Wolfville Days

Henry Lewis Alfred

Description

pubOne.info present you this new edition. "No, sir, even onder spur an' quirt, my mem'ry can only canter back to one uprisin' of labor in Wolfville; that was printers.

Sujets

• Westerns
• Western (genre)
• Western

Informations

• Publié par: Pub One Info
• Date de parution: 06 novembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9782819949756
• Langue: English

Extrait

CHAPTER I.
The Great Wolfville Strike.
“No, sir, even onder spur an' quirt, my mem'ry canonly canter back to one uprisin' of labor in Wolfville; that wasprinters. ”
At this the Old Cattleman looked unduly sagacious,refreshed himself with a puff or two at his pipe, and all with theair of one who might, did he see fit, consider the grave questionsof capital and labor with an ability equal to their solution. Hisremark was growth of the strike story of some mill workmen, toldglaringly in the newspaper he held in his hands.
“Wolfville is not at that time, ” he continued,"what you-all East would call a swirlin' vortex of trade; still shehas her marts. Thar's the copper mines, the Bird Cafe Op'ry House,the Red Light, the O. K. Restauraw, the Dance Hall, the New YorkStore an' sim'lar hives of commerce. Which ondoubted the barkeepsis the hardest worked folks in camp, an' yet none of 'em ever goeson the warpath for shorter hours or longer pay, so far as I hasnotice. Barkeeps that a-way is a light-hearted band an' cheerfulonder their burdens. Once when Old Monte brings the stage in latebecause of some boggin' down he does over at a quicksand ford inthe foothills, a shorthorn who arrives with him as a passengercomes edgin' into the Red Light. Bein' it's four o'clock in themornin', the tenderfoot seems amazed at sech activities asfaro-bank, an' high-ball, said devices bein' in full career; to saynothin' of the Dance Hall, which 'Temple of Mirth, ' as Hamiltonwho is proprietor tharof names it, is whoopin' it up across thestreet.
"'Ain't you open rather late? ' says the shorthorn.His tones is apol'getic an' no offence is took.
"That's one of them gratefyin' things about theSouthwest. That temperate region don't go pirootin' 'round strivin'to run its brand onto things as insults where none ain't meant. TheSouthwest ropes only at the intention. You may even go so far as toshoot the wrong gent in a darkened way, an' as long as you pullsoff the play in a sperit of honesty, an' the party plugged don'thappen to be a pop'lar idol, about the worst you'd get would be acaution from the Stranglers to be more acc'rate in your feuds, sechis the fairmindedness an' toleration of Southwest sentiment.
"As I su'gests, the barkeep, realizin' that thestranger's bluff arises from cur'osity rather than any notion ofwhat booksports calls 'captious criticism, ' feels no ombrage.
"'What was you-all pleased to remark? ' retorts thebarkeep as he slams his nose-paint where the shorthorn can getaction.
“'Nothin', ' replies the shorthorn, imbibin' of hisforty drops, ”only it sort o' looks to my onaccustomed eye likethis deadfall is open rather late. "
"'Which she is some late, ' admits the barkeep, ashe softly swabs the counter; 'which it is some late for nightbefore last, but it's jest the shank of the evenin' for to-night.'
"But, as I observes a bit back on the trail, I neverdo hear of any murmur of resentment on the part of the toilin'masses of the town, save in the one instance when that bunch oflocoed printers capers out an' defies the editor an' publisher ofthe Wolfville COYOTE, the same bein' the daily paper of theoutfit.
"This yere imprint, the COYOTE, is done owned an'run by Colonel William Greene Sterett. An' I'll pause right yerefor the double purpose of takin' a drink an' sympathisin' with youa whole lot in not knowin' the Colonel. You nacherally ain't asacootely aware of the fact as I be, but you can gamble a bloo stackthat not knowin' Colonel Sterett borders on a deeprivation. He isshore wise, the Colonel is, an' when it comes to bein' fullyinformed on every p'int, from the valyoo of queensup before thedraw to the political effect of the Declaration of Independence,he's an even break with Doc Peets. An' as I've asserted frequent—an' I don't pinch down a chip— Doc Peet's is the finest eddicatedsharp in Arizona.
"We-all will pass up the tale at this crisis, butI'll tell you later about how Colonel Sterett comes a-weavin' intoWolfville that time an' founds the Coyote. It's enough now to knowthat when these yere printers takes to ghost-dancin' that time, theColonel has been in our midst crowdin' hard on the hocks of a year,an' is held in high regyard by Old Alan Enright, Doc Peets, JackMoore, Boggs, Tutt, Cherokee Hall, Faro Nell, and other molders oflocal opinion, an' sort o' trails in next after Enright an' Peetsin public esteem. The Colonel is shore listened to an' heeded atsech epocks as Wolfville sets down serious to think.
