The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1896-02-06
A DEAD SHOT.

They called him Tex in lieu of any
reliable information as to his proper
patronymic, and he bobbed up in that
miscellaneous assortment of humanity
that flocked to Leadville in the first
flush of the silver excitement. Tex was
an Apollo Of the plains, mere boy,
with long yellow curls, blue eyes and
woman's complexion and with frame
that lowered six feet in his stockings
He had been a member of an immigrant
train in his tenderer years, which the
Indians had attacked and wiped out OF
existence. Tex had been adopted by the
tribe and had spent some years in this
savage society, until General McHenry,
commanding regular troops, one day
swooped down on the camp and seized
Tex and restored him to civilization.
And then Tex became cowboy. That
was his history down to the time that
he went to Leadville and became ia
miliar figure about the gambling houses.
Everybody, with the possible excep-
tion of the parson and few women and
children in camp, in those days wooed
the tickle goddess of fortune in roulette
or at faro, poker and even keno, and
Tex's occupation as professional gam
bier did not lower his social standing
by one degree As matter of fact, Tex
was a great favorite He was big,
kind hearted boy, with quiet manner
and good natured smile, but, withal,
mana man, too, capable of being
aroused at times and in that condition
one of the most dangerous men in the
west.
One day Tex sat down in The Gold
Room, a popular resort on Chestnut
street, to a little game of poker. The
stakes were high, and Tex was steadily
losing. When he discovered that his
partner was playing with double deck
Tex put his hand ON the jack pot and
called the other cur. That party
whipped out six shooter, but lay dead
in his tracks with a bullet hole through
his heart before he could bring his pis-
tol to level Tex was such an expert
with his gunl
Bret Harte relates that the gamblers
in Tuttle's grocery calmly continued
their game the day that French Pete
and Kanaka Joe shot each other to death
over the bar in the front room. The
game in The Gold Room on this occasion
must have been less absorbing in inter-
est, for the crowd made rush for Tex,
who calmly turned around at the door
and quietly advised his pursuers to re-
sumo their peaceful occupations at the
table if they did not want to fill a COM
hn ntIor ci1n of
Capitol hill And very wisely the crowd
acted on Tex's advice. And so the mat
ter apparently blew over without any
serious annoyance to the young man,
who continued to walk the streets in his
leisurely way, obviously none the worse
in conscience for having assisted in the
premature taking off Of a dishonest
gambler. How many men Tex in his
short but eventful career had killed no.
body knew, but his bearing on this oc-
casion indicated that he was no novice.
He was greeted respectfully by passers,
and he smiled as benevolently and kind
though the process of shooting a man
through the heart was an accepted act
of ethical propriety.
And nothing more would have come
of it if people had not begun to twit
Town Marshal O'Connor on his failure
to do his duty. The marshal had no
hankering after Tex's society, no vault
ing ambition to arrest him. Tex had
been somewhat informal in his admin
istration of justice. He might have
waited for his opponent to shoot first,
t1a,, o11axraI %Ia ,1or 1xyo o1aofa1
Justice of the peace to try the case aft
erward, but Tex, in his youthful mex
perience and very vague acquaintance
with the proprieties of civilization, had
not stopped to think Of that. A cold
deck and a suggestive movement toward
the seat of war on the part Of an adver-
sary had always been his signal for
prompt action, and his triggerless six
shooter had on such occasions always
been the arbiter of justice, from which
no appeal lay. The merciless twitting
to which O'Connor was subjected had
made it necessary for him to do some
thing to maintain the dignity Of the
law.
When Tex that evening walked into
The Gold Room, O'Connor was there.
They saw each other at a glance. O'Con-
nor leisurely walked toward Tex, and
the boy fastened his keen eyes upon
him as though he would read his
thoughts.
'tTex,' said the marshal, you've
killed Skinner, and you know what I've
got to do with you.
ARREST me?" said Tex quietly. The
conversation was conducted in subdued
tones. "Don't try it" continued Tex.
ST like you, and haven't got a thing
against you. I don't want to kill you,
O'Connor. Now you go about your bust
ness and leave me alone. When the
grand jury meets you'll find me right
here in The Gold Room, and I'll go
with you and stand trial, but I won't
be arrested -
"But, Tex" said the marshal, "I've
got to do my duty"
"And I've got to do mine, " said Tex.