The Snyder Signal. (Snyder, Tex.), Vol. THIRTY-THIRD YEAR, No. FIFTY-TWO, Ed. 1 Friday, June 11, 1920 Page: 6 of 16
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LAW AND ORDER IN TEXAS O. HENRY
I found myself in Texas reccittly revisiting
old places and vistas. At a sheep ranch where
I had sojourned many years ago. I stopped for
a week. And as all visitors do I heartily
plunged into the business at hand which hap-
pened to be that of dipping the sheep.
Now this process is so different from ordi-
nary human baptism that it deserves a word of
itself. A vast iron cauldron with half the fires
of Avemus beneath it is partly filled with water
that soon boils furiously. Into that is cast cer-
tain villainous compounds which is allowed to
stew and fume until the witches' broth is strong
enough to scorch the third arm of Palladino her-
self. Then this concentrated brew is mixed in a
long deep vat with gallons of hot water
and the sheep are caught by their hind legs
and flung into the compound. After being
thoroughly ducked by means of a forked pole in
the hands of a gentleman detailed for that pur-
pose they aro allowed to clamber up an incline
into a corral and dry or die as the state of their
constitutions may decree. If you ever caught an
able-bodied two-year-old mutton by the hind
legs and felt the 750 volts of kicking that he can
send through your arm seventeen times before
you can hurl him into the vat you will of
course hope that he may die instead of dry.
Cut this is merely to explain why Bud Oakley
and I gladly stretched ourselves on the bank of
the nearby arroyo after the dipping glad for
the welcome rest and pure contact with the
earth after our muscle-racking labors. The
flock was a small one and we finished at 3 in
the afternoon ; so Bud brought from the corral
on his saddle hom coffee and a coffee pot and a
big hunk of bread and some side bacon. Mr.
Mills the ranch owner and my old friend rode
away to the ranch with his force of Mexican
trabaj adores.
While the bacon was frizzling nicely there
was the sound of hoofs behind us. Bud's six-
shooter lay in its scabbard ten feet away from
his hand. He paid not the slightest heed to the
approaching horseman. This attitude of a
Texan ranchman was so different from the old-
time custom that I marveled. Instinctively I
turned to inspect the possible foe that menaced
us in the rear. I saw a horesman dressed in
black who might have been a lawyer or a par-
son or an undertaker trotting peaceably along
the road by the arroyo.
Bud noticed my precautionary movement and
smiled sarcastically and sorrowfully.
"You've been away too long" said he. "You
don't need to look around w' en anybody gal-
lops up behind you in this state unless
something hits you in the back; and even then
it's liable to be only a bunch of tracts or a peti-
tion to sign. I never looked at that hombre that
rode by but I'll bet a quart of sheep dip that
he's some double-eyed son of a pop gun out
rounding up votes for the legislature."
"Times have changed Bud" said I. oracular-
ly. "Law and order is the rule now in the
southwest."
"I caught a cold gleam from Bud's pale blue
eyes.
"Not that I" I began hastily.
"Of course you don't" said Bud warmly.
"You know better. You've lived here before.
Law and order you say? Twenty years ago
we had 'em here. We only had two or three
laws such as against murder before witnesses
and being caught stealing horses and voting
the Republican ticket. But how is it now? All
we get is orders; and the laws go out of the
state. Them legislators set up there at Austin
and don't do nothing but chew the rag telling
how the country can be saved when the coun-
try is already saved. Me for the old days when
law and order meant what they said. A law
was a law and a order was a order."
"But" I began.
"I was going on" continued Bud "while this
coffee is boiling to describe to you a case of
genuine law and order that I knew of once in
the times when cases was decided in the
chambers of a six-shooter instead of a supreme
court.
"You've heard of old Ben Kirkman the cat-
tle king? His ranch run from the Nueces to
the Rio Grande. In them days as you know
there was real cattle kings. Now they are called
capitalists. Luke Summers was one of his
range bosses. And down to this king's ranch
comes one day a bunch of these Oriental peo-
ple from New York or Kansas City or there-
abouts. Luke was detailed with a squad to
ride about with 'em and see that the rattle-
snakes got fair warning when they was com-
ing and drive the deer out of their wav.
Among the bunch was a black-eyed girl that
wore a number two shoe. That's all I noticed
about her. But Luke must have seen more
for he married her one day before the caballard
started back and went over on Canada Verde
and set up a ranch of his own. I'm skipping
over the sentimental stuff on purpose because
I never saw or wanted to see any of it. And
Luke takes me along with him because we was
old friends and I handled cattle to suit him.
