Desert Dust

by Edwin L. Sabin

  CHAPTER IV

  I MEET FRIENDS

  What shall I say of a young man like myself, fresh from the green East ofNew York and the Hudson River, landed expectant as just aroused from adream of rare beauty, at this Benton City, Wyoming Territory? The dust, asfine as powder and as white, but shot through with the crimson of sunset,hung like a fog, amidst which swelled a deafening clamor from figuresrushing hither and thither about the platform like half-world shades. Ascore of voices dinned into my ears as two score hands grabbed at myvalise and shoved me and dragged me.

  "The Desert Hotel. Best in the West. This way, sir."

  "Buffalo Hump Corral! The Buffalo Hump! Free drinks at the Buffalo Hump."

  "Vamos, all o' you. Leave the gent to me. I've had him before. Mike'sPlace for you, eh? Come along."

  "The Widow's Cafe! That's yore grub pile, gent. All you can eat for twobits."

  A deep voice boomed, stunning me.

  "The Queen, the Queen! Bath for every room. Individual towels. The Queen,the Queen, she's clean, she's clean."

  It was a magnificent bass, full toned as an organ, issuing, likewise asout of a reed, from a swart dwarf scarcely higher than my waist. The word"bath," with the promise of "individual towels," won me over. Somethingmust be done, anyway, to get rid of these importunate runners. Thereupon Iacquiesced, "All right, my man. The Queen," and surrendering my bag to hishairy paw I trudged by his guidance. The solicitations instantly ceased asif in agreement with some code.

  We left the station platform and went ploughing up a street over shoetopswith the impalpable dust and denoted by tents and white-coated shackssparsely bordering. The air was breezeless and suffocatingly loaded withthat dust not yet deposited. The noises as from a great city swelledstrident: shouts, hammerings, laughter, rumble of vehicles, cracking oflashes, barkings of dogs innumerable--betokening a thriving mart ofindustry. But although pedestrians streamed to and fro, the men in motleyof complexions and costumes, the women, some of them fashionably dressed,with skirts eddying furiously; and wagons rolled, horses cantered, andfrom right and left merchants and hawksters seemed to be calling theirwares, of city itself I could see only the veriest husk.

  The majority of the buildings were mere canvas-faced up for a few feet,perhaps, with sheet iron or flimsy boards; interspersed there were a fewwooden structures, rough and unpainted; and whereas several of thehousings were large, none was more than two stories--and when now andagain I thought that I had glimpsed a substantial stone front a closerinspection told me that the stones were imitation, forming a veneer of thesheet iron or of stenciled pine. Indeed, not a few of the upper stories,viewed from an unfavorable angle, proved to be only thin parapetsupstanding for a pretense of well-being. Behind them, nothing at all!

  In the confusion of that which I took to be the main street because of thestores and piles of goods and the medley of signs, what with the hubbubfrom the many barkers for saloons and gambling games, the constant dodgingamong the pedestrians, vehicles and horses and dogs, in a thoroughfarethat was innocent of sidewalk, I really had scant opportunity to gaze;certainly no opportunity as yet to get my bearings. My squat guideshuttled aside; a group of loafers gave us passage, with sundry stares atme and quips for him; and I was ushered into a widely-open tent-buildingwhose canvas sign depending above a narrow veranda declared: "The QueenHotel. Beds $3. Meals $1 each."

  Now as whitely powdered as any of the natives I stumbled across a singlelarge room bordered at one side by a bar and a number of small tables (allwell patronized), and was brought up at the counter, under the alert eyesof a clerk coatless, silk-shirted, diamond-scarfed, pomaded andslick-haired, waiting with register turned and pen extended.

  My gnome heavily dropped my bag.

  "Gent for you," he presented.

  "I wish a room and bath," I said, as I signed.

  "Bath is occupied. I'll put you down, Mr.----" and he glanced at thesignature. "Four dollars and four bits, please. Show the gentleman toNumber Six, Shorty. That drummer's gone, isn't he?"

  "You bet."

  "The bath is occupied?" I expostulated. "How so? I wish a private bath."

  "Private? Yes, sir. All you've got to do is to close the door while you'rein. Nobody'll disturb you. But there are parties ahead of you. First come,first served."

  I persisted.

