Read The Gentleman Outlaw and Me-Eli for Free Online Page B

was content to look pitiful and sigh now and then in a melancholy way.
    When I stopped to get a drink of water, I saw Calvin sitting up in the buggy, watching me. I started to apologize, thinking he was mad because I'd waked him, but he jumped down from the seat in good spirits and slapped me on the back.
    "That was fine playing, Eli," he said. 'You and that wretched dog could wring tears out of the hardest heart—and silver as well."
    I looked at him. "What do you mean?"
    "We'll go into the next town and pick a nice spot where you can play your harmonica," he said. "If we're fortunate, passersby will take pity on you, a poor orphan boy."
    "Are you asking me to stand on a corner and beg?" I felt my face heat up like my brain was about to explode. "There's no way on God's green earth I'll do something that shameful!"
    Calvin's good-natured grin disappeared as if somebody had wiped it off with a rag. "We have twenty dollars to our name," he said. "How far do you suppose that will get us?"
    I didn't rightly know, so I didn't answer. Nor did I look into those blue eyes of his. I just stood there, scuffing at the dust with the toe of my old boot.
    "Are you going to allow pride to stand between you and finding your father?"
    Calvin's voice had softened a bit, but I wasn't
about to surrender without a fight. "Why can't we hold up a bank or a train instead? We'd get us a sight more money."
    "Must I remind you again? I have neither a gun nor the money to purchase one."
    "That wouldn't stop a man like your father," I said. "He wouldn't make a kid beg for him. No, sir, he'd find some other way to get money."
    For a moment I thought Calvin was going to haul off and hit me, but he controlled his temper. Turning his back, he climbed onto the buggy seat, clucked to Fancy, and asked me if I was coming or not.
    I scrambled up beside him. "Since you have my twenty dollars," I muttered, "it seems I got no choice."
    "Smart boy," said Calvin, showing off a set of teeth Doc Holliday would have been pleased to see if he decided to take up dentistry again.
    And that was that. As usual, Calvin had gotten his way. Off we went, with Caesar trailing behind, leaving his mark on as much of Kansas as he could.

8

    I N THE AFTERNOON WE CAME TO A GOOD-SIZED town with wide, dusty streets. It boasted a new church, a schoolhouse, a handsome bank, a goodly number of business establishments, and a fine selection of homes, some more respectable than others. The wood sidewalks were crowded with folks going about their Saturday shopping, and the streets were full of horses and wagons.
    Calvin picked a nice shady spot across from the bank. "Lay your hat on the ground," he said, "and play soft and sweet, Eli. Look as sad and lonesome as you can. If folks ask, tell them you're a poor orphan child with no one to love or cherish you."
    Calvin paused to study Caesar who lay beside me, his head on my shoe, his eyes as sorrowful as a hungry dog's can be.
    "Perfect," he said. "Some folks will feel sorry for you, but others will pity Caesar. Frankly, if given a
choice, many people would rather see a human die than an animal."
    With that, Calvin walked off and left me. He had business of his own to tend to, he said.
    I watched him disappear, sidestepping piles of horse dung in the street as dainty as a fancy dancer. Then I raised my harmonica to my lips and began to play "Home Sweet Home." It wasn't hard to act the part of a lone, lorn orphan. In fact, I just had to be myself.
    Before long, a pretty lady in a red dress tossed a penny in my hat. Soon I had ten coins, then too many to count. Inspired by my success, I began to branch out and play hymns from church.
Clink clink clink
went pennies and nickels and even a silver dollar from a gent carrying a gold-headed cane.
    Some folks asked me questions and clucked their tongues when I told them I was an orphan. Others worried about Caesar. Was he getting enough to eat? Was I treating him right? One lady actually went into a