Burrel was only ever too happy to help. He was always trying to help. Burrel would even help when he didn’t have to and in many ways that were his downfall. His helping and his grinning is what put some people off Burrel.
Burrel tried to help everyone, and it was because of that willingness to help that people didn’t like him.
Thing is he helped people he shouldn’t have. One of those people that he should not have helped was Sutter McGraw.
One thing you got to understand about Burrel
Now you have to see that Burrel wasn’t much of a drinker although he had a whisky everytime he got paid. He’d be straight down that saloon on a Friday where he would sit with his drink and right as they were to kick him out for closing he’d get the courage to drink.
On one of those such days, the height of summer see, Sutter came into town. When Sutter comes rolling into town, any town, everyone stops. Everyone kept still, everyone except you know who.
There are some stories
Those stories say that I heard saying that Burr caught word of him coming and was practically rolling out the carpets for Sutter. I don’t care much to believe in that because I don’t like to think Burrel was mean like that. Burrel was a stupid kid, but I don’t want to believe he was putting on an act for us, you know that he had hatred underneath.
Don’t change what he did but still. The way I was told, the way that I want to think it happened is that Burrel was sitting at the bar and then Sutter comes in and sits down beside him.
Burrel wasn’t that bright if he was, well may the devil take me. Anyways, Sutter wanted to have a drink. First, he’d been on the trail a long time and was parched. It was the height of summer in Louisiana and things would get sticky as the saying goes.
Burrel, of course, wasn’t for having any hanging around, took Sutter by the cuff and led him out the door.
He led Sutter up to the ranch.
What happened after that, everyone knows. What happened that day at the ranch, that’s the part doesn’t need any more detail. Even if you did, there are people still walking that tell the story better than I ever could anyway.
I was swamping out the main bunkhouse when it all went down. Didn’t even know what happened when it did, thought the boss was drinking again acting the fool.
Afterwards,
After all of us at the ranch realised what happened it dawned on us. Load of us who worked on the ranch didn’t like each other, but there was no one else to take care of us, so we became a family. Some of us suspected Burrel having more to do with it than he let on. Not me, I just thought he was buck simple.
Miss Gene, she was the one who started the whisperings. Miss Gene telling us that a man no matter how smart or how stupid has to live with his actions.
When we told him what we were going to do, he just kept on grinning. Carl walked him up to the tree and even as the noose was going over the neck he turned to Carl, and all he could say was that he was happy to help.
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