"It's the second day when a teamster, trackin' over from Red Dog,
developes what's left of Locoed Charlie. He falls off his hoss, with
that load of Red Dog whiskey, an' every notion or idee or sensation
absolootely effaced. An' where Charlie loses is, he falls by a ant
hill. Yes; they shorely takes Charlie in. Thar's nothin' left of him
when the teamster locates the remainder, but his clothes, his spurs
an' his 'natomy. The r'ar gyard of them ants has long since retired
with the final fragments of Locoed Charlie. "You-all might o' seen
the story. Colonel Sterett writes it up in the Coyote, an' heads it,
'Hunger is a Terrible Thing.' This sot Charlie comin' to his death
that a-way puts a awful scare over Huggins an' Old Monte. It reforms
'em for more'n two hours. Huggins, who is allers frontin' up as one
who possesses public sperit, tries to look plumb dignified about it,
an' remarks to Dave Tutt in the New York Store as how he thinks we
oughter throw in around an' build a monument to Locoed Charlie. Dave
allows that, while he's with Huggins in them projecks, he wants to
add a monument to the ants. The founders of the scheme sort o'
splittin' at the go-in that a-way, it don't get no further, an' the
monument to Locoed Charlie, as a enterprise, bogs down. But to
continyoo on the trail of Captain Moon.
"Moon comes rumblin' into Wolfville, over-doo mebby it's two weeks,
bringin' both teams. Thar-upon he relates them outrages. Thar's but
one thought, that agent has lived too long.
"'If he was the usual common form of felon,' says Enright,
'ondoubted--for it would be their dooty--the vig'lance committee
local to them parts would string him up. But that ain't possible;
this yere miscreant is a gov'ment official an' wears the gov'ment
brand, an' even the Stranglers, of whatever commoonity, ain't strong
enough, an' wouldn't be jestified in stackin' in ag'in the gov'ment.
Captain Moon's only show is a feud. He oughter caper over an', as
private as possible, arrogate to himse'f the skelp of this yere
agent who abandons his relatif to them hostiles.'
"Wolfville listens to Captain Moon's hist'ry of his wrongs; but
aside from them eloocidations of Enright, no gent says much. Thar's
some games where troo p'liteness consists in sayin' nothin' an'
knowin' less. But the most careless hand in camp can see that Moon's
aimin' at reprisals.
"This Curly Ben is trackin' about Wolfville at the time. Curly ain't
what you-all would call a elevated character. He's a rustler of
cattle, an' a smuggler of Mexican goods, an' Curly an' the Yoonited
States marshals has had more turn-ups than one. But Curly is dead
game; an' so far, he manages to either out-luck or out-shoot them
magistrates; an', as I says, when Moon comes wanderin' in that time
mournin' for his nephy, Curly has been projectin' about camp for
like it's a week.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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