Hutchinson gazette., 1900-12-27

Walker, and he vented his astonlsh.
meut and disgust In Il burst of oathy
and revllings. mo man shall keep y
hotel with nothing TO drink In 1t IA
theee parts" he said. "If you don'4
have liquor, and good liquor, too, tha
next time call. won't leave a wholb
dish or n whole bone hereW And as n
foretaste OF what he would do he
kicked over the table and smashed
three or four chairs by way of leave.
taking.
With such a customer on their hanGS
1t Is little wonder that our young
friends felt very III at case. Still they
were bold men, and were determined
not TO be bullled into keeping rum; 10
they went about their business rs
usual
Nothing further was seen of Walker
for two weeks, when one morning,
while Charles was getting breakfast,
Gilbert having gone out to look after
the cattle. The nrst hint that Charles
had Of his visitors presence was an.
other volley Of shots at their sign.
board.
This time Clate had shot the second
letter to pieces. II was apparently
his way of knocking, Immediately ar
ter he kicked the door open,
Under these circumstances 1t Ia not
very strange THAI Charles stepped out
Of back door It about this time, and
went behind the corral, from whence
he heard Walker firing repeatedly and
n great smashing inside, When at
length the desperate had taken his de-
parture II was found that he had made
n complete wreck Of the crockery and
furniture, and In the grocery room he
had helped himself to tobacco and
emptled his revolver at the Kerosene
barrel, which, tapped In half dozen
places, was deluglng the floor.
shall not undertake to say what
the duty Of my young friends was;
whether they should have resisted the
outrage and defended their property
at the risk Of their lives or moved
away from so dangerous neighbor-
hood, What they did was to get out
Of sight whenever they saw Walker
coming, and let him do his worst. 1t
chanced that after time q 1eCond
cousin Of my young friends came
West to see them. HIS name was
Forney, and he was then n student at
the military academy at West Point,
He dropped in upon the Small broth
ers quite unexpectedly one afternoon,
and II Is needless to say that they
were very glad to see him, and that
they passed very pleasant evening,
Nothing was said about Walker, for
Gilbert and Charles, having an hon
est pride In their ranch, were 10th to
let Lieutenant Forney know how bad
ly they were Of in respect to neigh.
bors, The desperate happened TO
come along, however, the very next
morning.
Charles and rorncy were sitting in
the dining-room when Gilbert came
rushing In, having seen the gambler
coming up the road.
"0ld Clate Walkers comingr he eX,
claimed. put out ut the back door,
Charles leaped to his feet but our
young West Pointer rose more leisure
ly.
"Who In the dickens is old Clate
WalkerF he asked.
"a regular border terrorl A desper.
ado! A killer" exclaimed Gilbert,
Hes likely to shoot any one Of US at
sight! Come on"
What! Run from your own house?'
said Forney, surprised. "Why, what
hold has this fellow on you"
mo hold whatever; but he's n dead
shot and double-dyed murderer"
cried Charles. you don't know him
as we do, Come along with us auG
get out Of his way"
mot Iv' exclaimed Forney, who per
haps felt that his military reputation
was at stake. "Take your two guns
and stand ready in the kitchen. IL
stop here and see Mr.. Walker"
He hurrledly took his revolver from
his overcoat pocket, then stepped tc
the window behind the desk on thu
counter.
With his customary oath, the gamb
Ter and dead shot kicked open the door
and strobe in. The young lieutenant
sat on the high stool behind the desk,
apparently reading the newspaper. He
did not look up
"Hello, you sneak" shouted Walk.
er. "Where are the tender kids that
keeps this temperance hotelY
81 think they've gone out to hide, ,''
said Forney, carelessly turning bis
paper. "They said there was a man.
eater, a regular anthropophagus, com,
Ing, and they were going TO hide some
where"
Walker stared.
well, wellv' he ripped out. "Tf you
amt the freshest kid I've struck in