CHAPTER XVI.

Ben as a Politician--Elected Burgess of Petrolia, but Cheated out of the Office--Goes to Queen City--Pleasure Trip West--Preparations to fight Tom Allen in St. Louis.

Not long after Ben's return to Petrolia from the country cousin trip, a couple of fellows came into his place--they were residents of the town of Brookville--and claimed that on a previous visit, they had been cheated out of four hundred dollars in the house. This was a lie, cut out of the whole cloth.

Perceiving it to be nothing more than an attempt at blackmail, Ben showed the fellows the door in short order. They set out in search of a justice, swearing to procure warrants for Hogan's arrest. The latter followed close at their heels, and reached the justice's office just as the warrants were to be signed.

Ben denounced his accusers, and endeavored to show the Squire that what they asserted was a falsehood. The argument which ensued led to hot words on both sides, and these in turn resulted in blows. Ben whipped both of the men and turned them out of the office, along with the Squire for company.

During the fracas, the man who entered the complaint, drew out the money which he claimed had been stolen from him, thus proving that his accusations were wholly false. Of course the case was never pressed in view of such developments.

Petrolia by this time had become a borough, and the election of a burgess, as the office is called in Pennsylvania, was close at hand. A very strong and popular man, Dimmick by name, had been nominated for the position, and as his election was regarded a certainty, no opposition candidate was named.

This gave Ben an opportunity to make his first entree into politics. He determined that Dimmick should not have a walk-over in the race, and so set himself up as an independent candidate. With very little experience in the wiles and ways of political life, his personal popularity was such that he was fairly elected to the office, receiving a majority of seven votes.

So close a result prompted Dimmick's friends to resort to fraudulent measures for the sake of their candidate. Hogan was counted out of the office to which he was justly entitled, as other men in higher walks of life have been counted out of higher offices. The upright Mr. Campbell declared that, whatever the ballots might show, Ben Hogan must not be burgess.

"Why," said he, "this man would have a drinking saloon or a gambling hell on every corner. And he would arrest all of us who didn't go into these places!"

Ben really cared very little for the office. He had run simply to test his strength, and his success made him abundantly satisfied with the result. He permitted his opponent to assume the position without contention.

Just after the election, and while on his way to Pittsburg, Ben picked up a copy of the _Oil City Derrick_, in which he read an announcement of his election. The train happened to be delayed by the breaking of a bridge, and our hero went into a neighboring farm house to obtain something to eat. This being furnished him, he fell into conversation with the farmer, and pointed out to him the paragraph in the _Derrick_.

"Think of it!" said Ben, with assumed indignation. "Such a man as Hogan elected burgess of Petrolia! Why, it's a disgrace to the town--a libel upon the elective system!"

"That's so," returned the farmer. "I've heered a good deal about this Ben Hogan, and I should calculate he ought to be in jail instead of in office."

"Of course he ought," rejoined Ben. "Lynching would be too good for him!"

This sort of talk was continued for some time, Ben joining with the farmer in the opinion that Hogan ought to be hung up to the nearest tree.

A rosy-cheeked, but excessively verdant young girl, a daughter of the farmer, was very much taken with a diamond cross which our hero wore upon his shirt-front. She did not know what it was, but Ben told her, adding that it cost nineteen thousand dollars--it was worth perhaps seven hundred--and that it had been presented to him in Austria.

Altogether he made a deep impression upon the occupants of the farm house, and their surprise may be more readily imagined than described when, upon taking his departure, he presented them with his card, in the shape of a silver half dollar, upon which was engraved his name. The farmer was paralyzed with astonishment. Nor would he believe his senses until he had run after the train and been assured by the conductor that his visitor was really none other than the notorious Ben Hogan.

After his return to Petrolia, from this visit to Pittsburg, came the memorable thirty days "shut down" in the oil regions. The effect of this move, which was in fact a demand for an increase on the price of petroleum, was most disastrous to the oil interest. It resembled, on a smaller scale, the Black Friday, never to be forgotten in Wall street.

