Lucky Billy by John Vernon Read Free Book Online Page B

this to) such a time as will make their heads swim (as we say on the frontier).
Of my friends, lawyer McSween is in particular a blessing. A lifelong teetotaler, a Presbyterian, he never carries weapons and has both the outward appearance and the inward temperament of an honest man & has succeeded in persuading me to go into stock. His wife Susan I find a very pleasant woman in every way, she told me as much about this place as any man could have done, she is the only white woman here & has a good many enemies in consequence of her husband's profession. Everyone in my circle is fond of her to distraction, she keeps us well entertained. Her husband with his long stringy moustache down to his knees (all American males have prodigious facial hair), who seems often to be frowning by the angle of his lip-whiskers, absolutely dotes on her with an aspect of rapture in his eyes and a foreboding air of longing as though they'd just made acquaintance (they have been married 4 years).
Robert Widenmann is common looking but a man ! place great confidence in. I have executed a small deed, constituting him my legal representative in case of my death, until you write, come over, or instruct some other person, to attend to my affairs and your interest. Both as regards to his ability & integrity, I feel sure that in case you ever need his assistance, that he can save every cent that I "have out" for you. The history of his interest & mine would be somewhat lengthy, but I consider them parallel & not at all liable to clash. Two of Widenmann's leading traits are obstinacy & combativeness, he will hold a point longer & fight harder to keep it, than any man of his age I ever met (He is 25). And he has consequently a great deal of what I call "force" in his character; if he decides that a horse wants throwing down, he throws him; & if a mule gets its own way with someone & he concludes that she has to learn that she can't do it with others, he teaches her. I consider myself very lucky in meeting him, he so exactly suits me we stick to each other like brick & he takes care of me, we sleep in the same room. His parents are German & live in Georgia, he was educated in Germany, he weighs about 175 lbs & he stands six feet & is very broad. We are sufficiently good friends to be able to get as mad as we like with each other, without its affecting our friendship in the slightest. People say we are like man & wife.
Both Mrs. McSween and her husband have told me that the whole of this country (New Mexico) is under the control of a ring composed of two or three lawyers, & their practices & power throughout New Mexico are quite astonishing, they are more powerful than the priests & that is saying a great deal. The local store is owned by low Irish, part of this ring, & they buy local produce by extending credit on their store merchandise & thus get the Mexican farmers in their power. They advance both goods and credit against future crops and stock & when the poor fellows see they're in a trap they balk or move away, & if it's balk the House uses the law to attach their goods and property (most particularly, cattle and horses) for debts owed to them. They are known as "the House" but also called the Murphs or Dolanites or Murphyites, for the owners, Lawrence G. Murphy & his partner, James Dolan. They "carry" local settlers until they (the settlers) are so extended that their benign benefactors have no choice, their poor hands are tied, but to foreclose on their property. Their real money is made by contracts to supply the local army post, Fort Stanton, which both men served at, their ties to the command being part of this "ring," & by stealing supplies contracted to the Indian Agency & selling them in Las Cruces, Albuquerque, & other places. In placing people in their debt they force them into thievery to pay off the debt, no questions asked. So of the beef that Murphy and Dolan supply to Fort Stanton and the Agency much of it once belonged to John Chisum,