Читать книгу Famous Gunfighters of the Western Frontier - W. B. (Bat) Masterson - Страница 12

THE STORY OF TWO RIVAL SHOWS

In the spring of 1883 Luke formed a partnership with Harris and Beeson of Dodge City, and operated the Long Branch saloon, the biggest and best-paying gambling house in Dodge at the time. The mayor of Dodge, whose name was Webster, was also running a gambling house and saloon next door to that operated by Short. At this time Dodge City was the shipping point for the Texas cattle driven every summer from the great cattle ranges of Western Texas to the northern markets.

A fortune was to be made every season by the gambling house that could control this trade and, as Short was from Texas and had once been a cowboy himself, he held the whip-hand over the mayor, so far, at any rate, as the patronage of the cattlemen was concerned. This the mayor did not relish and, as he was a stubborn-minded man himself, who would brook no opposition if he could help it, he set to work to put Luke out of business. He had an ordinance passed by the City Council, prohibiting music in all the gambling houses and saloons in the city. Short employed a band in his place of business and Webster did likewise; but the latter was the mayor and therefore in control of the situation, so he thought. The city marshal was instructed by the mayor to notify Short that the music in his place must be discontinued.

“That suits me,” Luke reported to have told the marshal. “I don’t need music in my house in order to do business, and besides, maintaining a band is quite an item of expense.”

The following night the only house in the city in which there was music was that operated by the mayor. Luke smelt a mouse then.

“We’ll see about this,” remarked Luke to his partners, Beeson and Harris.

The next night he re-engaged the band and instructed it to go ahead grinding out the old familiar melodies, so dear to the heart of the cowboy. Luke remained about the place for several hours to see what move, if any, was to be made by the mayor. As he saw nothing to cause alarm, he concluded to go away for a while and pay a visit to a sick friend. He had not left the place more than ten minutes before all the members of the band, among them one woman, the pianist, were arrested and locked up in the city calaboose.