| Show THE FRIENDLY C CALL 0 T By B 6 O. O HENRY I Copyright 1920 by dl Page i Co special or- or published b by I with the Wheeler Syn Syn- Inc Published in Monthly Magazine I 1910 Section July When hen I used to i Hardware in inthe inthe I the West AVest esl I often orUm made made a little tO town called caned Saltillo in Color Colorado do I was always certain of ot securing a 1 small or ora ora ora a large order from Crom Simon Bell Deli who kept a general store there Boll Ben was one of or those six foot low voiced I products product formed from a union unton of or the West Veat est and the South I liked hIm m To look at him you would think he ho should be robbing stage coaches or Juggling gold mines with both hands but he would sell you a paper ot or tacks or a spool of ot thread bread with ten en times more patience and courtesy any saleslady in a city department t I store i iI I I had a twofold object in my 1 last I I visit to 10 Saltillo One was to lo sell sll it k bill of ot goods the other to advise lse Bellot Bellof Bell Bellof of ot a chance that I t knew of oC by hy which I was certain he could make a small fortune In Mountain CIt City a town lown on the tho Union Pacific five times larger than Saltillo a mercantile firm was VIlS about I Ito to go to the wall It had a lively and growing custom hut was on the edge of or dissolution and ami ruin Mismanage Mismanagement ment and the gambling habits of oC one of ot the partners explained It The condition condition condition con con- of oC the firm was not yet public property I had my knowledge of ot it from from a private source I knew that if the ready cash were offered the stock and anti good will could be bought for about one fourth their value ulue On arriving In Saltillo 1 I went to Bells Bell's store lIe He nodded to me smiled his broad lingering smile went on leisurely telling selling some candy to a little girl then came oame amE around the counter and shook hands Well he said his invariably preliminary preliminary pre pre- Jocosity at l every call I made I suppose you ou arc out here hero making kodak pictures of the mountains Its It's the wrong time of ot the year ear to buy any hardware of ot course I J told Bell about the bargain In Mountain City If he wanted to take advantage of It I J would rather have missed a sale than have him overstocked overstocked over over- stocked In Saltillo i It sounds good he said with en en- en Id Id I'd like to branch out and do a bigger business and Im I'm obliged to you for mentioning it But well But well you come and stay at my house to tonight tonight tonight to- to night and Ill I'll think about It It was then after sundown and time for tor the larger stores in Saltillo to close The clerks in Bells Bell's put away their books whirled the combination of ot the safe put on their coats and hats and left for their homes Bell i the big double wooden front doors and we stood for a L mo- mo merit breathing the keen fresh moun mountain moun moun- tam tain air all coming across the foothills I A bg man alan I walked down the street r ed h w. w anu in III iron ironi u 01 ot me Ule I of tIe the store His long black mustache mustache mus mus- musj j tache black eyebrows and curly black blackhair blackhair hair contrasted queerly with his light pink complexion which belonged by rights to a blonde He was about 40 and wore a white vest a white hat a watch chain made of five five- dollar gold pieces linked together and anda a a rather well fittin fitting two two-p two piece ece gray grayl l suit of the cut that college boys of 18 are wont to affect He lIe glanced at me distrustfully and then at Be Bel Bl l with coldness and I thought something some some- thing of enmity in his expression Well eU asked Bell as if he were addressing a stranger did you fix up UI that matter Did I the man answered in a resentful tone What do you suppose Ive I've been here two weeks for The business is to be settled tonight Docs Does that suit you or have you got something something some some- thin thing to kick about Its all aU right said Bell I kne v kne you'd roud do it Of course you did did said the magnificent magnificent magnificent mag mag- stranger I 1 done it before You have admitted Bell And so have I. I How do you find it at the hotel Rocky grub But I aint kicking Say can Say can you give me any pointers about managing that that affair affair Its It's my first deal in that line of ot business you know I No Xo I cant can't answered Bell after some thought Ive tried all aU kinds of ways was You'll have to try ty some of your own Tried soft soap Barrels of It Tried ried a saddle girth a buckle on the end of ot it Never none Started to o once and heres here's what I got Bell Ben held out his right hand Even Evenin in the deepening twilight I could see sec on the back of it a long white scar that might l have ave been made by a claw elaw or a knife or some some sharp edged tool Oh well said the florid man carelessly Ill know what to do later on He walked away without another word When he lie had gone ten steps he turned and called caned to Bell Dell You keep well out of the way when the goods are delivered so thera wont won't be an any hitch in the business All right answered Bell Ill rn at attend attend attend at- at tend to my end of or the line This talk was