第44章

"'The same bein' my idee exact,' says Texas Thompson.'Yere's Hamilton caterin' to this camp with a dance-hall.It's a public good thing.If a gent's morose, an' his whiskey's slow placin' itse'f, he goes over to Hamilton's hurdy-gurdy an' finds relaxation an' relief.

Now yere comes this stranger--an' I makes it fifty dollars even he's from Massachusetts--an' what does he do? Never antes nor sticks in a white chip, but purloins Hamilton's strains, an' pulls off his dances tharby.It's plumb wrong, an' what this party needs is hangin'.'

"'Oh, I don't know,' says Cherokee Hall, who's in on the talk.

'Hamilton's all right, an' a squar' man.All he wants is jestice.

Now, while I deems the conduct of this stranger low an' ornery;still, comin' down to the turn, he's on his trail all right.As this sharp says: Who gives Hamilton any license to go fillin' his hurdy-gurdy full of dance-music? S'pose this gent would come caperin' over an' set in a stack ag'in Hamilton for overloadin' his joint with pianer an' fiddle noises without his consent; an' puttin' it up he's out to drag the camp if Hamilton don't cease? The only way Hamilton gets 'round that kind of complaint is, he don't own them walses an'

quadrilles after they fetches loose from his fiddle; that they ain't his quadrilles no more, an' he's not responsible after they stampedes off into space.'

"'That's straight,' says Dave Tutt, 'you-alls can't run no brand on melodies.A gent can't own no music after he cuts it loose that a-way.The minute it leaves the bosoms of his fiddles, that's where he lets go.After that it belongs to any gent to dance by, cry by, set by, or fight by, as he deems meet an' pleasant at the time.'

"'What do you-alls say?' says Hamilton to Enright an' Peets.'Does this yere piece of oppression on a leadin' citizen, perpetrated by a rank outsider, go? I shore waits for your reply with impatience, for I eetches to go back an' shoot up this new hurdy-gurdy from now till sun-up.'

"Enright takes Doc Peets down by the end of the bar--an' thar's no doubt about it, that Peets is the wisest longhorn west of the Missoury--an' they has a deep consultation.We-alls is waitin'.some interested, to see what they says.It's shore a fine p'int this Colonel's makin' to jestify an' back his game.

"'Get a move on you, Enright!' at last says Dan Boggs, who is a hasty, eager man, who likes action; 'get a move on you, you an'

Peets, an' settle this.You're queerin' the kyards an' delayin' the play.'

"'Well, gents,' says Enright at last, comin' back where we-alls is by the door, 'Peets an' me sees no need decidin' on them questions about who owns a tune after said tune has been played.But thar is a subject, that a-way, which requires consideration; an' which most likely solves this dance-hall deadlock.In all trade matters in a growin' camp like Wolfville, it's better to preserve a equilibrium.

It's ag'in public interest to have two or three dance-halls, or two or three saloons, all in a bunch that a-way.It's better they be spraddled 'round wide apart, which is more convenient.So Peets an'

me proposes as a roole for this yere camp that two hurdy-gurdies be forbid to be carried on within five hundred feet of each other.As it looks like nobody objects, we concloods it's adopted.Nacherally, the last hurdy-gurdy up has to move, which disposes of this yere trouble.'

"'Before I ends what I has to say,' goes on Enright, 'I wants to thank our townsman, Mister Hamilton, for consultin' of the Stranglers prior to a killin'.It shows he's a law-abidin' gent an'

a credit to the camp.An' mighty likely he prolongs his stay on earth.If he'd pranced in an' skelped this maraudin' stranger, Idon't reckon we could avoid swingin' him at the end of a lariat without makin' a dangerous preceedent.As it is, his rival will be routed an' his life made sereen as yeretofore.'

"'As to the execution of this new roole,' concloods Enright, 'we leaves that to Jack Moore.He will wait on this party an' explain the play.He must up stakes an' move his camp; an' if he calls on another shindig after he's warned, we-alls takes our ponies an' our ropes an' yanks his outfit up by the roots.A gent of his enterprise, however, will come to a dead halt; an' his persecutions of Hamilton will cease.'

"'An' you-all calls this yere a free American outfit!' says my Colonel, mighty scornful, when Jack Moore notifies him.'If I don't line out for t'other end of camp you-alls is allowin' to rope my joint an' pull it down! Well, that lets me out; I quits you.I'd be shorely degraded to put in my time with any sech low-flung passel of sports.You-all may go back an' tell your folks that as you leaves you hears me give the call to my guests, "All promenade to the bar";an' the dancin' is done.To-morrow I departs for Red Dog to begin life anew.Wolfville is too slow a camp for any gent with any swiftness to him.'"