Wolfville

ld have travelled the little path at midnight. There he was, the Old Cattleman, under a favorite tree, the better to avoi

at once gave Black Jim a mission. He was dispatched in quest of stimulants. After certain exact and almost elab

ter of me; sorter pensive,

. Following the coming of Black Jim, however, who

like my thoughts has been out on some mental feed-ground all day, an' they comes stringin' in like cattle to get bedded down for the night. Nacheral, I s'pose they sorter mills an' stands 'round oneasy like for a while before they lies down all comfortable. Old people partic'lar gets

. I reckons too, I'm in love one round-up an' another mighty near a dozen times.

ns I ropes at her more'n fifty times, but I never could fasten. Thar comes a time when it looks powerful like I'm goin' to run my brand on

rode my pony to death to look once in her eyes. She's like sunshine in the woods to me, an' I dotes o

o prove a picnic,-an' him sorter peevish an' hostile nacheral. But lettin' that

I'm yere to remark it's harder work than a June day in a brandin' pen. Ropin' an' flankin' calves an' standin' off an old cow with one hand while you irons up he

of your life to illoomine; She's all that is gra

ngth to tackle it ag'in, Jenks gets her; so bein' thar's no longer nothin' tharin I never makes a f

when two of 'em comes mighty near splittin' Wolfville wide open an' leavin' it on both sides of

-office for our letters; thar's the Red Light for our bug-juice; thar's the O. K. Restauraw for our grub; an' thar's the stage an' our poni

that heart can hunger for;

an' a-doin' of our washin'. This yere tub-trundler's

en Doc Peets gets a le

sayin':

's stage. She's p'intin' out to run a laundry. Please b

leege,

i

nright?' says Doc Peets af

lle permits no sech debasin' exhibitions, an' Lung must vamos. Jack,' he says, turnin' to Jack Moore, 'take your gun an' sa'nter over an' stampede this yere opium-slave. Tell him if

amp's deadly dull, an' it would cheer up things a whole lot, besides bei

canter up to his tub-camp an' bring him over, an' we'll reveal this upheaval in his shirt-burnin' destinies by word of mouth. If he grows reluctant jest rope

represents. Woman, woman, what has she not done for man! As Johanna of Arc she frees the sensuous vine-clad hills of far-off Switzerland. As Grace Darling she smooths the fever-heated pillow of t

g, which he does prompt, Enrig

wn ag'in a woman, an' you're out-held. You've got to quit; savey? Don't let us find you yere to-morrow. By third-drink time we'll be a-scoutin' for you with somethin' besides an op

he allers does with a woman along. Over at the post-office, where he stops, a lady gets out, an' of cour

all her jest 'Annie'-the same bein' too free a play-an' hearin' she lives a yea

s we all lines up ag'in the Red Light bar, 'I su'gests we b

p our glasses, an'

e game to herse'f. Two days later she raises the tariff to fifty cents on sh

wash a shirt for the miserable stipend of a slave of the Orient must be

or mighty like a mon

llows she'll h

od-for-nothin' sots a-pesterin' 'round, an' I done reckons I'll have my friend

age, an' for the next week thar ain't no washin' done whatever,

ff of a week,' says Enright, 'ain't clean strain, an' I don't w

an' in the turn Sal goes to t'other end of camp an' opens a laundry. That does settle it. Benson Annie gives Sal fits, an' Sal shorely sends 'em back. Then they quits sp

p don't take no kyards. For the first time Wolf

e for Sal, an' things is shorely gettin' hot. Hamilton, over at the dance-hall, ups an' names his place the 'Sal Saloon,

the Red Light one night, an' after stampin' an' rappin' his horns

allers been friends an' crossed the plains together, still he don't allow he'll stand 'round much an'

s been thinkin' mighty arduous for quite a spell, an' when Boggs gets creased,

looks that dignified an' what you-alls calls impressive, that the barkeep, yieldin' to the gravity of the situation, allows the drinks is on the house. We

them harrowin' differences which has rent asunder what was aforetimes the peacefullest camp in Ari

ls tarries about, some oneasy an' anxious as to what kyards falls

we-alls does in the light of a parent to this pore young female, we have determined the wrong must be made right, an' Mister French must marry the girl. I have submitted these yere views to Benson Annie, an' she concurs. I've took the trouble to bring a gospel-sharp over from Tucson to do the marryin', an' I've set the happy event for to-night, to conclood with a blow-out in the dance-hall at my expense. We will, of course, yereby lose Benson Annie in them industrial walks she now adorns, for I pauses to give Mister French a p'inter; the sentiments of this camp is ag'in a married female takin' in was

ven hundred dollars is raised for a dowry. Then Fren

it is, an' as a forced play I marries Benson Annie in the interests of peace. Which the same bein' settled, if Benson Annie is yere,

French an' is prou

s ahead on the deal; which he shore is, for this yere Benson Annie is corn-fed, 'if it ain't

s yere preacher-sharp Enright's roped up is jest shufflin' for the deal, when, whatever do you reckon takes place? I'm a Mexican if this yere Sal don't come

ets says it's the reg'lar caper, an' you can gamble Peets knows. "'Thar,' says Enright, when the last kyard's out an' the French fam'ly is receivin' congratulations, 'I reckons that now, with only one laundry, Wolfville sees a season of peace. It's all right, but I'm yere to remark that the next lady as dazzles th