The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-08-23
A Line on Peacock Alley

cry? Say, the scenery that suits me
best is the kind they keep lit up all
night. There's a lot of 1t between
Fourteenth street and the park. Folks?
Why, you stand on the corner of For
ty-second and Broadway long enough
and you won't miss SEEM many of 'em.
They most all get here sooner or
later
Now. look at what happens last
evenin'. / was just leanin' against the
street door. real comfortable and salts
fed after a good dinner, when Swiftly
Joe comes down from the studio and
says there's a party by the name of
Merrity been calm me up on the
phone.
"Merrity?" says l. THAT sounds
kind of joyous and familiar. Didn't
he give any letters for the front of it?'
'Nothin' but Hank" says Swiftly.
''Oh, yes" says I. gettin' the clue.
What did Hank have to say"
said he was a friend of " urs, and
- you didn't have nothin' better on the
hook he'd like to see you around to the
Wistoria." says Swiftly.
With that ! lets loose smoker
Honest. I couldn't help IL.
"Ah, Chez" says Swiftly. Els IT a
string. or not? I might get a laugh
out of this myself"
Yes, and then again you mightn't,"
says l. Maybe it'd bring nothin' but a
brain storm. You wait until find out
NJ it's safe to tell you"
With that / starts down towards
Thirty-fourth street To see if it was
really so about Hank Merrity: for the
last glimpse / got of him he was out in
Colorado, wearin' spurs and fringed
buckskin pants, and lookin' to be as
much of Il fixture there as Pixies peak
II was while ! was trainin' for one of
my big matches that / met up with
Hank. Wed picked out Bedelia for a
camp. You've heard of Bedelia?, No?
Then you ought To study the map.
Anyway, if you'd been foliowin' the
sportin' news regular few years back
you'd remember. There was a few DAYS
about that time when more press dis
patches was filed from Bedelia than
from Washington. And the pictures
that was sent east: shorty Ropin'
Steers''-"M Mr.. McCabe Swinein' a
Broncho by the Tail" and all such
truck. You know the kind of stuff
them newspaper artists strains their
imaginations on.
Course, ! was too busy to bother
about what they did TO me. and didn't
care, anyhow. But il was different
with Hank. Oh, they got him. too,
You see, he had ranch about -four
miles north of our camp and one of
my regular forenoon stunts was to
Eallop up there. take a big swig of
mountain spring water-better'n any
thing YOU can buy in bOttleS-chin a
few minutes with Hank and the boys
and then dog trot il back.
That was how the boss Of Merrity 5
ranch came to get his picture in the
sportin' page alongside of a diagram OF
the four different ways had OF peelin'
n boiled potato. Them was the times
when ] took my exercise with a sport
in editor hangin' to each elbow. and
fellows with DRAWN pads squattin' all
over the place. Just for q josh
lUgged one Of the papers that had q
picture of Hank up To the ranch. ex-
pectiu' when he saw il he'd want tC
buckle on his guns and start down af-
ter the gent that did II.
You couldn't have blamed him much
If he had: for Hanks features want
cut on what you might call classic
= lines. He looked more like a COPY OF
an old master that had been done by a
sign painter on the side of a barn Not
that he was so mortal hOmely. but his
color scheme was kind of surprisin
His complexion was a shade or two
lighter than a new saddle. except his
neck, which was n flannel red. with
lovely brown speckles on il: and his
eyes WAS sort of buttermilk blue. with
eyebrows that you had to guess at. His
chief decoration, though. was a lin
whisker that was a marvel-one OF
these ginger colored troopers that took
root way down below his mouth cor
ners. and looked like ii was there Ia
stay.
But up on the ranch and down in
\ ri
marks on Hank Merrity's looks. He
want no bad man either, but as mild
yand gentle beef raiser as you'd want
vto see. He seemed to be quite a star
among the COW punchers. and after I'd
got used to his peculiar style of beau
" kind of took 10 him. too.
The picture didn't rile him a bit He
sat there lookin' at il for a good five
minute, sayin' nothin. them buttermilk
eyes just starin' kind of blank and
dazed. Then he looks up. as pleased as
kid. and says. Wall. I'll be cussed,
- Mighty slick. amt it?''
Next he hollers for Reney-that was
Mrs. Merrity. She was a good-sized
able-bodied wild rose. Reney was: not
such bad locker. but a little shy on
style. \ calico wrapper with the sleeves
rolled up. n lot of crinkly brown hair
wavin' down her back. and an old pair
OF carpet slippers on her feet was Re-
ney's mornin' costume. I shouldn't
wonder but what ii did for afternoon
and evenin' as we'll.
Mrs. Merrity was more tickled with
the picture than Hank She stared
from the paper TO him and back again.
actin like she thought Hank had done
somethin' she ought TO be proud OF, but
couldn't exactly place.
'Sho, Hank" says she. 81 wisht
they'd waited until you'd put on your
Sunday shirt and sEcked up a little"
He was a real torrid proposition when
he did slick up. / saw him do ii once
couple of nights before broke train
IN, when they was goin to have a
dance up to the ranch. His idea OF
maxim a swell toilet was 10 take a
hunk of sheep tallow and grease his
boots clear TO the tops. Then he ducks
his head into the horse trough and pol
ishes- the back of his neck with a bar
of yellow soap. Next he dries himself
or a meal sack. uses half d bottle OF
scented hair oil on his Buffalo Bill
thatch, pulls on a striped bingham
shirt, ties red silk handkerchief
around his throat. and he's ready to re.
ceive company. l didn't see Mrs Mer-
rity after she got herself fixed for the
hall. but Hank told me she was goin