon
where a crowd of idlers stood smiling
at this picture of the lion and the lamb,
nodded coldly and went away.
On the following morning Jack on
tered the church and braved the scOrn-
tul glances of the devout who had al
ready assembled. He was indeed a
sinner by the wayside, but no good
Samaritan was there to lend him n
friendly hand. and indicate that he
might have a seat If he wished it. So
he took his position in the remote corner
above referred to, and with hat in hand
waited for service to begin. Before
many moments a sound swelled through
the church that rooted him TO his feet in
a kind OF stupor of wOnderment and de-
light. 1t was the organ, his own mys-
FERROUS gift, pealing forth the majestic
harmOnies OF HaYdn's Offertory.
Never before in all Of his misspent
life had such melody smote his ears.
He was passionately fond of music, and
had taught himself TO strum the popular
melodies Of the day on the ~tin-panny
little plano in his gambling hall; but
these sounds that swelled forth in re-
Spouse to the touch of the unseen organ
list held him spell-bound. He was en-
thralled beyond the power of human pen
TO describe, and had any one OF that
Christian thrOng kneeling before him
given him one word of announcement
as be stood there under the influence of
that noble music, there might have been
another sinner gathered into the fold.
But when the selection was finished,
and the minister knelt in prayer, the
spell had vanished, and he calculated to
himself:
why, a piano amt deuce high to
that. I'll send for an organ the fl,s.
thing in the mornin' and have it sot up
in The Little Casino
The intervals between the musical
numbers during the remainder of the
service were unintelligible to Jack,
and be it also recorded, cOrrespondingly
cresome, which condition was several
times emphasized by a series Of yawns.
which he made no attempt to control.
- When the sermon was reached, how
ever, and the donator OF the organ re-