scarcely In Its meaning to me but as it did not concern concern concern con con- cern me I did not let it weigh upon my mv mind But the singularity of ot the theother theother theother other mans man's appearance lingered with me for awhile and as we walked toward Bells Bell's house I remarked to him C Your customer r seems to be a st si st y Kind of ot a fellow not follow not one that you'd like to be he snowed In with In a camp campon on a hunting trip He is that assented Bell EcU heartily He reminds me of ot a rattlesnake that's been poisoned by the bite of a tarantula He doesn't look like a citizen clUzen of Saltillo I went onNo onNo onNo on No said Bell Ben he lives in Sacramento Sacra Sacra- mento Hes He's down here on a lIttle business trip His name ia Is George Ringo and hes he's been my best friend In in fact the only only friend friend I ever had had had- for tor twenty years ears I was too surprised to make any further comment Bell lived in a comfortable plain square squar two two story white house on the edge of ot the little town I waited In Inthe inthe inthe the parlor parlor parlor-a a room depressingly genteel gen gen- teel furnIshed tech furnished with red plush straw matting looped up lace curtains and anda a glass case lar large e enough to contain a mummy full fun of mineral mineraI specimens While I waited I heard upstairs that unmistakable sound instantly recognized the world over over over-a a bickering womans woman's voice rising as h her ler r anger and fury grew I could bear between the guests the temperate rumble of ot B Bells Bell's tones striving to oil the troubled wa waters ten The storm storm subsided d soon but not before I J had heard the woman sa say in a lower concentrated tone ton rather more carrying than her pitched high-pitched railings This Is the last time I Itell Itell Itell tell jou you the the last time Oh you will understand The household seemed to consist of ot only Bell and his wife and a servant or ur two I was introduced to Mrs Bell BellAt At oAt supper S SAt Al l sight she seemed to lo be a 1 handsome woman but I soon soun pel j i that her charm had been spoiled An uncontrolled petulance I thought and emotional egotism an absentee of ot I poise pohle and a habitual dissatisfaction had marred her womanhood During I Ithe Ithe the he meal she showed that false Calse gayety gayety gay gay- gay I ety spurious kindliness ss and reactionary reactionary reaction reaction- ary softness that mark the woman to lo tantrums Withal Vithal she site was a woman who might be attractive attract attract- ive ie to many m men n. n After supper Bell and I took our chairs outside set them on th the tho grass grassin in the moonlight and smoked The full tull moon is a n witch in lit her light truthful men inca dig up for you ou nuggets of pur purer r gold while liars squeeze n out brighter colors from Crom the tubes lube of oC their invention I 1 saw Bells Bell's broad slow dow smile come out upon his face ace anti and andlinger linger there you think George and antI m mo m are a tunny runny kind of ot friends he said The fact tact is we never dd take interest in each others other's company But Buthis Buthis Buthis his idea and mine of oC what a friend should be was always synonymous and we lived up to It it strict all the these years Now Ill I'll give you an idea of or what out out- Idea IsA isA isA is A man dont don't need but one friend The rhe fellow tellow who drinks your liquor and hangs around you slapping Mapping you ou on the tho back and taking up your time lime telling you how much he likes you aint a It friend even if It you did play marbles at school and fish In the same samo creek with him As long as you dont don't need needa a friend one of that kind may answer But a friend to 10 my mind Is one you youcan youcan ou can deal with on oti a a. strict reciprocity basis like me nie and George have always alwa's A A good many years ago him and nd me was connected in a number of ot I- I ways We put our capital together and run a line of freight wagons in m mI New Mexico and we mined some somo and gambled a few And then we got Into Inlo I trouble of ol one or two kinds and I reckon that got us on a better understandable under under- I basis than anything doe elso did unless it was the fact tact that we wen I n never had much personal use for tor each others other's ways George is the vainest man I lover ever see and the he biggest brag He could blow the biggest geyser in inthe inthe I 1 the Yosemite valley back into its hole I I with one whisper I am a quiet t man I I anti and fond studiousness of-studiousness and thou thought ht I The rhe more we used to see each other personally the less we seemed to like to bo be together If It he ever had slapped I me on the back and snivelled over me meI melike I like Ive I've seen men do to what they I called their friends I know Id I'd have had a tumble rough-and-tumble with him on 1 the spot Same way with G George orge He Hei Hel i hated my ways as bad as I 1 did his l When we were mining we lived in separate a tents s so as s not to intrude trude 1 our oth j oX l le e n nn rn p h n But after a long time we wo begun to know each of us could depend on un a athe the other when we wo were in a pinch up to his last dollar word wor l of honor or perjury bullet or drop