Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1922-12-15

cowboys IN just Ohe hiSH'
"I1l shore have to tell you. Me an
Tim was watchin' a game of cards In
the Del Sol saloon in Casita. That's
across the line. We had acquaint-
ances-four fellows from the Cross
par outft. where we worked a while
hack. This Del Sol Is a billiard hall,
saloon. restaurant. an the like. An
II was full of Greasers. Some OF
Campo's rebels were there drinkin' an
nlavin' games. Then pretty soon in
come Rojas with some of his OUTFIT.
They were packin' guns an kept to
themselves off to one side.
"a little while afterward l seen a
follow standin' in the restaurant
door. He was a young American
dressed in %corduroys an boots, k a
nrospector. He looked round the sa-
loon an when he spotted Rojas. ne
sorta ierked up. Then he pulled his
sIouch hat lopsided an began to stag
ger down. down the steps. First OF !
made shore he was drunk. But l re-
membered he didn't seem drunk be-
fore. 1t was some queer. SO l
watched that young man.
"He reeled around the room like a
fellow who was drunkern a Iord.
Nobody but me seemed to notice him.
Then he began to stumble over pool
nlavers an get his feet tangled up in
chairs an bump against tables. lie
got some pretty hard looks. He came
round our way, an all of a sudden he
seen us cowboys. He gave another
start. like the one when he first seen
ROias. then he made for US. l tipped
Tim off that somethin' was dom.
Then this queer young man shot some
cool. polite words at me an Jim.
"He was only blufin' at bein' drunk
he meant to rush Roias, to start a
rough house. The bandit was after a
girl. This girl was in the hotel. a
she was the sweetheart of a soldier,
the young fellows friend. The hotel
was watched by Rojas' guards, an the
plan was to make a fuss an get the
girl away In the excitement. Well,
Tim an me got a hint of our bein'
Americans-that cowboys generally
had a name for loyalty to m
Then this amazin' chap-you can't
imagine how scornful-said for me
an Jim to watch him.
"Before l could catch my breath an
figger out what he meant by rush an
rough house he had knocked over a
table an crowded some Greaser half
off the map. Then, quicker'n l can
tell you the young man dove at Ro-
las. Like a mad steer on the ram
page he charged Rojas an his men.
The whole outfit went down-smash
I iggered then what rush meant.
The young fellow came up gu Of the
pile with Rojas, an Just like I'd sling
an empty sack along the floor he sent
the bandit. But swift as that went
he was on top of Rojas before the
chairs an tables had stopped rollln'.
II woke up then, an made for the
center Of the room, Jim with me. /
began to shoot out the lamps. Jim
thrOwed his guns or the crazy rebels.
an l was afraid there'd be blood
spilled before 1 could get the o
dark. Bein' shore busy, / lost sight
of the young fellow for a second or
an when 1 got an eye free for him
l seer a Greaser about to knife him.
Think 1 was c~onsiderate of the
Greaser by only shootin' his arm off.
Then l cracked the last lamp, an in
the ~hullabaloo me an Jim vamoosed. |
1--WE made tracks for our bosses an
packs, an was hittin' the San Felipe
road when we run right plumb into
the young man. Well, he said his
name was Gale-Dick Gale. The girl
was with him safe an well but her
sweetheart, the soldier, bein' away
without leave, had to go back sudden.
There shore was some trouble, for
Jim an me heard shootin'. Gale
said he had no money, no friends, was
a stranger in a desert country; an
he was distracted to know how to
help the girl. So me an Jim started
off with them for San Felipe, got
switched. an then We headed for the
Rio Forlorn."
'Oh, l think he was perfectly splen-
did - excls lined the girl. But, Laddy,
you haven't told me what he looks
like
At this juncture Dick Gale felt it
absolutely impossible to play the
eavesdropper any longer. Quietly he
rolled out of bed. Belongs kindly
interest, Laddy's blunt and sincere
cowboy eulogy, the girls sweet eager
ness and praise-these warmed Gales
heart. He had fallen among simple
people, into whose lives the advent
of an unknown man was welcome.
He was wild to be one of Belding's
rangers. The idea of riding a horse
In the open desert, with a dangerous
duty to perform, seemed to strike him
with an appealing force. Something
within him went out to the cowboys.
to this blunt and kind Bedding. lie
was afraid to meet the girl. If every
man who came along fell in love with