THE OLD CAP AND BALL

THE OLD CAP AND BALL

by Robert G. Semm, 1988

    The saloon was crowded and well away from the bar,

    An old man set in a rocking chair smoking a big cigar.

    His clothes were well worn, but still they were neat, as he rocked with his back to the wall.

    The well oiled gun that road his left hip was a Remington cap and ball.

    The room became quiet as a stranger came in and bulled his way to the bar.

    He had the shifty look of a wanted man, and it looked like he'd traveled far.

    "Whiskey!," he called, then his eyes swept the room,

    But they stopped when they spotted the cigar in the gloom.

    He walked across the sawdust floor and yelled out a name in the crowd.

    The name was Kinkaid; there was rage in his voice as he called it out real loud.

    He stopped in front of the old rockina chair and said, "Kinkaid, you're a son of a gun!"

    "Ten years ago you shot down my pal and you put me on the run!"

    "Now draw your gun you mangy skunk, cuz I'm about to have some fun."

    The old man got out of that old rocking chair; he laid his cigar near his poke.

    I got the feeling as I watched his face that he planned on finishing that smoke.

    Then the outlaw reached for his low slung guns, and the old man answered his call.

    Two shots boomed out in that packed saloon, then the outlaw started to fall.

    But the only pistol that was trailing smoke was the Remington cap and ball.

    The old man bolstered his smoking gun, then picked up his cigar.

    You could just make out the spot on his vest where for years he had carried a star.



NOTE: Bob was the night guard during my seven years at Lincoln Benefit Life.





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