  "Your runner--this gentleman, if I am not mistaken (and I indicated thegnome, who grinned from dusty face), distinctly said 'A bath for everyroom.'"

  Bystanders had pushed nearer, to examine the register and then me. Theylaughed--nudged one another. Evidently I had a trace of green in my eye.

  "Quite right, sir," the clerk assented. "So there is. A bath for everyroom and the best bath in town. Entirely private; fresh towel supplied.Only one dollar and four bits. That, with lodging, makes four dollars anda half. If you please, sir."

  "In advance?" I remonstrated--the bath charge alone being monstrous.

  "I see you're from the East. Yes, sir; we have to charge transients inadvance. That is the rule, sir. You stay in Benton City for some time?"

  "I am undetermined."

  "Of course, sir. Your own affair. Yes, sir. But we shall hope to makeBenton pleasant for you. The greatest city in the West. Anything you wantfor pleasure or business you'll find right here."

  "The greatest city in the West--pleasure or business!" A bitter wave ofhomesickness welled into my throat as, conscious of the enveloping dust,the utter shams, the tawdriness, the alien unsympathetic onlookers, thesuave but incisive manner of the clerk, the sense of having been "done"and through my own fault, I peeled a greenback from the folded packet inmy purse and handed it over. Rather foolishly I intended that this displayof funds should rebuke the finicky clerk; but he accepted without commentand sought for the change from the twenty.

  "And how is old New York, suh?"

  A hearty, florid, heavy-faced man, with singularly protruding fishy eyesand a tobacco-stained yellowish goatee underneath a loosely dropping lowerlip, had stepped forward, his pudgy hand hospitably outstretched to me: aman in wide-brimmed dusty black hat, frayed and dusty but, in spots,shiny, black broadcloth frock coat spattered down the lapels, exceedinglysoiled collar and shirt front and greasy flowing tie, and trousers tuckedinto cowhide boots.

  I grasped the hand wonderingly. It enclosed mine with a soft pulpysqueeze; and lingered.

  "As usual, when I last saw it, sir," I responded. "But I am from Albany."

  "Of course. Albany, the capital, a city to be proud of, suh. I welcomeyou, suh, to our new West, as a fellow-citizen."

  "You are from Albany?" I exclaimed.

  "Bohn and raised right near there; been there many a time. Yes, suh. Fromthe grand old Empire State, like yourself, suh, and without apologies.Whenever I meet with a New York State man I cotton to him."

  "Have I your name, sir?" I inquired. "You know of my family, perhaps."

  "Colonel Jacob B. Sunderson, suh, at your service. Your family name isfamiliar to me, suh. I hark back to it and to the grand old State withpleasure. Doubtless I have seen you befoh, sur. Doubtless in the City--atJohnny Chamberlain's? Yes?" His fishy eyes beamed upon me, and his breathsmelled strongly of liquor. "Or the Astor? I shall remember. Meanwhile,suh, permit me to do the honors. First, will you have a drink? This way,suh. I am partial to a brand particularly to be recommended for clearingthis damnable dust from one's throat."

  "Thank you, sir, but I prefer to tidy my person, first," I suggested.

  "Number Six for the gentleman," announced the clerk, returning to me mychange from the bill. I stuffed it into my pocket--the Colonel's singulareyes followed it with uncomfortable interest. The gnome picked up my bag,but was interrupted by my new friend.

  "The privilege of showing the gentleman to his quarters and putting him athome shall be mine."

  "All right, Colonel," the clerk carelessly consented. "Number Six."

  "And my trunk. I have a trunk at the depot," I informed.

  "The boy will tend to it."<
br />
  I gave the gnome my check.

  "And my bath?" I pursued.

  "You will be notified, sir. There are only five ahead of you, and onegentleman now in. Your turn will come in about two hours."

  "This way, suh. Kindly follow me," bade the Colonel. As he strode before,slightly listed by the weight of the bag in his left hand, I remarked apeculiar bulge elevating the portly contour of his right coat-skirt.

  We ascended a flight of rude stairs which quivered to our tread, proceededdown a canvas-lined corridor set at regular intervals on either hand withnumbered deal doors, some open to reveal disorderly interiors; and with"Here you are, suh," I was importantly bowed into Number Six.

