The Coolidge examiner., 1931-09-18

where HIS Uedu Udu DePD, anu JupF6
appeared in the white surface OF
the tent a tiny circle of blue that
was the Oklahoma sky. But before
that dot of blue appeared Yancey
Cravat had raised himself halfway
from the hips, had fired from the
waist without, seemingly, pausine
TO take aim. His thumb ficked the
hammer. That was all. The crack
Of his SiX-Shooter was, in fact, sc
close on the heels of that first re
port that the two seemed almost
simultaneous. The congregation
was now on Its feet, en- masse, its
back 70 the roulette table pulpit
Its eyes were on one figure; its
breath was suspended. That figure
"a man-waS seen to perform
some curious antics. He looked
first of all, surprised With his
left hand he had gripped one Of the
taut tent ropes. and now, with his
hand still grasping the hempen
line, his fingers slipping gently
along it, as though loath 70 let go
he sank to the floor, sat there a
moment, as if in meditation, lOOsed
his hands hold of the rope, turned
slightly, rolled over on one side and
lay there. quite still.
Lion Yountis." finished Yancey,
neatly concluding his sentence and
now holding an ivOry-mounted six
shooter in right and left hand.
Screams Shouts. A stampede for
the door. Then the voice of Yam
cey Cravat Powerful. compelling,
above the roar He sent one shot
through the dome Of the tent to
command attention. "Stop! Stand
where you are. The first person
who stampedes this crowd gets a
bullet. Shut that tent flap, Jesse,
like ! told you to this morning.
Louis Hefner, remove the body and
do your duty"
"Okeh, Yancey. It's self-defense
and justifiable homicide"
81 know 1t. Louie Fellow
citizens! We will forego the ser
mon this morning, but next Sab
bath. if requested. shall be glad
to take the pulpit again, unless a
suitable and ordained minister of
God can be procured The subject
of my sermon for next Sabbath will
be from Proverbs XXVI. 27: who
so diggeth n pit shall fall therein
This church meeting, brethren
and sisters. will now be concluded
with prayer" There was a little
| thudding. scuffling sound as a
heavy burden was carried out
through the tent flap into the noon
i day sunshine. His six-shOOters still
in his hands. Yancey Cravat bowed
his magnificent buffalo head
but not too far-and sent the thrill
| ing tones of his beautiful voice out
into the agitated crowd before him
". bless this community. o
! Lord.
sMOurnfully, and in accordance
with the custom of the community
Yancey carved a notch in the hand
some ivory and silver-mounted butt
of his six x-shooter 1t was then for
!
widening with horror, noticed that
there were five earlier nOtches cut
in the butts of Yancey's two guns
| two on one, three on the other
! This latest addition brought the
number up to six.
"Oh, Yancey, you haven't killed
six men y
I've never killed a man. unless
knew he'd kill me if | didn't"
| There seemed nothing more that
she could say on this subject. But
still another question was cOnsum-
| ing ner.
That woman. That woman. |
saw you talking TO her, right on
the street, in broad daylight today.
right after the meeting. All thar
horrible shooting-all those people
around you-Cim screaming-anG
! then to find that woman smirkine
and talking. Bad enough if you'd
never seen her before. But she
stole your land from you in the
Run. You stood there, actually
talking to her. Chatting"
II know. She said she had made
up her mind that day of the Run
to get a piece of land, and farm it,
and raise cattle She wanted to
give up her way of living. She was
desperate"
what is she doing here, then" !"
Before the month was up she
saw she couldn't make it go. One
hundred and sixty acres. Then the
other women homesteaderS found
out about her. Ii was no use. She
sold out for five hundred dollars
added to it whatever money she
had saved, and went to Denver. Her
| business was overcrowded there.
She got a tip that the railroad was
coming through here. She's smart
girl. She got together her outfit.
and down she came"
You talk as though you admired
heri That-that-" Felice Ven
able's word came to her lips-"that
hussy!" ~
"Shes a smart girl. She's "a"
he hesitated, as though embarrassed
lin a way she's a-well, in a
way, she's a good girl"
Sabra's voice rose to the pitch
of hysteria.
Don't you quote your Bible al
me, Yancey Cravat! You with your
Lukes and your Johns and your
Magdalenes! I'm sick of them"
The first issue of the Oklahoma
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