Salt Lake Tribune | 1916-05-28 | Page 36 | Sam Pearsall Sits in with Bellyband Bush

SAM PEARSALL SITS IN WITH BELLYBAND BUSH Owen Pepper Gives His Deduction and Moves On; x Sam Must Have Been Foolish . in the Head. By DAVID A. CURTIS. 1. RECKON most likely Sam Pear-sail Pear-sail must Ja' done went foolish in his haul, " s;tid old man GrctMilaw, with a troubled expression. ex-pression. That lie was indignant was clearly . evident, but it also seemed as if he were grieved, and his friends, being unaccustomed to seeing him mix his emotions, were considerably puzzled. He usuolly took his indignation straight, as'if it were whisky. Moreover, they were somewhat perplexed per-plexed by his reference to Pearsall. They bait not seen Sam for some days, but th'iy hud ascribed his absence to perfectly natural causes. Liquors sonic-times sonic-times had cumulative effects on him, and he was wont to devote occasional intervals of time to recuperative rest. Because of several precedents of this description, therefore, they had given the matter no special consideration until un-til the old man said what he did. That, hovcever, aroused not only their curiosity, but also some anxiety. It had happened, not frequently, but once or twice lief ore, that their comrade com-rade had wandered away and done strange things when they supposed him to be dead to the world. Once, years before, he had strayed as far as Greenville and had returned as a mar ried man. There was no telling what he might have done this time, and because be-cause he had in ii manner endeared himself to them by his sturdy loyalty to the common welfare they were more or less troubled. Done Runned Away. "What's bo done did now' asked Jake Winterbottom, as one prepared to hear the worst and unprepared to contradict con-tradict it, whatever it might be. "He's done run away," said the old man. "Who was she?" inquired Jim Elais-dell Elais-dell with a cynical grm. "Oh. they wa'n't no woman into it, if that's what yo' means," said the old man. ' 1 Sain 's foolish in the haid, all right, like f done said, but I reckon he ain't altogether plumb crazy, not yet he ain 't. "Mebbe he ain't 's foolish Ts yo' all 'pears to reckon," suggested Joe Baa-sett. Baa-sett. "I duniio but what I mought run away my own self if I was married." mar-ried." "That don't prove nothin'. They's 1 a heap o' men done runned away, but i th ' ain't nothin' onder the blue canister canis-ter o' heaven mo' foolish 'n to try to git away f'm u woman," declared the old man very positively. ' ' Not when she 's vo ' wife, th ' ain't," he continued. "A man may git away fr'm ragin ' lions, ot a flood, by runriin', or he mought dodge a streak o' lightnin' if he was quick enough. But they ain't no man Hvin' c'n git away fr 'in a woman, not thouten she wants him to go. An' the last end o' that man 's a hellova lot wups 'n the fust, as the Good Book says. She'll git him again, an' that's what Sam's gwine to find out. Miss' Pcarsall is done started out on his trail. ' ' They shuddered. Not even on the one-eyed man would they have wished such a situation. But Winterbottom spoke us as one not without some hope, albeit hope seemed vain. "Sam's tol'able talented when it comes to uodgin ' trouble, ' ' ho said. "Did he get a good start?" "Don't make no diff'rence how good a start he got," said the old man. "'nor how fur he's done went. She 11 git him sho an ' may the Lawd have mercy on his soul when she does." "I reckon it must be nigh 'bout time, then, i'o ' we una to 'udulgo in silent pra'r f o ' a spell, like they does to camp meetin'," said Winterbottom. , "Th' ain't nothin' else 'pears to be likelv to do no good." " jS'o, nor that won't, neither," declared de-clared the old man, gloomily assured of the worst. "Prayin' is all right when th ' ain 't nothin ' but spiritchal matters c'neerncd. But t 'ain't no mo' good 'n soundin ' brass an ' tinglin ' simples, as the Good Book says, when they's anythin' reely the matter." Realizing the truth of this, as they did, his hearers, while they., said no more for a time, devoted their attention atten-tion to their tobacco, instead of to supplication. sup-plication. And the silence lasted for quite a while. At lengtli Basse tt sighed heavily and said: "Well, Sam was a mighty good smoker. " Better Than Average. It was as if he had been searching his memory for something that might suggest a fitting eulogy for