The Sunday telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1914-1927, 1916-11-19

licked an rested, Joe Bassett soin' his
duty an doin' OF 1t, like he al'ays does.
If he amt too drunk. He tetches yo'
all to cot an treats 20 merciful.
1Iebbe didn't ought TO- to been 81
easy 8 was. but done give 20 all
q chanst 70 to set In at a game into
which 70 mought ha' blowed yo' wad
easy an hon'abIe, instead o. havin' it
took ofTen yo' TO disorderly conduck.
"NIebbe done wrong in that, but
/ done it TO the good o. the c'munity.
II I'd fined 80 the money'd had to
went into the town treasury and Ill
wouldn't DID nobody no good But
II yo'd aslose it in the game it'd bin
benefit to them that win it, anyway.
But no.
.Yo' all starts i'll 70 to interjuce|
skullduggery into friendly game,
stackin' the guards like the viper what
the Good Book says was nourished into
Abraham's buzzurn. An even then
the boys was 'ndulgent.
They seen what 30 was dom an
mought a shot yo daid thouten they
bein 'nothin thought OF it, but once
again 20 wad was yo' best friend
They done postponed xtreme measures
till a ter the game, not sayin' nothin-'
Then when Jim BlaisdelI makes a
tridn. mistake on his deal. givin' out a
cyard f'om the bottom o. the deck, alb
sent-minded like, yo' all pulls a gun
IN plain sight o the house rule ag'in
shootin' on the premises, what's wrote
up on the wall to p'yent party diddin's.
but that amt all" he continued
stern1y, as the strange started to re-
ply to the Indictment A'Nigh bout the
Wust thing 20 done was to lie bout
yo' pa. Yo' done said he was dyin'
-
never set in at game with strangers
no mo- An he's the man what yo'
all now OPPOSES TO to fetch in 70 to-
play with yo' in a gemmen's game"
Il reckoned he was dyin', albright"
said the stranger sullenly. They was
a zap shot him into a game an he
laid senseleless while was talkin TO
him, but he come to later on. Pears
the bullet glanced often his haid.
Caslled In $4,000 Before.
Pity it hadn't a went through" said
the old man with total lack or sympa-
thy, but that amt got nothin to dol
into the game. Pears like thatll de-
pend c'nsid'a able on how much af a Watl
he totes"
Him an me cashed in over $4,000
IN the last game we played" said the
stranger, ian we don't split even after
the game like we always does"
Well said the old man, his
eyes cleaning, while he tried
to assume q doubtful air, under
them circumstances mebby it'll be
wuth while TO- to stretch pint i don't |
never low nobody to play in my house |
3thouten I'm satisfied that he's mani
O. good character, not as a gen'I rule
don't butif he got $1,000 I'm willin,
to give him the benefitof doubt.
Fhey's one thing I call to yo' ten
ton, though, he continued q al'ays
keeps a bnngstarter handy, case OF any
skultduggery bein' did, an they can'tl
be none interjuced in this yer game If
51 gives my c'nsent to lit bein' played" u
That's done been greed to a ready
said the stranger with an air OF resi-
Lief.
I 1t seemed plain that he was contentE
with momentarily avoiding a threat
fened difficulty regardless Of what
might impend in the future, and he
called for round of drinks as Joyous
sly as. if he had nothing on his mind.
Bassetts Aim Very Poor.
It was clear enough to all present
that friction might ensue after the ar
rival OF the strangers pa, but the pre-
dominant spirit that animated them
at the moment was on the carpe diem
4
time till the strangers pa appeared
The strain on Mr.. Bassett had re-
suited in sort OF collapse before
that. For some days he had been striY-
Ing c1entfously to cast off q bur-
den OF gloom that oppressed him by.
reason OF the stagnated conditions Of
life in Arkansas City which always OBJ
tanned in the absence Of strangers as
a climax Of his effort just before this
particular strange came he had shot
at the pipe Mr.. Winterbottom was
smoking, missed his aim and grazed
old man Greenlaw's ear, thereby in
curing the contempt and anger OF
his friends, and had gone out with the
purpose of killing some other&pe
led up to his bringing the stranger
into the saloon has been told In an
other story.
With the aid Of a few drinks he had
rallied from the exhaustion thus
brought about and had #participate ted in
the festivities until even his great
powcrs Of endurance were oYertaxed,
and he was Sitting In a chair, coma
l8tose when the strangers pa came I'M
The closest observer would have been
unable to see any sign Of regret on
the part Of either the strangerEor his
pa when they saw this. It might have
been thought, indeed, that they were
rather pleased than otherwise by. it,
Mr.. Bassett's ability as a fighting man
was known throughout the Niissippil
valley.
Strangers Seem Satisfied.
However that may have been, it was
Iscertain that the stranger expressed no
abstraction when the game was
made up ve-handed! HIS pa was al
twizenedS little chap, though very spry
lin his movements, and had little to-
say He set EN- up on entering, asI
etfquet required, and joined the pro-
Iscessfon to the back room as if una
fraid, and shortly the game was on. s