by Phil Dunlap
Several minutes passed before one of the men who had taken Beau from the saloon ambled back inside. Bean looked up from wiping his mouth after taking a swig of whiskey.
“Sorry, Judge. I got some unpardonable news. I’m afraid that scrawny lawyer proved to be a mite too tough for us. He was a’yankin’ this way and that way till he tore loose of my grip, shoved Barney and Matthew outta the way like a madman, and escaped just as we were about to throw the noose over him. He jumped on his horse and the last we saw of him, he was whippin’ and kickin’ that poor animal of his like the devil hisself was hot on his tail. Left a fair amount of Texas dust in his wake. I noticed five dollars dropped from his pockets during the melee. How about a whiskey?”
Bean picked up another glass and filled it with the same whiskey he had been drinking. He shoved the glass toward the man.
“Imagine that. You boys sure are proving to be clumsy. Well, at least he won’t be back this way anytime soon, I’ll wager,” said Bean, with wry grin.
As the others wandered back inside, laughing and slapping each other on the back, Bean held up his glass and said, “Gather ‘round, gents. I propose we celebrate with a toast to our beautiful and ever-pure Lillie Langtry.”
Everyone cheered as they lifted their glasses and drank their toasts. The stuffy room erupted in raucous laughter coming on like a summer storm. Bean removed his law book from the bar and stuffed his revolver back in his belt, then leaned forward on both elbows, and grinned wide as he said, “Well, boys, just what are we going to do for fun, now?”
***
Author’s Note
Judge Roy Bean (1825-1903) was one of the most colorful characters of the old west. Often rumored to be quick with a noose, there is no evidence he ever even tried hanging anyone, or that he was anything more than an opportunist when it came to handing out justice, generally for minor offenses. Appointed Justice of the Peace for Precinct No. 6, Pecos County, by the county commissioners, he was known to be a braggart and a con man, not shy when it came to fining a man every cent he had, ostensibly to cover court costs, which might have been determined by the day’s receipts at his saloon and store, or lack thereof. In most municipalities, a Justice of the Peace didn’t have the authority to order a hanging. He was known to be a reckless gambler and a heavy drinker, the latter being the cause of his demise. He died one morning in March 1903 after a drinking binge the night before, not, as had been rumored, from the bullet of a Mexican outlaw. He was indeed enamored of the popular British actress, Lillie Langtry. It was his greatest wish that she visit the town he claimed he had named after her (In truth, the bluff on which the town sat was named after a railroad boss of the same name), but he died 10 months before she finally stepped off the train in Langtry, the direct result of Bean’s many invitations. Lillie later recounted in her biography that, while her visit had been short, it had been “an unforgettable one.”
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Phil Dunlap has had a lifelong affair with the characters and events of the Old West. Driven to explore the haunts of old gunfighters, scalawags, and dance hall girls, his interest in revisiting that bygone era has been fulfilled by writing novels that bring the 19th Century alive to readers.
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