the departed de-parted and as if he had been unable to think of anything else. But the old man was dissatisfied with it. ' i He was a heap mo ' 'n that, ' ' he said. "Sam had his failin's, but he sho' was a heap better 'n th' av 'rage. He wa'n't the best poker player ever lived, an ' X wouldn 't 'a ' backed him in a freeze-out with no reel expert like Blais-dell, Blais-dell, nor even the one-eyed man, but they wa'n 't nobody I ever seen was mo" reliable 'n him when it come to keepin ' up his end of a seesaw. "He didn't rake down so many pots as some his ownself, but .he sho' swolled 'em a heap fo' them what did, f'm time to time. An' he wa'n't no slouch pf a player at that, even when he played a lone hand." "Oh, I don't know," said Mr. Owen Pepper, who had been quietly observant up to this time and had even seemed to find some enjoyment in contemplating contemplat-ing the genuine sorrow of the others, but who found it no longer possible to refrain from speech. " I done seen him lose out into a game, onc't, nigh 'bout the most foolish of anythin' I ever seen did." There was a general start, and for a single instant it seemed as if Mr. Pepper might be hard .put ,to it to escane (Trent nflril hiit thfi nl,l mnn though he glanced at his bungstarter, spoke up quickly and with suspicious and surprising mildness. Wondered About Wad. "Is that so?" he inquired. "How if yo' all was to tell somepin' mo' 'bout it? I reckon mebbe it mought be some int'restin', even if 'taint liable to be true, beiu's yo' all is a tellin' of.it." ; "Oh, I don't know," said Mr. Pepper. Pep-per. "I reckon th' ain't nothin' remarkable re-markable 'bout it, but it's true enough. I seen it my own self an' I ain't got no 'bjeetions to tellin' 'bout it, seein' Sam ain't hyar, if yo' uns reely wants j to hear it. i Nobody but the dove of peace seemed to notice that Bassett moved from one chair to another one that was nearer the door before speaking, but she poisod herself as if for flight when he said, with dry emphasis, "I reckon it sho' will sound reemarkable if yo' all tells it the way it reely was." "Oh, I don't know," said Mr. Pepper. Pep-per. "Th' on'y thing 'bout it what struck me as bein ' anyways remarkable remark-able was where he done got sich a wad as he set iu with, fo' he sho' was drunl when he come abo 'd at New Orleans; an' I hcer'd him pleadin' with the cap'n f o ' to fetch him home, promisin ' to pay up when lie got hyar. 'Pears the ca p 'n knowed him, an ' he 'greed to do it, some ongracious. " ' This yer story b 'gins all right, ' ' said Winterbottom. ' ' Didn 't never make no diff'rence to Sam how drunk ho was. he al 'ays knowed enough fo' to git . home when he was busted." Slept on the Boat. "Oh, I don't know," said Mr. Pepper, Pep-per, ' ' 'cordn ' to what Greenlaw says, he 'pears to ,be gwine the other way now. ' He seemed to intend this as a pleasantry, but seeing that it was not well received he hurried on with his story. "dust nachully ho done went to sleep soon as he got ou the boat," he continued, ' ' but next day he was out on deck, an' afo' night he was settin' into a game with 'a stock o' blues in front of him. I reckon he must a borried a stake fr'm somebody, but 1 never knowed who 'twas." "That was Sam." murmured Winter-bottom Winter-bottom admiringly, ami the others nodded, nod-ded, while Mr. Pepper went on: ' They was six on 'em playin ', but they wa'n't on'y two on 'em was p'fes-sionals p'fes-sionals ontsiden'Sam. One on 'em was Bellybuud Bush an' t'other was Hunk Upa'lree. What made it c'nsid'able int'restin' in-t'restin' to me was how I done heer'd some time afo' that what they was bad blood atween them two an' the gen'l 'mpression was how they was mo' liable fo' to be shootin ' at one another 'n they ws fo' to play into the same game together ' ' Did Some Musing. "I dunuo much 'bout Upatree." said the old man. "but 's fur 's Bellyband's c 'neerncd, they wa'n't nothin' s 'pri.-dn ' 'bout that. He was al'ays c'nsid'able gave to 'musin' hisself, but he didn't never 'low it to interfere with bus'ness. 