BILLY'S TENDERFOOT.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7417, 31 May 1902, Page 2

BILLY'S TENDERFOOT.

(By STEWART EDWARD, WH/TE.) j During one spring of the early seventies Billy Knapp ran* a species of road house or hotel at the crossing of the Deadwoodi and Big Horn trails through Custer Valley. , Travellers changing from one route to the other frequently stoppw* there overnight. He soldi accommodations for man and beast; the former comprising plenty of whisky, the lafcter t plenty of hay. That ■was the -best any one could say of it. The hotel was of logs, two-storied, with partitions of sheeting to insure a certain privacy of sight if not of sound; had three beds and a number of bunks ; and boasted of a woman cook— one of the first in the Hills. Billy did not run it long. He was too restless. The personnel of the establishment confchfcedl of Billy and the woman already mentioned, and 1 an ancient Pistol of the name of Charley. The latter wore many firearms, •ad hadl a good deal to say, but had never, v Billy expressed it, "made good." This, fa the West, could not Oiave been for lack of opportunity. His functions were those pf general factotum. One evening Billy sat chair-tilted against *lie logs of the hotel, waiting for the stage. By and bye it drew in. Charley hobbled <mt, carrying buckets of water for the fcorees. The driver flung tie reins from him iwith the lordly insolence of his ch^ descended slowly, and swaggered to the barWorn for his drink. Billy followed to serve _*». ■ ■ . . said the driver, and crooked his tfbtiw. „.,. ■t *' Anything new?" queried Billy. ; "Nope." "Held up?'* "'""Nope" y r That exhausted the situation. The two men puffed silently for a moment at their pipes. In an instant the driver turned to got you a ten<ferfoofc t " ie wsnrffed Itwualiy, «• I reckon lie's outside. , -"Guess I awbles forth and sees what fer fc tenderfoot it «," replied Billy, hastening front behind! the bar. „ The tenderfoot was seated on » enaU fcunk ju*t outride the door. As he held SHiat in axis hands, Billy could l see Jus doUlike bald head. Beneath the . dome •was » Httie pink and white face, and below -■25 w«e JLr, doping should^ • flat chest, and bandy legs. He wore a light check mit* and a flannel shirt, whose collar -4uam* to» large lor. him, Billy^took 'th£ all in *hile pasfiing. As the driver climbed to the seat the hotelkeeper com, Hen," said he, "would you stuff ft, or put it xtnder -a glass case? "I'd Berve it » lay Tooloose," replied the .fetor, briefly, anif brought hi« .long jtodr 8-shaped across the four etartled backs of bis norses. «■».:«, Billy turned to a re-inspection of ms toaasb, and met a deprecating smile. "Can I get a shake-down, here for totoight?" he inquired, in a high, pipinff voice "You kin,'* replied Billy,, shortly, and $egan to howl for Charley. -; That patriarch appeared around the cortter as did likewise the cook, a black-eyed, »ed-oheeked creature, afterwards counted by »Jly as one of his eight matrimonial venfiures. . . , ,v« -■.*" Snake this stranger's war-bag jnt«_th fcfcwk," commanded Billy. " ( And Nell, jest fc,at'rally rustle a few grub." . % "Tj* stranger picked up' a small band%Achel and followed Charley into the buil*--Jmr. When, a little later, he reappeared! for «t£per, he carried the hand-bag- with him ■Si placed it under the tench which flanked 43»e table. Afterwards be deposited it next fcfa hand while enjoying a pipe outside. < jNaturally, all this did not escape Billy. "Stranger," said he, "yo' seema mighty ifredded to that thar satchel." •'Yei, eir," piped the stranger. Billy taunted at the title. " I has some personal fcdongings which is valuable to me." He topened "the bag and produced a cheap por4iirft of rather a cheap-looking woman. ** My mother that was," said he. Billy snorted again and went inside. Ha feted sentiment of all kinds. The two men 'm.% opposite each other and ate supper, *rhicb was served! by the red-cheeked! girl. Iffhe stranger kept his eyes on hi* plate while »ne i -was in the room. He perched on the ledge of toe bench, with his feet tucked unjder him and resting on their .toes. When fche approached, the muscles of his shoulders md upper arms grew rigid with embarrasstoent, causing strange, awkward movements tof the hands. Ho answered in monosyllables. _ Billy ate expansively and earnestly. To--"kraxda the close of the meal Charley slipped, Into place beside him, Charley was out of tnimour, and! found the meat cold. *t . yore soul! Nell," he tried, "this yere ain't fitten fer % hog to c&t 1" The girl did not mind,,aor did BHIy. It (rat the country's mode of speech. The fctranger dropped his knife. " I