Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1895-08-04

Invariably Lloyd asserted; or the
passenger who refuses TO pay is put OH
the train
You don't say? Suppose you try:
Here are Tim and me to begin with!
And the whole carful after us, for not
one cent of our earning is going into
the mOneybags of your - swindllng
company
That's sop
You betp
Not a chip
"Llyod listened to these expressions
of general determination until they
came to an end. Then he was consid-
| erably paler, but his eyes had grown
uncOmmonly bright.
You will hurt me much more than
the company he said, when he could
get a hearing. 1 shall lose my place If
| don't collect you fares
That is your lookout
We amt going to tell your boss, if
you keep quietr
"Llyod's shining eyes turned from one
to another of the twenty tall fellows
lounging around him, so sure of the
trump they held that they were in no
hurry to finish the game.
There is a greed for tormenting an
mails which disfigures most human
nature from Spanish bull-baiters to
those rat-fighters down East We are
| not without a touch of it here in Mon
tana. And that the tormented animal
belongs to our own kind adds a keener
relish to the fun, when the party doing
the tormenting has swallowed as much
bad whisky as the cowboys had that
morning So those bright eyes of
LlOyd's didn't meet any more encour-
agement than did Father Noah's the
first time he took a squint at the flood
through one of tie portfolios of the ark.
Without speaking, he stood very pale
and still, for a moment, looking at the
open pOcketbook in his hand, while they
all stared at him, grinning and jeering
There was a firmness about his mouth
that didn't suggest unconditional sur
render to two or three who watched
him closely. and who were much sur
prised when presently the color rushed
back over his face, and, shutting his
book with a snap, he went out of the
car
"He was followed by roar of laugh
ter and facetious yells.
Call again. young fellow
Always glad to see youp
"Then the crowd returned to poker
playing. some of them Just bit dis
contented with their victory and NUT
tering that twenty to one was too big
odds for any chap, specially SLIM IL
tie chap with fists which couldn't hold
/ ov,-y, ooro In N
The story-teller interrupted himself
with a chuckle
They counted fists, you see, and for
got to take stock of brains. How
should they guess that the man they
had put to proof carried more brains
inside his handsome head than fur
nished the twenty of them, though they
We're not fools, either?
"A quarter of an hour later the train
stopped, not gradually, but with jerk
which sent poker chips flying. There
was a cowboy half out of every win
dow in the car quicker than you could
have cooked a pistol, for stations were
seldom within a hundred miles of each
other in those days, and they all knew
that this stop wasn't regular.
Behind and before them the track
stretched as far as they could sec.
while on both sides the prairie spread
away to the low edges of the gray
sky, which wasn't any grayer than it
self. lonely as the ocean, sir, and in
fnitely more silent Not a sound or
movement, except that of the locomo-
tive whisking off at full speed.
In came the cowboys heads with
volley of hard swearing, and there
stood Lloyd in the doorway, cooler
than I am at this instant, but holding
a SiX-shOOter.
"'You have just five minutes to
make up your minds said he, and his
voice was as steady as his eyes. Will
YOU pay your fares like honest men, or
get out and tramp to the next settle
ment. forty miles from here? Our en-
| gineer is waiting within hail of US, and
he will not come back unless | give
him the order Oh, you may murder
me if you chooser he cried, STEPPING
| further into the car, as half a dozen
pistols were grabbed. But can shoot
as straight as any of you'll don't
mean to die alone-and at the sound of
the first shot our engineer will be off to
| Bismark.'
For one long moment the prairie
wasn't stiller than that carload of eX-
cited humanity. If Lloyd had even
blinkedl Thank God he didn't! Then
q big fellow broke into a laugh, took
| his pistols from his belt, and, laying
them on a seat, walked toward Lloyd,
holding out his empty fists.
'Shaker he said. That was lone
hand! And pluckily you played it,!
From Lloyd's side he faced the lot
Of them.
Boys he cried, "a chap who can
look straight down the mules of so
many cowboy shooters for the sake Of
doing his duty, that chap will make the
kind of partner most Of us want to
yoke with if he will let us, en-
Lloyd smiled. slipped his pistol into
his pocket, and gave his slim fingers to
the others brawny grasp.
We'll. sir, all crowds are alike,
whether cattle or men-they follow a
! leader. There was a cheering presently
which astonished the waiting engineer.
/ Then the fares were paid as fast as
| Lloyd could take them. And that is the
end OF this story.
The ranchman paused. and began
| carefully to relight his pipe, which had
! died out.
Where is Lloyd now? In Helena,
| State Senator from - county, he
answered an eager questioneT when the
pipe was again in working order.
where is the fellow who stood by
him?" He laughed jovially. Neither
l1he nor his whereabouts point the moral
of this tale. But, when Lloyd runs for
governor, as he shall next year, he shall
have my vote for he runs to win in any
race he enters. And that is my creed
| of life hnVs-.The Lord helms those who