At last we arrived at Chamberlain. An' here's where the head-end
collision of principles comes in, that I mentioned a while ago. Here's
where Aconite Driscoll, who for days had been givin' a mother's care to
two hundred cavvs, was condemned f'r cruelty; an' when he'd been
strainin' every nerve an' disturbin' the egg market to keep from bustin'
a set of concealed claws in a gover'ment contract, he was banished as
an eggcessory to the crime of bilkin' poor Lo. This tradegy happens out
west o' the river at the Issue House.
Reddy had a string of wagons with hog-racks onto 'em waitin' in the
switch-yards when we whistled in, an' the way we yanked them infants off
the cars and trundled 'em over the pontoon bridge, an' hit the trail f'r
the Issue House, was a high-class piece o' teamin'. We powdered across
the country like the first batch of sooners at a reservation openin'.
Out on the prairie was Reddy an' his punchers, slowly dribblin' the last
of his steers into the delivery, too anxious f'r me an' the cavvs to be
ashamed of their emaciation. Out behind a butte, he had concealed a
bunch of cow-stuff he'd deppytized as mothers _pro tem_ to my waifs. The
right way t've done, o' course, would've been to incorporated the two
bunches in a unassumin' way at a remoter place, an' drove 'em gently in
as much like cattle o' the same family circles as yeh could make 'em
look. But they wan't time. The end-gates was jerked out, an' the wagons
ongently emptied like upsettin' a sleigh comin' home from spellin'
school. Most all the orphans could an' did walk, an' I was so tickled at
this testimonial to the egg-cure f'r youthful weakness, that we had 'em
half way to the place where the knives o' their owners-elect was a
waitin' 'em when I looked around an' seen Miss Ainsley, an' the
Chamberlain lady she was a-stayin' with, standin' where they must 'a'
seen the way we mussed the cavvs hair up in gettin' of 'em on the
ground.
Gladys' eyes was a-blazin', an' they was a red spot in each cheek. She
seemed sort o' pressin' forwards, like she wanted to mix it up, an' her
lady friend was tryin' to head her off. I saw she didn't recognize me,
an' I didn't thirst f'r recognition. I knew that love ain't so blind as
she's been advertised, an' that I wouldn't never, no, never, be a
nater's nobleman no more if she ever tumbled to the fact that the human
omelette runnin' this caff business was A. Driscoll. It was only a case
of sweet-gal-graduate palpitation o' the heart anyhow, an' needed the
bronzed cheek, the droopin' mustache, the range clo'es, the deadly gun,
the diamond hitch, and the centaur biz to keep it up to its wonted palp.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account