Los Angeles herald., 1908-01-12
Bob Champion Provider

Bob and / enjoyed beneath them or at
side stations where we stopped to feed.
Bob Champion Provider
That little runt, az a con artist, had the
world beaten ten miles. IIo could Start
out without cent in town where there
was but one family-if that family hap
pened 70 be fairly prosperous. and in less
time than 1t takes to tell 1t would re-
| turn with all the delicacies the market
afforded. He could detect the clarion
notes of a rooster farther than / could
| hear the toot of a passenger engine when
entering the yard limits of a city. When
/ he was a little hCngry his ears were at
their best. We would be trudging along
| a country road, out on a foraging expedi-
i ton, when suddenly Bob would cock his
ears, straighten his neck and stand
rooted to the ground in a listening atti-
| tude. Without a word to me he would
then strike out on the run, jumping
fences like a fox, and be out of sight in
jiffy.
| l would then busy myself getting fire.
wood together, for I knew that when
! Bob came back he would have chickens
hanging all over him. BY the time the
| coffee was ready, for we always carried
our Java and handy tin can, Bob would
| bounce into camp with from three to
seven fine fowls The meals that we
would then have surpass any that / am
| curtailment.
| Bob had more different crafts than any
man I ever met. He was q barber and
could shave a man while the train was
going forty miles an hour We used to
get on top of a freight train and parle
/ with the brakemen. Bob would tell them
that he was the finest barber that ever
honed a blade and would offer his SER
vices to pay for a ride. The brakemen
generally took him up, and he would seat
| one of them on top of brake, which
makes a fine barber chair and start to
work. He would open little sack that
/ he carried and get out his white-handed
razor, which had several of Its front
teeth knocked out from striking bones.
The Brakeman objects
! He would pour a little water from n
bottle on a bar of laundry soap and be-
gin to lather the man by rubbing the bar
back and forth across his face. Some
times he would actually stir up his
lather in little can that he carried In
! the sack In that case he would use a
hemp lather brush he made the brush
| by cutting off . a six-inch piece of new
rope, tying piece of wire around the
rope two inches from the end, and fraz-
zling the end. This made quite handy
brush. When everything was ready Boz
would assume a knowing attitude and
the brakies cheek with a rasping SOUND
that could be heard above the grinding
of the wheels on the steel rails. There
would generally be other sounds far mora
''rasping," and they would emanate from
the throat of the suffering "shaek." The
facetious Bobbe would whirl the brake
around so he could gaze into the water
ing eye of his victim and ask him why
he complained II the brake told him
| bot ba efa n
longer, Bobbe would look panied ami
inform him that he was for three years
the head barber In the Waldorf-AstOria
barber shop in New York No argumen:
would convince the brake. however, and
we generally rode on without furthe"
protest or patronage of the speeding bar
ber shop,
One time I thought that had lost Bob
forever. We were riding on top of Il
passenger coach en- route from Stockton
to Sacramento. 1t was in the latter enl
of August when melons were at their
best. and Bob was as fat as a squirrel IN
acorn time. He was feeling fine and was
regaling me with stories of his adven
lures prior to the time that kind Provi-
dence threw me In his way. We were
lying low, so that our heads would not
stick up high enough for the engineer
or fireman to spot us. Occasionally we
would raise our heads and gaze out over
the country, just to see what kind of
landscape we wer, going through, for it
was the first trip through that section
for either of u.s..
uni Smell Dem MeIonsI
All was serene and the sum was sink .
4 ing in the west when Bob raised his head
again. He had been uneasy for mile
or so and had declared that he smelled
melons. / told him there was not a
melon short of Stockton. | did not know
we were on the outskirts of Lodi. famed