The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1920-03-25

ed," came his simple statement, and
| couldn't help laughing at the lugu-
| briousness of his expression.
My goodness, neither would you
like It if you had some one shouting
| in your ear. Now, don't poke your
finger in her eye! Don't you know
how to act around a baby?"
"Never got close enough beforeito
take any lessons" he confessed
How do you lift her up, anyhow?''
And thus began a new lesson for
my scout. He could ride anything
made of horse-aesh, he could tear a
! hole in a dollar tipped into the all
and then hit it again with rifle-bul-
| let before it touched the ground; was
at home in the midst of danger, and
there never had been an Indian who
could best him in a fight, but when
it came to babies was the master.
He was a willing student, but it
was a hard lesson. More than once
he turned to me in utter discourage
ment.
"CricketsH" he would say, "but
they're sure bundly, aren't they? I'm
always afraid of squashing her"
You ought to be, the way you're
carrying her." I'd reply-when l
wasn't laughing at his great-hearted,
clumsy efforts to amuse the tiny lit
tie thing; ''if you're so tired why
don't yon give her to me?'
"Uh-huh. No: I'm all right. We're
getting along fine.''
Some time later they journeyed
farther into the west. Bill, in part
nership with another man, had found
ed a town, another Rome, in Kansas,
and he was to be millionaire. They
moved in the prairie-schooners
strung, snake-like, in long, crooked
line across the plain, with outriders
properly posted and the wagons
grouped so as to afford immediate de-
fense against attack. But only the
shack which sheltered the saloon re-
NAMED of the town when they arrived
on the scene. The rest of it had fol-
lowed the railroad. Her husband
summoned to nearby fort, Mrs.
Cody had to spend the night in
frontier saloon alone with her baby.
Below were bull-Whackers and gamb-
lers, unaware of the presence of a
woman and baby in the house. A
shot sounded, and in her minds eyes
she saw the revolver-smoke, blood,
and crumpled figure outside her
door. Absolute stiffness ensued. But
the baby screamed, and presently
there came knock. In her words:
Il did not answer. Again it came
and again. I struggled to reply, but,
for a moment, the words simply
would not come. At last l managed
to get out:
Who's there?'
It's only u.s. some one called, in
a voice that was trying terribly hard
to be pleasant; we didn't know any
body was in there. Where's Cody?'
He's gone to the fort said it
before I thought.
"But the answer reassured me.
We're plumb sorry we made the
baby cry. One of US got to scufling
around and his shootin' iron went off.
Amt nobody hurt. We're awful
sorry we disturbed you
''The news that the killing 1 had
imagined had not happened after all
frightened my slife considerably. And
I knew from the tone outside the
door that the barroom tough and
rough meant that he was standing in
humble penitence.
That's all right 1 answered.
The baby's stopped crying now
There was another moment of ap-
parent consultation. Then the knock
came again.
"'Mrs. Cody!'
Yes
"'You dressed?'
Yes
DO you reckon you could stand it
to let us in. We'd powerful like to
see that baby of Bilps.'
''Somewhat fearfully I rose and
paved about at the side of the old
kerosene-lamp, at last to find an old
'eight-day' match and light it. Then
i opened the door.
"About ten men stood there, dirty,
unkempt, bearded, their hats in their
hands. They looked at me with a
sort of bobbing bow as I faced them;
then timorously, and even more fear
fully than I had walked, they stepped