Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1893-07-21
STEAMBOAT FRANK.

kerry Landing, SAID the man be-
meath the black SLOUGH hat, who had Just
stepped aboard. Good place to leave;
nothing but swamps."
GLOW far TO Davis plantationr'
"'Bout three hours. Another burned
swamp. Stop theroY'
Eyes. Got a plantation back from the
river q piece. Swamp IS right through.
Three hours, chr
Eyes. Didn't suppose there was land
enough along there to plant one"
ooh, it's all right when you get to ik.
Going TO be dark, amt it,
should say so. Got a good pilot,
though"
First rare. Do you playf"
Sometimes, if the games good. Who's
in itY'
Nobody much. Drummers and such
like. Oh, Wheeler of Richmond. Know
himY'
No; who is hep
mot much; cotton edger. Safegame.n
"All right; I'm in. That sprays little
wet, amt itg'
"Rather; let's go inside"
"What's the hmitg'
1.-TWO hundred. Have q cigar?"
Eyes, thanks. Here we ere"
ANY o here, gents? Whewl It's
cloudy"
Eyes, lots Of room. Hello, colonel;
come in" says a voice from the smoke.
Bring out the drink, Niger. 1 say,
colonel, what you're going to have2'
Little whisly-rye."
frye whisky there, Niger. Hold on,
there-I want another card. All right.
Don't your friend take anythingT'
Don't know; you had better ask him"
"pn take the same, stranger" from
beneath the hat"
"All right. How do they run, colonel"
"Fair to middling. Haven't been mp
for some time. What's the newsY'
Nothing much. Queer about Nichols,
wasn't it,"
eyes; how did that happenY'
"Well. there are several stories going
around. Some say they put up q job to
do Steamboat Frank, and he got the best
of them. Comm in, colonelT'
eyes"
"You, Stranger
YES"
"All right. Never did think much Of
that Teller Nichols anyway"
Same here; bad eyes"
you're right. How many do you
want? Three. Frank killed two, didn't
he? Who was the other fellow"
"Don't know. Some II from Texas,
1 think"
81 raise you go" here broke in a
Spanish accent from tho lower end Of
the table.
"Hello, Sigi Right in it, eh2 I'll have
to raise you. How did that killing come
of anyhow Know anything abont it,
Wheeler"
ooh, easy enough, from what I hear.
They got to playing a pretty stiff game,
and Frank took all the money. They
were hard losers and tough men gen
orally. They accused him of cheating
and started therow, and be simply wiped
them out"
"And they were not the first ones that
he has wiped out either"
"No, you are right. If all the reports
are correct, he has a pretty long list back
there, but they do say that know him
that he is as square as ado and wouldn't
kill q chicken without he had to, but
when some one comes along and takes
him for a mud fat or sand bar the way
things jingle around that locality is q
caution to Christmas bells in a great
city"
And then he branched out into several
amusing anecdotes regarding him; Of his
heavy games and ugly sorapesi Of his
cool nerve and ready wit; how upon one
occasion a Texas ranchman had, by his
loud and braggadocio manner, contrived
to offend the more quiet tastes of Steam
boat Frank had been backed over the
taffrail Of q boat with a cooked revolver
uncomfortably near his nose, and after
being towed for a mile or two was at
last hauled aboard again and contained
less starch and o gentleness Of man
ner.
'But there is ono fellow who has got
in on Frank, who don't allow any time
for fooling. He is a big New Orleans
gambler called Blazer"
''Blazer? You don't tell mo-" said the
colonel. II know him; hard lot, they
say"
eyes, you're right, and they say he is
the man who has driven Frank from the
river"
"'What, Blazer How is thatT asked
tho colonel.
'Well, you see It ia a long story.
There was, as ia usual, a woman In IL.
She sort Of liked Frank best, Isuppose.
Can't blanc her much, after seeing
Blazer, eh? Face like a Chinese funeral.
only more 30. Frank must be a corker
If he looks worse than she does. Well,
anyhow, Frank got the girl, and Blazer
has been trying TO down him eyer since
Frank lad asked him to com0 out and
settle it two on three times, but Blazers
peculiar gift doesn't seem to lie in that
direction. He lies some other way bot
fer. You see, he has a strong pull down
at{ho Crescent, and Franks case don't
have time to settle down as amy other