44 A CALIFORNIA TRAMP. 



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have an autograph album along, and, therefore, can do little 

 towards giving the " signs manual " of my comrades, and if I 

 had, it would have been as full of crosses as a penitential 

 monk. 



The wagon-master was William Taylor, who was not a bad 

 sort of a fellow, being as good to his men as was practicable un- 

 der the circumstances. Cy. Conners, his assistant, was abusive 

 and tyrannical until he had his bad points knocked out of 

 him. We found a fellow along the roadside one day, suffer- 

 ing with the chills. He had been, according to his story, 

 heartlessly left there by the wagon-master of a train just 

 ahead, but the chances were he was a deserter. We took 

 charge of him, and he was soon able to work, but was the butt 

 of the corral, and was abused by Conners in particular. One 

 day, after tyrannizing over this man whose name was Don- 

 nelly, the assistant gave him a term which he might as well 

 have shortened and called him a dog. It is claimed that a 

 worm will turn when trod on, but Donnelly would do more 

 than this, so he dared Conners to fistic combat in the arena, 

 formed by our corral at noon. The challenge was accepted, 

 and at the time specified the aff'air came off. It is no credit 

 to our refinement, but we enjoyed the, sport, especially when at 

 the supreme moment the assistant, who could only fight in a 

 sort of cat and dog style, went under from a scientific knock 

 from Donnelly. He was much larger than his adversary, but 

 he had to " holler enough," when he was let up. He was 

 cowed down by the humble " bull-whacker's " beating, and 

 had but little authority thereafter, in fact, so much so I pitied 

 the fellow. Donnelly was quite set up by the affair, and 

 bullied around a little in his turn, until one day, on the prin- 

 ciple that " fleas have other fleas to bite 'em," a little Irish- 

 man, called " U. S.," resented his doings by giving him a 

 punishment he long remembered ; for he bit him in the man- 

 ner of a dog, and in other ways fought him until he was 

 humiliated as much as was poor Conners. 



