by Joe Corso
The Kid smiled, knowing what was coming next, so he answered the question before it was asked. “Hold the job open for me, sheriff, because I might come back to North Platte in a year or two and if I do, I’d be proud to be your deputy.” The three men laughed and parted as friends.
CHAPTER 25
Word transmitted by wire alerted everyone up the line that the Lone Jack Kid was on the train, and it spread like wildfire. Crowds thronged the stations, so much so that Buntline prevented the Kid from leaving the train because he feared he’d be mauled. Buntline’s fears were unfounded, though, because their trip to New York proved to be uneventful. And although the Kid couldn’t leave the train, it wasn’t so for Buntline. He stepped off the train at every stop to run to the train master’s office to send dispatchers to the New York papers. He informed them of the gunfight in North Butte, complete with a blow-by-blow description of the showdown. He embellished it to show the Kid in the most favorable light, which of course all of the papers couldn’t get enough of. He even sent the North Platte sheriff’s firsthand account of the gunfight to all of the New York papers. Since that was the only gunfight the Kid fought on the trip to New York, Ned inserted one of the gunfights the Kid had in Virginia City in order to keep interest of his approach at a peak.
Buntline wrote about imaginary challenges the Kid faced in some of the towns they stopped in, which never happened, but that didn’t matter at all to the growing list of readers who believed everything Buntline wrote. They couldn’t get enough of this western shootist, and Ned made sure that they never lacked for news of the Kid. It was when Ned put the word SHOOTIST into a press release that he had an idea and he approached the Kid about it. “Kid, I know that you’re fast at drawing your gun, but can you shoot coins or tin cans if they were thrown in the air?”
The Kid thought for a moment and then nodded. “Well, as a kid, my brother Bob would throw cans in the air and I’d try and hit them.”
“And?” Buntline asked excitedly, anticipating that he might have a surprise for his fans when he got to New York. “And?” he asked again.
Charlie looked at Ned and shrugged his shoulders. “And after a while, I started to hit anything Bob threw in the air before it hit the ground.”
Now Ned was beside himself with excitement and could hardly contain himself. “Well - go on. What did you manage to hit and how accurate were you? Come on, Kid, don’t keep me guessing. How good did you get?”
“Well, Ned, to tell you the truth, I never thought of that kind of shooting as anything other than playing around. I never took it serious. It was more of a challenge than anything else. Could I do it? Could I hit what Bob threw up in the air before it hit the ground? It was a real challenge at first, but after practicing for hours at a time and firing thousands of rounds, I finally felt I had overcome that particular challenge.”
“Well, what happened then, Kid? Come on, don’t play around. I’m dead serious. So what happened then?”
“Nothing. I stopped practicing and forgot about it.”
“Forgot about it?” Ned said with his temper rising. “You forgot about it? For God’s sake, how could you forget about something as important as that?”
“Ned, Ned. Calm down. It wasn’t important. It isn’t important - and that’s why I forgot about it.”
Ned’s temper dropped a notch as his mind was processing what the Kid said. Then he knew what he had to do. “Come on, Kid, follow me.”
“Where are we going, Ned?”
“To the rear car. I want to see how accurate you still are. But first, I’m going to get a bucket of coal from the fireman and that’s what I’m going to throw in the air. I want to see if you can still hit a piece of coal before it hits the ground.”
When Ned asked the fireman for a bucket of coal, the man asked him what he needed it for - and Ned told him. The fireman filled the bucket with coal and said, “I’m coming with you. This I have to see.” The three men made their way from the engine to the rear car. Charlie positioned himself, and Buntline and the fireman waited in anticipation for the show to start. The fireman held the bucket and stood close to Buntline so Ned would have the coals within easy reach.
When Ned asked him if he was ready, the Kid nodded. Ned reached into the bucket and picked up a few pieces of coal and when he looked up, he was surprised to see that he had an audience of curious passengers. “Get ready, Kid. GO!” Ned threw a piece of coal in the air and the Kid pulled his gun and fired once and shattered it while it was still high in the air. Ned threw another and received the same result. After throwing a half dozen pieces of coal, he threw two pieces and the Kid followed the falling coals and hit them both.
