Smyth alias Smith by Bob Macdonald

Author:Bob Macdonald
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bob MacDonald
Published: 2020-05-13T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 27 - King Solomon’s Mine

As the weeks passed by, the instances of fights, involving weapons, dropped away markedly. Word soon went around concerning the no-nonsense attitude of the sheriff, and not many wanted to test his patience. Several more ruffians succumbed to a blow to the head from Smyth’s rifle stock, followed by twenty-four hours in jail for their troubles, but he’d found no reason to shoot anyone else through the foot.

Most people, with whom he dealt with, treated him warily. One cell inmate, while complaining of not receiving a meal while incarcerated, sulkily informed Smyth that a lot of the hotel patrons referred to him as ‘The Wolf,’ and carried on to say he’d gained a reputation for patrolling about, as a lone wolf would do; while displaying the same amount of compassion akin that of a hungry predator. He also received information that others started referring to him as ‘The Widow Maker’ but that didn’t last long, for two reasons; firstly hardly a person in the town was a married man, and, secondly, he hadn’t killed anyone as yet. Those, with whom he continued to chance upon through his position, may have likened him to many a name but at the end of the day, nearly all reverted to just calling him, ‘Sheriff.’

*

He kept using his bail system as that arrangement proceeded to prop up his monthly wage with his twenty percent cut. For the more serious offences, he increased the cash amount to fifty dollars and the time of imprisonment to two days. Those who could not raise that sum of cash spent forty-eight hours in lieu. But Smyth made no change to his ‘no feed’ policy and the unfortunate detainees suffered a full two-days forced fasting period.

Six hotels now traded on the main street. A doctor had set up practice and the two big mines were in the process of establishing smelters in the vicinity of a nearby lake. The population was growing and to police the town more adequately Smyth needed additional staff, such as sworn deputies. However, the Cerro Gordo council members would not listen to his pleas. They considered he was doing a good enough job in controlling the unruly element of the settlement and did not want to incur further expenses. The cash bail system, currently in use, was covering both his wages and bonuses.

*

With the increase in population and Smyth’s profile now recognised across the board, citizens were ever increasingly attending his office to make inquiries, lodge complaints and request advice on many a diverse matter. From his fresh contact with the residents, he was becoming more aware of what went on behind the scene in and about Cerro Gordo and its mines. A hotel barfly, of whom he regularly stopped for a chat, proved to be a valuable source of information concerning domestic gossip of the town.

The talkative little tippler casually mentioned to him that the word going about the traps was that someone had done over the safe in the King Solomon’s Mine office, scoring themselves a sizeable payload.

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