The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1913-01-07
Two Brothers
A Story Of the Western Plains
of Former Times
By TIMOTHY WENTWORTH


'~This we're country" said the old
plainsman, lis bein' civilized so fast
that every time l come back to it i
scarcely know it. Where there was a
lrail there's now a macadamized road.
Where there was a few log houses
there's a town lighted by electricity
and runnln' trolleys. Where there was
Jewsharps or perhaps a fiddle there
are now pianos. Where there was
three card monte sharks, now there's
the gentlemanly swindIer. And the
punishments is all changed too. If a
man shot another In them days no
body took much notice of the fact, but
they hung a boss thief. Now, If a man
shoots another, there's a murder case
draggin' through the courts for years,
and If a thief gets away with a team
like enough the police is In cahoots
with him, and the owner is glad
enough to pay for gittin' the boss back
and no questions asked"
singular" remarked to the old
man, how different conditions re-
quire different treatment"
$50 they do" he rambled on. 1.-THE
nearer you git down to nature the
simpler the forms of law. But it isn't
always SO cold blooded down near the
bottom as you'd suppose. I've known
the most hardened villain to give his
life for a woman or a child. There
was lots o. misery In them days. just
as there is now. Families would come
out yere from the east, not KNOWN
what they was comm to, git stranded
and If it hadn't been for the help Of
some gambler or road agent would
starve to death"
"Did you VI have any such ex-
periencesg' | asked.
WAL, yes; so | did. I had one that
turned out mighty important to me.
Fact is. | hain't got over the effects of
it yit. When these we're plains was
covered with herds o. wild buffalo me
and Jack Cundif followed the business,
huntin' 'em for their skins. In them
days buffalo robes was used instead of
the finer furs they use now and was a
staple article In the market. That's
what killed 'em off so fast. We that
was huntin EN- used to Jist slaughter
'em for the money there was In 'em.
What l vas goin' to tell you about
happened near the foothills Of the Rock
les west O where Cheyenne now
stands. 1t stood there then. hut it was
the terminus Of the Union Pacific rail
road, and a tough place it was. too,
with its gamblin' and dance houses and
other SIGH shebangs. Jack and l was In
camp n day. as / was tellin' you. near
the base of the mountains. Buffaloes
were getting scarce, and we allowed
we'd turn to prospecttn' for gold. We
didn't have anything with US that was
wo'th anything except our bosses. so
when we went to sleep nights we jist
turned in without worryfn' onIess at
the loss of the animals. Since d man
couldn't git over the ground without
one of 'em they was mighty valuable.
Fact is. they was the most valuable
thing to be had. And that's why we
strung up the boss thieves and didn't
string up the men shooters. There was
plenty Of men, but only SO many
bosses. and each boss would bring a
good price at any time or anywhere.
Jack Cundiff and | was smokin' our
pipes after our noon meal of hog fat
and crackers, talkin' over whether we'd
better give up the buffalo skin business
and try our luck ut prospectin'. when
along comes two young fellers on foot
and, seem our camp. stopped and look
ed at us. They said somep'n to each
other, then was goin' on. when | hailed
'em and asked If they didn't want any
thing. They came to where we was an
we had a pOwwow.
They said they was brothers. The
older one was middle height, but the
younger was small. They was both so
young that their boards hadn't sprout-
ed yit, and they looked hungry. asked
'em what they was dom without
bosses, and they said they diIn't own
any bosses. We questioned 'em where
they'd come from and where they was
goin'. but they didn't seem to have a
home. and | couldn't learn from 'em
that they was goin' anywhere. Fact is.
they was down on their luck.
I'VE offered 'em somep'n to eat. and
they chawed 1t up mighty fast. Then
l poured out a cupful of whisky and
handed 1t to the oldest one of the two
He tried to drink 1t, but | could see
plain enough it was burnin' out his
throat. There wasn't any use givin' ii
to his brother. If the oldest couldn't
drink the stuff the other shore couldn't.
! thort the biggest one looked big
enough to drink whisky. but | was
not surprised at the little Teller not
wantin' it.
"They looked so tired that Jack and
l asked 'em if they didn't want to stay
with US awhile and rest, They said
they'd like to git some sleep. so we laid
out a buffalo skin for EN-. and they
lay down beside each other, and fusf
thing we knowed they was fast asleep.
the younger boys arm throwed around
the older ones neck. Jack and | looked
down at 'em. and we felt so sorry for
EN- that we allowed we'd do somep'n
for 'em. SO while they was a~-sleepin'
we stuffs some gold into their pockets.
They must "a been mighty sleepy, for
they didn't wake up while we was
dom 1t.
about supper time we woke 'em.
and when they see we was goin' to
make coffee and fry bacon the oldest
Teller said he'd like to pay his way by
doln' the cookin' and seemed SO anxious
about it that we let him do 1t. Lord,
how handy he was, handlin' the skillet
just like a womanl He got into our
supplies and found some cornmeal and
made a mess Of corn pone thai beat
anything Of the kind | ever eat. told
him he must "a done cookin' for his
Twin.
when we'd had our meal he and his
brother washed the dishes and wiped
em Jist as If we was all in a house.
Jack and l had been used if we was
near a creek to putin 'em in 1t and
lettn' the water run oVer 'em, but we
never thort O. wipin' 'em. 1t seemed
too much trouble. When the boys got
through we found they hadn't anything
to smoke, and we offered 'em pipes.
They both took 'em and pulled as If
they'd never smoked before in their
lives, but the fust thing l knowed the
hitler n turned white and went off
ehfnd q bush to get rid OF his sumner
The big one smoked only a few min
utes when. he laid his pipe down.
"'How old are you fellers anyway
l asked. You act like a couple o. kids.
"'I'm twenty said the big one. and
my brother is seventeen