The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-02-09
MAGAZINE SECTION.

ian and a highly polished British no.
bleman.
Joe rupert, the American. was a fine
~ mpseled specimen OF manhood who
lhad learned to ride and shoot and fight
tCn me borders OF western ciyiiiza ton.
i9ut now had settled Gown to the Iegiti-
mate trade of raising horsehesh in the
Blue Grass region of his native state.
he had been to England with a large
consignment of blooded stations, and
was returning, happy and al peace with
all the world
Lord Francis st. Agnew Whittemere,
Earl OF Cranton. was a most distin-
Suished looking parsonage, slender and
athletic, with a fashionably trimmed
mustache, and Van Dyke beard His
eyes We're blue, his features regular re-
hned, yet marred by dash If artistic
cratic scorn of the common ,erd
The initial meeting beUwcca the Ken
tuckian end the EIglishm1n Was brief
out fruitful. Lcrd GRAFTON was lean
ing gracefully against tie ran. absorbed
tn the artics of a school Of fish that
seemed to be turning sortIsaults.
The: re porpusses," I'oli,,ly voiUn-
teered the Kentuckian. who vas passing
at the n oment. and addressed his lord
ship in that free and easv camuradecie
Of ocean VCyagCTs. Il seen 'em fire.
cuent When 7 fIs' come over. an if
you'll watch 'em long enough you'll
He IaGsed abruptly, for he English
man was treating him t. = stohy stare
Of disdain unutterable The patrician
II )StrilS we're extended vile. the Inns
Were cured. while the one arched eve
Show not restricted by the .'rystal mon
ocle was raised TO its majestic height.
fCr an r#.ant he looked tna American
over nom top to toe, tren shrugged
and turned his ba h de;ib ateiy
Joe Iiushtd and walked AWAY. The in
suit though unmistakable, was not of
a nature 10 warrant wrin ing the gen
1i@'nans neck, as much as he Yeanad
10 do sos True, the fault was all his
own In speaking to an utter stranger, |
yet, moralize as he would. the noble !
mans very presence on the ship was a |
sheep burr under a saddle flap 1t !
CALLED Joe Rupert even to look at the |
Englishman's aggressive steamer rug.
The long plaid greatcOat was another |
constant irritation, while the hideOus !
plain cap to match was a thing which |
stirred him to the quick in his wrathfuI |
soul. Also, the occasional glance of con-
tempt which Lord CrantOn cast in his |
direction would cause his thoughts to |
wander To the Colts As which seemed |
TO burn in his pocket on his hip. Then |
the second meeting took place and bore |
more fruit
The weather had roughened till the |
Atric rolled in the trough of a heavy /
sea like a drunken sailor. Nine-tenths /
OF the passengers were scientifically /
dead in their berths below, while the /
other tenth told lies among themselves |
and said that the trip was great. The !
S.arl reclined in his steamer chair, chat /
Ting with the captain. the mate and /
three burly officers. when the Kentuck- /
ian CHANGED along. He was Keeling
lrd
have reached this point i'm safety had !
the Afric not given an unusually frisky |
pitch. Joe skidded, so to speak /
clutched wildly at the nearest object of |
support, which, unfortunately, hap
pened to be Lord Cranton's travelling /
cap, and, more unfortunately, lock of |
hair beneath; then he lurched against /
the rail and literally hung across it.
The occurrence was clearly accidental.
and the Kentuckian was about to re-
gain his feet and apologize. when his
lordship scrambled furiously from his
chair and kicked him-hard.
Now to kick native, free born Amer
ican-esp ecially when his back is turned
is the verr quintessence of personal
indignity. The Englishman had acted
without a moments thought, and be it
said that he instantly regretted having.
thus demeaned himself. Joe Rupert also
acted quickly-Very quickly-nOt so
much in thought as in that peculiar in
stinct engendered by a western code of
raw morality. He achieved a short
half-strangled, blasphemOus roar: a
Colts As took the center of the stage,
and the captain, who struck desperate
" at the weapon, lost a three years
growth and a button from his handsome
cap, as the bullet went tipping out to
sea.
In an instant more there was a tan
gle of humanity on the slippery deck,
Joe occupying a metaphorical lower
berth, while the ships officials formed
a warm but unrestful coverlet. The one
cool member of the company was MILFORD
of Cranton, who lit his cigar with
wind-match and watched the proceed
ings with a heaven-born air of uncon-
Germ.
Following a period of intense activity,
the American was secured by numerous
bights of the Iead-line, and was carried
bodily into the captains cabin as an I'M
member of a peace confer
ence. LORD CrantOn was also invited to
g ttend. but the captive's general style
of criticism made the august presence
quite impossible.
The Earl, who was clearly in the
wrong, wrote a note of dignif1ed apOl-
ogy which the captain read aloud. Joe
Rupert, calmer now, but still bound :
hand and foot, dictated the following =
dignified reply:
Sir-For pullin of yo' hair I'm mighty !,
sorry. / done il accidental. The kick "
you give me mot bein' by no means
sck of perlite sirsiety) was insult to e
the pride an self-respeck of any Twin I
gentl'man, an as such 1 deman' the
chanst of satisfaction now an immedi- I
ate. in any way what suits yo'self, sir, c
from fists to rifles.
Failing me in this, I swear to kick 5
you tweed or more, befo' the eyes of v
every man, lady an chile on bode. jes' u
as soon as they gets we'll enough TO o
come up on deck an see me do IT. W
Your truly, JOSEPH RUPERT.
This challenge. after being read by d
he lordly principal. was crumpled and b
tossed with a careless shrug into the g
sea. u
What shall I tell him?" asked the lc
waiting messenger. S;
ITO go to the devil" suggested Lord
cranton, yawning lazily: so the mes n
senger returned. II
Now the captains position was both
delicate and awkward, yet he rose q
above it nobly. a.