  We were not to be alone. There were three double beds: one well rumpled asif just vacated; one (the middle) tenanted by a frowsy headed, whiskeredman asleep in shirt-sleeves and revolver and boots; the third, at theother end, recently made up by having its blanket covering hastily thrownagainst a distinctly dirty pillow.

  "Your bed yonduh, suh, I reckon," prompted the Colonel (whose accents didnot smack of New York at all), depositing my bag with a grunt of relief."Now, suh, as you say, you desire to freshen the outer man after yourjourney. With your permission I will await your pleasure, suh; and yourtoilet being completed we will freshen the inner man also with a glass ortwo of rare good likker."

  I gazed about, sickened. Item, three beds; item, one kitchen chair; item,one unpainted board washstand, supporting a tin basin, a cake of soap, atin ewer, with a dingy towel hanging from a nail under a cracked mirrorand over a tin slop-bucket; item, three spittoons, one beside each bed;item, a row of nails in a wooden strip, plainly for wardrobe purposes;item, one window, with broken pane.

  The board floor was bare and creaky, the partition walls were ofonce-white, stained muslin through which sifted unrebuked a mixture ofsounds not thoroughly agreeable.

  The Colonel had seated himself upon a bed; the bulge underneath his skirtsjutted more pronouncedly, and had the outlines of a revolver butt.

  "But surely I can get a room to myself," I stammered. "The clerk mistakesme. This won't do at all."

  "You are having the best in the house, suh," asserted the Colonel, withexpansive wave of his thick hand. He spat accurately into the convenientspittoon. "It is a front room, suh. Number Six is known as very choice,and I congratulate you, suh. I myself will see to it that you shall haveyour bed to yourself, if you entertain objections to doubling up. We are,suh, a trifle crowded in Benton City, just at present, owing to theunprecedented influx of new citizens. You must remember, suh, that we areless than one month old, and we are accommodating from three to fivethousand people."

  "Is this the best hotel?" I demanded.

  "It is so reckoned, suh. There are other hostelries, and I do not desire,suh, to draw invidious comparisons, their proprietors being friends ofmine. But I will go so far as to say that the Queen caters only to theelite, suh, and its patronage is gilt edge."

  I stepped to the window, the lower sash of which was up, and gazedout--down into that dust-fogged, noisy, turbulent main street, of flouryhuman beings and grime-smeared beasts almost within touch, boiling aboutthrough the narrow lane between the placarded makeshift structures. Ilifted my smarting eyes, and across the hot sheet-iron roofs I saw thecountry south--a white-blotched reddish desert stretching on, desolate,lifeless under the sunset, to a range of stark hills black against theglow.

  "There are no private rooms, then?" I asked, choking with a gulp ofdespair.

  "You are perfectly private right here, suh," assured the Colonel. "You maystrip to the hide or you may sleep with your boots on, and no questionsasked. Gener'ly speaking, gentlemen prefer to retain a layer of artificialcovering--but you ain't troubled much with the bugs, are you, Bill?"

  He leveled this query at the frowsy, whiskered man, who had awakened andwas blinking contentedly.

  "I'm too alkalied, I reckon," Bill responded. "Varmints will leave me anytime when there's fresh bait handy. That's why I likes to double up. Thatthere Saint Louee drummer carried off most of 'em from this gent's bed, sohe's safe."

  "You are again to be congratulated, suh," addressed the Colonel, to me."Allow me to interdeuce you. Shake hands with my friend Mr. Bill Brady.Bill, I present to you a fellow-citizen of mine from grand old New YorkState."

  The frowsy man struggled up, shifted his revolver so as not to sit on it,and extended his hand.

  "Proud to make yore acquaintance, sir. Any friend of the Colonel's is afriend o' mine."

  "We will likker up directly," the Colonel informed. "But fust thegentleman desires to attend to his person. Mr. Brady, suh," he continued,for my benefit, "is one of our leading citizens, being proprietor of--whatis it now, Bill?"

  "Wall," said Mr. Brady, "I've pulled out o' the Last Chance and I'm onspec'. The Last Chance got a leetle too much on the brace for healthyplay; and when that son of a gun of a miner from South Pass City shot itup, I quit."

  "Naturally," conceded the Colonel. "Mr. Brady," he explained, "has beenone of our most distinguished bankers, but he has retired from thatindustry and is considering other investments."

