Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-04-11
TENDERFOOT WAS GAME

Il was in the smoker of Santa r
train going through New Mexico one day
in the latter eighties when Jack Bradshaw,
who was then one of the sure-enough ter
rors of the southwest. climbed on board,
said a travelling special agent of the In
dian bureau. Jack was very drunk and
very glad of it He was whooping like
ghost-dancer as he pumped himself into
the last seat next to the water cooler.
knew that there was going to be trouble
and a plenty of 1t with Bradshaw as car
mate in that condition. and so 1 got up and
went aft to the next car behind. from the
door of which I watched the proceedings
Jack had hardly sat down before he yank-
ed out one of his guns and fired couple OF
shots out of the open window, and when
the dozen and odd peaceable men In the
car jumped up suddenly. thinking OF train
robbers. and faced the rear Of the car, they
saw Bradshaw wild-eyed frorn rum. stard-
ing in the middle of the aisle and brandish-
ing both of his guns.
That's about right, you juniper ON
breys.' yelled Bradshaw, seeing them all
standing. That's what you ought tove
done when first come in here. It's sure
case O. TIL whole outfit a-standin' up when
1 show up. They amt no use a-hesitatn
or gnawin on tn pommel about ft-they
just got to- and he let out a Navajo whoop
thinking that his seating himself was the
natural signal for them to resume their
seating pOStures, sat down, too, but BRAD
shaw fired couple OF shots close TO the
ears of a pair of men who had been the
first to take their seats. and all HANDS
jumped to their feet again mighty hurried
ly. The bad man toyed with them that
way for about half an hour after the train
got under way, and then he gave them
formal consent to sit down. Some of them
began to buzz each other In low tones.
Stop a-talkin'.' howled tue drunken
desperate when he noticed this. I never
could nachu1ly abide havin' people a-taik:n
round where I was. l kin do ali O. IN
talkin. Jes think, an let it go al that
There wasn't any more conversation
Shortly after the enforced silence fell upon
the car young chap who wore eyeglasses
and who was stoop-shouldered and frail-
looking got up from his seat and started
down the aisle. A bullet from Bradsnaw's
gun just barely nicked the youths left ear
before he had taken six steps.
"'Son,' demanded Bradshaw, were are
you all agoin'. dye Think
"'To get glass of water responded
the youth with the glasses. sulkily, feeling
of his nicked ear.
"'Y'are hey?' inquired the bully. Don't
you believe anythin' like that. You're
a-goin' t. drink what's left in this bottle
O. mine-don't you bother, 1 got another
battin eye. or you'll drink hot lead
and Bradshaw pulled from his pocket
pint flask of whiskey that was about
three parts full The youth looked sullen,
but he wisely stretched forth his hand and
accepted the proffered bottle and placed
it to his lips. He shuddered good deal
over the job. but he got it all down. and
then Bradshaw permitted him to take a
drink of water out Of the cooler and to
pass to the next car behind. In the door
way of which 1 was standing.
Now, the thing that happened probably
never would have come off If that young
man with the glasses hadn't picked up a
lot of Dutch courage from that huge drink
of red liquor that was forced upon him. 1t
took effect upon him almost Immediately.
and when he got back into the car behind
the smoker he was feeling his oats. l
couldn't make out what he had in mind
when l saw him pull out a penknife and
deliberately cut the bellrope at both ends
of the car and coil the rope around his
arm, and the other folks in the car put
him down as a lunatic. The lad was al
most staggering under his three-quarters
of a pint of mesquite liquor when he came
out on the platform with his cars length of
bell rope. and there was a queer CLEAN
in his eye for tenderfoot. l asked him
what the game was. but he only stared at
me in booty way, and peeked into the
smoker to see what Bradshaw was doing.
Bradshaw was sitting back in his rear seat.
glowerng and half asleep. The tenderfOot
Sneaked into the car like cat. making
slip-loop in the rope as he went. Brad
shaw was looking out of the window when
the tenderfoot suddenly sprang forward
and threw the loop around his neck and
pulled it taut with a jerk, and the swift
kick that the desperate got in the stom-
ach Immediately afterward was SO sudden
that both of his guns, that had been rest
ing on his lap while he ruminated further
deviltry, were Jared onto the floor. OF the
car The tenderfoot, now fully as drunk
as Bradshaw from his big forced drink.
kept yanking and pulling on the rope un-
til the ruff1an was livid.
leone on and give me a hand, you fell
lows the tenderfoot yelled to the others
in the car. I've got him roped right. He
can't get at his guns. Pick em up, one of
you and we'll tie him up
"They all hesitated for half minute,
but when they saw how thoroughly the lad
with the glasses had the bad man cinched
they rushed aft and threw themselves on
Bradshaw, and In jiffy they had him
triced up, with his arms firmly bound, and
the loose ends of the rope neatly tied in
many knots to the seat. Then the tender
foot turned the next seat over, deposited
himself there comfortably right in front OF
the livid ruffian. gave preliminary 'ahem!
and then began making an address to
Bradshaw who was choking with wrath
well as with the rope. You'd never have
thought tenderfoot could possess such
vocabulary as that young man with the
eyeglasses let out on the bad man. He
just went ahead, easy like. and called
Bradshaw all the things that mean sudden
death and burial down in the country
through which the train was passing and
all hands in the car cheered him to the
echo and encouraged him to keep on. He
took glass of water to relieve his hoarse-
ness and then he began all over again on
Bradshaw. The bad man foamed at the
mouth. but he had to stand for it. The ten
derfoot was still cussing Bradshaw out and
back to the fortyseventh generation when
the train reached Sante Fe. Then the ten
derfoot lifted the ice cooler up in his arms
removed the cover. and deliberately poured
the contents. ice and ALL on top of Brad
shaw's head. Just to keep the bad man
from feeling excited when somebody turned
him loose. the tenderfoot said. All hands in
the smoker including the youth with the
glasses, were wise enough to leave the car
at Sante Fe. Three brakemen and the con-
ductor turned Bradshaw loose after care
fully concealing his guns and the instant
he was released he began to make war
medicine, swearing vengeance upon every
man who had been in the car when he was
triced up. But the word was out that Jack
was minus his guns and he was corralled
and placed in the Santa Fee calaboose by
the police. He killed three Mexicans in a
row over a woman in Chihuahua a couple
of years later. and was found dead in the
jail with stab wounds a-plenty on the
morning after he was locked up by a troop
of Mexican cavalry. That was one of the
very few times I've seen a tenderfoot get
the bulge on a sure-enough bad man"