The Black Lion Inn

n' to the critics, who, bein' plumb onable to write one themse'fs, nacherally knows what a st

the climax, you're to pitch headlong over the precipice on the sheer an' other side, an' in the space of not more'n a brace of sentences, land, bing! bang! smash!-all broke up at the botto

und-up. Little Enright Peets is growin' strong an' husky now, an' is the pride of the Wolfville heart. He's shed his milk teeth an' is sproutin' a second mouthful, white an' clean as a coyote's. Also, his cur'osity is deevelop

t Peets comes waddlin' up to Old Man Enright on them

stmas in this camp? Which if you does, all I got to say is I don't

0

es Enright to Doc Peets, with whom he's in talk. "Where

Enright Peets, turnin' his eyes up to P

e an' wheels into the Red Light for a drink, leavi

Valley Tan; "he shows us in one word how we neglects his eddication. The idee of that child never ha

an' sucklin's,' as the good book says." This infantile bluff of little Enright Peets goes a long way t

ernal virchoo, would go romancin' along, lettin' that boy grow up in darkness of Christmas, an' it one of the

's hump, "she's shore a shame, never to provide no Christmas for that offspring of yours, an' leave him to

in Arizona. Christmas in its very beginnin' is based on snow. Who's the reg'lar round-up boss for Christmas? Ain't he a disrepootable Dutchman named Santa Claus? Don't he show up wrapped in furs, an' with reindeer an' sleigh an' hock deep in a snowstorm? Answer me that? Also show me where'

o takes the eepisode mighty sour, "it looks l

inated because Pete Bland, the outlaw for whom the party is made, an' his wife, The Duchess, has been married six years an' ain't done nothin' but fight. Wherefore, on the sixth anniversary of their nuptials, Red Dog resolves on a Six Shooter Weddin'; an' tharupon desc

nt with its name, the guests endows Pete an' T

"that, as between Pete an' The Duchess, we as a commoonity promotes a even brea

oubted goes some distance to decide us Wolves of Wolfville on pullin' off a Christmas warjig

very afternoon an' evenin' over our Valley Tan, we discusses an' does our wisest to evolve a programme. It's then we begi

in our minds, "nacherally, we ups an' gives little Enright Peets presents. Whi

worsted comforters an' fur caps fails us for causes sim'lar. Little Enright Peets is too young to smoke; Tucson Jennie won't let him drink licker; thar, with one word, is them two important

re books," sa

e Hall, where he's plant

inted b

says C

can

plumb through, "Books, blocks, an' cand

lects a heap, "of givin' little Enright Peets a faro layout, or mebby

Dan, be you-all aimin' to corrupt this child?"

e, wholesome Colt's-44, ivory butt, stamped leather belts, an' all that, would be a proper thing to put in play. Of c

ould up an' blow his yoothful light out; an' then Tucson Jennie would camp on our trails forevermore as the d

r's nothin' that should be looked to more jealously than this ye re givin' of presents. It's grown so that as a roole the business of makin' presents degen'rates to this: Some sport who can't afford to, gives some sport something he don't need. Thar's no fear of the first, since we gents can afford anything we likes. As to the second prop'sition, we should skin our kyards some sharp. We-all ought to lavish on little Enright Peets a present which, while safegyardin' his life an' his

tion, camps down ag'in in the midst of a storm o

miles in three nights. This bronco-he's a deep bay, shadin' off into black like one of them overripe violins, an' with nostrils like red expandin' hollyhocks-can go a hundred miles between da

of the Red Light Christmas Ev

never sees no sech fowl; an' the only drawback is that

etry of this story to chunk it in this a-way; but I can't he'p mys

razzled up in cow-tails an' buffalo horns like a Injun medicine man, thinkin' to make the deal as Santa Claus-Tucson Jennie comes

cson Jennie, wringin' her hands an' throwin' her apron over

o recover the beneficiary. Thar's a gen'ral saddlin' up, an' in no ti

mesquite bush, seven miles out on his way to the Floridas mountains. He puts it up he's goin' over to the hills to have

, an' lookin' like they're sort o' thinkin' little Enright Peets over an' tryin' to figger out his system. Them little wolves don't onders

t of them books an' blocks an' candies which Faro Nell su'gests; also, he's made happy with the

ce, he insists on get-tin' into that gold-embossed saddle an' givin' his l

the street like an arrow an' pulls up short.

e could beat four

profound deebauch that en-soos. Tucson Jennie lays it down that it's shore the star Christmas, since it's the one when her lost is found an' the Fates in the guise of Dan presents her with her boy ag'in. I knows of myse'

casion of good company. And to-morrow evening-for this storm will continue to hold us prisoners-you will find unless better offer, I shall recognize my debt to you

zarded the Sour Gentleman, "that came be

alth and robust strength than any sick-bed tale. It is of gloves and fightin

alling and roads were reported blocked beyond any thought of passage. We were snowbound; folk who should kn

Gentleman in his burgundy, while the Sour Gentleman and the Old Cattleman qualified for the occasion with a copious account of whiskey, which the aged man of cow

e had fallen beneath his notice when as a student he walked the New York hosp

ype="