Durant weekly news. (Durant, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 190?-1944, 1920-11-19
THE FIRST WEDDING IN STRAY HORSE
Written for the Durant Weekly News
BY Frank Clark

and, ! believe, some other articles
which he doubtless regarded as wear.
inr apparel. and didn't hay. a gun
anywli"ic IN sight. Thrr" was not
the least doubt as 30 hi being a ten
d'lTo"t and the boys would have FRO.
crrdcd with the customary initiation
ut one" had it not been for the wei.
come accorded him by Aunt Polly.
CncIe Joe and Miss Euphcmia; as to
IN" latter, it was plain from her de-
mcanor that ne wa> the lucky n!al.
i'l' had come to Stray II }r,r to claim
M own. She was evidently EXPECT
'ng nm as she was watching for The
stage when it arrived tha, night and
tl.r way she threw hc,s"lf into his
AIMS and permitted that degenerate
specimen uf the genus homo to ki.s
hcr was simply di-gu.;mg ii drove
me greater part of the population uf
stay Horse 90 hard drinking arain
md ,tigh-Card Thnmr on kent his
.'lat" "f business ui"n all night Iur
h" first time in over three weeks.
iiut Hnat could We do? We couldn't
hur, Aunt P0lly's and Uncle .Ioc's
feelings by killing ,h" banned coyote.
~ the occasion seemed to demand
ANA - We would have done under or
dinary circumstances: nor could we
stand paSsi"cly By ana pormi. Euphc-
MIA 10 throw herself ;.Way ~ Il :ih
h"n-coGGtcr clerk who probably didn't
Nn"" tn" difference hrtWrrii :. .hicr-
ip. and Il six- shooter.
tit"r many consultation, a4I he
t"'i>lmp;jon of a large amouni of
tarantula- juice III High Cards back
.'oom we a! length evolved a plan that
seemed to promise success without
harming the crittrr \ bunch of road
accents. the Bioch Gang. had been
naking thcmSclvc. rather c.nspiruoue
for several months past in the vcin-
ity nf Stray Horse. rh"y mad held
up ii" 'hac'a :tagr thrtr ur futr
time, and only a week or 50 before
,1'E had ridden mo Cnacra i,~e.f
"Iv ni"h' and stood up the leading
t;!Whiing house thcir hr idas luoting
The bank. The operations of tha, gang
::ric ihr inspiration of the Great
Idea which we had fo, getting rid
"f that EoatUE duh" withou' hurting
anyone feelings.
Il wa, agreed hai rn o. .wtlvp
Of the boy' shnuld di..gl G. themselves
a. member, of the Brr,k ,rang and
RAID the town som" night with the
apparent purpose Of going through
he bank. "" calculated that the
ravi:rt would bring Percival out OF the
house. when he was to he seized and
carried off to the hills as a prisoner.
After we had properly impressed him
with our fOndness for human gore
II was our intention 10 ship the ami
mai back to Boston after extracting
his solemn promise to stay there and
hold no communication with Stray
!lorsc as he valued his life.
The scheme certainly looked all
right and we were fOolishly eXultant.
We industriOusly spread rumor to
the effect that the Brock gang were
contemplating raid on Stray Horse
and had threatened to kill every man
in the place and burn the town When
Percy was around We always found
it convenient to converse concerning.
the exploits of the gang and the var
ious methods they employed in dealing
out death to their victims. Percy
was rapidly approaching that frame
of mind which was most to be desired
for the complete success of our plans
when an incident occurred which
caused us to resolve on immediate
action. A parson had in some way
heard of the moral awakening in
Stray Horse and had forthw \ come
to assist in the uplift, and if Ossible
organize church among us. He found
US rather cold on the church propo-
sition, but, although he did not know
it, we were decidedly interested in him
from another standpoint.
We had observed that his arrival
had produced alarming symptoms in
Percy and Euphemia. and We realized
that something must be- done at once
if we would prevent the impending
catastrophe.
The second night Of the parsons
stay in Stray House was determined
upon for the execution of our designs
About a dozen of the boys were de-
tailed to do the desperate act. while
the rest of us hung about to see the
climax and. if necessary, lend an!
{ help that might be needed The thinf
seemed ridiculously easy. The tradi
tional taking candy from a baby,
seemed quite an arduous task in com
parison. However. to err is human
and we certainly made a big mistake
in our calculations.
The "Raid" was to take place ahon
midnight. and it occurred right Ol
schedule time. in fact a few minute
sooner than we who had remained il
town had expected it. Some Of tn