  "The bath-room? Where is it, gentlemen?" I ventured.

  "If you will step outside the door, suh, you can hear the splashing downthe hall. It is the custom, however, foh gentlemen at tub to keep thebath-room door closed, in case of ladies promenading. You will have timefoh your preliminary toilet and foh a little refreshment and a pasear intown. I judge, with five ahead of you and one in, the clerk was mightynear right when he said about two hours. That allows twenty minutes toeach gentleman, which is the limit. A gentleman who requires more thantwenty minutes to insure his respectability, suh, is too dirty foh suchaccommodations. He should resort to the river. Ain't that so, Bill?"

  "Perfectly correct, Colonel. I kin take an all-over, myself, in fifteen,whenever it's healthy."

  "But a dollar and a half for a twenty minutes' bath in a public tub israther steep, seems to me," said I, as I removed my coat and opened mybag.

  "Not so, suh, if I may question your judgment," the Colonel reproved. "Thetub, suh, is private to the person in it. He is never intruded upon unlesshe hawgs his time or the water disagrees with him. The water, suh, ishauled from the river by a toilsome journey of three miles. Youunderstand, suh, that this great and growing city is founded upon thesheer face of the Red Desert, where the railroad stopped--the river beingoccupied by a Government reservation named Fort Steele. TheGovernment--the United States Government, suh--having corralled the riverwhere the railroad crosses, until we procure a nearer supply by artesianwells or by laying a pipe line we are public spirited enough to haul ourwater bodily, for ablution purposes, at ten dollars the barrel, or tencents, one dime, the bucket. A bath, suh, uses up consider'ble water, evenif at a slight reduction you are privileged to double up with anothergentleman."

  I shuddered at the thought of thus "doubling up." God, how my stomach sankand my gorge rose as I rummaged through that bag, and with my toiletarticles in hand faced the washstand!

  They two intently watched my operations; the Colonel craned to peer intomy valise--and presently I might interpret his curiosity.

  "The prime old bourbon served at the fust-class New York bars stillmaintains its reputation, I dare hope, suh?" he interrogated.

  "I cannot say, I'm sure," I replied.

  "No, suh," he agreed. "Doubtless you are partial to your own stock. Thatbottle which I see doesn't happen to be a sample of your favoritepreservative?"

  "That?" I retorted. "It is toilet water. I am sorry to say I have noliquor with me."

  "The deficiency will soon be forgotten, suh," the Colonel bravelyconsoled. "Bill, we shall have to personally conduct him and provide himwith the proper entertainment."

  "What is your special line o' business, if you don't mind my axin'?" Billinvited.

  "I am out here for my health, at present," said I, vainly hunting a cleanspot on the towel. "I have been advised by my physician to seek a place
inthe Far West that is high and dry. Benton"--and I laughed miserably,"certainly is dry." For now I began to appreciate the frankly affirmativeresponses to my previous confessions. "And high, judging by the rates."

  "Healthily dry, suh, in the matter of water," the Colonel approved. "Weare not cursed by the humidity of New York State, grand old State that sheis. Foh those who require water, there is the Platte only three milesdistant. The nearer proximity of water we consider a detriment to therobustness of a community. Our rainy weather is toler'bly infrequent. Thelast spell we had--lemme see. There was a brief shower, scurcely enough tosanction a parasol by a lady, last May, warn't it, Bill? When we wascamped at Rawlins' Springs, shooting antelope."

  "Some'ers about that time. But didn't last long--not more'n two minutes,"Bill responded.

  "As foh fluids demanded by the human system, we are abundantly blessed,suh. There is scurcely any popular brand that you can't get in Benton, andI hold that we have the most skillful mixtologists in history. There aresome who are artists; artists, suh. But mainly we prefer our likkerstraight."

  "We're high, too," Bill put in. "Well over seven thousand feet, 'cordin'to them railroad engineers."

  "Yes, suh, you are a mile and more nearer Heaven here in Benton than youwere when beside the noble Hudson," supplemented the Colonel. "And theprices of living are reasonable; foh money, suh, is cheap and ready tohand. No drink is less than two bits, and a man won't tote a match acrossa street foh less than a drink. Money grows, suh, foh the picking. Ourmerchants are clearing thirty thousand dollars a month, and theprofessional gentleman who tries to limit his game is considered alow-down tin-horn. Yes, suh. This is the greatest terminal of the greatestrailroad in the known world. It has Omaha, No'th Platte, Cheyenne beat toa frazzle. You cannot fail to prosper." They had been critically watchingme wash and rearrange my clothing. "You are not heeled, suh, I see?"

