Tonopah bonanza. [volume] (Butler City [i.e. Butler], Nev.) 1901-1909, 1907-04-14
STORY OF LIFE IN
FRONTIER TOWN

Go1AN
reigned supreme and were recklessl.
safe In the protection of Sheriff Plum
mer, with the only law court hun
dreds of miles away and inocuou,
at its best.
10 every one the Mecca was Rock,
Thomas gambling hall, for there tn,
gold burning holes in pockets Nigh
be changed for chips and the chips II
turn exchanged for experience. There
too, was the chief attraction, Madame
Moustache, the beautiful woman
gambler who dealt t~wenty-one. Be.
fore her table congregated always the
densest crowd.
This siren, almost incomparable
her beauty, was a mystery to all. How
she came to Virginia City no one
knew. Who and what her antece-
dents was merest speculation. Her
private life was exemplary. She had
no intimates, called no one friend,
yet every miner in the camp bowed
before her shrine in humble n re-.
spectful alteration and lost his gold
n ecstacy at her table for the chance
OF one personal, fleeting glance from
her eyes or for one word from her
lips.
She was beautiful as a picture:
cold as a statue, yet like Galatea. i'm
bued with passionate life under the
marble exterior. She had abundant
purple-black hair dressed In the
fashion of the period, parted in the
middle. drawn loosely back SO that
almost hid her dainty ears.
and coiled In massive strands at the
nape OF a neck meant for kisses. Her
complexion vas of the clearest olive.
delfcately tinted, and needed no cos
metic to inhance the splendor of the
above. Her scarlet lips parted
slightly to show two rows of pearly
teeth, but seldom smiled except in
transitory way as if sardonica1ly
at the foolishness of man.
nose, straight and slim, had sem
'ltiye nostrils that dilated ~quiyering-
y in the presence of one whom she
ilsllked or at the awakening of pas
Her eyes, s%lumberous as a
'asilisk's were darkest green. so
lark they appeared black. so green
closely observed that they he
onged to the oceans depths. Steady.
e~vel-gazed were those eyes Many
man would have risked his soul for
me amorous, lifting glance from
hem, but always were they insolent-
y naughty. On her short upper lin
here was a faintest tinge of down.
Whence came her name, Madame
foustache.
Every night in Rocky Thomas
lace she dealt twenty-one-eyery
light she sat silent, calm, impassiye.
nsolently Indifferent, yet command
1g respect. Before her there was
Q loud-mouth lewd or profane talk,
Though all tried to make her con-
erse, just to listen to her deep con-
ralto answer in the most e of
oreign accents.
Upon one occasion, at an ealy hour
l the morning, when the room was
rowded and life's blood was run
ing high, over in one corner sat Ave
agents in consultation, probably
tanning some new deviltry. One
as a newcomer and his eyes
instantly wandered in lascivious
'vetousness toward Madame Nous
lche whose cold loneliness blinded
i'm to the possibility of danger. AL
Tough warned by George Ives, who
as to be the first of the renegade
meet with the vengeance of the
gilantes a year later, the passion {
nitten man walked over to the TWEEN !
-one table. There he lost some !
I'D while trying to induce the !
to enter into conversation.
ailfng to elicit a response and pay- 6
& no attention to the ~quivering nos- :
lis which, to those who knew her I
ell, presaged rising dislike or anger, +
ID looking only into her inscrutable I
es, the bandit reached across the v
Bile, and, making some remark al
inaudible, laid his hand upon =
g beautiful naked shoulder dis
)sed by her low-cut bodice. What [
opened was over in an instant. The
lite, 1.-THE fingers of n hand a
fned among the curls of the man;
rounded arm uplifted, a glittering
a gurgle of fear, and a long s
letto sank into the bandits throat.
ocked silence was followed by an
roar that was quelled immedia,eiy a
len the madame arose and pointing Il
'd~ainfully at the thing upon the
or, said to an attendant: Remove v
carcass" o.
George Ives, courteous, although n
agent, languidly elbowed his
y through the crowd and re: :
Itty ~ fHITA -.