Show MY alf FIRST T obituary OBIT in 1 I was wa editing illing pr a paper in a wild mining town in montana I 1 was just from the ea east t and decidedly fresh A prominent member of the society of the seamy strata of the town bad married T aed an old time gambler and well known tir ier named jack brown brown and his fit wife gave gae a farewell reception ao w their friends friend an occasion still green in the memory of the sporting fraternity cis aws being the wildest carouse in the history histon of the burg and this thi is i a touching tri but to the heights breadth wid and depth of tile the occasion they the then removed them s alves to another town in the same state much uch to the regret of the police magistrate magistrate whose hose income depended upon the fees in criminal cases the law and order element of the community cum breathed easier however mrs brown did not take kindly to married life and after a few weeks of fulgence dul gence in stimulants she bhe ascended the golden stairs via ia the morphine route knowing that this item of news would be eagerly read by my subscribers I 1 wrote a biography of the lady referring to her as a member of that circle of society which finds its mentor in the police justice I 1 was rather proud of the effort and secured a copy of the paper as soon as it oame came from the press and viewed the alliterative headline and well rounded phrases with fond and self congratulatory admiration after the paper was distributed about town I 1 took a walk down street As aa I 1 passed the blue front palace of refreshment I 1 ran across mike kelsey jack browns old partner in crime he had a copy of the paper in his band and looked at me with a rather quizzical expression in his eyes remarking so youre gom goin away are you rather surprised I 1 said bald that I 1 had not heard of it as yet 1 I thought you were when I 1 read this he said pointing painting to my obituary effort why said I 1 rather anajo anxiously asly oh bothin kaid baid mike I 1 passed ov 0 to the office too proud to ask ash an explanation but just a little bit uneasy there was but one door to my office and my desk was across a far corner corder of the room so that when I 1 was waa at work ork my back was to the corner and my face toward the door in the wisdom of fate there was to be no delay in my first lesson in ID practical journalism As luck would have hav e it the train f from an the west came in about that hour and as tt it slowed up jack brown bro wn stepped off the cars as big and as brou prou proud d of his hia kuling killing record as ever eter some kind friend was at the depot and showed him my literary gem he read it with close attention ro in uttered a few words wards not translatable and sta started arted for my office t I 1 was sitting at my desk writing a letter to a friend back east telling him how bow well Z was getting along afa androw biow easy em sy tt it was hw f gc with air io his own in the weft when suddenly ud denly I 1 beard the door open and I 1 looked nip ap I 1 saw faw in front of me a aam man about 6 feet tall taa broad and mus muscular aular his face was a type that furni deputies for the sheriffs offices in the estand re recruits ernits for jhb zes gani square jaw wen well developed ped nose nos regular leauren find a droop tha z i far to toi tv if 11 W i 1 11 ii r I 1 ut r I 1 r n i tl TI 1 IT 1 i T zt i broo 11 1 hat U 1 i 1 I li ad in n I 1 1 1111 i 11 1 1 I 1 aind t rist 1 filp 45 ont ant is el I 1 1 anil 1 1 1 i t tl 1 t t e ilg vt TV satt rk 11 I 1 11 lii c in A mv hi rt td t till it lil lii nen t N an en n iny v i e 1 u gnp ne 1 wt izi t i tit lit of tin wiy a ipa inith w a poil po pu able il of any determine bitti kincl n man 11 1 11 ili h a ix is hoi it r in hi 3 ii and but if in addition in iv i crying m ing mad kiy iv your our rayer f fair atu outlook k for your is more than pam pi K lily in jack red rd toward t ward my mv desk a coopy of the tair pipi in in iii hi lift left hand haild his pun gun i in n his right co boering ering me m as aa I 1 sat behind my mv desk pih pale annl motionless did nou ou write tin thi he demanded I 1 knew what hi h had id reference to without further plop or jr specifications u it was nir my literary gem ii I 1 made imide an effort at a sickly smile intended to to ie conciliatory and aft er swallowing two or three big lumps in my throat I 1 managed to say sa y will I 1 I 1 work on the paper you know and the paper is responsible for what Is published klied in it none of your our palaver said jack 1 I 1 want to ehnow who wrote that I 1 im m goin to kill the man that did and he raised rai ed the muzzle of his pun gun toward me I 1 wr wa thinking I 1 thought so hard that my held head ached for hours afterward I 1 finally decided that I 1 had but one chance chanc e fur for life and I 1 said you fou know ed smith mith owns this paper and he be stands good for e everything very thing pub lichod where is he hea demanded jack id ruther kill him anyhow cos he s a always ways claimed to be my briend friend and this shows hes he s a liar with a realization in rny my soul that the crisis had passed I 1 rose from my chair and said hes at home you know where his house isa Is yes stid said jack I 1 know where his bouso is ie mid and that is where im goin now and add ill I 1 11 1 kill 1111 him in his bih own door in lowi sight sieb of his wife he insulted mine after she was dead and no man will do a thing like that when a womans comans dead its ita no mattor matter if she did do wrong she hes s entitled to be let alone and I 1 ill 11 see that she is if and he was gone like a flash out of the door I 1 immediately ran up the street in the opposite direction direct loD intent upon carrying out my hastily conceived plan I 1 rushed into a store the owner of which was an influential business man and well acquainted quain ted with everybody I 1 explained the situation and told him to go around the block in the opposite direction meet jack brown and detain him while I 1 warned ed smith he realized the situation as he knew the man and did as I 1 told him I 1 ran up to smiths smitha house and told him birn what was the matter fortunately his bis horse and buggy were hitched in front of the door he lost no time but bat got in and drove furiously out of town I 1 started b bk back k to the office feeling fairly easy in mind in the distance I 1 saw rny my friend the me merchant and my would be slayer walking rapidly up and down the back stets arm in arm jacks jack 6 gun was in its holster bolster and I 1 knew the danger was over that night the merchant came around a rou n d to the office and shook hands with me jack has left on the evening train he be said youre hm bad a narrow nama escape young man and im mighty glad there was no trouble but let me tell you yon its a mighty sight better to Me sacrifice a good story than to do some one a bad turn torn ive lived many MT years YOM among this kind of people jabid ahw rot get feelings feeling si just fast the me bame as any anybody bad ise I 1 thanked him warmly and grappled tie the moral of 0 the incident to my iny rol with 1 it t rsm as 6 46 bercic lesson for I 1 tally fully realize to this day that my chances chance f tor life were drs aa nothing it was the fee I 1 paid for initiation into the real fellowship ol 01 f WO life on tho the american front frontier ler james n la in chica |