The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-05-31

His life has been an epitome. He has
met most conditions at one time or
another, and is no longer afraid of
them
In tale dealing with this period of
the dissolving view-when in changing
from one slide of the lantern to the
other the Master Snowman has per-
mitted us little glimpse of hurrying,
heroic figures and dazzled us with the
clouds of great deeds swiftly done-the
teller must adopt one of two methods
He must either generalize, or be con-
tent to spend his space on single cpl
sodes. In that period, every day was a
book. Men counted as nothing eX-
periences filled with an excitement or
pathos or a beauty intense enough to
render significant the whole life of a
quiet New Highlander. Acts were many.
and trod close on one another heels, yet
to each act there was a sequence of
motive, of desire, of logical effect as
well capable of being sought out and
described as though they were not en-
tangled and confused in the rush Of the
moments. The story teller could find
his task in the dissection of these and
the task would be interesting. But to
one who is concerned, not with a pc
riod, but a life, this is impossible.
The fifteen years saw a marked
change in the fortunes of the half
breed known at Michail Lafond. Dur
ing all that time he had led an appar-
emily honest and law-abiding life. No
man could say that he had been cheat
ed by him or that he had been favored;
but one and all with whom the half
breed had come into contact could
speak with admiration and fear of the
latter's power of Selling the best of the
main chance. He had left the child at
the Spotted Tail reservation, giving
!, A1II 7 foV, l. i,,,r
arrangements for her maintenance. lie
turned some gold claims to advantage,
but abandoned that sort of thing as
too uncertain. He participated mildly
in the prosperity of several of the
mushroom towns of the period, but
soon drew out of booms as possessing
| also too much of the element of luck.
He did the hundreds of other things
to which men in new country can
always turn their hands, and in each
he mad his profit; but in each he found
k'onehing lacking to the elaborate
scheme of power he had builded one
evening before a prairie camp lire.
Finally he hit upon whisky and dance
halls and there he stayed. Abandon
ing all other enterprises, he gave his
individual attention to these two, for
he found in them not only the surest
! and largest monetary returns, but the
certain popularity which men accord to
| those who minister to their pleasures.
| From Deadwood to Edgemont there
| gradually grew up a string of saloons
| bearing the name of Lafond. Some
| of them were paying, some on the point
| of paying, some merely lying latent
! for the boom which Lafond thought to
see in the near future. For, as Of old,
| he delighted in discounting the future.
| He liked long shots in his investments.
Over each of these various establish
| Re nfr in hA hob 8
| placing a man chosen according to the
needs of the place, and this man fell
more or less under Lafond's personal
supervision according as the exigencies
| of the case seemed to demand it, The
half breeds policy was to keep in act
ual touch with the most prosperous,
and to give personal effort to the most
promising. The others could take care
| of themselves until their time came.
| So at Mulberry Gulch. where the camp
consisted only of a number of grub
| stakers, he owned a little log cabin
| which he had never seen. At Dead
wood. an old and prosperous camp, he
| was proprietor of a begilded and be-
mirrored splendor so we'll established
| that 1t needed only a periodical SUI
| perVising visit to keep it running
smoothly. At Copper Creek was also
nothing but a log cabin saloon; but
Copper Creek babe fair to amount to
| TIE spirit Oh the
| three kinds was best indicated by The
| signs over their counters. Mulberry
| Gulch exhibited a rudely lettered de-
| vice informing the public, pies, Whis-
! ky and Pistols for Sail Here" Dead
wood thirsty ones learned that they
should Ask for Our 1860 Old Grow:
| the Finest on Earth" Copper Creek
sententiously remarked: ITO Trust Is
Bust"
| thiS SvrnhOIizod yOfbiper mora or
less than the commercial history of
| successful man in the West. 1t meant
nothing except that Lafond had the in
stinct and the cleverness, and so was
getting rich. More interesting than the
change of his fortune was the change
| of the man himself.
In the old days he had been crafty
in a subtle way; but he had been mn
pulsive, eager, excitable, inclined to
jump at the bidding of his intuitions.
| Now his character seemed to have ex-
banded and modified. A powder explo-
sion had slightly bent his straight jig-
use, halted his gait, and scanned his
face with powder marks. To hide these
| last he wore a beard. The effect was
one of quiet responsibility, and a GER
tain geniality, though a keen observer
| might have hesitated to call this ge-
| niality kindly.
His manner was very quiet. He never
| reproved his subordinates or addressed
a hasty word to any one, unless he be-
came thoroughly convinced of the Gull
prit's incapacity. Then his anger was
at white heat. He could forgive delib-
crate attempts to evade his commands
or conscious efforts at rascality. sor
with them he could cope; but mistakes
he never condoned. An occasional
slight inversion OF the natural order of
words or phrases was all that remained
to him Of his old accent.
Altogether he was a parsonage whose
| public position was uneXceptionable In
the West no man has a past. unless
that past is personifed and carries a
| rebuking six-shooter. He had wealth.
popularity. an acquaintance as wide al
the Hills themselves. All that meant
| power. especially when combined with
a shrewd ability 10 read mems charac-
| teFs.
But OF the old order one thing re-
/ mained-his religion. In the storm and
stress OF "A period hot with events. HIS
/ life work was conceived and laid ont
/ Of hnN q