Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1903-02-05
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By RALPH CoNNoR :
y RALPH Common
q. =: :: 81 ~ .. =. .. =. q. i: I
IcoNT1NUED.l

Bapt1Ste here dId the -Dusrnrssy
said, and the little Frenchman nodded
complacently and said:
Oats me for sure
BY the way, how is your foot?' ask
ed Graeme.
"He's fuss rate. OATS what you call
one bite of-of-dat leel bees He's
dere; you put your finger dere, he's not
dere. What you call him?"
Flea" l suggested.
"Oui" cried Baptiste Oats one
bite of flea"
II was thankful 1 was under the
barrels" l replied, smiling.
"Oui! OATS max me yer mad. I
jump and swear mos awful bad OATS
pardon me, Msieu Craig, heh?"
But Craig only smiled at him rather
sadly.
ut was awfully risky" he said to
Graeme. land it was hardly worth it,
They'll get more whisky, and anyway
the league is gone"
SWELL" said Graeme, with sigh Of
satisfaction, sit is not quite such a
one sided affair as it was"
And we could say nothing in reply,
for we could hear Nixon snoring in the
next room, and no one had heard of
Billy, and there We're others of the
league that we knew We're even now
down at Slavin's. 1t was thought best
that all should remain in Mr. Craigs
shack. not knowing what might hap
pen, and so we lay where we could,
and we needed none to sing us to
sleep.
When l awoke, stiff and sore, it was
to find breakfast ready and old man
Nelson in charge. AS we were seated
Craig came in, and l saw that he was
not the man of the night before. His
courage had come back; his face was
quiet and his eye clear. He was his
own man again.
"Geordie has been out all night, but
has failed to find Billy" he announced
quietly.
We did not talk much. Graeme and
| worried with our broken bones, and
the others suffered from a general
morning depression. But after break
fast, as the men were beginning to
move, Craig took down his Bible and,
saying, "Wait few minutes, men,"
he read slowly, in his beautiful, clear
voice, that psalm for all fighters,
God is our refuge and strength
and so on to the noble words:
'"The Lord of Hosts is with us:
The God of Jacob is our refuge.
How the mighty words pulled US to-
gether, lifted us till we grew ashamed
of our ignoble rage and of our ignoble
depression!
| And then Craig prayed in simple
| straightgoing words. There was &C.
acknowledgement of failure, but knew
he was thinking chiefly Of himself;
there was gratitude, and that was for
the men about him, and felt my face
burn with shame; there was a petition
for help, and we all thought of Nixon
and Billy and the men Weakening from
their debauch at Slavin's this pure,
bright morning. Then he asked that
we might be made faithful and worthy
| of God, whose battle it was. Then we
| all stood up and shook hands with him
In silence, and every man knew Gov
| enant was being made. But none saw
| his meeting with Nixon. He sent us all
| away before that.
Nothing was heard of the destruction
| Of the hotel stock in trade. Unpleasant
| questions would certainly be asked
| and the proprietor decided to let bad
alone. On the point of responsibility
the success of the ball was not con-
spicuous, but the antileague men were
content if not jubilant
Billy Breen was found by Geordie
late In the afternoon in his own old
and deserted shack, breathing heavily
covered up in his filthy, moldering bed.
clothes, with half empty bottle OF
whisky at his side. Geordie's grief and
rage were beyond even his Scotch con,
troll. He spoke few words, but these
were Of such concentrated vehemence
that no one felt the need of Abe's as.
sistance in vocabulary.
| Poor Billy! We carried him to Mrs
MAYORS home, put him in warm
bath, rolled him in blankets and gave
him little sips Of hot water, then OF
hot milk and coffee, as l had seen q
clever doctor in the hospital treat O
| similar case of nerve and heart de
preston But the already weakened
system could not recover from the aw
| full shock Of the exposure following the
debauch, and on Sunday afternoon we
saw that his heart was failing fast
All day the miners had been dropping
in to inquire after him, for Billy haC
been a great favorite in other days
and the attention of the town had beer
admiringly centered upon his fight OF
these last weeks. 1t was with no ord1
nary sorrow that the news of his con
dition was received. AS Mrs. Mavol
sang to him his large, coarse hand:
moved in time to the music, but he die
not open his eyes till he heard Mr.
CraiG's voice in the next room. TheI
he spoke his name, and Mr.. Craig wa!
kneeltng beside him in a moment. The
words came slowly:
'Oi tried-to fight hit hout-but-O
got beaten. Hit 'urts to think 'e's
ashamed O. me. Old like ia done bet