don't wonder yo 1 don't like it, then !" iaid he, with a funny little flare of anger. " Meanin' what?" shouted Charley, threatfeningly. " You chore mustn't speak to c, lady that teay," replied the stranger, firmly^ in his little piping voice.. , Billy caught the* pomt £ and explooVcd ia |» mighty guffaw. . ; v Bully fer you I" he cried, shipping his Itnee, " struck pyrites (he pronounced it ' pie tights') fer shore that trip, Charley." The girl, too, laughed', but quietly. She tiros little touched, though, just this winter she had left Bismarck because the place frould have no more of her. In the face of Billy's approval the old |nan fell silent. ■ About midnight the four inmates of the Sfromfcier hotel were awakened by a tremenAcma racket outside. The- stranger arose, -fully clothed, from his bunk, and peered! through the narrow open window. A dozeii korseß were standing grouped, in charge of B single mounted man, indistinguishable in, ifcbe dark. Out of the open door a broadi band of light streamed from the saloon, "whence came the noise of voices and of jbot>t6 tramping about. ♦' It is Black Hank," said Billy, at bis tlbow. "Black Hank' and his outfit. He pitches to this yere snubbin' post occasional." Black Hank in the Hills would have translated to Jesse James farther south. Th» stranger turned suddenly energetic. " Don't you make no fight?" he asked 1 . " Fight 1" said Billy, wondering. " Fight 1 TJo'se not. Hank ain't plunderin' me none. Ec jest ambles along and helps himself, land leaves th' dust fer it every shot. I jest lays low and lets him operate. I never has no dealin's with him, understand. He jest nat'rally waltzes in an' plants has grub hooks on what he needs. I doesn't fcnow anything about it. I'm dead asleep." He bestowed a shadowy wink upon the Stranger. Below, the outlaws moved here and there. "Billy!" shouted a commanding voice. fBUly Knapp!" The hotelkeeper looked perplexed. "Now, what's he tollin* me for?" he askfji of the man by his side. "Billy!" shouted the voice again, "come jftowa here, you eiwash. I want to palaver Srith you." **_All right, Hank," replied Billy. / Hewent to his "room" and buckled on) : to heavy belt £ then descended the steep ''■ fttairs. '. The bar-room was lighted, and filled with taen. Some of them were eating and drinking; others were strapping provisions into portable form. Against the corner of the Bar a tall figure of a man leaned, smoking— * man lithe, active and muscular, with a keen, dark face and black eyebrows, which met over his nosefl Billy walked 1 directly |o this man. . " What is it?" he inquired' shwtiy. ''This yere ain't in th' agreement." :... **I know that* replied the stranger.^

t " Then leave yore dust, and vamoose." i "Aly dust is' there," said Black Hank, | placing his hand dn a buckskin bag at 'his ! side, " and you're paid, Billy Knapp. I want to ask you a question. Standing Rock has sent fifty thousand dollars to Buck Tail. The messenger went through here today. Have you seen him?" i "Nary messenger," replied Billy, ia relief. "Stage goes empty." 1 Charley crept down the stairs and into the room. j "What 'n blazes you doin' yere, you" sranikaboo ijit?" asked Billy, truculently. " " That thar stage ain't what you calls 1 empty," observed Charley, unmoved. A light broke on Billy's mind. He remembered the ralise which the stranger had so carefully guarded, and though his common sense told him that an inoffensive non-com-uataut, such as his guest, would hardly be chosen as express messenger, still the bare possibility remained. " Yore/ right," he assented carelessly, " thar is one tenderfoot, who knows as much of ridin' express as a pig does* of war." / "I notices he's almighty particular 'bout that thar carpet bag of his'n," insisted Charley. ' The man against the counter had lost nothing of the scene. Billy's denial, his hesitation, his 'half truth, all looked suspicious to hinij. With one swift round sweep of the arm he had Billy covered. Billy's arms shot over his head without the necessity of a command. The men ceased' their occupations and •gathered about. Scenes, of this Eort were too common to elicit comment* or arouse excitement. They knew perfectly the laissez-faire relations which obtained between the two Westerners. " Now," said Black Hank, angrily, in a low tone, "I want to know why you tried that monkey game." . Billy, wary and unafraid, replied that he had tried no gome, that he had forgotten the teaderfoot for a moment, and that he did not believe the latter would prove to \m the soughfe-for express mme»ger. One of "the men, at a signal from his leader/ relieved- Billy's belt of considerable weight. Then the