The Roanoke times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1897-1977, 1897-02-06
TILE ROANOKE TAI
A TOUCH TENDERFOOT
How a Greenhorn Got the Bes
Of a Wild Westerner.
HE NEATLY TURNED THE TABLES

Initiated Amid Popping PistoIs-Took
Drink at the Point Of Gun-Then Force
His Adversary to Take Another-A Livei,
"Reminiscences.
Young men who go west nowadays t.
search of adventure usually find that tho,
are on very cold trail, for the gcnun
old time article is scarce. But it was onI,
matter of Il dozen years ago when COW
boy raids and hold ups were rs thicl
us blackbcrrics and the tcndcrfoot from
the cast led II life that was literally stuffed
with excitement. L know about this, for
went west near that time and being of
speculative turn Staid there several years
to see whether L would 1--we on or get kill
cd. 1t was my luck to hang on ana wir
out, though L have always regarded tn,
performance Il 20 to / shst.
AS u tcndcrfoot 1 suffered kcenly. but
not for long. My promotion to the ranks
OF the initiated was swift. 1 won my spurs
ut II single joust and wore them ianglingly
thereafter Here is how is came about: Ii
was carly in the eighties. | WAS in charge
OF II government surveying party Alta
point ~ few miles south of Solctiad BASS III
New Mcxicow we had taken up the fifth cor.
rection line south and carried it across bar.
rem plains and alkali flats and over tho
prcclpltous Guadalupe mountains to tho
Pccos river, in the southeastern part of the
territory. I'm order to carry the line to it.
proper connection with the Texas bound.
AIRY, II would be necessary to cross the desc.
late Stahcd plain where sand and wind
abound, but water is unknown
We were short of water kegs. and on,
supply of provisions had dwindlcd 10 n
few pounds oi Hour and ono small strip of
bacon. These tidings the cook impaired
to me with sadness. was youno--just
out of my tccnS-;ind the RESPONSIBILITIES
of my position began to weigh on me. We
had brought light burro outfit over the
mountains and expected to he met at the
river ny the trainload of provisions sent
down from Las Vegas 300 miles north.
t1ut the team had not come, and there we
we're. Not Al ranch nor Il human being had
,omc into our range of vision since the
start two months before
There were plenty of cattle grazing
around, but these animals are unhappy
until they have put go or 30 miles between
them and their rightful homes, and so il
was not worth while to follow their trails
up and down the river in the expectation
of finding Il ranch. One of the bows, who
was profanc and hungry, cried ont to Il
large inquisitivc steer which came near our
hlaZcs he came from anyhow But the
beast walked off, twisting his tail indiffcr-
emily, as if he said: Don't worry about
us We don I live anywhere in particular. -
But there was IL place ON the map mark
cd Seven Rivers which l made out TO lie
some ID miles up tho river. And so early on
the following morning | started out on n
rapid walk, telling the men To pull UP
stakes and follow after. | was determined
that we should not he kept on half rntions
another dry longer. I figured that Seven
Rivers must he Il little town, and that at
some of the stores I could find what l
wanted. put in about three hours of hard
walking before j began to hope for II sight
of the place. After that / walked and
hoped and gazcd and walked until half the
afternoon wore away. l had evidently
miscalcuatcl the distance Just as l WINS
about to give up and wait for my camp
outfit, which was travelling slowly five or
SIN miles behind, came squarcly upon
Seven Rivers. But il WASH II town at all
lit was only one low, heavy set adobe
house, with halfa dozen gravcStoncs behind
ii and Il horse rack in front of it, To which
j. or - horses were tCthc"cG. II was on
:hc barcSG knoll you ever .;iw. and the
plain all around was bare The pccos was
near by, running between low dirt banks,
but one would almost stumble into it be
fore he discovered it was there Not a tree
was i'll sight. 1t WAS Il place of house.
Yravcstoncs and horses. nothing else Wait
there was something elsa sound of
mufllcd popping, as of pistol shots. miles
away. heard this noise as trudgcd up
to the door of the house, wondering what
1t could be. ] found out Instantly |
opened he door and knew more in n min
ute than | could have guessed in wears.
Inc iilnE was going on inside that thick
walled adobe. As an instance of the ihcr-
ality of youth | will state that, poor boy
as l was, would willingly have donated
to some charitable object years salary if
could have got the, door shut again and
transferred myself invisibly To par,s re
mote.
But that was impossible. \ pondcrous
loot held it open; then Il mighty hand
Jcrked it wide, and Il wild pan lcinonium
oil pistol shots, yclls songs and curses
pounded into my ears. / SAW could no:
retreat, so thought IL few words OF GOOD
by to my mother and friends and stepped
over the threshold. Immediately ! was
seized by both shoulders and the back and
slammed against bar or counter, ! have
never been able to tell which, while these
words and noises filled the air:
Come in here, you - --!"
Bang, bang, bang! "Who the -
are you''-bang anyway" Shoot the
bang, bang!--" tendcrfoot! Fill 'cm full
o. holes! Bang, bang!
The room was full of smoke as we'll as
noise, and there was only one window, so
1t took me Il full minute to get even II
blinking view of my surroundings. What
could sec, besides the inflamcd eyes of the
drunken cowboys who held me, was lit
tie old man with thin, gray whiskcrs, who