BIG BOY
He was a big, fair-haired boy, blue-eyed and clean limbed, and as he
came down the trail there was a spring to his step that not even a limp
could obliterate; and at every stride the great muscles in his chest
played and rippled beneath his shirt. He was a fine figure of a man,
tall and straight as an Apollo, and yet he was a hobo. Never before had
Bunker Hill seen a better built man or one more open-faced and frank,
but he came down the trail with the familiar hobo-limp and Bunker set
his jaws and waited. It was such men as this, young and strong and full
of blood, who had kept him poor for years. Hobo miners, the most expert
of their craft, and begging their grub on the trail!
"Good morning," nodded Hill and squinted down his eyes as the young man
boggled at his words.
"Good morning," replied the hobo and then, after a pause, he
straightened up and came to the point. "What's the chance to get a
little something to eat?" he inquired with a twisted smile and Bunker
Hill sprang his bomb.
"Danged poor," he returned, and as the hobo blinked he spoke his piece
with a rush. "I've got a store over there where you can buy what you
want; but I've quit, absolutely, feeding every hobo that comes by and
batters my door for grub. I'm an old man myself and you're young and
strong--why the hell don't you get out and work?"
"Never you mind," answered the hobo, his eyes glowing angrily; and as
Old Bunk went on with his tirade the miner's lip curled with scorn.
"That's all right, old-timer," he broke in with cold politeness--"no
offense--don't let me deprive you. I don't make a practice of battering
on back doors. But, say, I'm looking for a fellow with a big, black
mustache--did you see him come by this way?"
"Did I _see_ him?" yelled Hill flying into a fury, "well you're
danged whistling I did! He came in last night and bummed his supper--my
wife had to cook it special--and I gave him his bed and breakfast; and
this morning when he left he didn't even say: 'Thanks!' That's how
grateful these hoboes are! And when I went out to pick up his blankets a
thumping big purse dropped out!"
"Holy Joe!" exclaimed the hobo looking up with sudden interest, "say,
how long ago did he leave?"
"Not half an hour! No, not ten minutes ago--and if my wife hadn't been
there to hold me down I'd have run him till he dropped. And when I
opened that purse it was full of money--there was eight hundred and
twenty-five dollars--and him trying to tell me he was broke!"
"That's him, all right," declared the hobo. "Well, so long; I'll be on
my way."
He started off down the trail at a long, swinging stride, then turned
abruptly back.
"I'll get a drink," he suggested, "if there's no objection. Don't charge
for your water, I reckon."
It was all said politely and yet there was an edge to it which cut Old
Bunk to the quick. He, Bunker Hill, who had fed hoboes for years and had
never taken a cent, to be insulted like this by the first sturdy beggar
that he declined to serve with a meal! He reached for his gun, but just
at that moment his wife laid a hand on his arm. She had not been far
away, just up on the porch where she could watch what was going on, and
she turned to the hobo with a smile.
"Mr. Hill is just angry," she explained good-naturedly, "on account of
that other man; but if you'll wait a few minutes I'll cook you some
breakfast and----"
"Thank you, ma'am," returned the miner, taking off his hat civilly,
"I'll just take a drink and go."
He hurried back to the well and, picking up the bucket, drank long and
deep of the water; then he threw away the rest and with practiced hands
drew up a fresh bucket from the depths.
"You'd better fill a bottle," called Bunker Hill, whose anger was
beginning to evaporate, "it's sixteen miles to the next water."
The hobo said nothing, nor did he fill a bottle, and as he came back
past them there was a set to his jaw that was eloquent of rage and
disdain. It was the custom of the country--of that great, desert country
where houses are days' journeys apart--to invite every stranger in; and
as Bunker Hill gazed after him he saw his good name held up to
execration and scorn. This boy was a Westerner, he could tell by his
looks and the way he saved on his words, perhaps he even lived in those
parts; and in a sudden vision Hill beheld him spreading the news as he
followed the long trail to the railroad. He would come dragging in to
Whitlow's Wells, the next station down the road, so weak he could hardly
walk and when they enquired into his famished condition he would unfold
some terrible tale. And the worst of it was that the boys would believe
it and repeat it to all who passed. Men would hear in distant cow camps,
far back in the Superstitions, that Old Bunk had driven a starving man
from his door and he had nearly perished on the desert.
"Hey!" called Bunker Hill taking a step or two after him, "wait a
minute--I'll give you a lunch."
"You can keep your lunch," said the man over his shoulder and strode
doggedly on up the hill.
"Gimme something to take to him," rapped out Hill to his wife, but the
hobo's sharp ears had caught the words and he wheeled abruptly in his
tracks.
"I wouldn't take your danged lunch if it was the last grub on earth," he
shouted in a towering rage; and while they stood gazing he turned his
back and passed on over the hill.
"Let 'im go!" grumbled Bunker pacing up and down and avoiding his
helpmeet's eye, but at last he ripped out a smothered oath and racked
off down the street to his stable. This was an al fresco affair,
consisting of a big stone corral within the walls of what had once been
the dancehall, and as he saddled up his horse and rode out the narrow
gate he found his wife waiting with a lunch.
"Don't crush the doughnuts," she murmured anxiously and patted his hand
approvingly.
