Chapter 2 - Cash Dollars on the Hoof

[jemmus]

The deputy, marshal and policeman quietly confer for a little, then proceed with handcuffing Sebastian, Charlie, and all of the cowboys except teenage Dan Rucker. The deputy and police officer proceed with directing the misdemeanor convicts onto the road and back toward the stockade. Presumably leaving the marshal to mind the fort in San Marcos. The four lawmen are down a man. The marshal says to the travelers, We thank you gentlemen for attending and serving as witnesses. San Marcos ain't usually like this a-tall.
You are welcome to stay in town as long as ya like. I expect that it will be quiet tonight with the cowboys all packed off. So if it's cards yer in town for, you'll just have to play among yerself. We don't have no local regular gamblers.

Andreas discusses employment opportunities with the local representative of the Waco & Northwest Railroad, a man who seems to have concerns about locomotives' water and coal supplies, and may not be a stranger to monitoring water tank refill rates and using a coal shovel. They overhear that the train north to Austin passes through in the morning, and catching the San Antonio train would take some very quick action. It seems there's nothing for it but to spend a night at Hoffman's.

The hotelier comes around with newspapers in the crook of his arm and says, Gentlemen, I'm sorry, I think there vill be little entertainment in little San Marcos tonight. There is a piano player, but she knows only a few lively songs, and she is afraid of bloot. There are three "fallen angels," but I think they vill not so soon visit after a trial here in front of the whole town. Ve haf only these newspapers from Austin from a five days for entertainment. If you would care to read.

The headlines of the Austin Statesmen are bold. "Stagecoach to Killeen Robbed." "Train to San Marcos Derailed by Stage Mustachioed and Bearded Men." "Comanches Strike Longview Settlers Again." "World-Famed English Songstress Lily Langtry to Visit San Antonio, Dallas and Austin!." "Comanches Iron Shirt and His Grandson Quanah Parker on the Warpath Again."

The travelers see that the paper is more full of advertisements than news stories.

The Hays County Cattlemen's Association is hiring herd guards. $90/month. Must provide own mount and firearms and be willing to ride night herd.
Wells Fargo Stage Passenger Delivery Company requires drivers and guards. $110/month, starting salary. Inquiries to Wells Fargo, Abilene, KS & Austin, Tx.
The U.S. Army is Recruiting Volunteers! Good Pay and 3 Square Meals Per Day!
The Waco & Northwest Railroad needs security officers. $120 Per Month.

The hardworking family takes orders for the evening meal and cooks them up for they travelers. The delicious smell of home cooking wafts through still summer air. At Hoffman's.

[cybersavant]

Oh yeah, the man answers, most railroads are always hiring guards. It' rough work though. Most train robbers aren't content with robbin just the cash in the express car. They walk through the cars taking the passengers' cash, watches, brooches. Anything of value. The guards have stop them from doing that, without starting a shootout in a crowded car. The pay is good though. Ninety dollars a month to start. If you want to apply, the W&NW office in the Austin station is the place to do it.

Andreas Larson "Vell, i am in need of vork. Dan-- thank you for dee information." Andreas gets up from the table and walks outside to get his horse. He checks that all his belongings are still there, then looks for a boarding stable.

the food - is it regular old west, or cultural or a mix of both - reply details depend on what the food is

[jemmus]

The food today is regular Old West. Steak, potatoes, green beans, brown bread. Some days there's chili, but no real Tex-Mex food at Hoffman's.

All of Andreas's possessions are on the horse. There's a stable by Hoffman's. 35 cents/day for stabling. Does anybody else stable there horse for the night? Currently your horses are hitched in front of the hotel.

[redwarrior]

William leads his horse off to be stabled, and then checks on a room for himself, and finally sets off in search of a meal while he reads one of the proffered papers and tries to listen the the banter in the dining room. It occurs to him that the town might be in need of a marshall, though those wells fargo people seem to pay fairly well....

[Rex]

Is Charlie in or out of the stockade?

[cybersavant]

Andreas Larson leads his horse to the stables and pays for a day. He remove his personal items, leaving the saddle and tack in the stall. He re-enters Hoffman's and asks, "Wie viel kostet ein Zimmer und eine Mahlzeit?"

[Grognardsw]

Paladin sent a telegram to Mr. Cummins: DENNIS SHOT BEHAN. HE'LL LIVE. VIRG NOT IN HARM & BACK W/ DENNIS. SHE INCITES MEN, BUT IS HERSELF SAFE. THIS TOWN NOT GOOD FOR HER.

Similarly to before, Cummins's reply arrives just a couple of minutes later. CHK ON V IN 2 DYS & RPRT. INFRM OF $S ALRDY SENT.

Paladin shook Judge Doos’ hand.