The Kid held up his hand. “Have to reload, Ned.” One of the passengers slid the door to the caboose open and handed Ned an empty tin can.
Ned thanked the man and told the Kid, “I’m gonna throw this can high in the air. See if you can hit it twice while it’s in the air.”
“Sure, let’s see if I still can do it. Whenever you’re ready, Ned.”
Ned tossed the can toward the front of the car as high as he could and the Kid immediately shot it once. He watched it jerk upward from the impact of the bullet, then he hit it again as it passed the car and began its downward arc. He hit it again when it was behind the car before it got out of range. Ned was as excited as a man who just struck gold. “My boy, this is a most unexpected surprise and I’m glad that I thought of it. We are going to put on an exhibition of shooting the likes of which have never been seen in New York City.”
CHAPTER 26
Ned Buntline surprised the Kid by presenting him with a new set of fancy clothes suitable enough to impress even the most upper crust residents of New York City’s society. “Damn, I feel like a peacock in these clothes,” the Kid said, feeling a bit like a fool.
“Don’t worry about it, Kid. Nobody in this town knows what a cowboy really looks like. But this is what they expect their hero to look like.”
The Kid looked at his reflection in the window. He wore a white Stetson and a white cowboy shirt trimmed in blue with white rawhide strips running across his chest and down his sleeves. His pants matched his shirt. He wore his fancy black holsters, which made his ivory-handled Colts stand out noticeably. The Kid refused to change the way he wore his guns and instead insisted that he wear his guns as he always had, which at first caused Buntline some concern, but the more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea. After all, it was he who had described in his dime novel the way the Kid wore his shooting irons and it had become his trademark. Ned had everything worked out to the letter. But there was one nagging fear he had in the back of his mind. In New York City, guns weren’t used the way they were in the West. In New York City, tough guys used their fists - and that was Buntline’s concern. The Kid was slim, weighing one hundred fifty pounds and stood five feet, ten inches tall. If anyone challenged the Kid to a fist fight, Buntline knew it was a fight the Kid couldn’t win and if it came down to a fight, he knew the Kid would use his guns instead of his fists and he knew a gunfight was a fight the Kid couldn’t lose. So he had to think of a contingency plan, a way of extricating the Kid should something unplanned and unexpected occur.
As the train pulled into the station, even Buntline, that master manipulator of promotion, was stunned by the thousands of people waiting to welcome the Kid. The mayor himself was waiting at the forefront, wearing a wide blue and gold ribbon with “Welcoming Committee” written on it that extended from his shoulder to his waist. The rest of the welcoming committee stood pressed closely to the mayor by the crowds.
The train slowly came to a stop and everyone was guessing what car the Kid would get off from. Finally, Buntline, wearing a black outfit that made him look like a buffalo hunter, which was exactly the look he wanted, stood ready and prepared to get off the train. Besides being an entrepreneur, he was a master showman who knew how to generate publicity from very little substance. However, with the Kid, he had substance so he chos
e a black Wild West outfit to contrast against the Kid’s white outfit. It was a striking effect and it did exactly what he wanted it would do. The Kid was a superstar in New York even before he got off the train, such were the results of Buntline’s efforts concerning the Kid.
Mayor John T. Hoffman was there to greet Buntline as he stepped off the train. Ned instructed the Kid to remain in the train until he motioned to him with a subtle pre-arranged signal. Then, the Kid would step off the train and onto the platform and be greeted by the mayor, but it would have to be dramatic. Ned instructed the Kid to say very little, and let him do all the talking. He was to speak only when asked a specific question that only he could answer. Aside from that, Buntline would answer all questions, especially from the press. In other words, he told the Kid, “Leave everything to me. I’ll answer the questions and I’ll speak to the press. I don’t want you to do or say anything unless I approve it. Do you understand?” The Kid nodded. “Good. I don’t want any pressure on you. That’s my job. I want you to relax and enjoy New York and all the pleasures it has to offer.” The Kid liked that, especially the pleasure part.
