The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1893-06-04

10 eyes that melt, or eyes that burny"
OH hottsr far the darkling sea
Than whore such ~perilous signals be.
10 rock and storm and whirlwind turn
from eyes that melt and eyes that burn!
YOUNG FLOODS BOWIE KNIFE.
rs Ill according 10 whore . man IL II
you lose ysur character in tho east II 10 q
good thing to 20 west. either with the wish
p1o regain II or the desire TO be in . place
whore lost characters are not Of much ac-
count. But there is such . thing a. getting
y character In the west which nccsssitates
either your going farther west or going
east TO lose yourself In q crowd.
There's a good deal of probability that
Inc elder Sam Flood went back to Now
York because he found the west. ~ he
knew II, a great deal too hot for him. For
younc Sam, when he In after years went
west, heard strange tales about q certain
Sam Flood, Hs didn't know fos dead GER
tain whether IL was his father or not. Too
much time had passed to identify him by
looks. and the old man had kept
his v counsel. But the Sam
Flood that young Sam heard Of was =
very bad man indeed. He was something
like ban Thompson. who would shoot an
man. He was pretty near as bad
40 Wes' Harding. who aroused public opin-
to the terrific extent Of putting him In
tho penitsntiary when no shot . man In his
sleep. That was going too far. even for the
people round about Galveston in those days.
Flood was such a man. He had killed
seven and a great many more; but young
Sam knew nothing of this. He had no alb
,solute knowledge Of IL. It was only q sort
OF s'kinkle." as they would have put it-iust
a notion on his part. And whom he got
west he wasn't particularly nxiou to
claim acquaintance with the memory of n
border rufian such a. this Sam Flood
must have been. for he might let the old
man In for something. But he knew that
his father was q man Of strange character.
Though living In q pretty tough part o.
New York. he had mover carried arms.
II reckon" said old Flood. Il WON'T put
Temptation in my way"
His son had heard him say that; and
there was something in old Floods voice.
and his manner. and his trick OF looking
his eys-shat prevented people attempting
20 jump upon him. But he brought his
family NJ In . God-fsaring way: that is. he
taught them religion. Occasionally he laid
especial stress on the sixth commandment.
In the ligh. Of after experience n inward
knowledge of himself young Flood began
to understand. Once when he was a boy Of
no moro than IL he came across an old
bowie knife in a box In his fathers house.
lighted TO handle IT. He noticed seven
notches on the butt. He showed il to his
father and asked for an explanation. There
wal q curious CLEAN in the old mans eye;
he seemed to grow brighter and more alert.
Belonged to an old pardner of mine"
said Flood; 'he gave it to me when he died"
That was not strictly true. He didn't
he was dead-whioh is different
thing. The other man had died of ex-
poaute. as the western jury said-expesure
to bullets. They were Floods bullets. But
Flood took the weapon from his boy and
hid it-young Sam never saw il again till
he was II.
Now. IL is the way with boys in America,
ANY age when they find parental authority
and family restraint a little too much fol
them. Their pals can always put them NJ
to beating a train out of New York and
they start to go west. The courage of some
of them "pstes" long before they get to the
middle states-the west looks too big and
too wide. They conclude to stay where
they nave got to or 60 back.
But Sam was persistent; he went right
forward. He had So and the notohed Bowie
knife. After two months t~rain-beating
and Rrub-begeing. epd sleeping in oulvsrts
and box cars, he landed up in Texas. hav-
ing done very we'll indeed. He ran the
whole distance through to Chicago at one
flight. He got laid off" on leaving Chi
cage at Hannibal. bat he went over the
whole K. q I. without a hitch, and got to
Rock" in the south of the Pan Handle"
and there he vent to work On q cattle
ranch. He star ted right in as a cowboy.
and he picked IL up we'll. He was smart on
horseback ftomthe word ''go.' and he even
had o notion of holding on when they gave
him a buck-iumper-at any rate, he didn't
Come off quite SO soon az the 'teEderfoot"
very fair rider indeed. Az lie rode around on
his pony. with his mesquite legRins on, he
began to think he was q HI OF a man. He
began to feel that he was somebody-began
TO think he had arrived, had got there. H0
didn't feel 30 crushed 40 he did In the east.
He had got room to spread for in the east.
whether it be the American east or more
east still. human beings are like q bag of
sea anemones-mere slush of humanity,
with no individuality and no beauty about
them. But In the west, the open west.
whore a man Is not so crowded and tho law
is not 90 oppressive, there's q certain rsa-
chance Of being yourself. provided
you have got any money or any nstn' al
ce liabilities for taking other peoples with
out asking for ii.
This was what young Sam Flood began to
ried a six-shooter-he had an ivory handled
He called it ivory; en- expert would
have known it for bone. Bat hs was not SO
proud of that as he was of his Bowie knife.
He loved that dearly, and he liked to run
his thumb nail rafting down tho seven
notches of 1t. He was proud of the old
man. for he knew his name was famous.
1t is a curious thing in that west-but /
watched it grow-how the desire to
slay comes to a man. So soon as he reverts
to those plnins his soul goes back to the
when Slaughter was the whole duty of
man. Out there there Is no other means of
notoriety; and notoriety in the
west is the breath of life. Among the
young men as they sit by the fire and toll
stories Of the bloody deeds of the Jnmeses.
or of Ben Thompson. or Harding, or even
repeat how fighting Jim Wilson took tho
or how Whitelaw was shot in
eleven places ut Austin and yet walked
INC recovered-their blood begins to
boil and their ey es to sparkle. The desire
kill comes on them.
And when they told these yarns about the
camp-fre young Flood felt the handle of
his Bowie knife. He itched to Stay. and
wished he dared. There was death in the
very reel of 1t. for the knife was not dead,
IL WAS living! 1t had drunk the blood of
seven. hi night he went out on the bat
zen plains. where the moonlight glim-
msted on the white dust; and
he played with his knife in
that Light. 1t became q fetish-aliYo!-he
felt it Jump in the sheath. He couldn't