“Anna, so good to see thee,” said Mr. Binns.

“Mama,” said Dawsey who jumped off the buckboard and started to run.

“Thee, stop right there.” Mr. Binns put his hand on Dawsey’s shoulder. “I want thee to stay here with Bertie” While he said this, everybody else got off the buckboard.

“Who are these people that thee has brought home with thee,” said a smiling Mrs. Binns.

“Where are my manners? Forgive me. This is Mr. Charles Haigh, Arthur, Kate, Bertie, and Vicki.” Everyone shook Mrs. Binns’ hand.

“Welcome to America and our home!” Mrs. Binns then pointed to her children, “This is Eli, Hannah, and Jane.” The dog ran up to Arthur and sniffed. “That boisterous creature is Mr. Snickles or Snicks for short. Please, everyone come inside.”

Everybody grabbed their luggage.

“No, please let my children carry that,” said Mrs. Binns. The Binns children ran up to the buckboard, grabbed all of the luggage, and brought it inside.

“Bertie, I want you to stay here and help Dawsey unhitch the horse from the buckboard. Then you can put the horse up for the night. When you are done with that, you can come in the house, get cleaned up, and join us for dinner.”

“Yes Father,” said Bertie.

Father joined Mr. Binns.

Bertie, Dawsey, and Mr. Snickles were left outside staring as everyone else went inside. Dawsey and Bertie got back onto the buckboard. They drove the buckboard over to the big red barn and started to unload it.

“This is horrible. Father knows that I do not like barns.”

“Well, you better get used to it. There are a lot more barns where you are going. Besides, this is your punishment for throwing that ball bearing. Although this is not much of a punishment if you ask me.”

“I did not ask you.” Bertie smiled. “I guess you are right, the punishment could be a lot worse.” The boys finished putting the boxes in the barn. “That is a lot of laudanum. What does your father do with it all?”

“My father sells it, especially to the cowboys that still live along the West Chester Turnpike. But what they really like is the un-tariffed coffee in the boxes.”

“The what?”

“The cheap coffee that my dad smuggles in from the Pharmacopium. Just do not tell him that I know his little secret.”

“I will not tell him.” Bertie winked. “I did not know that you have Cowboys here. I thought that they were all out west.”

“No, we still have a few here. I have seen them drive their herds along West Chester Turnpike. But they do not do that as much as they used to, at least that is what Papa tells me. He says that the trains now bring in the cattle and the cowboys are no longer needed here in the east.”

“I am sorry to hear that, I would have liked to meet one.”

“You still can. I know several that come into to our store. I can introduce you, if they come in tomorrow.”

“I would like that. Do you work in the store every day?”

“Yes, I work most every day when the store is open in the winter. But it is spring now and I will be spending more time on the farm. Yet for now, they still need me more in store,” said Dawsey.

“I am glad to hear it. I would like to meet one of your cowboy friends. I hear that they are rough and tumble lot,” said Bertie.

“Not the ones that I know. My friends are gentle as lambs. But I only know a few, maybe the others are the rough and tumble ones. We will have to ask. But soon, you will know more about cowboys then I do. I hear that everybody in Texas is a cowboy. Even you will become a cowboy. Bertie the Cowboy, the rootenest, tootenest cowboy the west has ever seen.”

“No,” chuckled Bertie, “I do not want to be a cowboy. I want to be a scientist. But I do not know what I will study in Texas. Right now, all I know is that Texas is flat and dry.”

Just then, the dog barked. A lone figure appeared in the barn door.

“You are wrong about that,” the figure growled.

Photo courtesy of

Photo courtesy of Jeff Busa’s personal collection.