"Them printers of the Colonel's stampedes themse'fsjest followin' the latter's misonderstandin' with Huggins, whoconducts the Bird Cage Op'ry House, an' who as I've allersmaintained, incites them mechanics, private, to rebellion, as ascheme of revenge on the Colonel. The trouble which bears its finalfroote in this labor uprisin' is like this. Huggins, as noted,holds down the Bird Cage Op'ry House as manager, an' when lie'sdrunk— which, seein' that Huggins is a bigger sot than Old Monte,is right along he allows he's a 'Impressario. ' Mebby you saveys'Impressario, ' an' experiences no difficulty with the same as aterm, but Boggs an' Tutt goes to the fringe of a gun playdispootin' about its meanin' the time Huggins plays it on the campfirst as deescriptif of his game.
"'A Impressario is a fiddler, ' says Boggs; `I cutsthe trail of one in the States once, ropes him up, an' we has ashore enough time. '
“'Sech observations, ' observes Tutt, to whom Boggsvouchsafes this information, 'sech observations make me tired. Theydisplays the onlimited ability for ignorance of the hooman mind.Boggs, I don't want to be deemed insultin', but you-all oughter goto night-school some'ers ontil you learns the roodiments of theAmerican language. ”
"When this yore colloquy ensooes, I'm away on thespring round-up, an' tharfor not present tharat; but as good ajedge as Jack Moore, insists that the remainder of the conversationwould have come off in the smoke if he hadn't, in his capacity ofmarshal, pulled his six-shooter an' invoked Boggs an' Tutt to aca'mer mood.
"But speakin' of this Huggins party, I never likeshim. Aside from his bein' mostly drunk, which, no matter what somemay say or think, I holds impairs a gent's valyoo as a socialfactor, Huggins is avaricious an' dotes on money to the p'int ofbein' sordid. He'd gloat over a dollar like it was a charlotteroose, Huggins would. So, as I says, I ain't fond of Huggins, an'takes no more pleasure of his company than if he's a wet dog.Still, thar's sech a thing as dooty; so, when Huggins comeswanderin' wild-eyed into the Red Light about first drink time oneevenin', an' confides to me in a whisper that thar's a jack rabbitoutside which has sworn to take his life, an' is right thenbushwhackin' about the door waitin' to execoote the threat, I callsDoc Peets, an' aids in tyin' Huggins down so that his visions canbe met an' coped with medical.
"Peets rides herd on Huggins for about a week, an'at last effects his rescoo from that hostile jack rabbit an' themcrimson rattlesnakes an' blue-winged bats that has j'ined dogs withit in its attempts ag'in Huggins. Later, when Peets sends hischarges, this yere ingrate Huggins— lovin' money as I states— wantsto squar' it with a quart or two of whiskey checks on the Bird Cagebar. Nacherally, Peets waves aside sech ignoble proffers as insultsto his professional standin'.
"'An' you all don't owe me a splinter, Huggins, 'says Peets, as he turns down the prop'sition to take whiskey checksas his reward. 'We'll jest call them services of mine in subdooin'your delirium treemors a contreebution. It should shorely beremooneration enough to know that I've preserved you to theWolfville public, an' that the camp can still boast the possessionof the meanest sport an' profoundest drunkard outside of the TexasPanhandle. '
"Bar none, Doc Peets is the bitterest gent, verbal,that ever makes a moccasin track in the South-west. An' whileHuggins ain't pleased none, them strictures has to go. To take topawin' 'round for turmoil with Peets would be encroachin' onto theediotic. Even if he emerges alive from sech controversies— an' it'sfour to one he wouldn't; for Peets, who's allers framed up with abrace of derringers, is about as vivid an enterprise as Wolfvilleaffords— the Stranglers would convene with Old Man Enright in thecha'r, an' Huggins wouldn't last as long as a drink of whiskey. Asit is, Huggins gulps his feelin's an' offers nothin' in return toPeets's remarks.
"No; of course Doc Peets ain't that diffusive in hisconfidences as to go surgin' about tellin' this story to every genthe meets. It's ag'in roole for physicians that a-way to go draggin'their lariats 'round permiscus an' impartin' all they knows.You-all can see yourse'f that if physicians is that ingenuous, itwould prodooce all sorts of troubles in the most onlooked-forplaces an' most onexpected forms. No; Peets wouldn't give way toconduct so onbecomin' a medicine man an' a sport. But rooles hastheir exceptions; an so Feets, in one of them moments of sympathyan' confidence, which two highly eddicated gents after the eighthdrink is bound to feel for each other, relates to Colonel Sterettconcernin' Huggins an' his perfidy with them Bird Cage checks.
"This yere onbosomin' of himse'f to the Colonelain't none discreet of Peets. The Colonel has many excellencies,but keepin' secrets ain't among 'em; none whatever. The Colonel isdeevoid of talents for secrets, an' so the next day he prints thisyere outrage onder a derisive headline touchin' Huggins'froogality.
"Huggins don't grade over-high for nerve an' is along way from bein' clean strain game; but he figgers, so I allersreckons, that the Colonel ain't no thunderbolt of war himse'f, sowhen he reads as to him an' Peets an' them treemors an' the whiskeychecks, he starts in to drink an' discuss about his honor, an'gives it out he'll have revenge.
"It's the barkeep at the Red Light posts ColonelSterett as to them perils. A Mexican