"I'm skipping over much what followed be-
cause I never saw or wanted to see any of it
but three years afterward there was a boy kid
stumbling and blubbering around the galleries
and floors of Luke's ranch. I never had no use
for kids; but it seems they did. And I'm skip-
ping over much what followed until one day
out to the ranch drives in hacks and buck-
boards a lot of Mrs. Summers' friends from
the east a sister or so and two or three men.
One looked like an uncle to somebody; and
one looked like nothing; and the other one had
m corkscrew pants and spoke in a tone of
voice. I never liked a man who spoke in a
tone of voice.
"I'm skipping over much what followed; but
one afternoon when I rides up to the ranch
house to get some orders about a drove of
beeves that was to be shipped I hears some-
thing like a popgun go off. I waits at the
hitching rack not wishing to intrude on private
affairs. In a little while Luke comes out and
gives some orders to some of his Mexican
hands and they go and hitch up sundry and
divers vehicles ; and mighty soon out comes one
1
'And Then the Boy Geti Up Quicker Than He Fel and Jerks Out His Pearl Handle Gun'
of the sisters or so and some of the two or
three men. But two of the two or three men
carries between 'cm the corkscrew man who
spoke in a tone of voice and lays him flat down
in one of the wagons. They covered him with
a tarpaulin not that he deserved it but to show
proper respect for the dead. And then they
all might have boon seen wending their way
away.
" 'Bud' says Luke to me 'I want you to fix
up a little and go up to San Antone with me.'
" 'Let me get on my Mexican spurs' says I
'and I'm your company.'
"One of the sisters or so seems to have stayed
at the ranch with Mrs. Summers and the kid.
We rides to Fneinal and catches the Interna-
tional and hits San Antone in the morning.
After breakfast Luke steers me straight to the
office of a lawyer. They go in a room and talk
and then come out.
"'Oh. there won't be any trouble Mr. Sum-
mers' says the lawyer. 'I'll acquaint Judge
Simmons with the facts today; and the matter
will be put through as promptly as possible.
Law and order reigns in this state as swift
and sure as any in the country.'
" 'I'll wait for the decree if it won't take over
half an hour' says Luke.
" 'Tut tut' says the lawyer man. 'Law must
take its course. Come back day after tomorrow
at half-past nine.'
"At that time ino and Luke shows up and
the lawyer hands him a folded document. And
Luke writes him out a check.
"On the sidewalk Luke holds up the paper to
me and puts a finger the size of a kitchen door
latch on it and says :
" 'Decree of ab-so-lute divorce with cus-to-dv
of the child.'
"'AH right.' says I 'If it's the law. let's
abide by it. But 1 think.' says I. 'that Judg(
Simmons might hao used exemplary clemency
or whatever is the legal term in our cao.'
"You see I wasn't inveigled much into the
desirableness of having infants around a
ranch except for the kind that fed themselves
and sell for sn much on the hoof when they
grow up. But Luke was struck with that sort
of parental foolishness that I never could un-
derstand. All the way riding from the station
back to the ranch he kept pulling that decree
out of his pocket and laying his finger on the
back of it and reading off to me the sum and
substance of it. 'Cus-to-dy of the child. Bud'
savs he. 'Don't forget it cus-to-dy of the
child.'
"But when we hits the ranch we finds our
decree of court obviated nolle prossed and
"And after that we never alluded to allu-
sions as you might say.
"Skipping over much what happened in the
next twelve years Luke was made sheriff of
Frio county. He made me his office deputy.
Now don't get in your mind no wrong appari-
tions of a office deputy doing sums in a book
or mashing letters in a cider press. In them
days his job was to watch the back windows so
nobody didn't plug the sheriff in the rear while
he was adding up mileage at his desk in front.
And in them days I had qualifications for the
job. And there was law and order in Trio
county and school books and all the whisky
you wanted. And as I say there was law and
order instead of enactments and restrictions
siuh as disfigure your umpire state today. We
had our office at lVarsall. the county seat from
which we emerged forth on necessary occa-
sions to soothe whatever fraceses and unrest
that might occur in our jurisdiction.
"Skipping over much what happened while
me and Luke was sheriff 1 want to give yon
an idea of how the law was respected in th m
days. Luke was what yu would call r.e of
the most conscious men in the world lie never
knew much book law but he had the inner
emoluments of justice and mercy inculcated
into his system. If a respectable citizen shot
a Mexican or held up a train and cleaned out
the safe in the express Car and Luke ever got
hold of him. he'd give the gm.ty party such a
reprimand and a cussin' out that he'd prohiiU
never do it again. But or.ee M somebody .'leal
a horse (unless it wa.a Spanish pony) or rut
a wire fence or otherwise impair the peace
and indignity of Frio county. Luke and me
would be on 'em with habeas corpuses and
smokeless powder and ali the modern inven-
tions of equity and etiquette.
