Wolfville Days

ding of

erdin'. I knowed one by the name of Stevenson down on the Turkey Track, as merits plenty of lookin' after. This yere Stevenson ain't exactly ornery; but bein' restless, an' with a disp'sition

e herd swim. Steve is posted at the mouth of the bridge, to turn back any loose cattle that takes a notion to try an' cross that a-way. Thar's nothin' much to engage Steve's faculties, an' he's a-settin' on his bronco, an' both is

ne young woman; 'thar's no thrill into it.

into the scenery, socks his spurs into the pony, an' hops himse'f over the side of the bridge a whole lot into the shallow water below. The jump is some twenty feet an' bust

e grub wagon four or five days recooperatin'. It

off for?' I asks Steve

orthorn who is cussin' us out.' says Steve 'I ain't permitti

for new ranges in the skies. He's over on the upper Red R

en with anybody; but comin' right to cases, he don't know no more about playin' poker than he does about preachin'. Actooally, he'd back t

of the boys gets a trey-full; Steve being possessed of a heart flush,

s 'round a whole lot; an' jest as the trey-full boy gets i

harfore, I'm yere to say you steals that pa'r of kings as completed my rooin. Comin' to them decision

Do you reckon I gives up the frootes of a trey- full-as hard a hand to hold as that

stuff, or I severs our relations with a gun.' An' tharupon Steve pulls his pistol an' takes hold of the trey-full boy's bridle. "'If thar's one thing makes me more

preematoor. The next second, 'bang!' goes the trey-full boy's six-shooter, the bullet gets Steve in the neck, with th

him. But I'm yere to announce that them idees he fosters concerinin' the valyoo of poker hands, onreasonable an' plumb extrav'gant as they shorely is

is a pair of aces worth before the draw?"

says Steve. "Every

. Thar never is sech recklessness! You won't live a year; you're

e yere tales. Which you're ignorant of cow folks, an' for me to go onloadin' of sech revelations mebby gives you impressions

I hastened to interpose divers flattering denials. His recitals

s, and seeking amusement in ways beyond the understanding of the East; but safe, upright, and of splendid generosity. Eager to correct within me any mal-effects of the tragedy just told, he recalled

spirit with a clove, He went forward. "Thar ain't much paw an' bellow to a cowboy. Speakin' gen'ral, an' not allowin' for them inflooences

ar's hours when he's gay to the p'int of over-play. B

lls 'a case in p'int,' an' which I relates without reserve. It gives you some

is in Tucson for a rest. We've been sloshin' 'round the Oriental all day, findin' new virchoos in the whiskey, an' amoosin' ourse'fs at our own expense, when about fifth drink ti

free an' various; an' bein' among Mexicans, that a-way, he's liable to mix himse'f into trouble. Not that Dave is bad, none whatever; but bein' seven or eight drinks winner, an' of that Oriental whiskey, too, it broadens him an' make

If he starts toward 'em, aimin' for a powwow-which he does frequent, bein' a mighty amiable gent that a-way-they carols fort

a Eytalian with a music outfit which he's grindin'. This yere music ain't so bad, an' I hears a heap worse stra

' says Dave, 'I p

f himse'f with outcries same as a Injun. But the Eytalian don

Dave. 'Gimme the music for a green-corn dance, an' don't make no

once. I knows this gent of yore. I meets him two years ago i

s his name,

rino,' says

ls it, 'cause it makes me think at the jump

s you,' says

ou didn't see me. We drinks together, an' g

e ugly a lot, an' before I gets to butt in an' stop it, he ou

s Dave, 'is too frivolous; I figgers th

ave grabs the music-box, keepin' it from fallin', an' then begins turnin' the crank to try it. I

away on the handle. 'Where's this yere Merino? Whatever is t

go that a-way, an' Mexicans sufferin' for melody. With that he straps on

s new rooles for the game, right yere. I plays these cadences five minutes; an' then I

to make a round-up. He'll tackle a household, sort o' terrorisin' at 'em with his gun; an' tharupon the members gets th

hootin' 'round; an' they comes up an' bends their y'ears a

seen people turn that kyard in church, but you bet you don't jump no game of mine that a-way. You-all line

he line of them tremblin' towerists,

os, an' arias, an' never say nothin',' says Dave; 'but they can'

last he's plumb fatigued, an' allows he'll quit an' call it a day. So he packs the tom-tom down to Franklin's office. Franklin i

s yere Dago?'

st I notes of him, he's canterin' of

ejected about that bullet; but when he gets Dave's donation that a- w

irkle up to the alcald

e you ain't been b

ows Tucson is gettin' a

puts in half a day, amassin' wealth for a foreign gent who is settin' in bad luck; an' elevat

, Dave's done. Which they gets by the capture of the hewgag, an' shootin' that bullet into its bowels don't bother 'em a bit. Even Dave's s

ho is a sport named Steele, 'but you've been a-bustin' of ord

eat the game no

don't see how,'

ither,' say

ter with counter-bran

license?'

nohow,' says

Hoyle an' the Declaration of Independence?

says the

e. 'I'm a law-abidin' citizen, an' all I

thout no license. Dave asks me later not to mention this yere o