Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1907-05-03
Buds trail wasn't even suggested by

any Of them.
about seven o'clock that evening
was having an after-supper smoke
in the 12x20 lobby OF the Hell-Nor-
Pete hotel, where I was registered
when the blackboard came up from
the railroad station with a new guest
He'd swung along from Deadwood. He
was Bricky Barr, my former violin
pupil Of Wichita.
II recognized him at once, although
he had picked up some bad and dis
figuring knife scars on the left side
Of his face. He remembered me too,
and he was kind enough to say, In his
foolish loyalty to his first instructor,
that, although he'd heard Wilhelmj
and Remenyi since seeing me last, he
considered that I had both Of those
renowned violinists eaten up in lime
kiln when 1t came to sure-enough fld-
dim
"Bricky had been prowling around
the new mining camps Of Colorado
for some years he told me, and we
were having a pleasant time, talk
ing fiddle and fiddling. when Bricky's
attention was attracted by the uproar
Of caloric talk in the bar over Bud
Caldwells visit that day Bricky prick
ed up his ears at that and instantly
lost interest in the fiddle conversation
I told him briefly about the Caldwell
business.
Anybody going after him. in
quired Bricky, getting up and address
ing the thirty or forty men loungins
around. Two or three Of them NUT
tered that they hadn't lost any Bud
Caldwells.
"'Well, you're q pigeon-livered lot
O. JUMPERS said Bricky, whereupon
I instantly ducked behind a partition
in the rear of the Office, not hankerine
for any lead ballast.
Poor plasterer,' breathed to my
self as I made the shelter Of the par
tition, you've fiddled your last double
step in G major or in any other key!'
But to my intense astonishment,
there was no fusilade. Bricky had got
by with his savage crack. peered
from behind the partition. They wera
all standing fixed in their position,
looking curiously at Bricky. He was
a natural captain Of men. observed
that the topaz glitter I had caught
once before in his eyes was there
again. The others in that lobby and
bar seemed to be under the influence
of that eye of Bricky's 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 imp Bricky inquired Of the
crowd in general, after the long pause.
"'Five thousand two or three Of
them chorused.
"'Well, that's a slick enough piece
Of change to be worth tearing off,
said Bricky. not in any boastful tone,
but with the air Of man expressing
approval Of business transaction that
looked pretty good. ANY ombrey
here stake me a couple Of guns?
"well, 1 could see them rubbering
stir harder at the red-haired chap
then. He had given them all that
raking about being pigeon-livered. eh,
without having any guns on him at
the time he spoke? It was plain that
they couldn't make anything out of
Brlcky. But big ruffian Of camp
terror brought his mallet-like fist
down on the bar.
"He amt no gopher II he Is
a red head the ruffian beloved.
"And then he strolled over to Bricky
and handed him a pair Of ass, butts
foremost. Then he unshipped his
cartridge belt and Bricky buckled II
around his waist. .
"'Any hawss loafing about camp
that can get out of his own way?" in
quired Bricky then"
"The horse was In front Of the He'll
Nor-Pete hotel in less than five min
utes. 1t was then eight o'clock al
night and pretty black. They pointed
out the west trail to Bricky as the one
Caldwell had taken.
AFTER the plasterer had vaulted in
to the saddle I shook hands with him.
not without bit Of pride as the only
man in camp who knew him well
enough to do that.
'Bricky,' I said, you've got swell
chance to figure in one Of those bone
bleaching things down yonder In the
canons. But, still, you've had pret-
ty good time with yourself, barring the
working Of your trade, and you seem
ready enough to give the keno yell
and cash in. We've all got to die
some time. You'll probably be quail
flied as a stringed instrument perfor-
mer long before 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 ding
ing into you-keep right on practis'
ing, whether it's a harp or a fiddle
"'That amt such a bad bunch o
breeze professor Bricky replied to me
lust before giving his horse the spurs
but any time any cheap stick-up man
pipes me out I want you to take 9
peek at my remains when the Inquest
bein' pulled off and see II 1 look like
a prairie dog under my shirt
"And with that Bricky clattered in
to 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 at the He'll:
Nor-Pete hotel from which he had
started.
bud Caldwell was slung across the
front of Bricky's saddle. Bud could.
mt have been much deader II he had
fallen from a cage into a 90O-foot
shaft. Both Of his forearms were
broken by bullets in exactly the same
spot. The other ball had cut Buds
jugular in two.
"Bricky didn't even tell me, his old
friend and fiddle instructor, how ne
had got by with 1t. The bag, with all
Of Buds loot in 1t intact, was swung
around Bricky's neck.
"Bricky dismounted, toted the dead
man into the barroom, laid his burden
down gently enough on a table, and
then strolled over to the bank with
the bag Of cash. A crowd Of good cit
izens of Durango-mine owners and
superintendents and such-were al
ready standing around In the bank
D,,olu oot thare waiting for