"We certainly had our county on a basis of
lawfulness. I've known persons of eastern
classit'n ation with little . pot ted cap.; and hwt-ton-up
shoes to get oil" the train at !Vara!l and
eat sandw u lies at the railroad station without
being .'hot at or even roped and drug about
by the citizens of the town.
"Luke had his own ideas of legality and jus-
tice. He was kind of training me to succeed
him when he went out of oflkv. He was al-
ways looking ahead to the time when he'd quit
shcrifTing. What l.e wanted to do was to bj!ld
a yellow house with latiicework under the perch
and have hens scratching in the yard. The
one main thing in his mind seemed to be the
yard.
" 'Bud' he says to me. 'by instinct and senti-
ment I'm a contractor. 1 want to be a con-
A GOOD STORY by O. HENRY
the famous short story writer is printed on this page. He once lived in
Texas and this border story is written in his best and most interesting
style. Read it. (Editor)
remanded for trial. Mrs. Summers and the
kid was gone. They tell us that an hour after
me and Luke had started for San Antone she
had a team hitched and lit out for the nearest
station with her trunk and the youngster.
"Luke takes out his decree once more and
reads off its emoluments.
" 'It ain't possible Bud' says he 'for this
to be. It's contrary to law and order. It's
wrote as plain as day here 'Cus-to-dy of the
child." '
" 'There is what you might call a human
leaning' says I 'toward smashing 'cm both
not to mention the child.'
" 'Judge Simmons' goes on Luke 'is a in-
corporated officer of the law. She can't take
the boy away. He belongs to me by statutes
passed and approved by the state of Texas.'
" 'And he's removed from the jurisdiction of
mundane mandamuses' says I 'by the un-
earthly statutes of female partiality. Let us
praise the Lord and be thankful for whatever
small mercies ' I begins; but I sec Luke don't
listen to me. Tired as he was he calls for a
fresh horse and starts back again for the sta-
tion. "He come back two weeks afterward not
saying much.
" 'We can't get the trail' says he; 'but we've
done all the telegraphing that the wires'll
stand and we've got these city rangers they
call detectives on the lookout. In the mean-
time Bud' says he 'we'll round up them cows
on Brush Creek and wait for the law to take
its cours '
tractor. That's what I'll be when I get out of
office.'
" 'What kind of a contractor?' says I. 'It
sounds like a kind of business to me. You ain't
going to haul cement or establish branches or
work on a railroad are you?'
" 'You don't understand' says Luke. 'I'm
tired of space and horizons and territory and
distances and things like that. What I want
is reasonable contraction. I want a yard with
a fence around it that you can go out and set
on after supper and listen to whip-poor-wills'
says Luke.
" 'That's the kind of a man he was. He was
homelike although he'd had bad luck in such
investments. But he never talked about them
times on the ranch. It seemed like he'd for-
gotten about it. I wondered how with his ideas
of yards and chickens and notions of lattice-
work he'd seemed to have got out of his mind
that kid of his that had been taken away from
him unlawful in spite of his decree of cuurt.
But he wasn't a man you could ask about such
things as he didn't refer to in his own conver-
sation. "I reckon he'd put all his emotions and ideas
into being sheriff. I've read in books about men
that was disappointed in these poetic and fine-
haired and high-collared affairs with ladies re-
nouncing truck of that kind and wrapping
themselves up into some occupation like paint-
ing pictures or herding sheep or science or
teaching sch6ol something to make 'em forget.
Well I guess that was the way with Luke. But
as he couldn't paint pictures he took it out
i
him about it he was mad all over.
by didn't you telegraph to San Antor.jj
c. 'and have the bunch arrested ther-l
I. ...H .... I 'I nlii o . L (..-) n a r
l-i i rives and ir maki
in rounuwiu uii """ -
... n..in (m w een in it VOU W
well armed and not afraul ot requuiuua
tarantulas.
"One dav there passes through lVarsall
bunch of these money investors I rum the ea
and they stopped oil there Pearsal r then
ing the dinner station on the I. A: G. in
was just coming back from Mexico looki
after mines and such.. There was five of cm
four solid parties with gold watch chains th
...... .m ..! mm Hem- twi hundred nounds i
WOltlU pHWi '.v. v .
the hoof and one kid about seventeen
eighteen.
"This vouncster had on one of them cowb
suits such as tenderfoots bring west with 'ei
and vou could see he was aching to wingf
couple of Indians or bag a grizzly or two wi
the little pearl-handled gun ne nau ouu.
around his w aist.
"I walked dow n to the depot to keep an e
on the outfit and see that they didn't locate a
land or scare the cow ponies hitched in front
Murchison's store or act otherwise unsecm
Luke was awav after a gang of cattle tliie
down on the Nueces and 1 always looked af:
ihe law and order when he wasn't there.
