Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1894-12-14

Doxey, Judge Cole, Mr.. Longman, Count
Won Hoffman, Mr.. Peter Gallagher Mr..
Ambrose Newton, Mr. Darby and" there
he mentioned two or three others) "to come
| forward
All were forthcoming, more or less en-
barrassed, and when they were seated on
the stage, the professor continued:
"Before commencing l must beg the
audience not to be alarmed whatever hap
pens, and to please keep their seats. Now,
first, | will give you bit of history, the
application of which you will not be long
in discovering.
about year ago, down in Louisiana,
a number of young men were out one even
ing making merry, and were so exceeding
! ly hilarious that they incurred the displeas-
ure of the officers of the law, who at
tempted to arrest them. In the struggle
the town marshal was shot and killed, very
unfortunately. One of the young men,
Mr.. DE Russy, was suspected of having
fired the fatal shot; and, while he was in
nocent it was thought best for him to dis
| appear for time, until the mystery was
| cleared up. 1t was cleared up, the man
who killed the marshal having recently
! confessed"
Here it was noticed that the leading cit
liens on the stage were looking anxiously
| toward one of the wings, and seemed ex-
tremely uneasy, but none left his seat.
The professor continued, speaking very
rapidly:
"De Russy came to your state and sought
! temporary asylum. He found employment
and settled himself to remain until the
trouble should be cleared up. In his new
position he was pleasant and obligng; but
! through fear of discovering himself to the
authorities was so mild in his manners that
nearly everybody in town took advantage
of him, although | know him to be one of
the bravest men of a fighting family,
| quick to avenge an insult, and always
ready, under ordinary circumstances, to
meet any man in fair combat.
For what he has had to undergo he
| does not ask much, but he is bound to
have that; and here he produced
| brace of siX-shooters and covered the au-
dience just as the new bar-boy from the
Binfood House, who had been covering
from wing the semi-circle of prominent
| citizens on the stage, stepped into full
view, armed as was the professor and with
eyes sparkling with the lust of longed-for
vengeance about to be satistied-"lest any
| gentleman in the audience gets excited
while the gentlemen on the stage are salts
ate past wrongs done him. | will call at
tention to the fact that it would be very
dangerous to draw a return fire from the
stage into this crowd. Pray be calm, la
dies and gentlemen. The violinist will
please play Old Grimes while the gentle
men on the stage rise and dance"
Here confused murmur interrupted any
further remarks he may have intended to
make and one or two of the gentlemen
of probity and veracity," who had hither-
to seemed half stupefied, reach ID for their
weapons.
Easy, easy" commanded the bar-boy
of the Binford with menacing gesture.
Get the guns, John"
Jenkyns did so, securing eight weapons,
| from which he removed the cylinders and
threw them into pile of rubbish back of
the wings.
Now" ordered the bar-boy, with a
motion to the violinst, Dance, dance
damn you! Quick"
Bang! Bang! couple of rifle shots
hit the floor in close proximity to the feet
of two or thrre dlatory ones, and they
rose with some ala,rty, for the CLEAN in
the bar-boy's eye meant business.
Funny spectacles nowadays, in Nitrate
are compared, especially in conversation
| with eminent citizens, to the acrobatic
dancing of the flower of the camp on that
memorable Fourth of July. For it was
! funny-very funny. The funniest thing
Nitrate had ever seen, and presently the
audience began to realize it, Somebody
laughed. Then SOMEBODY else laughed.
Then it became contagious and the whole
audience laughed, rOared, and almost cried
in an excess of merriment.
But it wasn't funny for the performers
il II
tried to look as though it was huge joke,
being duly reminded, however of the seri-
business of the situation by an occasional
shot from De Russys revolver. For fifteen
or twenty minutes the violin droned on
mournfully, and the dancers leaped and
cavorted frantically. Then, when NO or
three of them-notably old Welch and fat
Judge Cole-gave signs of impending apo
pleXy, De Russy waved his hand and the
music stopped.
You may rest for a moment, gentle
men, said the master of ceremonies. "A
swift jig-stepis bit difficult to accomplish
to slow music isn't it? Now, gentlemen,
you will kindly play leap-frog for a while
Quick, now Lively!"
And leap-frog it was until old Captain
DoXey's weight crushed little Bill Darby
to the floor, and the captain alighted on
| MS cal anu lay IneIe mOIiOnleSS. linen
Jenkyns stepped forth, handed De Russy
his hat, blew kiss to the audience, and
both stepped back from the stage and dis
appeared.
For moment the murmur of apprehen-
sion that had arisen when Captain Doxey
fell was stilled. Then, following the slam
of the door of the stage entrance and the
sound of rapidly departing wheels, came a
roar and rush. But the two fleeing ones
in the blackboard and their driver, the
owner of the livery stable at Lone Mount
ain, who had driven over for them by
agreement, were perfectly serene. They
knew that not a bride nor a harness in
Nitrate was in its proper place, and that
they would reach Lone Mountain lust i'm
time for the night train to Denver.-San
Francisco ArgOndut.
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