The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1902-07-05
GRATITUDE OF rAson ou,cLgy

| at any time OF day between and vOf.
VIII find, sitting stoicaliy behind a desk.
tali' gangiing. freekled. melancholy
| young man with a celluloid collar a
black bow tie and a well brushed suit and
rat of the vintage Of say ten years ago.
his Is Jason Quigley, formerly OF
| brIggville in the grass country OF Texas.
Jason has but one ambition in life-t0
snow his unwavering gratitude TO Judge
| Turnbuil, and in the pursuit OF this de-
termination he has attached himself 70
the distinguished lawyer in the seIf-estab-
| i-shod capacity OF body-guard, valet clerk
/ and general facIotum Beyond uOnosvl-
| laoles and occasional directions about
| trivial errands the judge never speaks
| Il him. He eats in the kitchen of the
Iurnnull home sleeps IN the stable with
! the nired help, goes to the Office two
| 1ours before his patron and spends his
days IN silent. eager. worshipful read
| mess TO serve the judge. He draws no
| salary depending upon the whimsical
founty OF his deity; believes in no man
but Turnbull fearing nothing but his
frown' hoping nothing but that his en-
! during allegiance Will win him tolerance
| il ii does not gain u smile.
The learned lawyer thus feudaIy
| squirrel, win not discuss the relations ex
! listing between himself and Jason further
| than TO say: "Oh, I befriended the poor
fellow one time in Texas and he thinks
ne owes MS ali TO me.
Jason's all is not much. but neither
| viii he discuss nor describe the monu-
mental service which has put him viii
/ lingly into the lifelong vassalage that
| IS his. Once OF twice when his master
/ 81 ipped out Of town suddenly and without
permitting his shadow even the poor con
| ISOLATION OF knowing that he was safe and
| sound, Jason has so far betrayed his
! secret as to whimper something about
I ~ m " &c D.
| boys and clients and innumerable visitors
| have come and gone without learning
| anything about that priceless deed which
/ Turnbull must have done TO so enslave
/ the loving service of Jason Quigley. But
/ the other day Zeph Mallory, OF Briggville,
Texas, came TO town and. having called
! en- Judge Hurnbull, who is a Texan, and
! having said How do. Jason" TO the
| lcne figure at the desk. volunteered the
! story Of poor Quigley's epical graft
! tude
odd man Quigley came 10 Brigg county
! when the town was nothing but a ranch
house at the cross of the old Mesa and
Wichita trails, said Mallory. He was
| a tough customer and he fetched his two
kids with him-Enoch and Jason. Their
mother was dead, so old Quigley ups and
marries Dutch Annie. who'd been run out
! Of Medicine Lodge, and gets behind the
| bar of Briggs ranchhouse There was
seven games running upstairs, a dance
hall at the back, a ten-acre corral for
the trail ponies. a general Quitting store
! across from the bar and as rowdy a Let
o. visitors as ever started a gun-play.
Well, it was hell for them two kids and
Jason cut and run. Enoch stuck it out,
though, and by the time his father own
ed the bar privileges the kid was jerk
ing drinks and 'twan't long before the
| two Quigleys owned the whole outfit.
Then the old man died-got into a
row with the sheriff about some queer
branding-irons that were found in the
cellar-and Encch took charge. Every
thing seemed to come Enechs way. The
town began to grow a bit and he cut up
the corral into town lots. He never let
60 Of his tough ideas. though, and 'Quig-
ley's Strip is still an eyesore TO the
place. Well, nobody ever heard from
Jason till Enoch died. From what IN
derstand he was waiting on a Kansas
City restaurant table when somehow he
found out that his brother was dead. Not
having seen any of his people for twenty
years and Enoch being dead. I guess he
thought it was good time to look in at
the old strip and see Enoch for the last
time.
He kind of sneaked into town ono
night after midnight and went UP to The
ranch. They had Enoch laid out on a
pool table and everything was sort OF
mournful and everybody was pretty
drunk. Jason went into the bar ami
asked for the manager JEFF Hinkley,
the bartender. come out and said that he
lad formerly been manager of the bar,
but now he was owner and proprietor.
He said that EnOch give him the place
with his dying breath. Jason explained
that ne was the dead mans only brother
and sole heir, but jeff give him the laugh
and told him 10 guess again Then Jason
went upstairs where the faro tables and
the roulette wheels were all covered up
with white cloths, there being nothing
doing on account of the sad occasion. and
found Fred Haines. the lookout playing
solitaire and taking lone drinks as II his
heart would break. Jason asked him who
was in charge of the gambling depart
ment. and Fred, with tears in his eyes,
said that he was the proprietor. manager
and sole owner OF the whole outfit. He
told Jason that Enoch had called him 10
his death-bed. and having excluded all
witnesses, had said 1 hereby give and
transfer TO you, Fred Haines, etcetera,
ctcetera.
Poor Jason wasn't very cute, but he
saw that he was up against II, and so he
got to thinking what would be the easiest
way TO dispose OF the bartender and the
lockout. He got very polite all OF a sud
den and told Fred that JEFF Hlnkey had
just said that Enoch had given him the
pace. So Jason. very quiet-like, wanted
70 know which OF them was really the
less. Haines allowed that JeT was liar
and swOre that the bartender dassent
come up and say il 70 his face. That
as a good starter for Jason. so he went
down and told the barkeep that Fred
Haines claimed to own the place. re-
garded him. JEFF Huxley. as a liar and
q nuisance. and was at that moment up
Stai-s ready 10 argue the question 70 a
finish. Well. Of course. tire bartender
ent upstairs. and Jason. ticl0led to death
with his cuteness. followed up AT a re-
srectable distance. The company was al
Busy looking over the corpse Just then.
ard nobody knew just what was UP tin
the shooting commenced. The sheriff
vas sitting in the back room having a
few with Judge Turnbull-he was just q
young lawyer then-but there must have
been five or six shots fired before he got
his gun out and went upstairs on the
jump Fred was dead when we got up
there and the bartender didn't last more
than four minutes. but when Jason crawl
81 out from under the REFRIGERATOR ard
spoke up that he was Enoch's brother
and had come 70 claim his rights. every
body laughed except Turnhull and the
sheriff We al heard the news that Enoch
had given the outfit 10 Fred or JEFF
either one. and VIC wan [ surprised when
the shcr.n catches Jason By the collar.
throws down q gun on him and accuses
him u numbering both the lookout and
the drink Jerker.
IT was funny how everybody went
against Jason Everybody except Judge
Turnbull- The judge got the case. and II
didn't take him two days - prove ND
poor Jas0n's claim that he was the