1897. 



THE AMERICAN BEE KEEPER. 



17 



his bands ou his knees, he just eat there 

 for a minute and stared at the young 

 chap. 



"Did you do that?" he gasped at last. 



"Yes, but I meant no offense. Here 

 is a light." 



Bob picked up his cigar, but when he 

 went to light it the boys saw that his 

 band was shaking a trifle. He got the 

 cigar burning, and then he sat and 

 puffed it in silence for five minutes, at 

 the end of which time he got up, and, 

 glancing at the half burned match lying 

 on the floor, said : 



"Well, I'll be !" 



Sweeney marched up to the bar and 

 took a drink, without a word to the 

 gang. Then he started out. To reach 

 the door he had to pass the table where 

 Neeley sat quietly reading the news- 

 paper. As he walked past the young fel- 

 low the big bully took off his hat and 

 went out at the door on tiptoe. Pretty 

 Boon the others of the gang followed, 

 and before morning every man in Santa 

 Fe knew that little Johnny Neeley was 

 the quickest and best shot in the terri- 

 tory and that his nerve was the pure 

 stuff. 



That little shooting match fixed the 

 jokes on hii^. Neeley continued on the 

 even tenor of his way, never boasting of 

 anything and playing in hard luck most 

 of the time, for six months passed before 

 the boys had a chance to see his nerve 

 tested again. He was gambling more 

 and more all the time and was usually 

 broke. 



One day there drifted into the town a 

 regular professional bad man. He wore 

 bis hair Iqhu and called himself Arizona 

 Jake. His available assets consisted oif 

 two revolvers, a knifo and a record oi 

 two murders and three plain killings. 

 Before he had been in tow .j many hours 

 he let it be known that he was hunting 

 trouble, and the boys decided that he 

 should not be long finding it. 



It was always believed that Bob 

 Sweeney put the stranger up to picking 

 a row with little Johnny Neeley, but 

 they couldn't prove it at the inquest. It 

 was late at night, and Neeley was in 

 the faro bank playing the high card and 

 losing right along, as usual He seemed 

 to have faith that his luck would change 

 that night and kept close watch of the 

 game. He bad spent his last dollar for 

 chips and had staked his last stack 



when Arizona Jake entered the place 

 with a regular Indian warwhoop and 

 fired a shot through the roof as a warn- 

 ing that he was out for trouble. Nearly 

 every one in the place got out of the 

 way, but Johnny Neeley did not even 

 look up from the card table. Jake was 

 a big, strong fellow, and when he 

 caught sight of the little, smooth faced 

 chap sitting there playing faro it seemed 

 to set him wild. He walked over, and, 

 catching hold of the back of Neeloy's 

 chair, lifted both fore feet from the floor 

 and let go. The young gambler got quite 

 a jolt by the fall, and as he straightened 

 his chair he looked in mild surprise at 

 the big desperado who towered three 

 feet above him. 



"Get out, you white faced kidl Go 

 home to ycnr ma! You are a nice look- 

 ing thing to be sitting down to a game 

 like a man! Get out! Whoop!" 



With a fearful string of oaths Arizona 

 Jake brandished a pistol over Neeley's 

 head and ordered him to leave the game 

 and get out of the house. 



The boys held their breaths for a min- 

 ute, but to their surprise Neeley merely 

 said to the big bully, "Please go away 

 and do not annoy me." 



"Go away! Ha, ha I I like that! Say, 

 young fellow, do you know me?" 



"Don't want to. Let me finish this 

 deal," replied the young gambler. 



The big bully seemed a little non- 

 plused because Neeley would not resent 

 anything he did, and, standing a few 

 feet away, he began to curse and abuse 

 the young fellow. By this time Neeley 

 had lost his last chip. 



"I'll try one more deal. Give me $5 

 worth of chips on my gun, "said the 

 gambler as he took out his revolver and 

 passed it over to the dealer. Th« chips 

 were pushed across the table and Neeley 

 staked them all ou one turn of the cards. 



Arizona Jake had seen the young man 

 pass over his pistol, and with a yell he 

 jumped and seized Neeley by the collar, 

 lifting him clear over his head. He 

 swung him around two or three times 

 and then let him drop on the floor. 



Neeley landed on his feet and there 

 was fire in his eyes. Quick as a flash he 

 reached across the faro table and snatch- 

 ed up his pistol from the open drawer 

 where the dealer had put it. Jake saw 

 the movement and reached for his own 

 guns, but he was not quick enough. There 