Buntline talked to Mayor Hoffman, who was looking over Buntline’s shoulder and trying to get a glance at the Kid. Finally, Ned wiped his brow, which was the signal for the Kid to step off of the train. When he appeared on the steps, the crowd went wild. It was as if they knew the Kid all of their lives, such was the impact of Buntline’s two books about him. The mayor couldn’t contain himself and rushed over to the Kid and shook his hand vigorously. “Come on, son. We’re going to City Hall where I’ll present you with the key to the city.” Charlie was a fish out of water and he looked to Buntline for help. Buntline picked up on Charlie’s discomfort. “Come on, Kid. Follow us.”
That night the mayor himself escorted the Kid to the Broadway Central Hotel, which boasted of marble staircases imported from the quarries of Carrerra, Italy. The main dining room was elegant with windows overlooking Broadway and the Bowery. When anyone important came to New York City, the Broadway Central hotel was where they stayed. Even Kings and Queens visiting New York made the Broadway Central their home away from home.
The following day pictures of The Lone Jack Kid stepping off of the train and accepting the Key to the City by the Mayor was front page news in papers around the country. The editorial sections were exceptionally interesting because such famous luminaries as James Gordon Bennett, Sr, and Joseph Pulitzer, lauding the arrival of Charles Longstreet, wrote them. Each man interviewed the Lone Jack Kid personally and wrote editorials of his exploits – forgetting that their readers had read Buntline’s books and already knew of them. With the Lone Jack Kid in New York, the papers suddenly became fun to read. William Magear Tweed, better known as Boss Tweed, the leader of Tammany Hall, declared a holiday the following day and it became another reason for New Yorkers to celebrate.
Since the Kid arrived in the New York, everyone wanted to wine and dine him, especially the elite of New York’s society who wanted the Kid exclusively for themselves. During the day he visited museums and had lunch in popular restaurants. At night, he was taken to famous eateries such as the Wagon Wheel restaurant on 14th Street and the Waldorf Hotel near Central Park. He was taken to the financial district where he was the guest of honor and later he was taken to the Academy of Music on 14th Street between 3rd Avenue and Irving Place and offered the best seat in the house to see the beautiful famous actress Sarah Bernhardt perform.
While the Kid signed autographs and acted the perfect guest, in free moments Buntline attempted to teach the Kid his lines for his upcoming stage debut. Everyone who could bought tickets to see the Kid act out on the stage some of his adventures, but as much as he rehearsed, the Kid just couldn’t remember his lines, which drove Buntline crazy. “Look, Kid, just go on the stage and keep your eyes on me. I’ll be holding the cue cards with your lines on them. All you have to do is look at me, read the lines on the card, and speak them, and everything will be fine.
The Kid wasn’t so sure. “Ned, I’d rather be facing Parker’s men than stand on that stage and make a complete fool of myself.”
“Nonsense, my boy. You’re going to do just fine. Just leave everything to Ned Buntline and you’ll see … this show will be a hit.” Ned named his forthcoming stage show The Adventures of The Lone Jack Kid. Because of Buntline’s ability to generate a continuous flow of publicity for the show, it was sold out for the next six months.
For an entire week, Buntline took full-page ads in all of the local papers, telling the readers that the Kid would be giving a shooting exhibition at one p.m. on Sunday at a section of land in the middle of the city known as Central Park. The week passed quickly and the day finally arrived. The Kid figured to get in some practice shooting so he and Buntline arrived at the pre-arranged spot at eleven thirty a.m. and were surprised to find that the field chosen for the exhibition was completely crowded with spectators who had arrived hours earlier. “Come on, Kid, you’re not going to be able to practice any shooting today. I spotted a little restaurant at the edge of the park. Let’s get some lunch. As they took their seats, everyone in the place nudged their friends, pointing to who just walked in. Eating lunch was impossible due to all of the people who came to their table asking for the Kid’s autograph.
“Ned,” Charlie whispered.
“What, Kid?”
“If this is what it’s like to be famous, I don’t want any part of it.”
Buntline laughed. “Don’t worry about it, Kid, this fame business is just a passing fancy. Right now, you’re the flavor of the month; tomorrow it’ll be someone else. This’ll pass and you’ll be forgotten. But while the iron’s hot, let’s take advantage of it.”