latter was permitted to sit on a cracker-box. Two more mounted the little stairs. In a moment they returned to report that the tipper storey contained no human beings, strange or otherwise, except the girl, bub that there remained a small trunk. "Under further orders they dragged the trunk down into th© bar-room. It was 'broken open, and found to vjcbntain clothes, of the plainsman's cut, material, and state of wear, a neatly folded Mexican saddle, showing use, and a rawhide quirt. ' "Tenderfoot!" said Black Hank contemptuously. The outlaws 'had already scattered . outside to look for the trail. In this they were unsuccessful, reporting. mdccd z that not the faintest sign indicated escape in any direction. Billy knew W man. The tightening of Black Hank's close-knit brows meant but one thing. One does not gain chieftainship of any kind in the West without propping this ascendency with acts of ruthless decision. Billy leaped from his crackerbox with the suddenness of tfie puma I seized Black Hank firmly about the waist, whirled him into a sort of shield, and began an earnest struggle for the instant possession of the outlaw's drawn revolver. It was a gallant attempt, but unsuccessful. In a moment Billy was pifcioned to the floor, and Black 'Hank 'was rubbing his abraded forearm. After that the only question was, whether it should be rope or bullet. Nowj when Billy had gone downstairs, the stranger had wasted no more time at the window. He had in his possession fifty thousand dollars iv greenbacks which he was to deliver as soon as possible to the Buck Tail agency dn Wyoming. The necessary change of stage lines had forced, him to stay over might at Billy Knapp's hotel. . / , The messenger seized ibis, bag and softly ran along through the canvas-partitioned rooms wherein Billy slept to a narrow window which he had already noticed gave oub almost directly into the pine woods. The window was of oiled ptH )er > an <l its catch baffled him. He knew it should slide back, but it refused to slide for him. He did not dare to break the paper (because iot the crackling noise. A voice at hla shoulder startled him. "I'll show you," whispered the redcheeked girl. She was wrapped loosely in a blanket, j 'her hair falling about her shoulders, and I her bare feet showing beneath her cover- [ ings. The little man suffered at once an agony of embarrassment in which the thought of his errand! was lost. It was recalled to him by the girl. . "There you are," she whisperedj;^ showing him the open window. ."Thank you,*' he stammered painfully z " I assure you — I wish — " The girl laughed under her breath. " That's all right," shY said heartily, " I owe you that 'for calling old whiskers off his bronc," and she kissed him. The messenger, trembling with eelf-con^ sciousness, climbed hastily through the window ran the top loop of the satchel up his arm, and, instead of dropping to the ground, as the girl- had expected, swung himself lightly into the branches of a rather large scrub oak that grew near. She listened to the rustle of the leaves for a moment as he neared the trunk, and then, unable longer to restrain her curiosity in regard to the doings below, turned to the stairway. As she did so, two men mounted. They examined the rooms of the upper story hastily but carefully, paying scant attention to her, and departed swearing. In a few moments they returned for the stranger's trunk. Nell followed as far as the stairway. There she heard and saw things, and fled in bitter, dismay, to the back oi the house when ""Billy Knapp was overpowered 1 . , At the window she knelt, clasping her hands and placing her head between her 1 bare aims. Women- in the West, at least women like Nell, do not weep. "But she came near it. Suddenly she raised her head. A voice, next her ear had addressed her. She looked here and there and around, but could discover nothing. "Here, outside," came the low, guarded voice.\ "In the tree." Then ahe saw that the little stranger had not stirred from r his first sighting -place. "Beg your pardon, ma'am, for startling you, or for addressing you at all, which I< shouldn't, but — " " Oh, never mind that," cried the girl impatiently, shaking back her hair. So deprecating and timid were the tones, that almost without an effort of the'imagina- ' tion she could picture the little man's blushes and his half-sidling method of delivery. At this supreme moment, his littlej ness and lack of self-assertion jarred on her | mood. ''What you doin' there? Thought you'd vamoosed." "It was safest here," explained, the stranger. "I leffc the trail." She nodded comprehennsion of the common sense of this., „ ."" "But, ma'am, I took the liberty of speakin' to you because you seems to be ia trouble. Of course I aint got no right to ask, an' if you don't care to tell me- —^ "They're goin' to kill Billy!" broke in Nell, with a sob. "What for?" "I don't jest rightly make out. They're after some one, and they thinks Billy's cachein' him. .1 reckon it's you. Billy aint cachein' nothin' ; but they thinks he ia M ' • • ■ • "It's me they're after, all right enough. Now you knowa where I am, why don't you tell them an' save Billy?" The 1 girl started, but her keen Western mind saw the difficulty at once. "They thinks Billy pertects you, jest the same." i "Do yon love him?" asked fee stranger. I " God knows I'm pretty tough," confess-

ed Nell, sobbing, "but I jest do that!" and she dropped her head again. The invisible stranger in the gloom fell silent, considering. "I'm a purty rank proposition myself, said he at last, as if to himself, " and I got a job on hand which same I bughta put through without givin' attention on anythin' else. As a usual play, folks don't bare for me, and I don't care much for folks. Women especial. They drives me plumb tired. I reckon I don't stack up very higljf on the blue chips when it comes to cashin' in with that sex, auyhow ; but in general they gives me as much notice as they lavishes on a doodle bug. I ain't carin', you understand, nary bitj but onct in a dog's age, I kind of hankers for a decent look from one of them. I ain't never had no women folks of my own — never. Sometimes I thinks it would be some scrumptious to know a little gal's waitin' for me somewheres. They ain't none. They never will be. I ain't built that way. You treated me white to-night. You're the first woman' that ever kissed me of her own accord." The girl heard a faint scramble, then the soft pat of some one landing on his feet. Peering from the window, she made out a faint shadowy form stealing around the corner of the hotel. She put her hand to. her 'heart and listened. Her understanding of the stranger's motives was vague, but she had caught his confession that her kiss had meant much to him, and even in her anxiety she felt an inclination to laugh. She had bestowed that caress as she would have kissed the cold end of a dog's nose. The men b«low stairs, after some discussion, had decided on bullet. This was out of consideration for Billy's standing as a frontiersman. Besides, he 'had stolen no horses. In order not to delay matters, the execution was fixed for the present time and place. Billy stood with his back to the joga of his own hotel, his hands and feet bound, but his -eyes uncovered. He had never lost his nerve." In the short respite which preparation demanded, he told his opponents wbnt he thought of them. "Proud?" he concluded » loag soliloquy as if to the reflector of the lamp, "Proud?" he repeated meditatively, "This yere Hank's jest that proud he's all swelled up like a poisoned pup. Ain't everyone kin corral a man and git fifty thousand dollars without -turnin' a hair." Black Hank distributed three mem to <lo the business. There,, were no heroics. The execution of. this man was* necessary to him, not because he was particularly angry over the escape of the messenger — he expected to capture that individual in due time — but in order to preserve his authority over his men. He was in the act of moving back to give the shooters room, when he heard the door open; and shut. He turned. Before the door stood a small, consumptive-looking man in a lighff check suit. The tenderfoot carried two short-Darrelleil Colt's revolvers, one of which ho presented directly at Black Hank. "'Ands up!" he commanded sharply. Hank was directly covered, so he obeyed. The new-comer's «ye had a strangely restless quality. Of the other dozen inmates j of the room, eleven.- were firmly convinced that the weapon, and eye not directly at Jheir leader \pere personally concerned with The twelfth thought he saw his chance. :To the bewildered onlookers' there seemed to be a flash and. a bang, instantaneous; then things were as before. One of the stranger's weapons still pointed at Black Hank's breast; the second at each one of the others. ' Only, the twelfth man, he who had seen his chance, had collapsed forward to the door. No one could as,'sure himself positive]*- that he had' discovered the slightest motion, on the part of the stranger. . r '„"....'. "Now,". said the latter sharply, "one at a time, gentlemen. Drop your gun !" this last to Black Hank. "Muzzle down. Drop it! Correct." One of the men in the back of the room stirred 6lightly on the ball of his foot. > "Steady>>there!" said the stranger. The man stiffened.- . „..;, .''.,/ , „ ""Next gent," went on the littlo. man, subtly indicating another. The latter obeyed without hesitation. "Next l Now you. Now you in the corner." i " Ono after another the pistols clashed to the floor. Not for an, instant could a single* inmate of the apartment, armed or unarmed, flatter himself that the slightest motion was overlooked. They were like tigers on the cYouch, ready to spring the moment ihe man's guard lowered. It did not lower. The huddled figure on the floor reminded them of what might happen: They obeyed. "Step back!-' commanded tthe stranger next. In a moment he had them standing in a row against the wall, , rigid, upright, their hands over their heads. Then for the first time the stranger moved from his position by the door. "Call her," he eaid to Billy-— "the girl.' 1 Billy raised his voice.. "Nell! O, Neil!" In a moment she appeared in the doorway at the foot of the stairs, without hesitation.or fear. She had slipped on a dress. When she perceived the state of affairs, she brightened almost mischievously. " Would you just as«.soon, m'arn if it ain't troublin' you too much, just sort of naturally untie Billy?" requested the stranger. She did so. The hotelkeeper stretched his arms. " Now pick up" 1 them guns, please. The two set about it. "Where's that infernal old reprobate?" howled Billy, suddenly, looking about for Charley. " '■'""' The patriarch had quietly slipped away. "You can drop .them arms," advised the stranger, lowering "the muzzles of his weapons. The leader started to say something. "You shut up!" said Billy, selecting his own revolvers from the -neap. The stranger suddenly picked up one of the Colt's single-action revolvers which lay on the floor, and, holding the trigger back against the guard, exploded the six charges by hitting th© hammer smartly with the palm of his hand. In the thrusting motion of this discharge he evidently had design, for the first six wine-glasses oh Billy's bar were shivered. It was wonderful work, rattling fire, quicker than a self-cocker, even. He selected another weapon. Erom a pile of tomato cans he, took one and tossed it into the air. Before it had fallen he had perforated it twice, and as it rolled along the floor he helped its progression by four more; bullets which left streams of tomato juice where they had hit. The room was full of smoke. The group watched, fascinated. Then the men against the wall grew rigid. Out (of of the film of smoke longvivid streams flashed towards them, right and left, like the alternating steam of a. locomotive's pistons. Smash, .smash! smash, smash ! hit the bullets with regular thud. With the -twelfth discharge the din ceased.? Midway between the heads of each pair of men against the wall was a round hole. No one was touched. A silence fell. The smoke lightened and | blew slowly through the window and open door. The horses, long since deserted by their guardian in favour of the excitement within, whinnied. The stranger dropped the smoking Colts', and quietly reproduced his own short-barrelled arms from his side pockets. Billy broke the spell at last. "That's shootin'!" he observed with a sigh. • i " The fifty thousand is outside," said tho \ stranger. "Do you want 'em?" There was no reply. "I aims to pull out on one of these here broncs of yours," said he. " Billy, he's all right. He doesn't know nothin' about me." He collected the six-shooters from tho floor. i " I just takes these with me for a spell,' he remarked. "You finds them, if you looks hard enough, along on th' traillikewise your broncs." He backed towards the Tloor. "I'm layin' for the 'man that sticks his head outen that door," he warned. " Stranger," called Black Hank, as he neared the door. The little man paused. "Might I ask your name?" "My name *U Alfred," replied the latter. ;

Black Hank looked chagrined. ! " I've heard tell of you," he remarked. ' The stranger's eye ran over the room and encountered that of the girl. He shrank into himself and blushed. " Good-night," he said hastily, and disappeared. A moment later the beat of hoofs became audible as he led the bunch of •horses away. . For an instant no one spoke. Then i Billy : "By God, Hank, I means to stand ! i pat with you ; 'but you let that kid alone, ' ! or I plugs you!" Billy was the only man armed. j "Kid, huh!" grunted Hank. "Alfred a! kid! I've heard telL of him." i "What 'aye you heard?" inquired the j girl. " He's the plumb best scout on the southern trail, and the best pistol shot in the West," replied Black Hamk. The year following, Billy Knapp, Alfred and another man named Jim Buckley took ! across to the hills the only waggon train ! that dared set out ( that cummer.