The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1893-02-12
THE L 7 TIN GOD.

Just because he had lived all his young
life In Texas, and had learnt to ride every
thing that bucked. besides getting a great
deal of information in the rough, he
thought no knew life. lie came east with a
western air of bravado that would have
been charming had II not been so undo
served. He was blaae only In a new way.
But, az he afterwards found out, the prairie
is only a very small corner of the world,
and as a school il is decidedly elementary.
When the Grand Tail made way for the
great through lines of rail, his father, who
was ono of the cattle kings, went out OF
business. and came to the east TO spend tho
rest of his days in civilization. lie had
been there before he went to Texas. and no
longed for the good old taste OF IT once
more. But his son came to the new life
like a bull to a red rag. He talked ever
lastinRly about the "~effete" east. and said
that civilization had s%andpapered the man
liness all ont Of tho world. and raised a
race of milk and-water maidens whom the
next passing wind might wait away. All
these things he declared with much empha-
sic, n with all the conviction that inex-
periencs and Ignorance invariably Affect.
, When the blare of him began to get
weariaome to US, We held a consultation.
1t was decreed that he was to be humbled.
And a girl mast do i'll"
So IL began. He was taken from ball
room to theater. and from theater to re-
ceptions. He was detailed to afternoon
teas, and victimized to pink luncheons.
And all of this only made him worse. That
was as II should be. and so We wanted it.
II was the end we looked to. not the begin
ninas. All the while tnat he rallied at
"efeminate enjoyments," We laughed to
ourselves. A man may have lived In Texas
all his life, and have conso ted with Ben
Thompson tthan whom no man ever shot
straighter), and yet be made OF the oom-
- ola~ md varv humaD.
1t was Madge Collingwood who WAS de-
tailed 10 take the Little Tin God, as we
soon came to call him, in hand. and teach
him the way he should go. She was a pretty
girl with brown eyes that could look tender
as a collie one minute, and stern as O house
front the next, and she was always ready
for excitement. When we broached the
matter to her gently, she said: "What.
that woolly thing? Why, Pm no mission
Rryv' But she finally. consented with an
the thing had been explained to her. And
from that hour began the decline and fall
of the Little Tin God.
Whenever Madge met him she smiled. Now
Madge has one of the most delicious smiles
in the world. 1t 10 like a sun ray on a wave.
At fl st the Little Tin God used to frown u
little as he raised his SLOUGH hat. because he
nae been thinking how much more grace
full a cowbov's seat in the saddle was than
that of the Central Park rider. but after a
while he began to let his thoughts dwell a
little on the owner of that smile. 1t oc-
CURED to him with something of a shock
that down in Texas there was no such
smile to be had for love or money. The
girls on the prairies we're something in the
nature of indefinite streaks of brown Qown
and immense sunbonnets, and when you
tanned leather. " Even in town. UnA, when
he had been In Austin spend,
ing his months allowance. he had noted
nothing but compilations that needed the
heaviest of wells, and voices that had in
them a WEAKNESS born of a parched throat.
But Madge's voice when she said. bowling
sweetly: Mr.. Placer. how do you do?
Was there ever 30 charming a dayY" was
sweet enough to charm an image. After
this sort of thing had happened a few times
he was actually seen to walk with her a
he talked all the while about his feeling 40
DANCED crAmped-up like in these yere
towns" but she said she was prepared to
suffer In the good cause.
A characteristic conversation took place
during one of these %strolls. Pretty aoon,"
he was saying. II don't stand this here life
much longer. There's tho old man, he
wants mo TO stay here and see life and be-
come cultured. jest as il l hadn't seen all
there was of life! And what do I want
with c~ulture2 Catch me foolina away time
with books and pictures and that truck!
"Vits \ OuV = ~ yOup - any koON Ill
civilizationY"
Certainly; a great deal. You can see it
all around you. If you will only look. But
what use is there in your prairie paganism?
None at all. You brand your cattle, rope
your steers, and spend the rest of your
won't do that sort Of thing. Civilization is
much finer than that. II never sneers at
the things IL despises; it only pities them.
Besides. it is not the physical
things That make life worth Iiv-
and their people. A spring day on the ave-
nue.. when the dog carts a Q passing swiftly,
and well-dressed women are going in a
ste dy stream. cheeks Of rudy red, and
walks OF Juno's stride. the scent OF violet
bouquets in the al all that is even a pret-
tier picture than when the wild flowers are
blooming among the mesquite grass, / ven
ture to say. But why do / talk to Won?
worth it,"
No" he responded. II reckon mebbe
Pm not. But, you see. it can't we'll DO
helped you have your way of looking at
things, and l have mine, and they're ever
lastingly diffe ent, that's all"
And yet. somehow. almost imperceptibly
the views OF the youth from Texas began
critical asp, OF. at least 30 far a. they were
openly exI resssd. He still rebelled in
wa dly, perhaps. but he no longer rsviled
openly. He began to 90 to theaters and At
tend r%ecitals, and all that sort of thing,
and always with Madge. She said it was
really getting to be q most amusing pro-
cedure, this tanning of a western shrew,
male edition. He used to do tho most
dreadfully shocking things at first in def
anoe OF all etiquette, but she even got used
to that. She declared that to know the
Little Tin God as she did was a liberal educa-
ton in simplicity. and provocative of dis
belief in the theory of original sin.
One day, in the early summer, Jack
P~lacer-tor that was the young man. name
In his baptism in tho waters of the Rio
Granae-was riding leisu ely in the park.
He had long ago got used to tho idiculs of
the street urchins. who objected to his lack
of Rotten Row attitudes in the saddlr. aud
he took n canter through those spasious
nvonuesv ~ often, thinking q rood deal
OF tho Texas prsiries and their delightful
freedom. Well, oil this day he was aroused
suddenly from a roverio by "A curiousiy I'M
oven chatter of hoofs behind him. He
looked n ound to whore u cloud Of dust was
rapidly approaching, and soon perceived
that ii WAS caused by n runaway. On they
came, tho frightened horses galiopinu along
in mud recklossnesg, the driver white and
nervous in his long black coat. and In tho
body of the CaFIlauo two women ahFiekipp.