The herald., 1893-10-22
FOOLED BY A PALE TENDERFOOT
An Incident in the Life of an
Arizona Town.
The Job Was Well Planned but
Poorly Executed.
Jake, the Stage Driver, Wont Cshoots
with the Tenderfoot and the
Result Is Sad to
Relate.

Life in the small towns in Arizona is
not always as dull and uninteresting
and uncertain as all that we read about
it sometimes leads us to believe. At
least it would appear that it is not
from the following story told by man
who never tells a lie-except when there
ia something to be gained by it.
just what place in Arizona it was
where this incident happened is not
quite clear in my mind now, but the
name cannot make much difference, so
long as it 10 understood that it was a
small, out-of-the-way place whore there
is detachment OF United States army
troops retained. and not much else.
Wherever it is, this much is certain !:
The stage runs up theye twice a week
from some other place quite a long dis
tance away. which is larger and OF more
Importance. W
From the facts, as they were related
was the result of something that hap
pened a short time before this particular
event took place, and which was entirely
unprecedented
Strangers very rarely find their way
up into that remote section and when
they do they seldom care for it much.
One day the stage brought in stranger
who had come business TO transact
there.a The business, whatever it was,
was goon through with and as the stage
only runs every third day the stranger
found time hanging heavily on his
hands. He wandered around for q
while, without finding anything to in
terest him and finally found his way
into place where come games were in
progress. These games, am told, are
played with small pasteboard cards, Gu
riously marked, and other contrivsnces
While the stranger was engaged in
looking on, an alteration arose between
several OF the players over some trivial
matter, and firearms were used, it seems.
After it was over the bodies were ie-
moved to a more suitable place, and
those who had not been killed or badly
wounded resumed playing.
Nobody seemed to have paid much at
tention to the stranger meanwhile, but
afterwards one of the players who hadn't
been especially mixed up in the diff
Guilty and so escaped witk only slight
wound, said that one of the funniest
sights he ever saw in his life was the
way that stranger acted when the trouble
commenced.
"Did he seem to be anxious to get
out?" asked one of the crowd.
Anxious! Say, he was the anxious
est cuss l ever saw. Bust me If he
didn't go right past three doors to get
through window, and he didn't know
there was glass in the window till
after his feet got mixed up in the sash
and tripped him. 1t was actually the
funniest thing / ever saw"
This man talked about that funny
thing for several days and finally some
one with brain power way above the
average conceived the idea of working q
similar joke, if such it might be called,
on the next stranger who appeared in
town.
The idea took like wild fire. "Tbun-
der! it III be more fun than dog fight
any day." argued the man who first
thought of the idea.
part OF the gang can be outside and
wait till he gets pretty we'll interested
in the game. Well send down with Jake
and get lot of blank cartridges and all
load up with. them. When things get
quiet inside. and the stranger amt ex-
pecting it., the boys outside can drop in,
all OF a sudden, and begin shooting and
hollering like Apaches. It'll be better
than circus"
Jake, by theway, was the stage driver.
Next trip up he brought back gener-
GUS supply OF blank cartridges, and also
brought the information that he ex-
pected travelling man from Los Angeles
to come up with him on the next trip.
He's short, slim little cuss." Jake
explained. Looks to me like the
meekest. mildest chap that ever came
to the territory. It's going to be pity
to scare the daylights out of an inno-
cent little cuss like that, but the boys
has got the idea into their heads now
and | guess / might as well be in at the
fun"
Sure enough, the little travelling man
came on the very next stage. And
Jake's description didn't half do him
Justice. He was very bashful, back
ward man, anyway, scarcely fitted for a
travelling man. But this was his first
trip and that made him all the more
nervous and diffident. Then the place
was new to him and strange, and he
had heard 40 much about the wild,
reckless life of Arizona through reading
the Arizona Kicker and other things
that he hardly dared show himself, and
appeared actually ashamed of being
alive. At least that was the way it ap-
peared to the boys.
They watched him pretty close for
day or two, but it wasn't until the third
day after his arrival that, finding him
self still alive and unharmed, he mus
tered up courage enough to enter one Of
the dens of vice where the games were
going on. When somebody asked him
to drink his under lip trembled and his
teeth chartered 90 with fright that he
could hardly find voice enough to re-
fuse.
Some Of the boys inside went out and
told the crowd that it was going to be a
shame to play it on that chap, and said
they didn't doubt he'd drop dead right
on the spot of sheer fright. But the
boys outside wouldn't believe it was as
bad as that, and they said they were
going to have it out, now they had gore
that far, If it did kill him.
About 20 minutes later the fun be-
gan. The stranger WAS off little to
one side, when several men suddenly
entered and commenced firing. The de-
scriptions of what followed are rather
confused and conflicting. 1t was ter
rible scene to describe, anyway.
1t had been arranged that the crowd
that came in should pretend to be bent
on slaughtering those inside, and the
orders were to keep track of the stranger,
and if he did not carry on and take