“Perhaps if Austin heard of the their questionable practices, Behan and his judge would get set straight.”

Paladin telegraphed back to Cummins: XTRA DAYS RQUIRE MORE THN XPENSES. $5 PER DAY.

He waited for the punctual businessman to respond. The man must have a telegraph in his personal office, such was the speed of his past responses.

"Perhaps we should get some dinner afterwards," Paladin said to Doos. "Find out what the others are up to, besides paying fines."

[jemmus]

Andreas Larson leads his horse to the stables and pays for a day. He remove his personal items, leaving the saddle and tack in the stall. He re-enters Hoffman's and asks, "Wie viel kostet ein Zimmer und eine Mahlzeit?"

Hoffman looks up from crouching and running an appraising finger around a bullet hole in the cabinet under his bar. Ah, Sie kommen vielleicht aus Thüringen oder Sachsen? Ja, ja, willkommen! Ich komme aus Baden, nur eine Provinz weiter. Bitte kommen Sie und nehmen Sie Platz. Ein Zimmer kostet 75 Cent pro Nacht, Mahlzeiten 35 Cent. Aber wenn meine Frau Inga herausfindet, dass Sie aus unserem Land kommen, wird sie eine Ein-Dollar-Mahlzeit machen. Und ich kaufe das Bier! He shakes Andreas's hand.

No Google Translate-ing. Unless your character speaks German.

[jemmus]

Similarly to before, Cummins's reply arrives just a couple of minutes later. CHK ON V IN 2 DYS & RPRT. INFRM OF $S ALRDY SENT.

Paladin shook Judge Doos’ hand.

“Perhaps if Austin heard of the their questionable practices, Behan and his judge would get set straight.”

Paladin telegraphed back to Cummins: XTRA DAYS RQUIRE MORE THN XPENSES. $5 PER DAY.

He waited for the punctual businessman to respond. The man must have a telegraph in his personal office, such was the speed of his past responses.

"Perhaps we should get some dinner afterwards," Paladin said to Doos. "Find out what the others are up to, besides paying fines."

The response arrives before Paladin leaves the office. ACCPTD

[jemmus]

(I posted this in the previous thread, but here's a duplicate here in case anyone unsubbbed).
cribed to it).

Where does Doos want any replies sent to? The San Marcos telegraph office? The office in Austin, which is the central hub city for this part of Texas?

Lets set it for San Marcos, does current technology allow a CC at Austin?

I meant to reply to this earlier. I did some research, and the answer is "not really, but it a similar result can happen." A telegraph office was connected by wire to one or more other offices. For example, the San Marcos office is connected to Austin to the north and New Braunfels to the south. For the North Carolina telegram, the operator sends a message to Austin. An operator in Austin has to tap out the message and send it to Round Rock, and an operator their has to do the same and send it east to Rockdale. It has to go like that all the way to North Carolina. That's how I understand it, at least. The internet articles are long on the science and engineering of telegraph systems, but short on information about how the networks worked in daily practice. If anyone knows better, please let us know.

So I think Doos could have replies in both San Marcos and Austin. Because the reply would have to go through the office in Austin, and they could just save a transcribed copy.

I should have charged Doos more for the telegram to NC, considering all of the relaying by hand involved.

[Rex]

You have how the telegraph worked pretty good. Errors were common on telegrams that had to cover long distances (many relays) so people tried to keep them short to minimize the errors.

[cybersavant]

Hoffman looks up from crouching and running an appraising finger around a bullet hole in the cabinet under his bar. Ah, Sie kommen vielleicht aus Thüringen oder Sachsen? Ja, ja, willkommen! Ich komme aus Baden, nur eine Provinz weiter. Bitte kommen Sie und nehmen Sie Platz. Ein Zimmer kostet 75 Cent pro Nacht, Mahlzeiten 35 Cent. Aber wenn meine Frau Inga herausfindet, dass Sie aus unserem Land kommen, wird sie eine Ein-Dollar-Mahlzeit machen. Und ich kaufe das Bier! He shakes Andreas's hand.

Andreas Larson
"Ja, ich komme aus Sachsen, Suhl, Preußen. Ich kam kurz vor Kriegsbeginn vorbei. Vielen Dank für Ihre großzügige Gastfreundschaft. Ist diese Stadt immer so gefährlich?"

[jemmus]

The hotelier-bartender replies, Nein, nicht wirklich. Die Cowboys schießen immer in die Luft und kämpfen oft. Manchmal wird jemand wegen Glücksspiels getötet. Aber noch nie zuvor ein Massaker wie dieses.

[jemmus]

The travelers enjoy a peaceful rest in Hoffman’s little hotel in San Marcos, except for a dog barking during part of the night, as is pretty usual in these small towns. But very early the next morning, Mrs. Hoffman knocks on their doors and says to each, I’m sorry to disturb you, but the county deputy vould like to speak with you.


