The Washington herald., 1913-07-13

the dining room. Il always sndeavored
to keep out Of . quarrel until seif-respect
forbade my making any further effort to
avoid II and ! very rarely had even the
ssmblance Of trouble.
why TAey Tosk nm.
OF course, amusing incidents occurred
| now and then. Usually these took place
when was hunting lost horses. for In
hunting lost horses was ordinarily
alone. and occasionally had to travel
| 100 or 150 miles away from my own
country. On one such occasion reached
little COW town long after dark. sta
bled my horse in an empty outbuilding.
and when I reached the hotel was In
formed. In response to my request for
. bed. that could have the last one
left, ss there was only one other man
in II The room to which ! was shown
contained two double beds; one con.
tained two men fast asleep. and the
other only one man. also asleep. This
man proved to be Q friend. one Of the
Bill Joneses whom have previously
mentioned. I undressed according to the
fashion Of the day and place; that is.
put my trousers. boots. snaps. and gun
down beside the bed. and turn In. A
couple Of hours later I was awakened
by the door being thrown open and a
lantern flashed In my fase. the light
cleaning on the muzzle of 9 cooked .45
Another man said to the lantern
bearer: TT amt him." The next mo-
ment my bedfellow was covered with
two guns, and addressed, "Now. Bill.
don't make a fuss. but come along
quiet" Tn not thinking OF making q
fuss" said Bill. That's right" was the
sUa
want to hurt you; we Just want you to
come along: you know why" And Bill
pulled on his trousers and boots and
walked out with them. Up to this time
there had not been a sound from the
other bed. Now a match was scratched.
candle Lit, and one Of the men In the
other bed looked round the room.
At this point committed the breach of
etiquette Of asking questions. IT wonder
why they took Bill" I said. There was
no answer. and I repeated. II wonder
why they took BILL" 'well," said the
man with the candle. dryly. II reckon
they wanted him." and with that he blew
out the candle and conversation ceased
Later I discovered that Bill in a fit of
playfulness had held up the Northern
Pacific train at . nearby station by
shooting at the feet of the conductor to
make him dance. This was purely a Joke
on Bills part. but the Northern Pacific
people possessed a less robust sense Of
humor. and on their complaint the United
States marshal was sent after Bill, on the
ground that by delaying the train he had
interferred with the mails.
At Close Range.
The only time ever had serious trouble
was At an even more primitive little hotel
than the one in question. 1t was also
on an occasion when I was out after lost
horses. Below the hotel had merely a
barroom. q dining-room, and a lean-to
kitchen; above was q loft with fifteen or
twenty beds in 1t. It was late in the
evening when reached the place 4
heard one or two shots in the barroom
as ! came up. and disliked going in.
But there was nowhere else to go, and
1t was q cold night. Inside the room
were several men, who, including the bar
tender. were wearing the kind of smile
worn by men who are making believe to
like what they don't like. A shabby in
dividual in Q broad hat with q cooked
gun In each hand was walking up and
down the floor talking with strident pro-
family. He had evidently been shooting
At the clock. which had two or three
holes In its face.
He was not q bad man" Of the really
dangerous type, the true man-killer type.
hut he was an Objectionable creature. a
would-be bad man. q bully. who for the
moment was having things all his own
way. As soon as he saw me he halle. me
as -Four eyes" in reference to my
spectacles and said. Four eyes is 60
ing to treat" Joined In the laugh and
got behind the stove and sat down.
thinking to escape notice. He foIlowed
me. however. and though tried to pass
II OF as q Jest this merely made him
more offensive. and he stood leaning over
me, a gun in each hand. using very foul
language. He was foolish TO stand &C
near, and, moreover. his heels were close
together, 80 that his position wac un-
stable. Accordingly. in response to his
reiterated command that I should set up
tha drinLs = .uiA I've In