Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-02-23


About o'clock that evening I was hav.
ing an after-supper smoke in the 12-by-2o
| lobby OF the Hell-Nor-Pete Hotel. where I
was registered. when the hotel blackboard
came up from the railroad station with a
new guest. He'd swung along from Dead
wood. He was Br.cky Barr. my former
| violin pupil of Wichita.
Bricky Barr Drifted Along.
| Il recognized him at once. although he
had picked up some bad and disflguring
knife scars on the left side OF his face. Ho
remembered me. too. and he was kind
enough to say in his foolish loyalty to his
first instructor, that, although he'd heard
| Wilhelm and Remenyi since seeing me last,
he considered that 1 had both OF those re-
| nowned violinists eaten up In a lmekiln
when 1t came to sure-enough flddlin'.
| Bricky had been prowling around tho
! years. he told me, and We were having q
pleasant time. talking fiddle and fddiing,
when Brickys attention was attracted by
| the uproar of caloric talk in the bar over
Bud Caldwelrs visit that day. Bricky
pricked up his ears at that. and instantly
lost interest in the fiddle conversation II
| told him briefly about the Caldwell busi-
ness.
| !" Anybody goin' after him7 inquired
Bricky. getting up and addressing tho
| thirty or forty men lounglng around. Two
| or three of them muttered that they hadn't
lost any Bud Caldwelrs
WELL you're pigeon-lvered lot O.
| JUMPERS said Bricky whereupon I in
| stantly ducked behind a partition In the
| rear of the Office, not hankerng for any
| lead ballast.
Poor plasterer.' breathed to myself
as | made the shelter of the partition.
| you've fiddled your last double-step in G
major or In any other key
But to my intense establishment, there
! was no fusilade Rrieky had got by with
his savage crack. 1 peered from behind the
partition. They were all standing fixed In
| their position, looking curiously at Brcky.
| He was a natural captain of men. / OBJ
| served that the topaz glitter l had caught
once before in his eyes there again.
The others In that lobby and bar seemed
| to be under the influence of that eye of
Brisky'B. too. Anyhow, not a man of them
| went for his guns. despite the hot gibe
from the lips of this stranger in the camp.
=" Is there anything in 1t for fetching
the coyote in?' BrIcky Inquired of the crowd
! in general. after the long pause
:" Five thousand, two or three Of them
:" Well, that's slick enough piece of
change to be worth tearing off. said
Bricky. not in any boastful tone. but with
the air OF q man expressing approval OF
business transaction that looked pretty
good. Any ombrey here stake me to
couple o guns?'
Had No Shooting Irons on Him.
"Well. I could see them rubbering stu
harder at the red-haired chap then. He
had given them all that raking about
| being pigeon-livered, Ell, without having
| any guns on him at the time he spoke? 1t
was plain that they couldn't make anything
out Of Bricky. But big ruffian of a camp
| terror brought his mallet-like fist down on
the bar
He amt no id gopher IL he IL a
! red head. the ruffian beloved.
And then he strolled over to Bricky and
| handed him a pair of forty-fves, butts
| foremost. Then he unshipped his cartridge
belt and Bricky buckled it around his waist.
"'Any hawss loafing around camp that
| can get out of his own way" inquired
Bricky then.
1.-The horse was in front of the He'll
| Nor-Pete Hotel in less than five minutes.
| 1t was then o'clock at night. and pretty
| black. They pointed out the west trail 10
| Bricky as the one Caldwell had AIKEN
After the plasterer had vaulted into the
! saddle, shook hands with him. not with
out bit Of pride. as the only man In camp
| who knew him well enough to do that
'Bricky,' 1 said. you've got a swell!
| chance to figure in one OF those bone
bleaching things down yonder in the
canons. But, STILL you've had pretty
| good time with yourself barring the work.
ing at your trade, and you seem ready
enough to give the keno yell and cash in.
We've all got to die sometime. You'll
probably be qualified as a stringed instru-
ment performer long before 1 cut your trail
on the other side of the big divide, and
when you make your cash-in don't you for
get what I used to have to keep dlnging
into you-keep right on practicing. whether
It's a harp or a fiddle
THAT amt such bad bunch o breeze,
professor Bricky replied to me Just before
giving his horse the spurs, but any time
any cheap stick-up man pipes me out I
want you to take a peek at my remains
when the inquest's bein' pulled off and see
If look like prairie dog under my shirt
And with that Bricky clattered into the
blackness of the canon trail. He got back
Just thirty-six hours later. almost to the
minute. pulling UP his lathery cayuse In
front Of the Hell-Nor-Pete Hotel from
which he had started.
Brought Back Caldwell's Body.
bud Caldwell was slung across the front
Of Brickys saddle. Bud couldn't have been
much deader If he had fallen from cage
into a 9OO-foot shaft. Both OF his forearms
were broken by bullets in exactly the same
spot The other ball had cut Buds juguiar
in two.
"Rricky didn't even tell me- his old friend
and fiddle instructor. how he mad got py
III, It. The bag, with all OF Buos 100. 4"
with ~. nos swung around Briggs neck.
IL nn.aa dis,nounted, toted the dead man
tao tho barroom, laid his burden DOWN
rant,, enough on a table, and then stroiied
over to the bank with the bag of cash.
crowd of good citizens OF Durango-fnlne
owners and superintendent ana such-N WIS
already standing around III tne paiih "ISh
Bricky got there, waiting for his appear
ance.
..The president Of the bank counted
Bricky out his 5000 reward in bills and
then he pinned gold star, with Marshal
Durango,' engraved on 1t. on the lett side
OF Brickys blue flannel shirt That badge
hadn't been used by anybody for six
months, the last man to wear II having
piped out with such shocking suddenness
that no successor to him could be found
1T took Bricky Barr, the plasterer-fiddler.
just eight months to clean Durango up and
make 1t the most decent and safest camp.
even for a tenderfoot. from the Columbia
to the Rio Grande.
There is. l suppose. certain amount or
elemental savagery surviving In all of U.S.
That, at any rate, is about the only eX-
cuse l have for saying that, OF all my
violin pupils, some of whom became quite
distinguished, / never had such a glow or
pride over the achievements of any OF them
as did over my plasterer on the day that
he brought the most heartless devil of the
southwest into Durango on the pommel or
his saddle" CLARENCE l.. CULLEN.
Would Not Break Friendship.
From the New York Tribune.
Nl At.-. 1a L..