Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1921-11-18

mon hurried to the Preside n for a
moment there was a great spluttering
over the wash basins. Before they
ate. every man except Abe and Sam
son 'took a pull at the jug-long or
short"-to quote a phrase OF the time.
It was a cheerful company that sat
down upon the grass around the table
with loaded plates. Their food had
its extra seasoning of merry jests and
loud laughter. Sarah was a little
shocked at the fortnight d~ireetness
of their eating, no knives or forks or
naDkins being needed in that process.
Having eaten, washed and packed
away their dishes the women went
home at two. Before they had gone
Samson's ears caught a thunder OF
horses feet in the distance. Looking
In its direction he saw a cloud or dust
In the road and a band of horsemen
riding toward them at full speed. Abe
came to him and said:
81 see the boys from Clary's Grove
are coming. II they get mean, let me
deal with 'em. It's my responsibility
l wouldn't wonder ii they had some
OF Oftut's whisky with them"
r. boys arrived in a cloud of
dust a chorus of Indian whOOps
and L ounted and hobbled their
horses. v came toward the work
ers, led i. urly Jack Armstrong, a
stalwart, Ia i-faced blacksmith Of
about twenty wo with broad, heavy
shoulders, whos anne has gone into
history. They hat. en- drinking some
but no one of thel as in the least
degree off his balan, They scuffied
around the jug for a nent in per-
feet good nature and Abe and
Mrs. Waddell provided til, with the
best remnants of the dinner. They
were rather noisy. Soon they vent
up on the roof to help with the rafters
and the ~clapboarding. They worked
well a few minutes and suddenly they
came s%crambling down for another
pull at the jug. They were out for a
spree and Abe knew it and knew furth-
er that they had reached the limit
of discretion.
"Boys, there are ladies here and
we've got to be careful" he said.
Lies stick to the job till four O'Clock.
Then we'll knock off for refresh
ments."
The young jewellers gathered in a
group and began to whisper together.
Samson writes that it became evident
then they were going to make trouble
and says:
eve had left the children at Rut-
ledge's in the care of Ann. I went to
Sarah and told her she had better go
ON and see If they were all right.
"Don't you get in any fight she
said, which shows that the women
knew what was in the air.
Sarah led the way and the others
followed her"
Those big, brawny fellows from the
Grove when they got merry were look
ing always for a chance to get mad
at some man and turn him into a
plaything. A chance had come to get
mad and they were going to make the
most of it. They began to grOwl with
resentment. Some were wigging their
leader, Jack Armstrong, to fight Abe.
One of them ran to his horse and
brought a bottle from his saddle bag.
1t began passing from mouth to mouth.
Jack Armstrong got the bottle before
it was half emptied, drained it and
flung it high in the air. Another
called him a hog and grappled him
around the waist and there was a des-
| perate struggle which ended quickly.
| Armstrong got a hold on the neck Of
let go. This was not enough for the
| sturdy bully of Clary's Grove. He
| seized his follower and flung him so
roughly on the ground that the latter
lay for a moment stunned. Armstrong
had got his blood warm and was now
ready for action. With a wild whoop
he threw off his coat, unbuttoned his
| right shirtsleeve and rolled it to the
| shoulder and declared In a loud voice,
as he swung his arm in the air, that
he could "out jump, out hop, out run,
throw down, drag out an lick any man
in New Salem" E
In a letter to his father Samson
writes:
ABE was working at my elbow. /
saw him drop his hammer and get up
and make for the ladder. 1 knew
something was going to happen and
l followed him. In a minute everyone
was off the roof and out of the build
hing. l guess they Knew what was
coming. The big lad stood there
swinging his arm and yelling like an
Injun. 1t was a big arm and muscled
and corded up some, but l guess if I'd
showed the calico off mine and held it
up he'd a pulled down his sleeve. l
didn't know just how good a man
Abe was and l was kind O. scairt for
a minute. l eve found it so hard
work to do nothin' as 1 did then. Hon
est, my hands kind O. ached. 1 wanted