The Coolidge examiner., 1931-08-28

toned, as one of her own children.
despite her southern training and
his black skin. He dried the
dishes, a towel tied round his
neck; he laid the table: he was
playmate and nurse-maid for Gin !:
he ran errands, a swift and splav-
footed Mercury; he was a born re-
porter, and, in the course of his
days Scurrying about the town on
this errand or that brought into
Sabra's kitchen more items of news
and gossip (Which were later trans
ferred to the newspaper office)
than whole staff of trained news
paper men could have done. He
was so little, so black. so 1.-the. so
harmless looking, that his pres
ence was. more often than not.
completely overlooked. The sa-
loon lOungers. cowboys, rangers.
and hOmesteaders in and about the
town alternately spoiled and
plagued him.
Sabra. ID time. taught him to
read, write. and figure. He was
quick to learn, industrious, lovable.
He thought ne actually belonged to
her. He cleared the unsightly
back yard of its litter of tin cans
and refuse. Together he and Sabra
even tried to plant a little garden
in this barren sanguine clay. More
than anything else, Sabra missed
the trees and flowers. In the whole
town of almost ten thousand inhab-
itantS there were two trees: stunt
ed jack oaks. Sometimes she
dreamed of lilies of the valley
the translucent, almost liquid green
of their stems and leaves. the per-
fumed purity of their white bells.
All this, however, came later
These first few days were filled to
Overflowing with the labor of max
ing the house habitable and the of,
flee and plant fit for Yancey's pro
fessional pursuits. Already his
talents as silver-tOngue were be-
ing sought in defense of murdererS.
horse thieves. land grabbers. and
mere civil offenders in all the sur
rounding towns and counties. Even
horse thief. that blackest OF
criminals in this country, was said
to have a bare chance for his life
if Yancey Cravat could be induced
TO plead for him-and provided al
ways, of course. that the posse had
not dealt with the offender first
Yancey, from the time he rose
in the morning until he went to
bed late at night. was always
little over-stimulated by the whis-
ky he drank. This. together with
natural fearlessnesS. an enor-
nous vitality. and a devouring in
tereSt in everybody and everything
in this fantastic Oklahoma cOun-
try, gained him friends and enc
mics in almost equal proportion.
In the ten days following their
arrival in Usage. his one interest
seemed to he the tracing of the
Pegler murder-for he scOffed at
the idea that his predecessors
death was due to any other cause.
Sabra argued with him, almost
Historically. but in vain. you
didn't do anything about helping
them catch the Kid. out there on
the prairie. when they were looking
for him. and you knew where he
was-or JUST abOut-and he had
killed a man. too, and robbed
bank. and ! don't know what all"
THAT was different The Kids
different" Yancey answered. un-
reasonably and infuriatingly.
Different! How different?
What's this Pegler to you'll They'll
kill you. too-theyn shoot you
dOwn-and then what shall do?-
Cim-Cim and l here. alone
IYancey, darling-I love you sO-if
anything should happen to you"
She waxed incoherent.
Listen. honey. Hush your cry
ing and listen Try to understand
The Kids a terror. He's bad one
But it isn't his fault. The govern
ment at Washington made him an
outlaw. The Kids father rode the
range before there were fences or
railroads in Kansas. and when this
part of the country was running
wild with longhorn cattle that had
descended straight from the ami
mails that the Spaniards had
brought over four centuries ago.
The settlers came with it. from
the Gulf coast. up across Texas.
through the Indian territory to the
end of steel at Abilene. Kan. The
Kid was brought up to all that.
FreighterS bull whackers. mule
skinners. hunters. and cowboys
that's all he knew Into Dodge
City. with perhaps nine months
pay jingling in his pocket. ri bet
neither the Kid nor his father be-
fore him ever saw a nickel or
dime. They wouldn't have both
cred with such chicken feed. Sill
yer dollars were the smallest coin
they knew. They worked for it.
too I've seen seventy-fve thousand
cattle at time waiting shipment
to the East. with lads like the Kid
in charge. The Kids grandfather
was buffalo hunter. The range
was the only life they wanted.
Along comes the government. What
happens? They take the range
away from the cattle men and cow
boys-the free range that never be-
longed to them really. but that
they had come to think of as theirs
through right of use. Squatters
come in. SoOners, too, and Nesters.
and then the whole rush of the
n.on;nn Tho rn nnn &c ont IN into