Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1892-06-14

| vi my years wasn't worth soaring shaw
had declined to accompany us that even
ing, and whether it was Miss Mollie's
| smiles that held him captive or a sneaking
fear of the boisterous crowd, / could not
! determine. l should have explained that
this was Shaw's first venture into the re-
mote west; consequently he, like myself,
had never braved the cowboy in his lair.
The night train came laundering in on
time. There's a new conductor on" said
Maxwell in my ear. "The boys have
winded it and there'll be music"
Sure enough. Scarcely had the conduct
| or entered the Office for orders when
Ping" sounded a gun and out went the
| light. What followed beat bedlam let
loose. Pop! Pop Popr" went the guns
and in the interval we could hear the con
| ductor's howls for mercy. AS soon as pos
sible Maxwell struck light, and at the
sight of that pallid, trembling wretch "a
shout went up. dig out" was the order
and he dug, but before he reached the
door Ping" went a gun, and neatly
aimed bullet clipped piece off his boot
| neeI. "Pop!' and the other heel was
winged. The train pulled out in short or
| der.
/ found next morning that the shots
fired in the dark We're blanks" but how
! was the conductor to know that?
| In the course of time | became accus-
! toned to the antics of these knights of the
| saddle-the only testimonial of regard
which | received from them being a bullet
hole through the crown of my Derby. l
| was glad to get off with that, and in defer
| ence to their well known prejudice | speed
lily exchanged the Derby for an orthodox
sombrero l daily became more and more
interested in Miss Mollie, and we got on
capitally together so long as l refrained
| from sentiment, but any exhibition of ten
derness on my part always resulted in
| snubs or, worse yet, in open encouragement
of my rival, as | mentally styled Shaw.
| This was very distracting when a fellow
was beginning to have serious thoughts of
settling in life, and devote my efforts to it
| as would, | saw no way of securing the
| owner of the black eyes for the party of
the second part" In the forlorn hope of
engaging her fathers influence | took
| Brant into my confidence. l might have
spared myself the trouble.
| He was a stout comfortable sort of a
| man, with the air of one who had been
managed" all his life. 1t was plain to the
| most casual observer that Miss Mollie was
the apple of his eye and that her word was
law. We had merry times at the old ho
| tel, for there was quite a party of young
| IT,.
| had dances, impromtu concerts candy
pulls, and more frequently than anything
| else horseback excursions.
| A favorite rendezvous was the Arm
chair" a huge rock within easy walking
| distance of the hotel, and whenever we pic
| nicked at that place Miss Molie was wont
to enthrone herself in the chair, and none
disputed her possession, for she queened it
over us all right royalty. l found still
another source of amusement. Small
game was abundant, and developed lik-
| ing for sport, although my success at that
| pastime was but Indifferent.
| Our affair at Il is period was in a most
critical condition, Shaw and | being neck
and neck, with the odds little in Shaw's
favor Mollie's spirits went up as mine
went down, and in IA moment of inspiration
she suggested that we Guido all our pre-
vious efforts and have grand ball. The
| suggestion was received with enthusiasm.
| and preparations were at once commenced.
! The nearest town Of any size. GIendive
| was ransacked for gay bunting flags, etc.
and when the bare walls of the biz; dining
| room blossomed out the place wore IA festive
| appearance quite foreign to its usual aspect
| The day before the ball word was received
| that the largest consignment of cattle vet
| shipped was on the way and would doubt
| less reach US by morning. There was seri-
Gus talk of postponing the ball, but the
majority overruled the suggestion and the
| work went merrily on.
In the morning the place was aStir, and
| all through the day punches OF cattle
| were driven in until a Thousand Of them
were lowing in the sidetracked stock cars.
| 1t was a big days work, but we hustled it
through, for right behind this consignment
marched another, and we were obliged to
| keep things cleared up. The ball was
| therefore delayed until late in the evening
! The myriad lanterns secured to illuminate
the scene had long been lighted when at
length we struggled in. Brant, within much
scraping and flourishing of the bow. was
tuning up," when knock sounded at the
| door and Shaw was informed that he was
wanted at the station.
He bent down toward pouting Mollie
and whispered something that might have
| been excuses, but which did not dispel the
| frown upon her brow. / at once regained
| my good humor. had found to nv great
disgust, that Shaw was to open the ball
with Mollie and had made no effort to Sc
| cure partner, preferring to sulk it out in
a corner. 1t took me but a moment to
seize this golden opportunity and before
Shaw crossed the outer threshold l was
leading Miss Mollie to the top of the room.
1t might have been five minutes that we
stood there laughing and chatting. The
fiddle had sounded the first note when the
great door burst open and in rushed Shaw,
hatless and gasping for breath.
"For Gods sake, hide!' he shouted.
''q'he boys have taken the town. They are
shooting at everything in sight, and a
dozen of them put after me-" Scarcely
We're the words spoken when zip went
bullet right through the window pane, and
the old eight day clock on the opposite
wall stood stock still, with bullet in its
vitals. At Shaw's first words Brant drop
ped his fiddle and drew the iron bar across
the outer door. Everythingwas in confu-
sion. l found Mollie clinging to me, and 1
remember telling her, incoherently, that l
would protect her with my life. Then l
saw something that drove all other ideas
from my head. In one corner of the room