Free Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski Page A

Liddy,
    When they passed by the saloon on the other side of the street, they heard a loud commotion inside. The double half- screen which covered the open front door swayed back and forth. Men's legs could be seen beneath it, kicking and fighting in lively fashion. Loud voices were shouting.
    "Come away!" cried Miss Liddy. "Such wicked men, in such a wicked place! They've been drinking!"
    She pulled the two girls after her.
    "But I heard Pa!" protested Birdie. "I'm sure it was Pa!"
    "Why Birdie!" said Miss Liddy. "I hope your father never goes in there!"
    "He's in there now," said Birdie, pointing. "I can tell him by his overalls. That's the patch Ma put on yesterday." The overalls in question were still kicking briskly.
    Miss Liddy was struck dumb with astonishment. "Cant I go in and tell him we want to go home!" asked Birdie.
    "I should say not!" Miss Liddy put her arms around the girls. The shouting of the men continued. While they waited, they could not help but hear what the men were saying. "You've no right to cut my fence!" shouted Mr. Boyer. "You've no right to cut off my right o' way!" answered Slater. "We've always lived there, me and my Pa and my Grandpa before me! Grandpa was an old Indian fighter and he come there right after the Seminole War! We've always had the use of all that land for pasture, for moss pickin' and frog huntin' and anything else we want. You got no right to fence it up!"
    "I'll fence in what I paid for!" shouted Mr. Boyer defiantly. "What's mine's my own! I'll fence it in and keep other folks and their stock out!"
    "Any time you fence off the right o' way to the lake, so my cows can't get to water, I'll cut your fence!" Slater's voice was shrill with anger. "See, I got my pliers right here!"
    "Better not try it again!" warned Boyer. "I'm allowed to shoot a man if he enters my house or bothers my property! If I catch anybody on my property that I paid good money for, I'll shoot! Did you pay money for your land!"
    "No ." admitted Slater. "We done always lived there since Grandpappy's days."
    "You're a squatter! You dent own an inch of land and yet you got three hundred head of cattle to pasture out on other people's property! You don't even own the land your house is settin' on, do you!"

    "Wal--not exactly ... but what difference do that make!" cried Slater. "Hit's Open Range! Everybody knows that! Everybody leaves their stock run loose!"
    "Not across my place they don't!" said Boyer in a quiet tone. "I warned you before: if I catch a cow or a hog of your'n on my place, I'll shoot on sight! Open Range--we'll see! We'll get a Fence Law passed!"
    "A No-Fence Law, you mean!" yelled Slater.
    Other men chimed in. "That question won't never be settled till doomsday!" they said.
    "Fence cutting!" cried Miss Liddy, standing outside on the plank sidewalk. "So that's it! Nothin' like fence cuttin' for causin'
    trouble. Florida won't never be a peaceable place to live till that question gets settled. But such talk is not fitten for you children to hear. Come, I'11 take you home with me. You can sleep to my house."
    But Birdie and Dovey refused to go.
    "Pa-a-a! Pa-a-a!" Dovey began to cry. "Pa-a-a!"
    "We'd jest as soon wait here till Pa comes out," said Birdie, with spirit. "Pa can beat the starch out of Slater, I reckon! He'll take us home, soon as he gits done."
    "You don't think he might be . . drinking!" asked Miss Liddy.
    "No ma'am," said Birdie. "He's not drunk, if that's what you mean. He dent drink. He just came here to find Mr. Slater and give him a talkin'-to,'cause he cut our fence."
    Miss Liddy had to hurry home to supper, so she could get back to the millinery store for the Saturday night trade. After she left, Birdie and Dovey waited a long time. Things quieted down inside the saloon. After a while Slater left, looking feeble and battered, with a man on each side holding him up. Then Mr. Boyer came out alone. He looked quite unharmed.
    The girls ran to him and took him by the hand. They went