Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1895-10-31

tana Joint when somebody left the door
open and this little girl drifted In. The
fellows want used to the way she went
after 'em. She Just waded right In and
tackled 'em, and them blue eyes she car
ried In her head looked straight at 'em
aud through 'em. as much rs TO say Il
think you'd be real decent fellow II you'd
read the War Cry, quit gambling, omit
drinking gin and have respect for good
women That's what the fellows told me
her eyes said to 'em.
'srhen the big gambler she started to
tell you about comes up and says to her;
Hello, little Parson Sallie, what do you
want? 4 want 10 sell you War Cry
she says. a what p says he. A War
Cry" says she; and her calm blue eyes
looked him through and through. "A
War Cry?' says he What's thatr and he
knowed as well as she did what 1t was.
"After badgering her that way and not
making her lose an inch OF ground, he
told her he'd make proposition by which
she might sell him all the War Crys she
had. The poor little thing listened to
him, and her eyes got bright. and she
asked him what the proposition was. He
had her sit down at card table, and he
took three cards-a king and two spot
cards-and shuffled 'em on the table so
that she could see the king while he was
shutting 'em, aud then asked her II she
could pick out the king as the three cards
lay face down, along side one another on the
table She said of course she could. He
says to her, Try it. She done so, and OF
course she picked out the king.
"He says That's smart, and l didn't
think you could do it. Now, I'll tell you
what I'll do; I'll shuttle the cards, and
every time you pick out the king I'll buy
two War Crys. Every time you pick out
spot card you are TO give me War Cry
for nothing She agreed to that.
The poor child didn't know that she
was gambling-didnt know that she was
tacklng the notorious Montana Bill in his
particular specialty--didn't know that she
had run up against the slickest three-card
monte thrower in the whole Northwest.
"Well, you know what happened. Bill
cleaned the poor child out Of every War
Cry she had and then laughed at her. /
saw her as she sat there, and saw how
she looked when she began to realize
that she had lost all her papers and didn't
have cent to show for 'em. saw how
white she got, and how she stared at Bill
like he'd run knife through her body;
saw how she got up and looked around at
the laughing men. like lamb cornered by
a pack of wolves; / saw her try hard to
keep down the tears, and then she says
Men, will pray to God to lead you all
H.. ~
choked up she couldn't say any more.
Then she walked out slowly and cried all
the way up the street.
The big man paused, for his own voice
had become unaccountably thick and had
lost much of its rich, deep swing and reson-
ance. But he soon regained his self-pos-
session, and then proceeded:
montana Bill was hard case for sure,
but he had small streak of manhood
under his thick skin. The
boys in the joint all thought it was great
joke on the little girl, and they laughed
and shouted till they almost cracked the
roof. But Bill didn't laugh. He stood
silent and glum, with his hands in his
pockets, looking out through the door.
Then he went out, saying he had a game
awaiting for him at Ike's saloon, and he
went slouching up the street. The further
he got away from the joint the faster he
walked, and then he done sneaking
looked back to see if any of the
boys was following him. They wasn't,
though, and then he let out them long legs
Of his for the livelest walk he ever took in
his life.
"He soon caught sight of her, and then
he slowed up and follered. She was still
crying, and people would stop and Won
der what was the matter, ana some OF 'em
laughed. Bill got on to that, and it rled
him through and through. He slapped one
fellow clean into the middle of the street,
and went right on without word.
heard afterward that several people that
he knowed spoke to him, but he didn't
see none of 'em, and kept right on.
"The girl went straight to the head
quarters of the Salvation Army, and Bill
follered her in. She went into little office,
where there didn't happen to be any body
else, and sat down and put. her head on
the table, and cried like her heart was
broke. For the first time in his life Mon
tana Bills nerve broke down. She looked
SO small and forlorn and miserable that If
he hadn't been the man that done her up
he'd gone out and whipped the fellow
that did. And when he knowed that he
was that identical scoundrel, and that
there wasn't anybody big enough and man
enough to whip him, he felt just like a
dog that had been caught
sucking eggs.
Il want to say this for Bill. Bad as he
was, he never meant to rob the girl. He
was only having fun with her in the
saloon, and he meant to give her back the
papers, but it was the way she acted in the
saloon that made him forget. 1t was the
pity that she showed for him and the
little prayer she said that made him lose
his head. And that was the first time in
his life that Montana Bill ever lost his
head.
''And so; when he saw her crying out
her heart in the little office, she not know
ing that anybody was about, he didn't
have the nerve to own up like man. He
just sneaked $50 gold piece on to the
table and tried to steal out like thief.
But she heard him, and saw the money
and looked at him like he was ghost,
and sprung ahead Of him and stopped him
and stood there looking at him with look
he'd never seen in no mortal face in his
life.
SIT was God who put it into your heart
to follow me and bring that money she
said to him, and as He has done that
much, lie has done more, and will keep
on doing more, until that big manly heart
in your body beats altogether for. mankind