The deputy is standing in the dining room with the stable owner. The big, intelligent-looking lawman says in his thick local accent, I’m sorry for the early call, but I thought y’all would want to know somethin right away. Yer horses have been stolen. Somebody sawed off the stable door’s padlock with a hacksaw in the night. Yer horses, saddles, saddle blankets and tack are all gone. They got them two dead cowboys’ stuff too.

The stable owner says, I’m real sorry, sirs. This has never happened in this town before. The fact that horse theft is a hanging offense causes most thieves not to consider it much. And there was a good strong lock on the door.

The deputy continues. I’ll investigate and try to recover your horses, if they ain’t halfway to Mexico or the Indian Territory by now. But with the sheriff currently infirm, I can’t be away from county business in fer but one, maybe two nights. And I suspect there was more than one robber, from the different bootprints around the stable door. Maybe four or five men, but it’s hard to tell. If it comes to a shootout with a gang of horse thieves, I don’t know fer sure whether I’d return with yer horses. So I was wonderin if you might be interested in comin along as a posse. To add some extra eyes and ears and gun barrels.

We got some horses we're temporarily keepin for the U.S. Army ya could borrow. They're old mounts and pretty wore out, which is why the Army is sellin em off to the glue factory. I don't suppose they'll mind if ya ride em for a day or two. Especially since I'm afraid we'll have to pick the sorriest and least valuable ones of the bunch for y'all. And you'll have to sign receipts for em with yer word that you'll return them and leave a $5 deposit.

Hotel guests, please state whether or not your character joins the posse. Sebastian and Charlie in the stockade, please hold a bit while we get to you.

[redwarrior]

William is visibly angry and states I'll ride with you after them! Is there an oath we have to take, or can we get moving? Why those low-down, good for nothing currs....

$5 subtracted from character sheet.

[jemmus]

The deputy sheriff nods his head to the newcomer William Moore. Alright, sir. Appreciate it, and we will count on ya, sir. The big man looks around the room. As if wondering what else he can count on on this ride and probable confrontation.

[cybersavant]

Andreas Larson visibly struggles to reply to the deputy in English. ( Probably more so due to the nature of the news than the language barrier. )


"Another sign i entered de wrong town. I cannot afford that deposit. Seems it ist more important that i leave and seek work elsever. If my horse is recovered i trust the Hofmann's here to look after it. I can send them word of my location." He looks over to see if any of the Hofmann's are present within hearing to confirm his assertion.

[Grognardsw]

Given a fair horse would cost $50, Paladin figured it was worth accompanying the deputy.

With a nod and tip of his hat, he said: “I’ll join you deputy. My name is Paladin.”

While it could be random horse thieves, Paladin wondered if it was someone else. Could it be the cowboys or their friends trying to get revenge?

“Deputy, do you think it could be the friends of the convicted cowboys that stole the horses? What ranch do they work for?”

[ateno]

Retconning a bit.

At the break up of the trail, Doos would offer himself as a scribe or law professional if onyone needs help.

Doos will happy join the posse.

"I assume $3 a day is the usual pay?"

Doos will hand the lawman $5.

Doos

[jemmus]

The deputy replies, There's no pay for ridin with a posse. Men do it because they want to catch the criminals that are a danger to their property and the community.
Nobody feels easy when there are lawless men around on the loose.

The stable owner-groomsman says, I'll come along to help ya recover yer horses. That's only right.

Hoffman is always around in the dining room if there any members of the public present. He runs a tight ship. He answers Andreas, Yes, we vould take care of your horse and contact you. And then, Ich werde dir das Geld leihen, wenn du es brauchst. Ich vertraue einem Landsmann der Heimat. Ich denke, du würdest dasselbe für mich tun.

The deputy says, Y'all that are comin, I recommend that you bring food, water for a couple a days. And a blanket or two. And make sure you have ammunition. We might be sleepin in a farmhouse, or we might be roughin it in the open. He takes out a watch. 6:38 AM. The general store don't open until 8:00. We'll meet outside Mr. Hoffman's hotel at 8:30.

The sound of bustling around and pots and pans and the smell of frying bacon come from the kitchen. Guests, ve'll have yer coffee and breakfasts ready soon.


Hotel guests, please deduct 25 cents for breakfast.
Andreas - Plans for the rest of the day?
Charlie - In the stockade. Can post an RP action if you'd like.
Doos - Please post any actions between now and 8:30.
Paladin - Please post any actions between now and 8:30.
Sebastian - In the stockade. Can post an RP action if you'd like. Can roll a new, non-wounded PC and let Sebastian drift off if you'd like.
William - Please post any actions between now and 8:30.