The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1911-09-19
The Rustler
A rOmsBce Of the old tims o0v country
By CHARLES ALDEN SELTZER
eo,ulszT s,,s. 81 T,,s ,r.ss9s rurtissrss ca

l-Es seeming Ike 50 many old boxes
blown there By an Idle wind or l1-
Cerem0uloUsly dumped there ~ 4
careless fate and Jeff regsr1Ie-s. %
carry out the scheme u ces0la-Jn-
Apparently The rider vas 10 no
hurry for a. the pony topped the r--e
and ne -oau burst suddenly into
view the LITTLE animal pr.cEel Up lts
ears and qu.cEe1ed .,s pace. only 70
feel The re.ls suddenly tighten and
% hear the riders voice gruty dis.
cOlrsging his haste
Therefore the pony prauces gin
Fefiy sle-r. rhSmp.ng The BIT In
patiently picking lr way over the
lumDy bllls o. stone and cac'ls, but
holding closely 70 The trail
The man lou1ged csrelessly IN The
saddle. his lznK 1.-the body sUaying
gracefully. his eyes shaded by the
brim OF his bsi. marrow Ing with an in
reresfe1 light a. they gazed steadily a.
the towu that i.y before them
u reckon that must be Dry Bot
tom be aasi finally.
HaIf way down the slope. and s'ill
a mile and q half from the town, the
rider drew the pony 70 a halt He
dropped The reins over the high pom
mel Of the saddle. drew out his TWO
guns one after the other rolled the
cylinders and replaced the guns in
the holsters Then he shook out the
reIus spoke o the pony and the li',le
animal broke out into slow lope
An ironic traveller. passing through
Dry Bottom IN IT'S younger days be-
fore civic spirit had definitely cen
tered its efforts upon things nOmen.ia-
'urai. had hinfed that the town
should be known as Dry because OF
the fact that. while the town bOa.'ed
seven buildings four were saloons
and that Bottom" might be- used "a.
q sufiiX because. in the nature Of
things. a town Of seven buildings four
OF which were used for saloons. might
reasonably expect 10 descend 10 the
very depths Of moral iniquity.
The ir0nic stranger had spoken
with prophetic wisdom Dry Bottom
was trying as best il knew how 70
NaliOw IN the depths Of sin. n-
Oyely. sOiled, desOlate Of yerdure.
dumped down upon a fiat Of sand in
treeiess waste, amid sand-hills. sage
brush Grabbed yucca. scorpions liz
ards. horned tOads and raltlesnaEcs.
Dry Bottom had forgotten its morals.
-u1yerfed its principles and neglected
i,s God
AS the rider approached within a
few hundred yards Of the edge OF town
a man stepped out OF the door OF a
saloon and walked twenty or thirty
feet away from IL. Immediately
other men followed. But these came
orly 10 a point Just outside the door.
For some reason which was not gp-
parent TO the rider they were giving
the first man plenty OF room.
The rider was now able TO discern
'le faces OF the men in the group.
and he eazed with Interested eyes at
jhe man who had first issued from the
door OF the saloon
The man was tall-nearly as tall as
the ridcr-and seemed sure OF him
self He was young seeming about
thi-iy-nye. with shifty insOlent eye.
and a hard mouth whose lips were
Just now curved into self-conscious
smile
The rider approached TO within
afy feet of the man halting his pony
at the very edge OF the hltchinsrai.
that skried the space I'm front OF the
saloon. sitting carelessly in the saddle,
his eyes upon the man.
The men who had followed the FIRST
man perhaps a half dozen ot
them revealed their interest in
divers ways A taA man on the eE.
trcmr end. near the rider, was watch
ing the man in the street graycF. 4
short. fat man near the center looked
ON with a kalf sneer. Other faces
wore various expressions. But all
were silent
But not so the man IN the street
Certainly ne knew Of the attention
he was attracting. Men were APP
preaching from rbe other end or the
street Joining The group In front OF
the saloon which the rider now no.
ticed was called The Silver Dollar
The newcomers were inQuisitiNe. they
spoke in low tones 70 the men who
had been there before them, lnquir-
ing the cause.
But the man I'm the street seemed
not disturbed by his audience. He
stood in the place he had selected, his
insolent eye rowing over the assembled
company. his thin, expressive lips
parting a very little to allow words
to filter through them.
Gents" he said. you're Coin' 10
see some shootinn / told you in there
that could keep q can in the air
while ! put five holes through i'
There's some Of you gassed about
bein showed not belieyin' me. An
now I'm goin to show YOU
lie reached down and picked mp
can that had lain al his feet remoy-
ins the red uthoEraphnd label which
mad picture OF a large tomato In its
center The can was revealed. naked
and shining In the white sunlight lie
placed the can ln his lef' hand and
drew his 4iN-shootor with his right
Then he tossed The can twenty feet
into thp air. While 30 su,l rose his
woapon exploded. the can shook spas
medically and turned clear over.
Then In rapid succession followed
four other explosions the last occur
ring Just before the can reached the
g-ound The man smiled. still hold