Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1902-01-01
Misetllaneons Reading.
TWO BAD MEN AND A FIDDLE.
An Averted Shooting In a Colorado
Mining Camp.

q few OF that KIND that are worth TELL
ing about" said a Colorado mining
man to a Capitol committee room
group the other afternoon.
"One night, when Cripple Creek was
new and raw, Biff Randall and Alec
Grubb, who were partners in a claim
that was panning out big, drifted into
Sonk Murphy's canvas honkatonk and
blew the house. Biff and Alec had
been off the reservation for four days
Both were pretty bad men.
"Well, on this night Biff and Alec
being tired and precarious-like on
their pins, and neither Of 'em having
had any sleep for four days and nights
were peevish with each other, and the
boys noticed that they were pretty
snappy in the way they talked to each
other. Consequently the boys kept a
sort O. focus on the entrances to the
tent, SOS to be able to execute proper
getaways at the needful moment, In
case there was anything doing be-
tween Alec and Biff.
After they'd wetted down all hands
three or four times Biff and Alec were
naturally quite some more to the bad
than before they'd come in, and they
continued to have fancy little cracks
at each other. Finally Biff caught
sight of a dusty old violin box resting
on a shelf behind the bar. The fiddle
and case had been left with Sonk Muir
ply by a rover who wanted the price
of a ride back to Denver.
"'Sonk,' said Biff to Murphy, who
was taking the watch himself behind
the bar, Iemme nave a peep at thai
music box. Maybe I'll play you g
chune. used to be a heap on fiddle
when 1 was young and purity
"'Well, I never knowed that put ir
Alec kind o leering and ugly. !
knowed that you was a whole 10,
strong on elbow work, but not with
the bow. If I can't play faster chune
on that thing than you can I'll hand
you over my half of our hole in the
ground
"Biff, in the act Of taking the fiddle
from the box, looked up at Alec from
under his shaggy eyebrows.
YOU'RE on your juniper he asit
pretty quiet, considering Alec's sneer'
ing way. You're on f'r keeps, anc
you got to stay with that crack or gi'
what's comm to a welcher.'
ALEC grinned satirically and conf
IDENTIFY, and Biff began to tune up the
violin. We thought he'd only beer
four-f1ushing when he'd said that hi
could play some on the thing, bu
we saw by the way he tuned the thing
that he knew something about it.
He put some rosin on the bow, sa
down SOS to be more steady, stuck tht
fiddle under his chin and began to saw
The Irish Washerwoman.' 1t didn
sound so bad at that.
Meantime we kept the off eye OF
Alec. We figured that Alec was out OF
limb. Now, considering the merit o.
Biff's performance, we were a-plent!
surprised to note that Alec didn't ap
pear to be even a little bit worried
about that def he'd pushed over.
1--WE couldn't see that it looked rea
sonable to suppose that Alec coult
hand up a faster tune than Biff .hat
executed, and that's why we were as
tonished to observe that there was M
sign whatever of caving on Alec!
part.
Nov, you catfish. said Biff to Alec
handing over the fiddle and the bow
you make good that chaw O. yours
about fast chunes. I'll leave it to thu
bunch. If you've got me coppered. the
whole claims yours. If you hain't go
the goods, I'm goin' to mark a deat
line jest 1000 yards from that hole ir
the foothill and you're goin' to stay
outside Of It.
"Alec took the violin and bow with
his confident grin still on his face. He
laid the instrument and bow dowr
long enough to cut himself off a large
chew from a plug. After carefully
slowing the chew in the left-hanG
corner Of his countenance, he picked
up the fiddle and bow again, tried the
strings like a man who knew jus
where he stood, and then he began or
The Devils Dream
"Well, it didn't take any Of us hall
a minute to see that Alec had the mer'
chandise and that he had Biff beat
Alec was right there with The Devil:
Dream and there are not many faster
fiddle tunes than that.
ALEC rocked around in his seat quite
a lot while he played, but he didn't
make any breaks In his lingering Of
tern a runaway Stag train going dowr
a mountain side. Well. when we saw
the way the situation stood. we begaI
to sort O. edge sidewise toward the ten
flap.
I'VE hadn't asked to be made UNI
pires and none of us felt like pushing
to the front and handing down any de-
cision as to the respective virtuost
abilities of Biff and Alec. We saw
that Biffs eyes were blazing and tha
his nigh hand was sort O. twiddlins
nervously in the direction of his gun
And so our tide just naturally set TO-
ward the tent flap.
ALEC set the fiddle and bow dowr
after he'd got through and grinnet
quizzically and powerful irritatingly a.
Biff. Biff had chagrined. evil lool
on his map that ought to've caused
Alec to be careful, but Alec was flush
ed with triumph and his four days
souse, and he kept right on grinnine
in BiffS teeth