The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1892-06-08
A WHOLE MAN.

/ where. III he take offense at rough ban
ter, Lord help him when he gets into a
mining camp. If he wear his heart
upon his sleeve, let him steer clear Of
the Mexican towns and their pretty sen
oritas If he would know any peace
| let him keep away from the cattle
range, for the cowboys jests are as keen
and cutting as the spurs at their heels.
Frank Robbins was beginning to find
out some of these things. But il you
gave him whole decade he would not
i find them all out
What the boy wants is toughening,'
said Mart Selby.
Mart was big and tough, and he saw
no good reason why anybody but a child
or woman should be tender.
"He's young colt that wants Mex.
lean bit showed into his mouth, and then
to be ridden through the cactus
AT Lucin's ranch the boys joked and
irritated Robbins, but it did not seem to
| ttcs.gghen him. They cared nothing for
whisky that didn't scratch as it went
down, and when he put water in his
they called him perfect lady and
laughed loudly
| "Stand their joshing,' said Mart to
Robbins, "and you'll get along better.
They'll always make it hot for q man
that don't josh back
ssOh, don't mind it, said Robbins,
badly OVERRIDING his effort to look un.
concerned,
! 1t had been the same everywhere he
had been in the west. He was one Of
those men who are never anything but
tenderfeet. He simply would not take
men as he found them, though they
were perfectly willing to take him so
/ And the absurd ideas that had lodgment
in his headl Chief among these were
that he must have friend--a chum--
/ who should be man after his own
heart. He had been looking for such q
man for two years. He picked him oui
occasionally, but he never found him tc
suit. This one was not truthful, that
one was not temperate and the other
was not nice in his speech. There was
something lacking in each one.
What ! want is whole man, he
/ sighed. II never could take up with
these half made fellows. But it is moi
! 50 easy Epsn sghs,s / siaasA n 1nzssn stszAi
:. y rcDlpefite anti ifsteiiectual he turIii
out TO be selfish. What would MOI
give for whole man for friend and
companion-a whole manr'
He would not take up with Mart Sci
by, though Mart saw "the young fel.
low" sorely needed a friend and helper,
particularly one who would tougher
him. He kept on looking for his made
to-order man, but he never seemed to
hit upon him. Few such men as he was
looking for are to be found within a
thousand miles Of Lucins. In fact, AZ
Lucins You would be at loss to dis
! cover single man who did not like to
| take observations at Old Ashby's cloth
and paper ceiling through the bottom of
a whisky glass, and if you heard voice
/ will give you my word of honor it was
| no cherub's.
One day the boys outdid all their
| little meannesses to Robbins by getting
him hopelessly drunk. OF course it
was no killing matter, but he had never
been drunk before, and he took it very
seriously and resolved to leave camp
next day.
Mart did not like this. His heart had
warmed toward "the young fellow
and he hated to see him leave the place.
Finally he resolved to go with him.
They agreed between them that they
would not 60 on the range again. They
would go prospecting for gold.
And thus it was that they calno to
make the journey over the desert to-
ward Dead Horse gulch. Now, as every
body in that country knows, the wealth
of Dead Horse gulch is great, but it is
very hard to reach. Miners, who have
lived out the awful heat of the alkali
plain that lies all around the buttes
wherein the gulch makes its cash, have
come back with full belts, but none OF
them has ever gone a second time.
In suggesting this journey Mart Selby
had q double object. First, he wanted
to tougher 'sthe young fellow" and
next, he wanted to enrich them both.
Mart knew that Robbins had come ont
west to make enough money to marry a
nice girl who lived In Delaware, and he
knew, too, that "the young fellow had
found money making very slow work.
from Lucin's to the great alkali plain
chat lay before the buttes in which tho
| gold was hidden was long and toll
Some journey. But the real work only
| began with the crossing of the alkali
| desert.
White and naked lay the dead land
before their aching eyes. The eye OF
heaven shone down with most unrelent-
ing ferceness. No breath of air was
stirring, and the whole world was to
them as dumb as death.
Mart had counted on the journey be-
ing q hard one, but not so hard as this.
He had not dreamed that the water
would give out SO soon, nor that the
horses would sink down and die as they
did.
Still they staggered on, their forms,
bent under their heavy burdens, stand
ing out sharp and raw above the white
earth, on which their clearly defined
shadows fell with inky blackness.
In that cloudless, mistless air, distance
seemed set at naught, for they Travelled
on and on toward the buttes, and yet
they seemed to grow no nearer.
IL was toward evening that they
reached rocky islet in the sea Of alkali,
and there, after y very bad meal Of hard
tack, they fell asleep, Robbins dreaming
Of clear, cold water, drawn from marble
fountains in crystal goblets. The young
man was the first to awake. The sun
was beginning to shoot his fiery needles
over the mountain. Robbins lifted his
hand to rub his eyes.
"R-r-z-z-z!'
Then q tongue Of flame darted toward
him and struck him on the palm Of the
hand.
my God, = he groaned, sits rattle
snake, and he's bitten fnew
His voice seemed to awaken a hundred