Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1895-04-18
The Rid.
Madison, Wis.
By G. T. j.

Big jim was drunk. Not dead drunk
but just in that state that follows close
upon what the boys termed feeling
good" Big jim was not hilarious.
The prolonged spree of a week had
deadened his nerves to an extent that
even the extract of hades which was
dispensed over the pine slab bar in
Purdy's place could produce no other
effect than a confused sense Of depreS
sion He arose from the small table,
over which Bridgers had been discOurS-
Jug about the rich finds in the Las
Benecio country for the past hour with
q vague recollection of what he had
beard and walked toward the front of
the room. An Unsuitable desire to
drown out all consciousness with a few
more drinks seized him when he passed
the bar, but he pulled his big white
hat unsteadily over his face and
turned away.
where's Their kid? Asleep:' he
asked of purdy's wife who stepped
into the room from side door
The big CHEEKY faced woman eyed
jim closely. He's here, on the bench.
Pretty neaC asleep | guess
"Ther kid" turned his eyes heavily
from the neat array Of clean glasses
and the gilt-edged mirror behind the
bar, III which he had been drowsiIy
blinking for the greater part of the
evening and slid down from the chair
Mrs. Purdy wiped her hands and
picked him up. The kid knew Mrs
Purdy. Often when his father was
drinking and playing in the back Of the
room with hef' husband and Bridgers,
dropped out one by one, Mrs. Purdy
had come out from the sacred pre-
cintS of the bar to his accustomed
corner behind the stove and had gath
cred him up in her motherly arms with
Womaniy compassion for his fOrlOrn
condition just as the kid vaguely
dreamed his mother used to do.
And when she went to wait on GUS
toner She always left Il big cooky or
a gorgeously colored cigar box which
the Kid sat gazing upon With great
solemn eyes. Somehow the kid didn't
talk as much as he used to. When
''Curley Peters" the big express rider,
or some of the men down from the
diggin's" to while away time i'll the
railroad camp, playfully tossed linn
up on their shoulders or tried to talk
with him in their rough, kindly fash
Ion the kid took it as matter of
course and said nothing.
The Kid was popular with the boys.
Naturally so perhaps when we consider
that he was the only yOungSter for
miles around, and some Of the boys
hadn't seen Il baby since they struck
the Las Benecio country years ago.
And then Big jim was popular too or
had been until lately, when he had
grown 50 very surly and quarrelsOme.
They all knew the cause of this and
with rare tact said nothing except to
pity the kid and lavish more attention
upon him than usual.
Strangely enough jim did not relish
this as much as formerly. You fell
ters make a fool of ther kid he
growled but he never was unkind to
him exactly, and the kid never failed
TO put in a nightly appearance at
Purdys to doze the night away be-
hind the stove or better still on Mrs.
Purdys blue covered bed in the side
room.
Big Jim clumsily put the little over
coat with the frayed seams and worn
buttons on the boy and, raising him
on his huge arm, he went out into the
night. The wind was rising heavily in
the gulch and carrying bits of leaves
and dust into his face when he
reached the little shanty, down so
close under the railroad grade that the
scraperS sometimes rolled small pei
lets of clay and gravel right against
the doorstep.
Jim pushed open the door and laid
MS sleeping burden on the rough bed.
In the next shanty above light Shone
through the muslin curtain where a
transfers wife was awaiting her hus-
band. In the slab shed behind Jim's
home the contractors tired and
bruised horses were moving restlessly
in their stalls. jim tucked the kid
in with the ragged coverlet and STUN
bled to his own bed ere his benumbed
mind should fade out altogether
When he awoke the sun threw a few
bright CLEANS through the dirty win
dow and as Jim turned over he was
blinded by the flood of light that
poured in the open door. 1t was very
late but Jim felt little like rising yet
A dizzy sensation came upon him when
he raised his head. He rubbed his
swollen eyes and laid back on the
straw pillow with a glance around the
room.
Things looked uncommonly bad, tc
be sure. The brown paper on the
walls had curled over on the corners
and was warped until some of the once
brilliant cards and Autographs had
fallen off, and the rest had a crooked
and fiy-specked appearance.
Jim decided to pull them down wheI
he arose. The stove had a seedy