Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-06-03

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Il heard tell o that guy"
We were seated on the slope of the hill tn
derrick. 1t was an idle hour for hm-near sunse
of a mild spring day The new green of all tina
rolling country, and the deep, glow IN tn
west, made up, in some part at least for the smell
and noise and greasy earth OF the neighborhoo'
of the we'll
He was a painter wasn't her" my chance ac
Quaintance went on " An he high up on
scaffold, wasn't he putin picture on the wal
O the church? Thought it nice, didn't he
that he stepped back t get a better look? An h
got t. the edge O the scaffolding, without thnkin
and was just goin' t take another step back an
over, when"
when another workman broke in, appalled,
by his fearful situation but still with presence
mind, rushed"
Known that the painter would jump forward
t stop him. rushed t the wall with big brush
driPPn red paint an an spilled that poor
mans lovely picture!"
But saved the painters life Yes agreed,
that's something like the story. A remark
able instance of presence of mind y
We'll, l s'pose So" the old man drawled.
" But it amt the way Bedrock Billy would
done it. He'd a done it better Bedrock
Billy, sir, would a saved both the life an the
picture. He'd a picked up dry Brush some
how"
l had to admit the Improvement; and l re-
marked that Bedrock Billy must have been an
extraordinary man.
He was" said my new friend soemnly
Bedrock never had t stop an think. He just
naturally knew what t do without all that
bother. He wasn't no grand-stand performer
Ike the man that spilled the picture; he was only
a tough old rough an ready Gilman, an, a bit
of a runt t boot; but when it t dom
things without thinkin' them out, he got there
immediate an with both feet
When he wOrkin for Tommelton & Co,
back in the West Virginia mountains, he had
little trouble with an butcher knife
1t was hold-up-case o plain, ordinary high
way robbery-on lonely road of dark night
You'll find bad men wherever you find oil
boom; an bad was thick in that district
when Tommelton & Co. drilled wells there.
So You better not go t town, might all
alone, with that money in your clothes says the
foreman, when Bedrock was paid off. You
might lose it
Lose it, says Billy. 'Haw hawl'
'Now, that sort O grit will help little
long way, no matter how big the other fellow ma,
be; but amount o grit will a butcher
knife, an Bedrock knew it, just well you an
So when jumped out O the bushes
with a big shiny knife in his fist an says, Holc
up your handsl' Bedrock held up his hands. An
when the man says, Gil me your money! Bed-Rocl
got his money out of his hip pocket as quick as h
could He wise man, was Bedrock; he knew
just when t. be good-natured about a little thin;
ike that.
Hand over!' SAYS the man.
An Bed Rock handed over-with his left hand
Then come the minute when he might spilled it al
by stoppin t. think. He offered the money with hi
left hand an when the man with the knife reached
for it. Bed Rock caught sight of a spot O mud OF
the pint O the jaw. He might stopped t. thinl
o whether he'd better strike out not; he nigh
a stopped t wonder what would happen poS1n
he tried an missed he might paused to observ
how long an how sharp that butcher-knife was HI
might took time t reflect upon what would happei
to his naked hands if he simply had t catch hold 0
the blade. But he didn't. He just naturally hi
that spot o mud as hard as he could.
An found out afterwards he told me, tina
If you hit man real hard on the pint O the jaw
when he amt eXpectin it, you take his knit
away before he comes to. An then you got hin
just where he had you
An you found it out in plenty o time Bed
Rock saws +"
The old man looked to for approval.