The Meeker herald. [volume] (Meeker, Colo.) 1885-current, 1914-02-21
THE RUsTLER'S
CONVERSION
Kindness Subduss a One Time
Border Ruffian.

Some years ago visited tne I1I
west, passing through region that
had been infested BY the worst Gle
ment Of society.
put up ono night at the house of
John Murphy. a sheep raiser. His
ranch house was not large. but com
Portable, and it, decorations showed
evidence Of refinement. His wife was
a woman who impressed me a. one
having considerable equipoise and
character. After supper l went out
on the porch to have smoke with
Murphy and listened with interest to
his account Of the building up Of his
region. During our conversation
stated the. opinion that men were
what women made them. Then he
told mo his story.
You're dead right stranger" he
said. land I'm one Of the men that
have been made by woman. When ]
came to this country 1t WAS from an
eastern city. and my education WIS
derived from the dime novel. ! was
waif. with no father or mother to
instill into me the fact that however
brave the road agents and otherS Of
whom read they were acting oil
wrong principle. As 1t was. nd
mired them. and almost before l he
came a man l scraped up enough
money to bring me out here to live the
life Of my heroes Of the dime novel.
II soon got to be head man among
them and for eight years lived life
that I would g1ve anything have to
forget. have to be thankful for only
one thing. During that frightful Pc
Rod I never took life. didn't ac-
cumulate any money. and II l hud 1
should later on have got rid Of 1t.
Zone evening I stopped at house
and knocked at the door. intended
to ask for some supper. expecting once
inside to get my bearings for vaiua-
bles and take them away with. me.
had started In With the intention Of
combining my operations to stage
coaches. army paymasterx and the
like. but man Ii always going either
uphill or downhill. and AZ was n~ces-
sarily going down l wasn't above TAX
ing anything could ret my hands on.
even from a woman.
"a woman came 10 the door. Hhe
was young and fairly GOOD looking. To
my request for sonne supper she ave
smilinx aaasat. asking me to como
In and make myself comfortable. she
went into ths kitchsn. and looked
about NE. Thsss was I chimney 10
tie room where was with no Dire. Z
knew chimney WIS Z favorite paaee
b hide money. and. eolnG to tie 6re-
piace. stopped and looked up. On =
projecting brick l saw . small hog.
which appropriated and. lifting thu.
cover. saw q lot Of bills and hose
change. l slipped 1t all IN my pocket
and put the box back In the chimney.
by and BY the young woman came
in and set a good supper on the table.
I ate my ill and when had finished
took out one Of the coins had taken
from the box and handed 1t to her.
pay. You're quite welcome to yQur
supper. hope 1t has done you good.
You looked tired and hungry when yom
came In. and felt sOrry for you. 30
I,have given You the hest In the house.
THAT was the frst lesson In kindll-
ness I ever received. At any rate 1t
was the first that ever took hold Of
me- When thought Of the contents
Of the box in my pocket and my offer
ing one Of her own coins in payment
for her kindness. not the least part of
which was the way she offered 1t. my
desplcable meanness seemed to shrivel
me all up. couldn't look her In the
face.
"'You don't need to 20 on she said
We have a spare bed UPSTAIRS
II was thinking how could get the
money back In the box in the chin
ney. and 1t occurred to me that II
stayed there NIL night could slip
down in the night and do the job. so
I said: Thank you. miss. II yon
don't mind reckon will. It'll be
great accommodate ton to me-
NO more than to me. My brother
and bis wife have gone away for a
few days and left me alone with the
children. They say that Murphy.
gang u operating IN the nelRnDOfnOO0.
and wouldn't mind having man In
the house
"'In that case I said. I think I'll
sleep on that lounge. and I'll guarantee
that no man gets upstairs unIess he
goes over my dead body
II knew two Of my men would be
along there that night. and ! reckoned
they'd take In anything By the way.
The nrst thing ] did before turning In
was to put the money hack In the box.
When I'd done that felt the t,rst Of
kind Of comfort I'd never experienced
before. ] didn't go to sleep. wanting
TO be awake II any one called. In the
middle Of the night my two men. Pete
Barnickel and Colorado Bill. did call.
I showered bullets everywhere about
them except Just where they were. and
II