Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1904-12-30

Immediately peace became profound For
by that time he had more influence among
the Indians, big and little. than any
body else. white or red. They looked up
to him with a veneration which he ac-
cepted as his right and a matter Of course
as calmly as he had formerly taken the
quarters and half-dollars his prime min
lister had begged for him.
THAT schoolhouse was the last steal
ing he ever did, even by proxy. and pref
~ soon he quit getting drunk. He has
never given up poker entirely but he quit
gambling away everything he got and
only Joined in a social game now and
then. when he was flush, as any gentle
man might. He was a good deal Of a
man. was Johnson, and everybody re-
spected him and was glad to help him
along. He worked and earned money.
and saved a little, and proved himself
quite capable. and was clean and decent
and respectable. People liked to employ
him. for he was industrious and sober
! That Is he was sober for a long time
/ There must have been five or six years
| in which johnson was never seen tipsy
] He was mighty proud of himself and his
! responsibility, and when he did fall it
hurt him bad.
For fall he did, at last, when a big
enough temptation came along And
then he got whizzing. whoopng. roaring
| uIuIlh II WIS Il HllUti. HlduutT, more
| devilish drunk than any he had ever
| taken in the old days when he was only
| dirty Piute buck, without ambitions or
achievements. 1t seemed as il he were
| making up for all the time he had lost
while he was respectable and condens-
| ing into one all the drunks he might have
taken and hadn't. He kept is up for
three weeks. Part of the time he was
| with the Indians. part in Virginia City
and part in Carson. How he managed to
/ escape arrest is more than l can tell, and
how it happened that he didn't massacre
the whole population of Nevada is still
more of a mystery. He had fights with
Indians and with whites. with men who
were drunk and men who were sober
and they drew guns. knives and fists
| But Johnson didn't get hurt and nobody
else got killed.
| After it was all over and he had
| bered up, Johnson came to me and he
was repentant and Inundated that
| declare ] never felt so sorry for anybody
| in all my life. He thought it was all up
with him, that he had ruined all his re-
| spectability and influence, that nobody
would ever believe him, or trust him, or
respect him after that, and that it was
quite useless for him to try to be a good
| Indian again. OF course he didn't put it
| in many words-he expressed more by
| gestures and looks and grunts than by
| words but that was the meaning OF il
| all.
II felt so sorry for him that I made up
my mind TO give him a lift. and as be-
gan to talk and encourage him l had an
| inspira ton that Twas just the thing.
| Don't you be discouraged Johnson ]
said. We can make things ali right
again. Wen get the Legislature to repeal
| this drunk OF yours and thatN set you
right up where you were before. I'm 60
| ing over to Carson tomorrow and I'll
have the Legislature make a law that will
| wipe out the whole business and fix ev-
erything for you just as if you hadn't
been drunk at all.
| johnson was delighted but he didn't
| feel quite sure about it. So had to make
him understand that l knew what l was
| talking about. 1t is all straight, said.
| They do that every session for somebody.
| Why, So-and-so'-and l mentioned the
name of a prominent citizen was on an
awful drunk last winter, and just as soon
as he sobered up he went right over 10
Carson and had the legislature pass bill
repeating his spree, and you know that
he is just as much respected as he was
before. I'll attend to your business my
self tomorrow. and then I'll publish the
whole thing in the paper and everybody
will read it and know that you are all
right again. But you must remember
one thing. Johnson l said. You must
remember that as you are an Indian the
legislature can't do this for you more
than once. II you were white man you
could have as many DRINKS repealed as
you wanted. But being an Indian this is
your last chance, and you must keep
tstraight after this
We'll the upshot of it was that John
son put his trust in me, and l flatter my
self that l was just the man he needed
in the emergency. You've lived in the
West, and you know what the Nevada
Legislature is, and always has been. There
never was one that you couldn't count on
to do anything under the sun that tick
led its sense of humor. / thought thal
bill about Johnson's drunk would strike
EN- just about the right place, and 1t did
They dropped everything else and sent II
through with a hurrah.
There was a long preamble, telling
about Johnson Sides's prominence ana
influence and the great Importance or ms
retaining the high position in the respect
OF the community which he had won, anu
about the misfortune into which he han
fallen, and how ii was the universal WISH
that he should be reinstated In public es-
TEEN. And then there was a resolution
which declared that Johnson sides
drunk should be and was thereby repeal,
ed, destroyed, wiped out, for ever anu
ever, and that all statutes not in ac-
cordance with that act were thereby an
nulled from that time forth. They passed
it through both houses unanimously, ana
the next day published the bill verbatim
and all the proceedings in our paper
"Johnson's face fairly shone with 10!
when l read 1t to him. II was his patent
of responsibility, and he slowed 1t away
in his breast pocket as carefully as II It
has been his passport to heaven. He car
ried 1t there until it was worn out anu
then he came after another. He's worn
out three or four since then, but he al
ways keeps one in his pocket.
1.-THE scheme worked like charm 10,
his redemption has been complete, ana
he's been a good Indian, sober, industrl-
Gus, and respectable, ever since