Ben Blair: The Story of a PlainsmanLillibridge, Will
General
Ben Blair: The Story of a Plainsman
Lillibridge, Will
Cowboys -- Fiction; Frontier and pioneer life -- Fiction; Western stories
Night had fallen long ere this; when Ben arose the room was in darkness,
save for the reflected light which came through the heavily curtained
windows from the street lamps. He turned on an electric bulb and made a
hasty toilet. In doing so his eye fell upon the two big revolvers within
the drawer of the dresser; and the same impulse that had caused him to
bring them into this land of civilization made him thrust them into his
hip pockets. It was more habit than anything else, just as a man with a
dog friend feels vaguely uncomfortable unless his pet is with him. Blair
had the vigorously recurring appetite of a healthy animal, and it
suddenly occurred to him that he had not yet dined. Descending to the
street, he sought a _cafe_ and ate a hearty meal.
A half-hour later, the elevator boy of the Metropolitan Block, where
Sidwell had his quarters, was surprised, on answering the indicator, to
find a young man in an abnormally broad hat and flannel shirt awaiting
him. The youth was of vivid imagination, and knowing that a Wild West
troupe was performing in town, one glance at Ben's hat, his suspicions
became certainty.
"Eleventh floor," he announced, when the passenger had told his
destination; then as the car moved upward he gathered courage and looked
the rancher fair in the eye.
"Say, Mister," he ventured, "give me a pass to the show, will you?"
For an instant Ben looked blank; then he understood, and his hand
sought his trousers' pocket. "Sorry," he explained, "but I don't happen
to have any with me. Will this do instead?" and he produced a
half-dollar.
The boy brought the car deftly to a stop within a half-inch of the level
of the desired floor. "Thank you. Mr. Sidwell--straight ahead, and turn
to the left down the short hall," he said obligingly.
Blair stepped out, saying, "Don't fail to be around to-morrow when I do
my stunt."
With open-mouthed admiration the boy watched the frontiersman's long
free stride--a movement that struck the floor with the springiness of a
cat, very different from the flat-footed jar of pedestrians on paved
streets.
"I won't!" he called after him. "I'd rather see't than a dozen
ball-games! I'll look for you, Mister!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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