The morning news., 1893-12-31

willin' to arbitrate with the gent, pervid-
in he amt pinln' for smoke
"I'll leave 1t to game of seven-up,'
says Hadley. dice throwin' is 'bomina-
tion to me, an prefers TO mix in little
science with my guessin'.
"Whereupon 1t was arranged that the
game should be pulled off at noon sharp
Christmas day at Bob Stepp's. All that
afternoon he was busy arranging for the
doin's. Tousley, who keeps the Cattle.
mans Rest, trims up the dinin' room OF
his hotel with sparrowRrass tops, which
he sends clean out to Doc McMichael's
ranch 10 git, an telegrafts over TO Trini-
dad for a boss cook TO come a-runnin,'
with instructions to hire a ingine If he
can't make the trip on the regular train.
He said he aimed to get up feed that
future historians would refer back to as
the most sumpchus layout Of chuck
known in the hist'ry of Colfax county, an,
you bet, he made 1t good.
81 was delegated to go out Christmas
mornin' an break the news to the wild
der and bring her into town abb Young
was detailed to rope an bring in o
preacher at price an TO that end drives
off that night on blackboard for Dor
sey's. We heerd they was a kind OF
maverick of a preacher a-rangin' around
there.
cit took some talkin' an argumenta-
tion for me to git Mrs. Cave to look at
the situation in the right light. She was
dead agin gamin', she says an don't like
Hadley none too well at the best. / put
it TO her as a matter of conscience
whether she'd set two good men cuttin'
loose at each other with Winchesters an
possible a-shootin' up innocent people,
which has come in range thoughtless am
in their eagerness TO witness the KILN,
She says she don't like the idea much
AM to tell the boys TO call it OFF. She
WON'T marry neither Of 'em. To which
] responds-and was considerably elo-
quent then, although / shouldn't be
tellin' of it-that the chances was in favor
of a fight of some kind anyways, an even
If we could talk 'em out Of it there would
alwers be the danger of outbreak. l
also represents that it wouldn't be fair
thing TO the pop'lace. War medicine had
been maxim, an it was either a fight or
seven up; they'd got to see somethin'.
Besides / says, there's all the trouble
Tousley's been put TO prepare for the we'd
din feast says l. This is pinted out 10
be the biggest day In Springers record,
an your inconsistencies makes il a
fuke'
There says she, is my weak pint.
None Of my neighbors shall pint me out
as the person that gives Springer black
eye Civic pride is my long suit, Col.
North, says she, AN the game can go on
$50 she gets on the blackboard and we
starts back. A nice 2-inch fall of snow
had come down, an as told her had
aimed TO come for her with a sleigh, but
when we went over TO Clouthier's for his
cutter we finds that they WANT none.
-Four years ago, which was the last
sleighin' we has, young shorthorn from
! Harvard visitin' tries TO drive bronchos
tandem to the sled. The cutter was dis
tributed over the prairie between Springer
an the Cimmaron river, and the cayuses
is runnin' yet She says she ant special
partickler as TO cOnveyances, an so every
thing was agreeable an we reaches town.
Young has rounded up his preacher all
right an has him corralled in the Cattle
mans Rest, where l also deposits the
lady.
"Hopkins was this feller's name, an
I've never been dead sure he was a cler-
gyman. / thought then he was a counter
felt. 1t was my busy day, for l had to
deal for the boys, countin' begs an jacks
alternate, as it was thought best that
Siddons an Hadley don't do no dealin'
an don't touch the cards, except TO play,
| SOS TO head off any chance for recrimina-
tion or augmentation.
you could a-heered Bob Stepp's clock
tick If the thing had ever run since Ben.
son shot into its insides it was so still
| while the game was a-goin'. Hadley wins