Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1901-03-18

e
little BaCChuS )
*
BY Jessie LLetveIiY,,.

Copyright, 1901: by Daily Story Pub. CO.
We We're loung.ng around large table
In the east sample room of the Pal lace
hotel. which now is one of the SWEETEST
in the city. 1t was after business hours.
and Dick B.ume has started in on one
of his long wnded stories. Dick had
been running out from Chicago with a
line of shoes before the oldest drummer
among US mad learned his A 3 Cs, and
mis- record for yarns was world beater.
IN tell you he's her second husband,
and No. 1 is alive and fiourishing back
an the east he was saying. I'm the
only man this side of the Mississippi be-
sides his 'niDs' that's now got her, who
knows the true inwardness of the
affair"
Biume was speaking of the pretty
landlady OF the Palace, to whom We all
had been making our poMtest speeches
for year past. We allowed him to con-
tinue uninterrupted.
Her frs: husband was Nelson Bac-
chus. gool-hearted fellow but without
over-much brains. He brought her out
here from back in the 'states,' as we used
to say then, and in a little shack on this
very spnt they kept a hotel. 1t must
have been the girls black eyes and
snappy, bright ways that started things
going their way. 1t was wonder they
ever caught any of the boys. because
SHE never would allow any liquor sold
on the p ace any more than now, and IL
she'd find any of us backing our chips
with the real stuff. out we'd go, bills
paid or not. Well. in some way she
took liking to me ana used to tell NE
her troubles when the cook would Quit
on five minutes notice, Or if any Of the
OF ho
she was regular mother to us all.
Things seemed to be going pretty
smooth for although she and Bacchus
didn seem to exactly hitch, they never
had any words. He was a soft lot, al
ways whining about something, and
clean dafy with homesiCkness FOR the
east. She was the Whole thing about
the hotel. Maybe I imagined it. but it
seemed 10 me there was a wistful look
i'm her eyes as though her life Was III
cOmLIae.
"'There'll be a tragedy here some old
day. thinks I. That little woman is
plumb ready to fall in love; she's just
waiting for the right man. for cou.d
see that Nelson just figured as a sort OF
habit of hers. Sure enough, he came
the right man, mean, and I was there
Or here at the time. 1t was the night
before Christmas. The sleet and rain
was knifin' every one it caught ou.,
when a chap who looked to be pretty
much ON his uppers walked into the
office. He was kind of wabbly in the
knees, and old kirk-you all know lazy
Kirk, who died down in Mexico in 10
for lack of eXercise?-kirk took the
trouble to knock the ashes off his cigar
and voice the one word we were all
Shrinking, Drunk, he says. And as If
the word hurt him, the fellow keeled
over and fell prone to the floor. Little
Bacchus-thats the name SHE went by
among the boys-had been waiting for
him to register. eyein' him pretty steady.
Like a fash she was kneeling at his side
and Juggling at his frozen collar. and
calling Nose, the black porter and me.
WHO says this man is drunk?' she
asked. scornfully. looking straight at
Kirk, as Nose lifted the slight figure
in his arms. He's starving and half
frozen to death, that's what he ISL
There was something in her tone
and the way she led the way to the best
room in the house that somehow made
me whistle a little tune OF sympathy for
old Bacchus. It took the three of us a
good fifteen minutes to bring the fellow
to himself. had looked through his
pockets and found two dog-eared cards
with the inscription, John Sheldon.
printer same as now, only now it's
John Sheldon, Palace hotel.' There
wasn't a sou of money about his clothes,
and guess he hadn't had the price of