The Ely miner., 1942-12-24

| ters?" demanded the Judge.
Long Peters is one of the men
that got hurt. Both of them want a
doctor right away"
Doc Joe stood up.
"Get the men inside" he said.
"1'l go ahead and have a room
ready" He went into the hotel.
The Judge threw away his cigar
and reached to his pocket.
bad hurt?" he asked, and stood
up.
"Not Peters. The other man, An
dy jenkins is the other, I'm afraid
he's in pretty bad shape" His eyes
had followed the departing Doc Joe.
'He the doctor?"
The Judge nodded and went down
the steps to watch proceedings and
to direct. Already the stage doors
were open, folks were getting down.
He saw couple of females, didn't
pay them any attention. He watched
Long Peters descend under his own
power. Men standing close lifted
little Andy Jenkins out; at first
they and the Judge, too, thought
him dead already. He was carried
into the hotel, Long Peters following.
Men were asking rapid-fire ques-
tons: Just what had happened?
Where? When? The two women.
looking bit bewildered as so many
earnest-eager men milled about
them, clung to each other and looked
for escape. Upon Bert Nevers,
known to many here, fell the duty of
giving running account of the hold
up, and Aunt Jenifer and Ann broke
free.
One of the men, though still held
here to listen to Bert Nevers, fol-
lowed the two with their appraising
eyes.
Cole Cody, standing on the steps
leading to the raised platform be-
fore the hotel, looked down over the
throng a moment. He himself was
accosted and asked to tell about ev-
erything; curtly he jerked his head
toward Bert Nevers.
HE knows all about it; listen to
him." he said, and moved away.
Cody didn't look back to see Aunt
Jenifer and Ann Lee make their way
into the hotel lobby. Ann, looking
with quick interest in all directions,
saw his back; in the swing of his
stride and in the set of his shoulders
and even in the way he wore his
hat she read something of the mans
mood. He was still furious; he was
impatient to be done with the stage
and all it contained, all that it sug-
gested to him. She had the swift
impression that he was headed
straight for the first saloon and
meant to wash a lot of things out of
his memory with good strong liquor.
She was, in this, quite right.
Young Mr.. William Cole Cody felt
not only desolate and down-in-the-
mouth, but mean and ugly. He made
something of entering the Last
Chance Saloon; he struck the swing
door with his shoulder as a man
aswarm through his veins with bel
ligerence might smite an enemy.
The half-door, flung violently back,
struck a man about to depart and
all but swept him off his feet.
This man glared and showed his
teeth. Those teeth of his were as
white as snow, as glistening as a
hounds teeth and about as sharp.
He was small, aged Mexican-In-
dian, Porfrio Lopez by name,
stranger here in Bald Eagle and,
tonight in no mood at all to be
knocked around. His slim brown
hand ran like the flick of a striking
snake to his side-just under his
ornamental jacket. 1t would have
been with him just then a supreme
joy and perfectly superb relief
to slit somebody's gullet from ear to
ear.
And then he saw who it was!
don Codito!" he cried. He
dropped all thoughts of his knife and
caught both Cody's hands in the
warm Latin way. "Gracias Dios!
Look Senor! Me, all over, I weeshed
I was thead! I ask for to THE!
And now! ! KEGS your hands, the
two!" All of which meant, Thank
God! When was ready to die, here
you are! You!
"You are drunk, Porfrio," said |
Don Codito. go to bed"
Porfrio laughed like coyote. He
pulled his hair, looked at his hands,
saw that he had caught some few
harsh black strands between his
lean fingers and tossed them up
ward.
"Boracho, Senor?" That laughter
of his showed those teeth of his to
all advantage; and still in his laugh
ter there was the snarl of coyote,
the threat and surrender of wound
ed wolf. He said quite simply, ''This
is one other time, Senior Don Co
ditto, you save my life. We are 60
ing to drink one with the other. You
will honor me in this little thing,
this thing that is so big, Don Co
dito?"
Porfirio began, frank and unhid-
den in all he did, to cry.
He whipped an enormous red-and-
green bandana from his coattails,
gave it flourish which made a
sort of rainbow arc of the gesture,
and wiped his streaming eyes.
pretty soon," he confessed, ST
am going to cry like one babee. The
fines man in this worl, the fines
man, am a-tellin' you, is sick; he
is pretty sick" (Only Porfirio said
"seek.") 'He is goin' to die! Ale!
jump on top my bes' horse, an I
ride n I ride an I ride, Senior.
You believe me? More than one
hundred, more than one hundred and
twenty-five, more than one hundred
and fifty (feefty) miles, ridel An
so, here I am-an' he is already
dondit Ha nut hic honI lox.-.. -. |