"After dinner this boy comes out of the d
ing room while the train was waiting a
prances up and down the platform ready
shoot all antelope lions or private citizens tl
mitrht endeavor to molest or come too near hi
lie was a trood lookimr kid: only he was h
all them tenderfoots he didn't know a la
and-order town when he saw it.
"Bv and bv along comes Pedro Johnson t
proprietor of the Crystal Palace chili-con-car
stand in lVarsall. l'cdro was a man who lik1
to amuse himself; so he kind of herd rides tl
veunL'-tcr. lauehimr at him. tickled to death
was too far away to hear but the kid seems
mention some remarks to Pedro and Bean
goes up and slaps him about nine feet awaT
and laughs harder than ever. And then tf'
ooy gets up quicker than he fell and jerks (it
his little pearl-handled gun and bing! bin'
bii.g! Pedro gets it three times in special alj
treasured portions of his carcass. 1 saw t
dust fly off his clothes every time the bull-lj'
Lit Soinet iiv.es them little thirtv-twos caiM1
worry at close range.
"The engine bell was ringing and the tr."
itarti::;: off slow. 1 goes up to the kid a
places him under arrest and takes away i
gun. But the first thing I knew that cahallal
of cap.taiist - makes a break for the train. (
ei' 'em hesKates in front of me for a seco
aid kind !' Miules and shoves his hand
against my t hin. and I sort of laid down on tj
t-i.-.tfoim and too; a nap. I never want a'
person. except a barber to tako liberties li
that w uh my face aam. When I woke up t
whole outiU train. bo and all was gone.
asked about P' d-o und .Ivy told me the doct.
said h' would mo. er provided his WOUI.
didn't tern n;t t b" fatal.
"Wio-n Luke p-t back three days later afc
1 nH him about it he was mad all over
- 'Win
he ask
"'Oh. well' says 1. 'I always did adm:
Mefrraphv ; b'-'t .vtmr.omy was what I had toi
up ju.-t then.' That cup U'.list sure knew h-
to gesticulate with his hands.
"Luke got madder and madder. He inv
tigates and finds in the depot a card one
the men had dropped that gives the address
some hombre called Scudder in New Yo
City.
" i'.ud.' says Luke 'I'm going after th
' 'inch. I'm going there and get the man
boy as yo.j say he was. and brng him bar
I'm sh'Tid of Frio county and 1 shall keep h
and order in its precincts while I'm able
draw a gun. And 1 want you to go with n
No eastern Yankee can shoot up a rcspectal
;.nd well-known citizen of lVarsall 'special
with a thirty-two caliber and escape the la
Pel;-1 Johnson' says Luke 'is one of our me
pr minent citizens and business men. I'll a
point S;.m l'.ell acting sheriff with penitentia
powers while I'm away and you and me w
tab- the :ix forty-five northbound tomorrc
evening arid follow up this trail.'
" 'I'm your company' says I. 'I never s
this New York but I'd like to. But Luk
rays I 'don't you have to have a dispensati
or a habeas corpus or something from the stat
when you reach out that far for rich men ai
malefactors?'
" 'Did I have a requisition' says Luke wh
I went over into the Brazos bottoms ai
brought back Bill Grimes and two more f
holding up the International? Did me and y
have a search warrant or a posse comitati
when we rounded up them six Mexican co
thieves down in Hidalgo? It's my business :
keep order in Frio county.'
" 'And it's my business as office depuh
says I 'to see that business is carried on aJ
cording to law. Between us both .we ought tl
keep things pretty well cleaned up.'
"So the next day Luke packs a blanket an
some collars and his mileage book in a havei
sack and him and me hits the breeze for Nei
lork. It was a powerful long ride. The seat
in the cars was too short for six-footers like u
to slee p comfortable on ; and the conductor ha
to keep us from getting off at every town tha
had five-story houses in it. But we cot ther
finally ; and we seemed to see right away thai
ne was ngnt about it.
" 'Luke' says I 'as office deputy and from
law standpoint it don t look to me like thi
place is properly and legally in the jurisdictlo
of Frio county Texas.'
" 'From the standpoint of order' says he 'it'!
amenable to answer for its sins to the nronerl
appointed authorities from Bcarsall to Jen
salem.
"'Amen' says I. 'But let's turn our trie
Buuucii miiu nue. i aon i line tne Jooks o
this place.
"'Think of Pedro Johnson.' savs Luke.
friend of mine and yours shot down by one o
mese giiaea abolitionists at his very doorl
(Continued on Page Four)
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The Snyder Signal. (Snyder, Tex.), Vol. THIRTY-THIRD YEAR, No. FIFTY-TWO, Ed. 1 Friday, June 11, 1920, newspaper, June 11, 1920; Snyder, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth288390/m1/6/?q=waco+tornado: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .