The Meeker herald. [volume] (Meeker, Colo.) 1885-current, 1915-01-02
THE RUsTlER's
CONVERSION
Kindness Subdues a One Time
Border Ruffian.

had been infested by the worst els-
nent Of society.
put up one night at the house Of
John Murphy. q sheep raiser. His
ranch house was not large. but COM
Portable. and itx decorations showed
evidence of refinement. His wife was
. woman who impressed me I'm 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
stnted the opinion that men were
what women made them. Then he
told me 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 IN
eastern city. and my education was
derived from the dime novel. was
q waif, with no father or mother to
lnstill into me the fact that however
brave the road agents and Others Of
whom I read they were acting on
wrong principle. As 1t was. ad-
mired them. and almost before l he
came q man l scraped mp 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 a life
that would give anything have to
forget. 1 have to be thankful for only
one thing. During that frightful pc
riod I never took life. didn't ac-
cumulnte any money. and II ! had l
should later on have got rid of 1t.
zone evening stopped at house
and knocked at the door. intended
to ask for some supper. expecting once
inside to get my bearings for valua-
bles and take them away with me.
had started In with the intention Of
combining my operations to stage
coaches. army paymasters and the
like. but man Is always going either
uphill or downhill. and as was neces-
sarily going down ! wasn't above TAX
ing anything could get my hands on.
even from woman.
"a woman cnme to the door. She
was young and fairly good looking. To
my request for some supper she gave
| q smiling assent. asking me to come
In and make myself comfortable. She
went into the kitchen. and l looked
about me. There was chimney In
the room where was with no fire.
Knew q chimney was favorite place
10 hide money. and. going to the tire-
l Nd knA a
projecting brick saw a small hox.
which l appropriated and. lifting the
cover. saw a lot of bills and loose
change. 1 slipped 1t all in my pocket
and put the box back in the chimney.
"By and by the young woman came
in and set good supper on the table.
ate my all and when had finished
took out one of the coins had taken
from the box and handed it to her.
".No.' she said: there's nothing to
pay. You're quite welcome to your
supper. l hope 1t has done you good.
| You looked tired and hungry when you
came in. and felt sorry for you. 80
I have given you the hest In the house.
THAT was the first lesson In kindli-
ness I ever received. At any rate. It
was the first that ever took hold Of
mo. 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 It. my
despicable meanness seemed to shrfvel
me all up. I couldn't look her In the
face.
".You don't need to go on she said
We have a spare bed upstairs
IT 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 l will. Itll he
great accommodation to me-
emo more than to me. My brother
and his wife have gone away for
few days and left me alone with the
children. They say that Murphy's
gang In operating in the peighborhood.
and wouldn't mind having man 10
the house.
"'In that crsc.' said. I think I'll
sleep on that lounge. md I'll guarantee
that no man gets upstairs unless he
goes over my dead body
II knew two Of my men would he
along there that. night. and ! reckoned
they'd take in anything by the way.
The flrst thing l did before turning in
was to put the money back in the box.
When I'D done that felt the FIRST Of u
kind Of comfort I'd never experienced
before. l didn't go to sleep. wanting
to be swake n 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
they concluded there must be whole
vigilance committee inside. When they
had gone I heard q soft voice call down
a 49, Al