The Washington herald., 1921-03-13
An 9. Henry Story
THE LONESOME ROAD

RoWN as q coffee berry, rugged.
X pistoled. spurred, wray, In
defeasible, I saw my old frienti,
Deputy Marshal Buck Caperton,
stumble. with jinsling rowels. into
chair in the marshars outer office.
And because the courthouse was
almost deserted at that hour, and
because Buck would. sometimes re-
late to me things that were out Of
print. followed him In and tricked
him into talk through knowledge of
4 weakness he had. For, cigarettes
rolled with sweet corn husk were
as honey to Bucks palate; and
though he could finger the trigger
OF forty-five with skill and sud
denness. he never could learn to roll
a cigarette.
1t was through no fault of mine
(for I rolled the cigarettes tight
and smoothl but the upshot of some
whim of his own. that instead of
to an Odyssey Of the chaparral. 1
listened to-a dissertation. Upon
matrimony! This from Buck Caper.
ton! But maintain that the
cigarettes were impeccabie, and
crave absolution for myself.
I'VE Just brought in Jim and Bud
Cranberry" said Buck. Train rob-
bfng. you know. Held up the
Aransas Pass last month. We
caught 'em In the Twenty-Mile pear
nat. south Of Nueces."
Have much trouble corrailipg
them?" I asked. for here was the
meat that my hunger for epics
crayed.
some" said Buck: and then, dur
Ing q little pause, his thoughts
sta1npeded of the trail. It's kind
Of queer about women" he went on,
and the place they're supposed to
eScupy in botany. II I was asked
to classify them I'd say they was
q human loco weed. Ever see a
bronc that had been chewing loco?
Ride him up to q puddle of water
two feet wide. and he'll give a snort
and fall back on you. 1t looks as
big as the Mississippi River to him.
Next trip he'd walk into a canon a
thousand feet deep thinking 1t was
q prairie-dog hole. Same way with
a married man.
Il was thinking of Perry Roun-
tree. that used to be my sidekicker
before he committed matrimony. In
/
disturbances Of any kind. We roam
ed around considerable, stirring up
the echoes and making 'em attend
to business. Why. when me and
Perry wanted to have some fun in
town it was a picnic for the GEN.
sus takers. They just counted the
marshals posse that 1t took to sub
due us, and there was your popu-
lation. But then there came along
this Mariana Goodnight girl and
looked at Perry sideways, and he
| was all bridle-wise and saddle
broke before you could skin a year
ling.
II wasn't even asked to the we'd
ding. i reckon the bride had my
pedigree and the front elevation of
my habits all mapped out, and she
decided that Perry would trot bet
ter in double harness without any
unconverted mustang like Buck
Caperton whickering around on the
matrimonial range. So II was six
months before ! saw Perry again.
"One day / was passing on the
edge Of town, and I see something
like a man in a little yard by q
little house with a sprinkling-p pot,
| squirting water on a rose bush.
Seemed to me I'd seen something
like 1t before. and / stopped at the
gate. trying to figure out its brands.
Twas not Perry Rountree, but twas
the kind Of a curdled jellynsh mat
rimony had made out Of him.
Homicide was what that Mariana
had perpetrated. He was looking
we'll enough, but he had on a white
collar and shoes. and you could tell
T. kaN -
and pay taxes and stick his little
finger out while drinking, just like
a sheepman or citizen. Great
skyrockets! but hated to see Perry
all corrupted and willie-ized like
that.
He came out to the gate. and
shook hands; and I says. with scorn,
and speaking like a paroquet with
the pip: Beg pardon-Mr. Rountree,
believe. Seems to me l sagatiated
In your associations once, il l am
not mistaken
oh, go to the devil. Buck says
Perry, polite, as I was afraid he'd
be.
We'll, then says l. you poor,
contaminated adjunct of a sprink-
ling-pot and degraded household pet.
what did you go and do IL for?
Look at you, all decent and un-
riotous, and onIy a: to sit on juries
and mend the wood-house door. You
was a man once / have hostility
for all such acts. Why don't you
go in the house ami count the til
dies or set the clock. and rot stand
out here in the atmosphere? A
jack-rabbit might come along and
bite you
Now. Buck says Perry. speak
Ing mild, and some sorrowfuI, you
don't understand. A married man
aes got to he different. He feels
different from a tough Did cloud
burst like you. It's sinful 20 waste
time pulling up towns just to look
at their roots. and playing faro
and looking upon red liquor, and
such restless policies as them
There was q time, I says. and
expect i sighed when i mentioned
1t. when certain domesticated lit
tie Mary's lamb / could name was
some instructed himself in the line
OF perniciousness sprightliness. l
never expected, Perry, to Sc you re-
duced down from a full-grown pes
thence to such a f-ivolous fraction
of man. why says /. you've got
a necktie on; and you speak a sense
less kind of indoor drivel that re-
minds me of storekeeper or a lady.
| You look to me like you might
tote an umbrella and wear sus-
peaders, and go home OF nights
The little woman says Perry,
has made some improvements. be-
lieve. You can't understand, Buck.
l haven't been away from the house
at night since we was married.