The Savannah morning news., 1903-06-06
A C0NQUER0R OF BAD MEN.
RECORD OF NICK HALPIN, DAY
MARSHAL OF TOMBSTONE.

mOunce0 Ihat He DFdnT propose
to he Hurt while Doing His Duty.
A Series of Surprises for the Camp
FOIlOwed-Success of the New Sys-
tenn Introduced.
From the New York Sun.
None of the gun sooners ever got
the drop on Nick Halpin when he
pounded the day marshal's beat in
Tombstone, and Halpin held down the
billet, at that. when a mans life in
Tombstone wasn't held to be worth
much more than buZzard tamale or a
plate of frijoles," said an elderly South
westerner who was settled in Arizona
before the railroads got there. "Halpin
monsooned into Tombstone about six
months after the boom began, and he
succeeded Tusk Foster as day marshal
of the camp-Tusk had been so minced
up in knife-fight with two half-breed
Gila-eaters that he had to be hiked
up to Colorado to win back his
strength.
mick was a taciturn, unassuming
sawed off He had cow1icky auburn
hair and a pair of topaz eyes, like
mountain cats, that seemed to grow
darker and to spit sparks when he was
getting busy.
81 reckon hain't a-going t git shot
up none whilst dom this yere work,
Nick had remarked in acceptin' the day
marshal's job. I sure can't see no fun
in this thing O. layin' abed with hull
lot O. zig-zag holes in y'r system, |
sure can't. That's why 1 amt goin' t
let no gun-fannin' ombrey in this camp
stick me up an poke lead into my
frame. l just nachully like t be swing
in long on tn Soles o my boots, an
l don't see this game O. layin' back on
bunk while t. holes are heelin', an
countin' tn centipedes workin' their
way in through the ceilin' an sides o
tn dobe-they hain't 'nough action IN
that kind O. work.
THE Tombstoners who heard Nick
thus express his natural objection 10
being lead-plugged hoped that he
would get away with his determine
ton, but none of us had much of an
idea that he would be able to make
that determination stick for very long.
Halpin had never shown the camp
ANYTHING in the line of strategy, and
so, of course, we had no way of f1gur-
ing that he possessed any of that Kind
of stuff.
1.-TWO days after Nick had got his
badge a burly, green-eyed fellow
named Con Mcdowell, who had drifted
down to Tucson from the Santa Anita
Mountains, where he had grown sulky
after years of unsuccessful prospecting,
knocked off work at noon, ABSORBED
abou. half gallon of jolly mescal INTO
his system, and then sportively shot
the right ear from the head of a Chlnk
keeper of a grub joint. After doing
this he strolled out into the middle or
the street-Tombstone being then
one-stroot camp-and announced that
he couldn't abide any kind of grub
Joint that didn't provide its patrons
with stewed puff ladders. fricassed ta-
rantulas. and scorpions la Chihuahua,
adding that the same was the only
kind of food that he cared to eat when
he felt real good. as he happened 10 be
feeling just at that moment
Which, if any red-headed runts
think they're some few on gun-breezin'
wants t. dispute Mr.. Mcdowell wound
up, obviously referring to Day Marshal
Nick HaIpin, here I'm a-perchin',' and
he left the middle of the road, leaned
I'M against the front of the This Is 1t
honkatonk, and, with his thumbs tuck
ed in his gun belt, blinked BODILY in
the sunshine.
Presently a dray. hauled by f1eas
bitten and lonesome mule, and
driven by a greaser smoking a corn
shuck cigarette, pulled alongside the
plank sidewalk in front of the honka-
tonk against which Mcdowell was
leaning and glooming. large square
pine box, of the sort that blankets for
Western shipment used to be packed
in. was the dray's load.
I'd a
and the dray and the box. He did
not observe that the top of the box
was missing. But when the muzzles of
two blue steel forty-fives, held by a
pair of freckled. hairy hands, appear
ed over the edge of the box, and
tousled red head, uncovered by any
hat, followed the guns, bobbing up
Jumping ia ck-wise. Mcdowell suddenly
became heap observant.
"'Point both of 'em at the buzzards,
Con- said the day marshal of Tomb
stone in a persuasive sort of key,
resting his arms on the edge of the
box and drawing fine bead with both
of his guns on McDowells torso-and
before he had got the words out the
greaser driver, rightly experimenting
that there'd be some action in that
neighborhood presently, suddenly drop
ped backward off his seat and squatted
for protection behind the far side or
the box.
Mcdowell, assuming the obedient
air of the man who knows that he is
bulged, stuck his left arm up. and
made a move as If to point upward
with his right, too. But he didn't stick
the right up. He went, instead, for his
right-hand gun-and it was a light
ming movement, at that. But it wasn't
lightning enough, Notwithstanding.
mick broke McDowelps right shoul-
der with a ball before the man from
the Santa Anita country could get his
right-hand gun cleared for action. The
shock knocked Mcdowell down. Hal
pin vaulted with one hand over the
side of the box, and in something less
than two seconds he had Mcdowell
disarmed.
Couldn't help 1t, no how, Con- Hal
pin explained to the wounded man as
he and the breaser loaded him into the