The new era., 1911-11-16
CHAPTER xvI.-(contlnuea.)


It was a grim picture of depravity
and desolation, the environment dull.
gloomy, forlorn; all that was worthy
the eye or thought being the pulstng
human element All about extended
the barren plains, except where on
one side ravine cut through an over
hanging ridge. From the seething
street one could look up to the sum-
NIT, and see there the graves OF the
many who had died deaths Of violence.
and been borne thither in their
boots" Amid all this surrounding
desolation was Sheridan-the child OF
a few brief months of existence. and
destined to perish almost as quickly
the center OF the grim picture. mere
cluster of rude. unpainted houses.
poorly erected shacks. grimy tents
Tapping in tho never ceasing wind
ewirling across the treeless waste. the
ugly red station. the rough cowpens
filled with lowing cattle, the huge, un-
calmly stores. their false fronts deco
rated by amateur wielders OF the
paint brush, and the garish dens OF
vice tucked In everywhere. The pen
dulum of life never ceased swinging.
Society was mixed; no man cared who
his neighbor was. or dared to question.
OF women worthy the name there
were few. yet there were fitting fe-
male forms IN plenty, the saloon lights
revealing powdered cheeks ana paint
ed eyebrows. 1t was a strange. rest
less populace. the majority here to-
day, disappearing tomorrow-cow
boys. half-breeds. trackmen. graders.
desperadoes. gamblers. saloon-keepers.
merchants, generally Jewish. petty Of
fciais, and riff-raff no one could ac-
count for, mere floating debris. The
town was an eddy catching odd bits
of driftwood such as only the frontier
everywhere, wrecks of dissipation. de-
relicts of the East. seeking nothing
save oblivion.
Everything was primitiye-passion
and pleasure ruled. To spend easily
made money noisily, brazenly. was the
ideal. From dawn to dawn the search
after Joy continued. The bagnios and
dance halls were ablaze; the bar.
rooms crowded with hilarious or
quarrelsome humanity. the gambling
tables alive with excitement. Men
staggered along the streets looking
for trouble. and generally finding 1t;
cowboys rode into open saloon doors
and drank in the saddle: troops OF
congenial spirits. frenzied with liquor.
spurred recklessly through the street
firing into the air. or the crowd. as
their whim led: bands played popular
airs on balconies. and innumerable
"barkers" added their honeyed invi-
tations to the perpetual din. From end
to end 1t was saturnalia of vice,
babOl Of sound. glimpse of the In
ferno. Money flowed like water; every
man was his own law. and the gun
the arbiter of destiny. The town
marshal. and few cool-headed depu-
ties moved here and there amid the
chaos. patient. tireless. undaunted.
slight restraint. This was Sheridan.
Into the one long street Just at dusk
rode Keith and Neb. the third horse
trailing behind. Already lights were
beginning to CLEAN In the crowded
saloons. and they were obliged to
proceed slowly. Leaving the negro at
the corral to find some purchaser for
the animals. and such accommoda-
tions for himself as he could achieve.
Keith shouldered his way on foot
through the heterogeneous mass to-
ward the only hotel. long two-storied
wooden structure. unpainted. fronting
the glitter Of the Pinoeer Dance Hall
opposite. A noisy band was splitting
thA 81 x1,fth
voiced barker" yelling through the
uproar. but Keith. accustomed to SINH
lar scenes and sounds elsewhere.
strobe through the open door OF the
hotel. and guided by the noisy. contIn-
uous clatter OF dishes. easily found his
way to the djning-room. 1t was crowd
Cd with men few women scattered