St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1903-02-21

'Now, that was square enough
talk for anybody, but, as l told you,
the mesquite booze had sort O. got
Cal stampeded around his top works,
and his hat bells had sort O. worked
their way into his head.
"'Don't you gimme no such con-
versation as that said Cal to the
marshal, or I'll be smoking you up
some
"Well, George knew the shape Cal
was in, and he didn't want to have
any bother, and SO he walked away.
Now, this all happened on a power
fully hot day-hot even for Tucson.
Cal poked around after his little
talk with the marshal, brooding over
it, and hurting hooter into his sys-
tenn every four minutes or so. just
how he got the idea into his fool
head that Marshal Conway had tried
to put it on him I don't know, but
along toward night he gave three
jumps in the air, yanked out both
of his guns, and allowed that he
wanted some marshal meat to salt
away against hard winter. Calls
friends tried to argue him out of it
and to lead him to his little white
trundle bed, but he wasn't seeing
them or their advice from any point
of view. Said that the only thing
that could reconcile him to his lot
in life or the life to come was one
marshal neatly packed away in a
barrel and decorated with rock salt.
Well, seeing that they couldn't do
anything with Cal, they concluded
that the next best thing was to
notify Conway that Cal was off the
reservation and making war medicine
like Mojave weaving baskets.
"'All O. K said Conway. I sure
don't want to tattoo that boy up
none, but I need whole lot O.
breath this hot weather, and if he
hikes too close to my trail I'll have
to do the best I know how to give
him q nap
''Well, we all kept pretty close to
cover then, for we knew that it was
going to come off, and we didn't fig
ure none on being tossed over by. the
stray ones from Calls and Georges
guns.
ct happened along toward ten
o'clock that night, in the Smoke Up
saloon. Conway was standing up at
the bar, alone, taking one for his
stomach's sake, when he heard Cal
a-coming down the street like cal.
Hope. Conway stood right quiet at
the bar, but he cleared ship for &C
ton, and the boys in the back room
picked out healthier spots on the
second floor. The barkeep yanked
open the trap and sought the cool
ness of the cellar.
"Cal Hoped in with a whoop. Right
at the same instant he and the mar
shall began to pump without word.
You never heard such a Fourth of
July rumpus in your life as that was.
The men were only about ten feet
apart, and yet the boys on the sec
ond floor were amazed to hear every
shot in both mems guns go off.
'Scandalous shootin',' the boys
said, and it really seemed as if they
were justified. Conway was ordinar-
lily able to push a dime through the
side of a 'dobe at 20 PAGES and Cal
had shown some gun-fanning in his
day that had earned him the respect
of everybody.
s'Well, after they'd made all that
noise, we heard 'em talking quiet
like, and so we made our appearance
on the scene. There was Cal, his two
guns resting on the bar and the
shells out of 'em in his hands. Same
with Conway. You never saw such
mystifed pair of men in your life
as those two were for minute
Then the marshal gave his knee ]
whack.
"sBy the blue blazes of Sheol,' he
yelled, if the heat hasn't melted the
balls out of our cartridges, and we've
been firing blanks at each other!"
HE reached down into both of his
boot1egs, and burned if he didn't
pull CONCEALED mass of queerly'
twisted lead out of each of 'em. Ca!
did likewise, and I'm a gopher if he
didn't fetch up two punches of the
same kind O. lead! The heat of tht
day had melted the bullets right out
of the shells of their guns, and the
hot lead bored holes in their CUR
pockets and trickled down theiI
bootlegs, and neither man hae
known thing about it until after
they got through popping away al
each other. Of course, it was all of
then. Cal and George tipped glassc'
to each other and Cal took brace
and went back to the quartz hills
But that was sure one hot day Il
J Tucson"