The Kid sighed. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. But you know, I never thought I’d say this, but I can’t wait to get back to Virginia City and Abby and the deputy’s job that Wheeler promised he’d hold open for me.
The crowd separated, allowing an opening for Buntline and the Kid to pass in order to get to the shooting area. Boss Tweed greeted the two men and, in a grand gesture consisting of a sweep of his hand, he showed the Kid that he had everything prepared. The Kid noticed two men standing about twenty feet in front of him off to the sides so that from the Kid’s standpoint it was like looking at a funnel. The men each had a barrel, which was filled with various items for the Kid to shoot at. There were dishes, then smaller dishes, and then items such as balls as small as billiard balls. In fact, they may have been billiard balls, but the Kid couldn’t be sure. A photographer stood to the side behind one of the men designated to fling the objects in the air. Before the action started, Boss Tweed led the Kid and Buntline to where the photographer was set up and they had their picture taken, which would appear in tomorrow’s newspapers.
A table was placed on the right side of the Kid. A white tablecloth was placed over it, but the reason for the tablecloth the Kid never knew. With a somber expression on his face, he extended his hands. The Kid removed his two new guns slowly from their holsters and, as they had practiced, he handed the guns slowly and deliberately to Ned. The Kid looked at the somber expression on Ned’s face as he loaded the guns slowly and dramatically one round at a time and he almost broke out laughing, barely managing to contain his smile. He could have sworn there was a shadow of a smile Ned’s lips. When both guns were loaded, the Kid picked up one of his new ivory-handled nickel-plated guns, and to Ned’s surprise because it was so unexpected, the Kid began throwing the gun in the air and over his shoulder and catching it like a juggler. Then, much to Buntline’s delight, Charlie gave a fancy exhibition of twirling his gun vertically, then horizontally, and ended by twirling it into his holster to the delight of the crowd. The Kid holstered his new guns. Without warning, he dropped into a shooter’s crouch as he jerked his shoulder gun in a lightning fast move and fired two bullets at the men to his right and left standing by their barrels. They were each holding a dish in their hands, waiting for the signal to throw it in the air
when both dishes suddenly exploded in their hands. The booming sound of the gunshots terrified the men by the barrels, and shocked the spectators who hadn’t been prepared for a realistic demonstration of what it was like to face a gunman like the Lone Jack Kid. Slowly, the crowd regained their composure - and what started as a single person clapping his hands in appreciation of the shooting demonstration he witnessed, ended as everyone standing and clapping and whooping for the Kid. Before the clapping died down, the Kid nodded at Buntline, who pointed to the man standing by the barrel on his right. The man didn’t want to hold another dish in his hand, fearing that the Kid would shoot it out of his hands, so he reached into the barrel, took a fresh dish, and tossed it high in the air. The Kid followed its arc and hit it easily. Buntline pointed to the man on his left and held up two fingers. The man threw two dishes high in the air and the Kid shot both dishes before they hit the ground. And so it went as both men threw dishes until there weren’t any left to shoot. One of the men took out a billiard ball and, as instructed, he brought it to Buntline and waited while he examined it. The Kid had been watching and had no idea what Ned was looking at. Apparently satisfied, Buntline nodded his approval and held the small ball in the air so everyone could see, and then he handed the ball back to the man, who took it and ran back to his position. With a nod from Buntline, both men began to alternate throwing balls in the air. The Kid hit all of them. The crowd went wild watching him hit each ball with uncanny accuracy, acknowledging his shooting skills with wild enthusiasm and applause mixed with wild shouts of encouragement.
Standing off to the side was a striking-looking woman with a haughty expression mixed with intense interest, watching the Kid’s shooting exhibition. She looked familiar to the Kid, but he had no time for further contemplation because Ned was feeling his oats and with a drink too many and he decided to throw a silver dollar in the air. If the Kid hit it, it would end the shooting exhibition for the day. The fact that the Kid had never attempted to hit a silver dollar or for that matter any kind of coin thrown in the air didn’t matter to Buntline. The fact that the Kid hit every target was all that mattered to him. He could always justify the Kid missing the silver dollar by saying he was tired from all the previous shooting he did. Or he could say it was part of the act since he hit everything else.
