The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1897-12-09
HARMONY AT B00M0P0LIS, !
BY William M. Tisdale.
~o~O~O>oO~o~o>o~

HAP'N JENKINS want no dude, but
" he wuz mighty fine lookin' all the
same, specially when he wore his vel
vet coat, his Mexican so1nbrero with the
silver braid, his buckskin ridin'
breeches, an his gilt spurs. On them
'casions Mrs. Jenkins use to foller him
'roun' till satisfied tibet he wus safe
'mongst us boys an way frum the
ladies. None of us he'd ever seen mother
velvet coat like that one within hun
dred mile of Boomopolis. So, when Mr..
orb Perkins, hailin' straight frum
Boston, as claimed ter be an artist a.
huntin' "local color' fer his sketches,
dropped inter Doc Morey's place with
mother velvet coat an sombrero, an
him Jenkins size to an inch-why us
boys all fairly gasped fer breath an Mr..
Perkins found jest what he wuz a.
lookin' fer.
'Twuz tn evenin' of the day when the
Chinese clubhouse at the Golden Wedge
mine wus blowed up with dynamite.
Who blowed her up nobody knew, but
we all sespicioned Badly Bowers-big
man, bad man. Never havin' did lick
of work in his life, it naturally guy
Badly pain ter see Chinaman awork-
in, so quiet an patient-like, same's a
burro, never sayin' nothin', 'cept a leetle
gee-hawin' oncet in awhile 'mongst his
own kind. an never standin' treat.
Badly probably lit the fuse to tibet
charge of dynamite out of pure, all
'roun' cussedness, jest to make row an
hurt somebody. But in this last he wuz
disappointed, fer, barrin' a broken leg
or two, the Cinnamon go off alive.
Seems like Chinaman hez ez many
lives ez cat, anyway.
We wuz all discussn' this event that
evenin' in Doc Morey's place an Cap'n
Jenkins remarked that 'twuz low
down, cowardly trick. He wuz no friend
of tn imported Chinese hirelin', but he
b'lieved in fair play. He w'dn't shoot a
dog with a rope 'roun' it's neck or muir
der cat in it's sleep. The man tibet he'd
done this thing wuz no gentleman, an
if the cap'n only knew fer certain who
'twuz, he'd take pleasure in lckin' him
within an inch of his wuthless life. We
cd see Badly Bowers eyes flame up, like
a coal when you blow it to light your
pipe, but he didn't say nothin'-not in
words. by an by the boys cummenced
to deal fer seven-up an Badly invited
the cap'n to play a game of cribbage.
Twas queer invite at sech time, but
the cap'n consented, an they sot down
at a table by themselves, ordered drinks
fer the crowd, an commenced to play.
Now, I don't know nothin' bout crib
bage, or old maid, or any of them ladies'
games with keerds, but we all saw tibet
there wuz the maxim of good-sized
row in tibet ere game. It run long
kinder monoternous fer awhile, eff
teen-two, ffteen-four, fifteen-six-go,"
an all the rest of the childish lingo.
The cap'n played very slow and keer-
less, reachin' fer the cards with that
leetle, white, wiry hand of his, softly an
quietly ez if he wuz half asleep, an
Badly KEEP a-bangin' the keerds down
onto the table, an a-rippin' out lot
of big Greaser cuss-words, an account
in in a voice like bass drum, an then,
of course, they quarreled bout the
countln'. That wuz what the game wuz
for.
Cap'n Jenkins insisted 'twuz fair to
count one way. an Badly swore the rule
wuz t'other way. I don't know which
wuz right an don't care. But pretty
soon Badly SEES: "Cap'n Jenkins, you're
a-countin' wrong ag'n; you're a-tryin'
to cheat ag'n."
you're liar" sed the cap'n, turnin'
a shade or two whittier, like he wuz get
tin hot.
Then Badly made leetle play tibet
he'd often took the starch out of bigger
men than jenkins. He riz up to his
six feet two, an throwed off his coat, an
rolled up his shirtsleeves. shown the
muscles on his arm, bout ez big ez a
key of beer, an he SEES: "Cap'n Jenkins,
you leetle whiffet, I'm a-goin' to lick
you right now"
you're liar" sed the cap'n, an he
slowly riz up onto his feet.
Nobody rightly knowed jest how it
happened, but when Badly drew his
big, sledgc-hammer fist back, the leetle
table that they'd been a-playin' on flew
up between 'em, an Baldy's fist came
smash a'gin' it. AS it tumbled to the
floor with clatter, Cap'n Jenkins
sorter riz up in tn air an bruug his
left fish like streak of lightnin' a'gin'
the pint of Baldy's chin. The big Teller
Jest elapsed. His whole body stiffened.
He gripped the floor a second or two
with his heels an then he went smash.
full length onto his back, with jar
thet shook the buildin'. 'Twuz full five
minits by the watch afore he moved
muscle.
Ez soon's Badly cd stan up an take
= glass Of whisky he went out of the
back door an Cap'n Jenkins went out
q ~ 6vat door. We all knowed thet