'C'ordin ' to what yo' all is a say 'n ' they must a been three suckers playin' an' ju.st nachully he'd lay aside all idee of a light till a'ter they'd been skinned." ' ' Mebbe so, ' ' said Mr. Pepper. ' ' I reckoned thev was three on 'em my own self, first ol!t'f lint 'cord in ' to what. I seen later on they must a been fo council! ' Sam. ' ' "Look a hyar!" exclaimed Bassett with some heat. "If yo' all is gwine to tell what happened, tell it. They ain 't no call f o ' no reflections onto Sam 's character." ' 1 Oh, I don 't know, ' ' said Mr. Pepper, coolly. "They was some cause f o ' reflection re-flection into what I done seen. Mebbe yo' all mought think so yo' own self if yo' was to listen fo' a while, 'stead o' buttin ' in c 'ntinyal. "Pepper's right, Joo, " said Blaisdell, "wo uns won't never git to hear the way Sam played them blues if yo' all keeps intcrruptin' the way yo' be. 'Pears to me what mebbe they's some-pin' some-pin' to be learnt 'bout poker, an' that's al'ays wuth while." "Oh, I don't know," said Mr. Pepper, Pep-per, so-newhat arrogantly. He was not accustomed to hold the attention of his audience, and he was more or less puffed up. "They didn't 'pear to be nothin' much to be learnt, on'y what not to do, an' that's what he sho' done," he continued. con-tinued. "Ho wa'n't never a winner, not at no stage o' the game, but he kep' on rakjn' in a pot onc't in a while what was enough to keep hitn goin'. 'S fur's I c. 'd. he 'penred to be tol'able well satisfied with that, an' what I reckoned was what he was a layin' back- waitin' fo' a chanst fo' to make a killin '. Looked like he didn't keer nothin' p'tie'lar 'bout no small amount, whether he win or lose, an' I says to mvself what mo' 'n likelv he'll git a hrinev cooler afo' the settin' 's over, an' was aimin' f o ' to swat the others good an' wholesome when he done got it." "Well, that ain't no bad wav to play." said Blaisdell, with the air of one well qualified to pass an opinion on a doubtful point. "That is," he continued, con-tinued, "if a man don't p'sume too much onto his luck an' have it run agin him steady." "I don't hold tn it my own self." said old man Greenlaw. "Way to win at poker is to gnih anythin ' come-vo' come-vo' way, big or little. llim that d 'spises small pots is liable to git left when it comes to big ones." "Is this yer a d'batin' s'ciety?" inquired in-quired .lake Winterbottom, disgustedly, disgusted-ly, "or is ve gwine to hear what hap pened to Sam? Looks to me like we wouldn't never git nowhar, if they is to be argymonts interjuced in the p 'ceedin 's. ' ' . "Oh, I don't know," said Mr. Pepper, Pep-per, "I got all the time they is, an If yo' uns wants to frivvle, go ahead. I c'n finish the storv later on." By this time thev were all sufficiently sufficient-ly interested to restrain themselves temporarily and they kept silenco while he kept on. "Bimeby they come a deal when I reckoned mebbe Sam was gwine fo' to give 'em that swat, fo' he holt on while Bellvband an two o' the suckers was boostin' each other some lively, lie didn't rise it his own self, not till a'ter the draw, he didn't, but he seen all 't was put up till the suckers was played to a standstill an' one on 'em closed the pot. "Then thev all -stood pat on'y Sam an' he done took one cyard. He kyind o' grinned when ho done it, an' o' co'se thev couldn't nobody tell but what he (lone had fo's, so they was some cautious. One o' the suckers, what had the first say, throwed in a white chip, an' the next one seen it. Then Bellvband Bush he done looked at Sam a' spell, an' fin'ly put up a hundred, an' I says to myself, 'Here's where he gits what's a comin'.' "Sam never batted an eye. He just grins aeain. an' counts his chips keer-f keer-f til, fmdin' what he has nigh to' hundred hun-dred left, so he sees Bellvband Bush's hundred an' boosts him fo' the r'main-der r'main-der of his pile. "Then the two suckers laid down, an' Bellvband Bush says, 'I'll take a chanst,' an' h'e calls, an' all Sam lias to show is a busted flush. "If that wan't the doggouedest fool play ever seen 1 'II eat fried tacks. Yo' can't tell me no mo' 'bout Sam Pcarsall bein' a expert. Try'in' to bluff out throe pat hands on nothin', and Mr. Pepper spat on the floor. "Yo' po ' ign'ant hoob!" shouted the old man, reaching for his bungstarter. "I knowed it all tho while. That was when Sam come home f'm one o' his trips an' paid fo' the house he lives into. He never told nobody how he got his w:ad, but yo' all is done 'xp-lained 'xp-lained it. Bellyband Bush must a staked him. an' split with him later on." He poised his bungstarter aloft and swung it viciously toward the place where Mr. Pepper riad been sitting, but before tho blow fell Mr. Pepper had gone away from there.