Seizing upon the excitement of the hour to promote his own interest, Ben issued a circular which was exceedingly rich and racy. He proceeded to declare that he was the owner of fifteen pumping wells, and that he fully agreed with other operators in the pressing necessity of an advance in prices. It was impossible, the circular said, for Mr. Hogan to produce his oil for less than five dollars a barrel. Indeed, considering the character of the oil obtained from his wells, even this was too small a sum.

Thousands of these circulars were distributed through the oil regions, and copies of them found their way all over the country. So neatly was it worded, that a great many swallowed the joke as gospel truth; and one man in addressing a public meeting astonished some of his hearers by saying:

"Why, gentlemen, here is a circular from Mr. Hogan, one of the heaviest operators in this region. He says that he owns fifteen wells, and yet even he is not able to produce his oil for less than five dollars a barrel!"

If the orator had known that it was fifteen barrels of whiskey he was talking about, he probably would not have brought forward this circular by way of an argument.

It was at this period that Bill Casey made his confession of firing Ben's house, to which reference has already been made. Two weeks afterwards he was burned to death on the Allegheny river.

With a view to enlarge his field of operations, Ben rented his place in Petrolia for fifty dollars a week, to a woman named Nell Robinson. He, himself, went to Greece city, and there established one of the handsomest wine rooms ever seen in the oil regions. It was fitted up on a scale of magnificence which would have done credit to a first-class New York establishment. The bar-room cost nineteen hundred dollars, and was decorated and frescoed in a most elaborate manner. Nothing but the choicest brands of imported wines and liquors, with the best of cigars, were sold. The place was purely a wine room, Ben having become temporarily tired of sporting women.

During the three months which this place remained open, it did a thriving business, and in spite of the heavy outlay, paid a handsome profit.

Having money enough to meet all present wants, and wishing to enjoy himself for a time, Ben closed up his business, and proceeded to Pittsburg. There, after spending a short time in a general round of pleasures, and dropping more money than he could keep track of, Ben one night went into George Leavenworth's place, and flipped up a twenty-dollar gold piece to decide whether he should go West or to Europe. The coin came down three times in succession in favor of the West, and so Ben set out in that direction in search of pleasure and adventure. He found plenty of both.

In order to break the monotony of his journey, he stopped off at a number of country towns, where he represented himself to be the canvasser for a New York story paper. His plan of proceeding was this: He would enter a farmer's house and solicit his subscription for the paper. This amounted to five dollars, and included a magnificent chromo, which, of course, was worth double the money. The chromo, however, was only a secondary inducement to subscribe.

"You see," Ben would say, "we give away every year a piano, which you couldn't buy for less than seven hundred dollars. This is done for an advertisement, and the lucky person is decided upon by drawing numbers from a wheel in the same manner as a lottery. Now, I can so arrange it that you will draw the piano, but, of course, I shall expect something in return. If you will pay me twenty-five dollars, and speak a good word to all your friends about the paper, I will see that the piano is shipped to you as soon as I get back to New York."

This generous proposition was, in the majority of cases, readily agreed to. The farmer would accompany Ben to his nearest neighbor, and there use his influence toward obtaining a subscription. Dismissing farmer number one, Ben would proceed to make the same offer to number two, assuring him that he would get the piano by the payment of twenty-five dollars.

This proved a pretty profitable kind of recreation for our hero; but when the farmers assembled in town on the appointed day, and found that the promised piano didn't arrive, it was, perhaps, well for Ben's health that he was a good many miles distant from the spot.

Another little incident showed how the biter may sometimes get bitten himself. Stopping off at Little Rock, Ben fell in with a crowd of sharpers who introduced him to a faro bank where the worst kind of a skin game was dealt. It made no difference what the result over the board might be, the policy of the crowd being to freeze to the money when they had once got it into their possession. The bank was located in the upper room of a hotel, where, presumably, no gambling was allowed. While Ben was engaged in the game, and after he had invested four hundred dollars in chips, one of the sharpers slipped out of the room unperceived, and disguised himself in the uniform of a policeman. Then a mock raid was made upon the bank. The lights were put out, and a general hubbub ensued. The first that Ben knew he was in the hands, as he supposed, of an officer, with the prospect of spending the night in jail. Then he did precisely what the sharpers had counted on his doing--offered two hundred dollars to be set at liberty. The bogus policeman hesitated, said he couldn't do it; that he would have to lock Ben up; but in the end, of course, took the money. When Ben discovered, as he afterward did, that the whole thing was a put-up job, he probably felt like butting his head against a stone wall just for fun.

After these and other adventures, which space prevents me from recounting, Ben at last reached St. Louis. His intention was to proceed to Hot Springs, but before doing so, he spent some days in St. Louis, stopping at the Planters' Hotel. He visited a number of his acquaintances in the city, among others Jack Looney and Tom Allen. The latter asked him if he had given up boxing, to which Ben answered that he had. Allen and Hogan drove out together to Mollie M'Cool's, opened a number of bottles of champagne, and drank to one another's health--or rather Allen did most of the drinking, and Ben settled the bill.

Notwithstanding Hogan's assertion that he had given up boxing, he was as anxious as ever to arrange a match with Allen. He offered Jack Looney fifty dollars if he would bring about such a contest. Here the matter rested for the time being, and after having a high time in St. Louis, Ben pushed on to Hot Springs.

At this famous resort, he remained five weeks, making the money fly in a lively manner. The pleasures of the watering place, however, grew a little monotonous in time, and so Ben determined to visit the Choctaw country, where he would be certain to find novel and exciting adventures. He chose Dublin for his companion on this bold expedition, and the two provided themselves with a peculiar outfit. It consisted of nine gallons of whiskey, twenty pounds of lead, a quantity of powder and guns. These articles were designed as presents for the Indians, and were taken with a view to insuring a friendly reception.

Ben and Dublin traveled over three hundred miles of rough and unfrequented territory, meeting in that distance with only three inhabited houses.

Whatever may be the virtues of the temperance theory, if a man is going to visit the Choctaw nation, he cannot do a wiser thing than take with him a liberal supply of whiskey. Nothing touches the heart of the red man so surely or quickly as fire-water. This our adventurers found. For with their stock of liquor and presents, they were hospitably received, and found themselves quite at home among the red men.

What with fishing and hunting and studying the traits of the Indians, Ben and his companion passed a month quite pleasantly. To a timid man the surroundings would have been a little too uncivilized for comfort; but Hogan took things as easily as though they were in his own home. To give variety to the sort of life which was led there, a couple of rather comely Indian girls honored the visitors with their constant presence.

Some jealous feelings arising between the two tribes, which were encamped together, Hogan and his friend finally deemed it wise to depart. They were accompanied on their return journey for a considerable distance by a number of the braves, and reached Hot Springs in good health and spirits. Ben then made his way back to St. Louis.

On reaching the city, he once more renewed his efforts to bring about a match with Tom Allen. Ignorant of the fact that Looney was hand-in-glove with Allen, he sought the services of the former to aid him in consummating the match. In company with a newspaper man, Looney visited Allen with the professed purpose of negotiating matters. So long as Allen did not suspect that his second visitor was a reporter, he talked with a good deal of freedom. Among other things he said that if the fight with M'Cool for which he was then in training, should go against him, he would not care to enter into another contest. It would be difficult, he hinted, for him then to obtain backers.

Of course this conversation, falling upon a reporter's ears, gained more or less publicity, and Allen was particularly anxious to have the matter hushed up.

A few days later, Looney succeeded in arranging the match, which was for one thousand dollars a side, half of the money being put up at once in the hands of Eagan. Ben did not know the fact at the time, but this Eagan was a particular friend of Looney and Allen, and he showed his friendship, as we shall see, in a peculiar and characteristic manner.