The blacksmith did not, however, discriminate in the choice of victims. His
was not the spirit of the reformer. A merchant of Bidwell, who had always
been highly respected and who was an elder in his church, went one evening
to the county seat and there got into the company of a notorious woman
known throughout the county as Nell Hunter. The two went into a little room
at the back of a saloon and were seen by two Bidwell young men who had
gone to the county seat for an evening of adventure. When the merchant,
named Pen Beck, realized he had been seen, he was afraid the tale of his
indiscretion would be carried to his home town, and left the woman to join
the young men. He was not a drinking man, but began at once to buy drinks
for his companions. The three got very drunk and drove home together late
at night in a rig the young men had hired for the occasion from Clyde
Neighbors. On the way the merchant kept trying to explain his presence in
the company of the woman. "Don't say anything about it," he urged. "It
would be misunderstood. I have a friend whose son has been taken in by the
woman. I was trying to get her to let him alone."
The two young men were delighted that they had caught the merchant off his
guard. "It's all right," they assured him. "Be a good fellow and we won't
tell your wife or the minister of your church." When they had all the
drinks they could carry, they got the merchant into the buggy and began to
whip the horse.
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