The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1936-01-10
BY CHARLES w. HUTTON

northern Montana, there lived an ell
derby person by the name of Nose
Goldstein of whom it had often been
said by his townspeople that he was
worthy of veneration only by reason OF
his advanced age. his gray hair. and
But it can be said of Nose that, in
spite of his age and these personal as
poets, he claimed for himself no ador-
ing respect whatsoever.
He reminded one of Bible pictures
n may have seen Of any patriarch
who existed in the antediluvian period
OF S~criptural history. Moreover, Nose
wa named $50 he claimed) for the
prophet and lawgiver. but he never
fact, for he had no vehement desire
for glory. or anything else that did not
lend or tend to immediate gain. So,
the time for which he lasted as a resi-
dent in this small river town. Nose
functioned as a dealer in peltS and
furs. and his dealings with trappers
who sold to him their seasons catch.
proved him a person of sophisticated
shrewdness.
His business prospered. So much it
"a yielding him Of gains that he felt
the urgent want of assistance. So in
letters to his nephew in ST Louis, he
begged the young man to come out
and buy furS for him from trapperS
and Indians of the outlying frontier.
Then. too" said Nose to himself as
he posted the letter. there is young
Rachel Smythestein, and she her faith
ers only child; Maybe she and my
body there was with him the readiness
for action in any scheme, be it an idle.
or a remunerative one. and in the
event of a love affair between these
two young people, he hoped to gain
many an undeserved favor from the
big shipping merchant, should they be-
come united.
Arrived by Boat
He came-that. the nephew-and the
to~wnspeople's curiosity was nightly eX-
cited at seeing a young man with a
c~ountenance so handsome, a smile so
engaging. and who. with undisguised
plainness of speech. announced him.
self the nephew of Nose Goldstein.
The broken tones of a steam whistle,
and the chugging of the side wheels
Of an upstream river boat heralded
to the habitually inquisitive (Which in
Guided every denizen of the town eX-
who had that morning BEEN beaten
soundly by her husband) that a steam
boat. after having assembled over 1000
miles up a tortuouS stream, buffeted an
ever swift-rolling current. ~overtopped
here and there the formidable rapids,
and veered aside of many an opposing
sand bar, was now within hailing dis
lance to the frontier river landing, at
which place it was to be relieved of its
freight and passengers. There was a
rush of people from streets, from doors
Of dwellings, stores. bachelors cabins.
saloons, dance halls and gambling denS
to the rivers pier below where people
In various conditions of life were min
Cling in confusion, and stirring about
like pieces of floating wreckage driven
together by breeze or current.
There were bullwhackers and mule
SINNERS who were to receive the boats
teams to the various inland towns;
there were merchants and traders,
confidence men, Indians and soldiers
bankers and squaw men, gamblers and
children and dogs.
There were women who we're respect
ed and protected by the rigid customs
Of the country, and women, who, by
reason of their unhappy lot, were de-
MED the decorum of behavior enjoyed
by their more fortunate sisters.
And now the crowd cheered; women
waved their handkerchiefs; strangers
greeted strangers; children leaped high
and free from the plank floor; dogs
fought, floundered about and rolled
into the river and many other dogs
that were bystanders were kicked in
after them.
The Rachel S
What force or power moved these
people to demonstrate SO freely the
exhilaration of their spirits? It was
the month of May and the river was in
its first annual flood, and the steamer
now lying close to the wharf was the
Rachel S-a boat recently constructed
and owned by the shipping merchant,
Mr.. Smythestein, who named it after
his daughter.
So the townspeople were now collect
ed and pressed together upon the
landing, joyfully anticipating the pleas
ure Of meeting with new faces-strang-
treated by local residents to become
their guests. to be entertained with
old-fashioned, western liberality, and
that without reward.
Male way for the boats passen-
gers!" shouted one of the crew. A lane
was cleared and Immediately men,
women and children were escorted to
the wharf. where they at once min
g9ed with the crowd.
A gambler-a person of the hang
dog sort, and bearing the countenance
of a hypocrite, while moving furtively
about, jostled a young man, n of the
boats passengers, as if by accident. He
offered a few words in the guise of an
apology, and then drifted covertly into
language far from the character Of ex-
cuSeS.
The young man shaking his head
In answer to the barely-audible utter
ances of the stranger, replied: II never
gamble; neither do I ever indulge my
self with the drinking Of spurious liq-
uOrS."
The words which so briefly indicated
the young mans decision were over
heard by a sprightly young blonde girl
@ about 10 years.
Two other men from out of the crowd
moved forward into the open space and,
after having rudely crowded against
the young man, they, likewise, prof
fered excuses with excessive lberality.
With the intelligence Of a ready wit
ted child, the blonde girl could foresee
that the young stranger was being
drawn into complications with three Of
the most hatefully contemplate char