drink for days; followin' which, Billy nacherally gives way to death, to the relief of all concerned.
"'You can gamble I'm never so pleased to see a gent die in my life!'
says Dan Boggs.
"It's most likely the second day after Billy's been seein' things, an' we've corraled him in a wickeyup out back of the dance hall, when Doc Peets is in the Red Light thoughtfully absorbin' his whiskey.
"'This yere riotous patient of mine,' says Peets, as he leans on the bar an' talks general an' free to all, 'this noisy party whom you now hears callin' Dan Boggs a rattlesnake, bein' misled to that extent by Red Dog licker, has a ca'm moment about first drink time this mornin', an' beseeches me to send for his mother.As a sick gent has a right to dictate terms that a-way, I dispatches a telegram to the lady he names, sendin' of the same by Old Monte to be slammed through from Tucson.I reckons she gets it by now.Old Monte an' the stage has been in Tucson for more'n an hour, an' as 'lectricity is plenty sudden as a means, I takes it Whiskey Billy's mother is informed that he's askin' for her presence.'
"'Which if he's callin' an' honin' for his mother,' says Texas Thompson, who's at the bar with Peets, 'it's cattle to sheep he's a goner.You can allers tell when a sport is down to his last chip; he never omits to want to see his mother.'
"'That's whatever!' says Enright.'Like Texas, I holds sech desires on the part of this yere Red Dog martyr as markin' the beginnin' of the end.'
"'Bein' he's plumb locoed,' remarks Pests, after Texas an' Enright expresses themse'fs, 'I takes the liberty to rustle them clothes of Billy's for signs.I developed letters from this near relatif he's clamorin' for; also a picture as shows she's as fine a old lady as ever makes a flapjack.From the way she writes, it's all plain an'
easy he's been sendin' her some rainbows about how he's loomin' up, like Slim Jim does his sister that a-way.He's jest now industriously trackin' 'round, lookin' to locate himse'f as a lawyer.I don't reckon this yere mother has the slightest idee he's nothin' more'n a ragged, busted victim of Red Dog.Lookin' at it that a-way,' concloodes Pests, 'I'm wonderin' whether I don't make a crazy-boss play sendin' this lady them summons.'
"'When she gets here, if she comes,' says Enright, an' his voice shows a heap of sympathetic interest; 'when she finds out about Whiskey Billy, it's goin' to break her heart.That she ain't game to make the trip is shorely to be hoped.'
"'You can gamble a pony she comes,' says Texas.'If it's a wife, now, like mine--which goes ropin' 'round for a divorce over in Laredo recent; an', as you-all is aware, she shorely ties it down--thar might be a chance out ag'in her advent.But bein' she's his mother, Wolfville may as well brace itse'f for the shock.'
"'I don't reckon thar's no doubt of it, neither,' replies Enright, drawin' a sigh; 'which bein' the case, we've got to organize.This camp must turn in when she gets here an' deloode that pore old mother into the belief that her son Billy's been the prop an' stay of Arizona, an' that his ontimely cuttin' off quenches the most shinin' light that a-way of the age wherein we lives.'
"'Mighty likely,' says Peets, 'we gets a message from her to-morry, when Old Monte trails in.That'll tell us what to expect.I'm like you-all, however; I don't allow thar's a morsel of doubt about that mother comin'.'
"'Which I shorely hopes she does,' says Texas 'an' I yereby drinks to it, an' urges every gent likewise.If thar's a thing on earth that melts me, it's one o' them gray-ha'red old ladies.Young females that a-way is all right, an' it's plenty nacheral for a gent to be cur'ous an' pleased tharwith; but I never does track up with an old lady, white-ha'red an' motherly mind you, but I takes off my sombrero an' says: "You'll excuse me, marm, but I wants to trespass on your time long enough to ask your pardon for livin'." That's right; that's the way I feels; plumb religious at the mere sight of 'em.If I was to meet as many as two of 'em at onct, I'd j'ine the church.The same bein' troo, I'm sayin' that this yere Whiskey Billy's mother can't strike camp too soon nor stop too long for Texas Thompson.'
"'Every gent I reckons feels all sim'lar,' says Cherokee Hall.'Aold lady is the one splendid thing the Lord ever makes.I knows a gent over back of Prescott, an' the sight of a good old woman would stop his nose-paint for a week.Wouldn't drink a drop nor play a kyard, this party wouldn't, for a week after he cuts the trail of somebody's old mother.He allows it revives mem'ries of his own, an'
that he ain't out to mix no sech visions with faro-bank an' whiskey bottles.'
"'An' I applauds this yere Prescott person's views,' says Texas Thompson, 'an' would be proud to know the gent.'
"'How long, Peets,' says Enright, who's been thinkin' hard an'
serious, 'how long--an' start at onct--before ever this yere Whiskey Billy's parent is goin' to strike the camp?'
"'It'll be five days shore,' answers Peets.'She's 'way back yonder the other side of the Missouri.'