"All right," he said and, putting spurs to his horse, he galloped off
over the hill.
The old town of Pinal lay on a bench above the creek bed, with high
cliffs to the east and north; but south and west the country fell off
rapidly in a series of rolling ridges. Over these the road to the
railroad climbed and dipped with wearisome regularity until at last it
dropped down into the creek-bed again and followed its dry, sandy
course. Not half an hour had passed from the time the second hobo left
till Old Bunk had started after him, yet so fast had he traveled that he
was almost to the creek bed before Bunker Hill caught sight of him.
"Ay, Chihuahua!" he ejaculated in shrill surprise and reined in his
horse to gaze. The young hobo was running and, not far ahead, the Ground
Hog was fleeing before him. They ran through bushy gulches and over
cactus-crowned ridges where the sahuaros rose up like giant sentinels;
until at last, as he came to the sandy creek-bed, the black hobo stood
at bay.
"They're fighting!" exclaimed Bunker with a joyous chuckle and rode down
the trail like the wind.
After twenty wild years in Old Mexico, there were times when Bunker Hill
found Arizona a trifle tame; but here at last there was staged a combat
that promised to take a place in local history. When he rode up on the
fight the young miner and the Ground Hog were standing belt to belt,
exchanging blows with all their strength, and as the young man reeled
back from a right to the jaw the Ground Hog leapt in to finish him.
"Here! None of that!" spoke up Bunker Hill menacing the black hobo with
his quirt; but the battered young Apollo waved him angrily aside and
flew at his opponent again.
"I'll show you, you danged dog!" he cursed exultantly as the Ground Hog
went down before him, "I'll show you how to run out on me! Come on, you
big stiff, and if I don't make you holler quit you can have every dollar
you stole!"
"Hey, what's the matter, Big Boy? What's going on here?" demanded Bunker
of the blond young giant. "I thought you fellers were pardners."
"Pardners, hell!" spat Big Boy, whose mouth was beginning to bleed. "He
robbed me of all my money. We won eight hundred dollars in the drilling
contest at Globe and he collected the stakes and beat it!"
"You're a liar!" retorted the Ground Hog standing sullenly on his guard,
and once more Big Boy went after him. They roughed it back and forth,
neither seeking to avoid the blows but swinging with all their might;
until at last the Ground Hog landed a mighty smash that knocked his
opponent to the ground. "Now lay there," he jeered, and, stepping over
to one side, he picked up a purse from the ground.
It was the same bulging purse that he had forgotten that morning in his
hurry to get over the hill, and as Bunker Hill gazed at it two things
which had misled him became suddenly very plain. The day before had been
the Fourth of July, when the miners had their contests in Globe, and
these two powerful men were a team of double-jackers who had won the
first prize between them. Then the Ground Hog had stolen the total
proceeds, which accounted for his show of great wealth; and Big Boy, on
the other hand, being left without a cent, had been compelled to beg for
his breakfast. A wave of righteous anger rose up in Old Bunk's breast at
the monstrous injustice of it all and, whipping out his pistol, he threw
down on the Ground Hog and ordered him to put up his hands.
"And now lay down that purse," he continued briefly, "before I shoot the
flat out of your eye."
The hobo complied, but before he could retreat the young miner raised
himself up.
"Say, you butt out of this!" he said to Bunker Hill, waggling his head
to shake off the blood. "I'll 'tend to this yap myself."
He turned his gory front to the Ground Hog, who came eagerly back to the
fray; and once more like snarling animals they heaved and slugged and
grunted, until once more poor Big Boy went down.
"I can whip him!" he panted rising up and clearing his eyes. "I could
clean him in a minute--only I'm starved."
He staggered and the heart of Bunker Hill smote him when he remembered
how he had denied the man food. Yet he bored in resolutely, though his
blows were weak, and the Ground Hog's pig eyes gleamed. He abated his
own blows, standing with arms relaxed and waiting; and when he saw the
opening he struck. It was aimed at the jaw, a last, smashing hay-maker,
such a blow as would stagger an ox; but as it came past his guard the
young Apollo ducked, and then suddenly he struck from the hip. His whole
body was behind it, a sharp uppercut that caught the hurtling Ground Hog
on the chin; and as his head went back his body lurched and followed and
he landed in a heap in the dirt.
"He's out!" shouted Bunker and Big Boy nodded grimly; but the Ground Hog
was pawing at the ground. He rose up, and fell, then rose up again; and
as they watched him half-pityingly he scrambled across the sand and made
a grab at the purse.
"You stand back!" he blustered clutching the purse to his breast and
snapping open the blade of a huge jack-knife; but before Old Bunk could
intervene Big Boy had caught up a rock.
"You drop that knife," he shouted fiercely, "or I'll bash out your
brains with this stone!" And as the Ground Hog gazed into his battle-mad
eyes he weakened and dropped the knife. "Now gimme that purse!" ordered
the masterful Big Boy and, cringing before the rock, the beaten Ground
Hog slammed it down on the ground with a curse.
"I'll git you yet!" he burst out hoarsely as he shambled off down the
trail, "I'll learn you to git gay with me!"
"You'll learn me nothing," returned the young miner contemptuously and
gathered up the spoils of battle.