The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-01-31
SAVANNAH. GA. SUNDAY. JANUARY 81 1897

About six months later Bill foated into
| the office again. If he had been sober dur
| ing the interval there certainly was moth
( ing about his appearance to Indicate it.
| have seen almost every variety of bum
/ and tramps, but in all my experience l cam
not recall meeting one of such thoroughly
unwholesome appearance as old Bill pre-
! scented that morning.
"Wie gents, sonny?" he hiccoughed.
! cheerfully, holding out a dirty paw.
Know me?''
L surveyed him with ill-conceaIed dis
! gust as l remarked:
! 1T is possible that bath and barber
| might disclose the face and form of my
! old friend Bill But now-great Scott,
! Bill! Go and get a bath and a haircut"
! He took the dollar l gave him, chuckled
| hoarsely, and left, to return in about an
! hour somewhat improved in appearance,
and ready for work.
Say" he remarked, as he took off his
! coat, I've got tn best derned plot fr
short story We ever heard of. I'll tell we
| might"
But alas! it was like all the others he
| had given me- and quite as valueless as
| those he subsequently impaired to me dur
| ing his three weeks sojourn with us. At
| the end Of that time he departed in much
| the same manner as before He got drunk,
! went broke" borrowed a half dollar
again, and walked out Of town.
For the next three years he showed up
| at intervals of five or six months-depart-
| ing as innocent of means as when ne ar
| rived, always, however, with a new suit
! of clothes. Never did he fail to announce
/ upon his arrival, that he had the best
! derned plot for a story 1 ever heard of.
And never did one of his ideas avail me
| anything.
OF all the ubiquitous individuals 1 ever
ran across in all sorts of out-of-th e-way
! places and elsewhere Bill Ijams was the
| one oftenest in evidence. The next time
saw him he was in New York; next
found him officiating as foreman in a 1T
! tie newspaper office in a Nebraska prairie
| town; and a year later he turned up in
! San Francisco and stumbled across my
! path. On each and every occasion he had
| the best derned plot all ready to give
me; and, quite as regular, nothing came
| of it.
| A few months after seeing him in San
! Francisco while chatting with the editor
| of a paper in Southern New Mexico, l
| heard a familiar voice from the door of
| the composing room asking some ques-
| ton about job" Behold our old friend
| Bill stick in hand, with the same old IA
miliar one-eyed leer on his grizzled coun-
| tenance. After he went out told the edi-
! tor about him.
why don't you take the old villain out
| to the mine and straighten him out if
| you're going to be there awhile?' asked
| Sherman. He's good for years if you
can keep him sober; but he nearly died
| after his last jamboree, few weeks ago.
| He's about due again, by now
Just then Bills head emerged from the
| doorway. Say, sonny" he remarked Il
! got somethin t tel We, eff y're round t.
night. It's a corker. sure this time.
"All right, Bill. Come over and take
! supper at the hotel with me-
! 7
/ held out to him to so out to our camp and
work. He liked the prospect of change
! of employment, and also that of being out
OF reach of his old enemy when one of his
spells came on. So when / drove out
next day l was accompanied by this cheer
full old reprobate, who seemed happy as a
boy over the outlook. He had one or
two plots to unfold, too; but he did not
seem hurt when l failed to enthuse over
them.
Bill had been with us at White Hawk
about three months, and during that lime
had succeeded not only in standing off
1.-The enemy" but in making himself the
most popular man in camp besides. SO it
was with genuine regret that everybody
| heard that he was about to pull up stakes
and move on. But the rowing fever had
him. and nothing we could say or 10
would induce him to reconsider.
Without his knowledge 'the boys be-
!
eve of his departure he was decoyed up to
| Higgins boarding house, where a grand
| ball' was being held in his honor. And
when they presented the old fellow with
a handsome watch, This is addin' insult
L injury said Bill with grateful tears in
his bleary old eyes.
About midnight, when the bale was at
it's hight, came startling news, brought in
by late arrival from the Arizona line.
The notorious kid" and his cut-throat
band of reds were out on the war-path,
and it behooved those present-the men,
at least-to get to their respective ranches
and lock after their buildings and stock
A week later found u.s. mere handful
of men, hampered by the presence of half
a hundred women and children, besieged
in garrison by a hundred or more agency
fed redskins, who had obviously succeeded
in heading off couriers going towards the
military posts and proposed TO starve US
out. And we were in sad way There
was plenty of water. but provisions were
getting distressingly low, and, worse still,
our supply of ammunition could not hold
out much longer.
IT, was a very detected lot Of men that
gathered together that August morning in
Higgins. which was our fort and dis
cussed the situation. II had come to the
pass that, unless help arrived very, very
soon we must manage TO get a courier
through to the fort-an undertaking that.
more than likely meant death 10 the man
attempting it. In This emergency arose Old
Bill.
"Tn got night" said he 81 got no.
body t keer fr me- no chick mr. child.
I'm nearly 20 years old, an not long fr
this world anyhow. Course I'm a tender
foot but / en- try Z git through, anyhow"
L must be confessed, to our everlasting
credit. that we saw the logic Of Bits ar
guments ana the protests against his
proposition were few and inslncere. That
night, mounted on the best horse IN camp.
and heavily armed, Bin Ijams went out
into the darkness to give up what remain
ed of his miserable, mistaken life for
Others
lie must have got lost in the hills that
night; for when the reds sighted him, next
day, he was only a few miles ON his way.
He gave them a running fight for several
miles. but was finally hit by a stray shot
and was Obliged 20 seek cover IN the rocks.
He made a good fight for his ebbng he,
as the empty cartridge shells around the
rock where he had sought refuge amply
proved