  "Heeled?" I repeated.

  "Equipped with a shooting-iron, suh. Or do you intend to remedy thatdeficiency also?"

  "I have not been in the habit of carrying arms."

  "'Most everybody packs a gun or a bowie," Bill remarked. "Gents and ladiesboth. But there's no law ag'in not."

  I had finished my meager toilet, and was glad, for the espionage had beenannoying.

  "Now I am at your service during a short period, gentlemen," I announced."Later I have an engagement, and shall ask to be excused."

  The Colonel arose with alacrity. Bill stood, and seized his hat hanging atthe head of the bed.

  "A little liquid refreshment is in order fust, I reckon," quoth theColonel. "I claim the privilege, of course. And after that--you havesporting blood, suh? You will desire to take a turn or two foh the honorof the Empire State?"

  The inference was not quite clear. To develop it I replied guardedly,albeit unwilling to pose as a milksop.

  "I assuredly am not averse to any legitimate amusement."

  "That's it," Bill commended. "Nobody is, who has red in him; and a fellowkin see you've cut yore eye-teeth. What might you prefer, in line of apass-the-time, on spec'?"

  "What is there, if you please?" I encouraged.

  He and the Colonel gravely contemplated each other. Bill scratched hishead, and slowly closed one eye.

  "There's a good open game of stud at the North Star," he proffered. "I kinget the gentleman a seat. No limit."

  "Maybe our friend's luck don't run to stud," hazarded the Colonel. "Studexacts the powers of concentration, like faro." And he also closed oneeye. "It's rather early in the evening foh close quarters. Are youparticularly partial to the tiger or the cases, suh?" he queried of me."Or would you be able to secure transient happiness in short games, foh astarter, while we move along, like a bee from flower to flower, gatheringhis honey?"

  "If you are referring to card gambling, sir," I answered, "you have chosena poor companion. But I do not intend to be a spoil sport, and I shall beglad to have you show me whatever you think worth while in the city, sofar as I have the leisure."

  "That's it, that's it, suh." The Colonel appeared delighted. "Let uslibate to the gods of chance, gentlemen; and then take a stroll."

  "My bag will be safe here?" I prompted, as we were about to file out.

  "Absolutely, suh. Personal property is respected in Benton. We'd hang theman who moved that bag of yours the fraction of one inch."

  This at least was comforting. As much could not be said of New York City.The Colonel led down the echoing hall and the shaking stairs, into thelobby, peopled as before by men in all modes of attire and clusteredmainly at the bar. He led directly to the bar itself.

  "Three, Ed. Name your likker, gentlemen. A little Double X foh me, Ed."

  "Old rye," Bill briefly ordered.

  The bartender set out bottle and whiskey glasses, and looked upon me. Ifelt that the bystanders were waiting. My garb proclaimed the "pilgrim,"but I was resolved to be my own master, and for liquor I had no taste.

  "Lemonade, if you have it," I faltered.

  "Yes, sir." The bartender cracked not a smile, but a universal sigh,broken by a few sniggers, voiced the appraisal of the audience. Some ofthe loafers eyed me amusedly, some turned away.

  "Surely, suh, you will temper that with a dash of fortifiah," the Colonelprotested. "A pony of brandy, Ed--or just a dash to cut the water in it.To me, suh, the water in this country is vile--inimical to the humanstomick."

  "Thank you," said I, "but I prefer plain lemonade."

  "The gent wants his pizen straight, same as the rest of you," calmlyremarked the bartender.

  My lemonade being prepared, the Colonel and Bill tossed off full glassesof whiskey, acknowledged with throaty "A-ah!" and smack of lips; and Ihastily quaffed my lemonade. From the dollar which the Colonel grandlyflung upon the bar he received no change--by which I might figure thatwhereas whiskey was twenty-five cents the glass, lemonade was fiftycents.

  We issued into the street and were at once engulfed by a ferment of sightsand sounds extraordinary.