of blood we had in the world We Ve never even spoke of it to each other because that would have spoiled it But we tried it out time after time until we came c me to know Ive I've grabbed my hat and Jumped a freight and rode miles to identify him when he was about to be hung by mistake in Idaho for a atrain atrain atrain train robber Once I J laid sick of ty typhoid typhoid ty- ty in a tent in Texas without a dollar or change of clothes and sent for George in Boise City He came on the next train The first thing he did before speaking to me was to hang up a little looking glass on the side of the tent and curl his moustache moustache II tache tach and rub some hair hall dye on his head His hair hall is naturally a light reddish Then he gave me rue the most scientific cussing I ever had had and took off oft his coat If you wasn't a Moses-meek Moses I little Marys Mary's lamb you wouldn't have been took down this way says he you got gumption enough not to drink I swamp water or fall down down and and scream whenever you have a 8 little colic or feel feela a mosquito bite you He made me mea I a little mad Youve got the bedside manners i of a Piute Plate medicine man says I. I And AndI I wish you'd go away and let me die I a natural death Im I'm terry torry I sent for foryt or I yc U u. u I Ive a mind to 8 s Y George for fot nobody cares whether you live Jive or die Bu nul now Ive I've D b ben been en trick d into coming cominS' I 1 might as well stay until this little attack of indigestion or fYI r rash ot l' l whatever it is passes away Two weeks a afterward when I was beginning to get around again the doctor laughed and said he was sure that my friends friend's keeping me mad alt all I the time did more than his drugs to cure meSo meSo meSo me So that's the way George and me me was friends There wasn't any sentiment sentiment sentiment senti senti- ment about it it-it it It Was wits just give gho and take and each of us l knew V ne that the theother theother theother other wa was ready for the call can at an any time I remember once I played a sort I of joke on George just to try him I felt a a. little mean about it afterward because I I never ought to have doubted hed he'd do It IL I We Ve was both living JIving In a little town in the San Luis valley running some flocks of sheep and a few cattle We Ve j were partners but as PS usual we didn't I live together I had an old aunt out J from the East visiting for the summer summer sum sum- mer so I rented a 11 little cottage She soon had a coup coupe e of cows and some pigs and chickens to tc make the place look lonk lIk like home G George OlgE lived Jived alone Ina in ina ina a little cabin half halt a mile out of ot town One day a calf that we had died That night I bro broke e its bones dumped it into a coarse sack and tied It up with wire I put on an old shirt tore a sleeve most out of ot it and the collar coHar half off tangled up my hair hall put some red ink on my hanai hanas and some of it over my shirt and face I must have looked like Id I'd been having th the fight of my life Ufe I put the sack in a a. wagon and dro drove out to Georges George's cabin When I halloed he came out in a dressing gown own a Turkish cap and patent leather shoes shoos George always was a great dresser I I d' d dumped ped the bundle to the ground Sh sW says I kind of or wild in my way Take that and bury it Georg I out somewhere behind your house house- bury it just like it is And don donI don don- I Dont get excited says George i And for the Lords Lord's sake go and nd wash I your hands and face lace and put on a clean I shirt I II And he lights his pipe while I drive I away at a gallop The next morning he drops aro around nd to our cottage where my aunt was fiddling with her flowers Clowers I and truck in the front yard sard He Ire bends himself himsel and bows and makes compliments compliments ments as he could do when so disposed disposed dis dis- posed and be begs s a rose bush from her hel saying he had turned up a little land landback landback landback I back of his cabin and wanted to plant something on It b by way of oC usefulness and ornament So my aunt flattered I pulls up one of her biggest by the roots and gives it to him After Afterward yard I see bee it growing where he planted i it I in a place where the grass had been But leveled dirt th thi cleared oft off and und of or me ever spoke slOke neither George nor nOl it to each t other again The flu rose ros higher P y moon drawing water from the sea pixies more and certainly from their dells confidences from SImms Bell the friend of a friend afterward after atter- There come a IL tUne time not long when I 1 was able ward he went on turn for George to do H a good George had ma made e a little pile of or money In beeves bee and ancl he lie was up In Denver when I saw him and he showed up wearing deerskin vests yellow shoes clothes like the n awnings in front or ot drug stores and nd nd his hair dyed so blue that it looked d black In the dark darl He HO wrote me to come up ther there quick quick- that he ho needed me and to bring the boat best outfit of oC clothes cloths I had I 1 had hadem hatlem hadem em em on when hen I got Kot the letter so I 1 left lett lefton letton Ufton on the next train George was wasTell was Tell Dell stopped slopped |
