The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1912-01-12
CHAPTER xvI.-(Contlnued.)

Il was a grim picture Of depravity
and desolation, the environment dull,
gloomy, forlorn; all that was worthy
the eve or thought being the pulsing
human element All about extended
the barren plains, except where on
one side a ravine cut through an over
hanging ridge. From the seethins
street one could look up to the sum-
init 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
n few brief months of existence, and
destined to perish almost as quickly
the center Of the grim picture, mere
cluster of rude, implanted houses,
poorly erected shacks, grimy tents
Tapping in tho never ceasing wind
swirling across the treeless waste, the
ugly red station, the rough cowpens
filed with lowing cattle. the huge, I'M
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
ticials and a riff-raff no one could &C
count for. mere floating debris. The
town was an eddy catching odd bits
of driftwood such as only the frontier
ever knew. Queer characters were
eyervwhere, wrecks of dissipation, de-
relicts of the East, seeking nothing
save oblivion.
Everything was primitive-passion
and pleasure ruled. To spend easily
made money noisily, bragenly, was the
ideal From dawn to dawn the search
after 10y continued. The bagnios and
dance halls were ablaze; the bar
ROOMS crowded with hilarious or
ouarrelsome humanity, the gambling
tables alive with excitement. Men
staggered along the streets looking
for trouble, and generally finding IL;
cowboys rode into open saloon doors
aud 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 within led; bands played popular
airs on balconies, and innumeraDle
"barkers" added their honeyed invi-
tations to the perpetual din. From end
to end it was a saturnalia of vice, a
babel of sound, a 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'
seeking merely to exercise some
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 loot
through the heterogeneous mass to-
ward the only hotel. long two-storied
wooden structure. unpsinted. fronting
the glitter OF the Pinoeer Dance Hall
opposite. A noisy band was splitting
the air with discordant notes, a loud
voiced barker" yelling through the
uproar. but Keith, accustomed to SINH
lar scenes and sounds elsewhere
etrode through the open door OF the
hotel. and guided by the noisy contln-
mons chatter Of dishes. easily found bis
wav to the dining-room. II was crowd
- vith men. q few women scattered