Evening star., 1916-11-26

-A border there are good many days
that seem to drag. Old-timers of this
cactus-studded country who will sit whole
afternoons in tent, drinking two per
cent. and spinning stories of a lurid West
ern past, furnish welcomed diversion,
unless they take advantage of Eastern
credulity-mistaking it for greenness in
stead of boredom-and impose upon it to
objectionable and implausibe extents.
These latter eventually become branded
as fakes
Uncle Jack Willer was not of these blum
derers. Daily his fame as an entertainer
spread through the camps, and there was
never a sign of hesitation in the steady
supply of liquid with which he fabricated
his stories. Consequently, when | saw
him enter the fourth section tent after a
creditable Sunday dinner of beef, beans,
rice, and prunes, hastened over to Sc
cure seat before the rush started.
This, as near as can write it, is what
heard when Uncle Jack unlimbered
SPEAKING of this Villa now, there are
bandits and bandits, the same as there
are lawyers and horse-thieves; and some
are mighty different from others, and
some are a good deal alike. I've seen
plenty in my day, and assisted at few
funerals and preliminaries to funerals and
know from experience that the varieties
are as numerous as you'll find in any pro-
fession. And once, about twenty years
ago, l had distressing experience with
a female bandit, while was running the
saloon at Burro Flats.
no n ;vfv p,;la ctora r;da fro,,, tho
Santa Fe to the Latuna Mines in the
Black Range, and Burro Flats is half
way station for rest and refreshment. Its
location is the small circle of green land
irrigated by the final expiring effort of
Burro Creek.
The population of Burro Flats, when
Ed Tobeye was there, numbered ninety
six, of which ninety was Mex and six was
white, counting Ed Tobey. The rest
were Tom Pratt, the sheriff; Doc Lawry,
who ran the hotel and store, Pete Peters
and Waco Nelson, joint owners of the
Bar B horse ranch, and me, running the
saloon. There not being any competition
in the hotel and saloon business, the Doc
and l never troubled to designate our
places by fancy names, such as are neces-
sary in towns that hold more than one
each of said emporiums.
Ed Tobey drove the stage from the
railroad to the mines, and it was Ed who
first met up with this here female bandit
I'm telling you about. Ed never was very
effusive in his account of exactly what
happened, about all the information he'd
give being contained in his official report
that he'd been held up by white woman
two miles below the Pass and relieved of
the months payroll he happened to be
carrying up to the Latuna Mines at the
time
1t wasn't anything very unusual to
have the Latuna stage held up in those
days, but the nature of the present ban
dit and Eds desire to forget all the un-
pleasant details of the robbery, gave this
case certain peculiar interest. OF course
we understood Eds natural embarrass-
ment over the affair, and he had our secret
sympathy; but we couldn't help joking
him a bit, and those white men at Burro
Flats were about the worst joshers I've
met up with anywhere at any time. Eds
being so sensitive about women, he being
afraid of 'em from never having had any