The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1902-02-06

I'VE OF the bunch were Just ABOUT
70 execute our timely hike when Biz
and Alec were on the point of maxi
ing their gun play. when the little
man, who appeared TO be quite aware
Of what was In progress, walked jerk
lily up TO where they stood confront.
ing each other, and almost on the
pinpoint OF plugging each other, and
he said, addressing them both, and
looking smilingiy from one to the
other;
"T heard some blnying--nod7 yes?'
"BiR and Alec both turned and
gazed with open mouths at the queer
looking little man with the bald head.
Neither Of them said n word. but
they just stared at him.
."'Oh, here In re veeolccn,' said the
squat man, picking up the instru-
mcnt from the bar and scrutinizing
H.. Then he picked up the bow. Bif
and Alec continued to stare at him.
"'vell. blay for YOU said the lit
tie man, and he snuggled the violin
up under his chin like as II IL was n
pet kitten. and he gave flourish with
the bow, and then he brought IL down
for q crashing chord on all four
strings at oncc--and then BifT's and
Alcc's guns went back into their belts
and they forgot about everything
else except the sounds that were com.
ing out OF that catgut and, know
ing that the making OF war medicine
was over for the time being. we all
gathered around the squat man.
"Did any Of you ever hear Edouard
Rcmenyi, the Hungarian violinist,
play? Because that's who the squat
man was-Rcmcnyi. He had run down
from Denver to Cripple Creek 10 see
what a new American mining camp
was like. and prowling around. and
hearing Alcc's scraping of The
DEVILS Dream he had just dropped
into the honkatonk on nm impulse,
withomtany idea ofwhat was going on.
"Wcll. Ecmcnyi played all right.
He just nurscd that old thing under
his fat neck like n boy cuddlcs n
guinea pig with broken leg. and he
hadn't been playing more than two
minutes before every man in the gang
looked as II he had sncnl,ing sort
| OF feeling that he hadn't done right
with his life.
"Hif and Alec sidlcd over to the
bar and leaned their backs against
| II. side by side, and every time that
Hungarian squat man pulled out n
trcmolo that wis particularly mcnty
and reproachful and full o. meaning,
| they'd exchange kind o. entranccd
smiles with each other and shake
| their heads sadly NJ each other.
| 81 don't know what u was that
squnt foreign man played. ! never
will know. But ! know that what he
| played made me feel like I'd been neg.
| lectiny the folks back home. and when
| | reached my shack ! sat down and
wrote 'cm letters until daylight.
| when after ten minutes of straight
nlnying. he wound mp with n lot Of
low things way down on the q string
that sounded like u brook gurglirg
to itself In the night. and when he
took the violin from under his chin
with sort Of dreamy smile on his
pudgy face. there was an amount Of
coughing from those fellows standing
around such ms I never heard outside
of hotel for 'lungers' And none
OF the bunch seemed to want To look
at each other except, Bit and Alec.
| They looked at each other silently
and sheepishly for about two min
utes after Rcmenyi put down the vio-
lin and moppcd his forehead with a
big white silk handkerchief. Then
Bin walked up to the stocky virtuoso,
cleared his throat, and said In Q tone
that was pretty honrsc:
"'Podncr, I don't know who you
all are, nor where you stampedes
from, nor anything about you 'ccpting
what just hccrd. But ! know who
! am and what I've got. All ! got's
half hole In the rock. with some pay
dirt In sight. and that's yourn. And.
next 10 that hole in the ground, I got
u shack filed up with the riff-rair he.
longln's that I've been gittin' to-
gethcr f'r years. Well. that shnck's
yonrn. too. and here's the key To the
paddock. Take II. Touch match 10
the whole titout and burn u down II
you want to-but it's yourn. That's
ALL
"The amazed Rcmenyi stood gazing
at Bit with his little bcady brown
eyes twinkling wonderingly. but he.
fore he had time to say anything in
reply, Alec stepped forward. fronting
him. cleared his throat as BifT had
done, and said: