to the bar and said:
“Lan’lord, what’s your idea for rakin’ up old personalities and blowin’
about your father? Ain’t this company agreeable to you? Ain’t it? If
this company ain’t agreeable to you, p’r’aps we’d better leave. Is that
your idea? Is that what you’re coming at?”
“Why bless your soul, Arkansas, I warn’t thinking of such a thing. My
father and my mother–”
“Lan’lord, don’t crowd a man! Don’t do it. If nothing’ll do you but a
disturbance, out with it like a man (‘ic)–but don’t rake up old bygones
and fling’em in the teeth of a passel of people that wants to be
peaceable if they could git a chance. What’s the matter with you this
mornin’, anyway? I never see a man carry on so.”
“Arkansas, I reely didn’t mean no harm, and I won’t go on with it if it’s
onpleasant to you. I reckon my licker’s got into my head, and what with
the flood, and havin’ so many to feed and look out for–”
“So that’s what’s a-ranklin’ in your heart, is it? You want us to leave
do you? There’s too many on us. You want us to pack up and swim. Is
that it? Come!”
“Please be reasonable, Arkansas. Now you know that I ain’t the man to–”
“Are you a threatenin’ me? Are you? By George, the man don’t live that
can skeer me! Don’t you try to come that game, my chicken–‘cuz I can
stand a good deal, but I won’t stand that. Come out from behind that bar
till I clean you! You want to drive us out, do you, you sneakin’
underhanded hound! Come out from behind that bar! I’ll learn you to
bully and badger and browbeat a gentleman that’s forever trying to
befriend you and keep you out of trouble!”
“Please, Arkansas, please don’t shoot! If there’s got to be bloodshed–”
“Do you hear that, gentlemen? Do you hear him talk about bloodshed? So
it’s blood you want, is it, you ravin’ desperado! You’d made up your
mind to murder somebody this mornin’–I knowed it perfectly well. I’m
the man, am I? It’s me you’re goin’ to murder, is it? But you can’t do
it ‘thout I get one chance first, you thievin’ black-hearted, white-
livered son of a nigger! Draw your weepon!”
With that, Arkansas began to shoot, and the landlord to clamber over
benches, men and every sort of obstacle in a frantic desire to escape.
In the midst of the wild hubbub the landlord crashed through a glass
door, and as Arkansas charged after him the landlord’s wife suddenly
appeared in the doorway and confronted the desperado with a pair of
scissors! Her fury was magnificent. With head erect and flashing eye
she stood a moment and then advanced, with her weapon raised. The
astonished ruffian hesitated, and then fell back a step. She followed.
She backed him step by step into the middle of the bar-room, and then,
while the wondering crowd closed up and gazed, she gave him such another
tongue-lashing as never a cowed and shamefaced braggart got before,
perhaps! As she finished and retired victorious, a roar of applause
shook the house, and every man ordered “drinks for the crowd” in one and
the same breath.
The lesson was entirely sufficient. The reign of terror was over, and
the Arkansas domination broken for good. During the rest of the season
of island captivity, there was one man who sat apart in a state of
permanent humiliation, never mixing in any quarrel or uttering a boast,
and never resenting the insults the once cringing crew now constantly
leveled at him, and that man was “Arkansas.”
By the fifth or sixth morning the waters had subsided from the land, but
the stream in the old river bed was still high and swift and there was no
possibility of crossing it. On the eighth it was still too high for an
entirely safe passage, but life in the inn had become next to
insupportable by reason of the dirt, drunkenness, fighting, etc., and so
we made an effort to get away. In the midst of a heavy snow-storm we
embarked in a canoe, taking our saddles aboard and towing our horses
Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236