Undressed Under Duress, Part II   Hard Times

In the 1971 novel, "Hard Times & Arnie Smith" by Spur-Award Winning author, Clifton Adams, a lanky 21 year old cowhand inherits a country store in Texas from his recently deceased uncle. His good fortune was cause to celebrate. Arnie Smith was gonna be rich! He headed for the "Royal Gentleman's Bathhouse and Tonsorial Parlor" for a shave and hot bath. He sent the hot-water boy with five dollars to go to the dry goods store and "fetch me a new pair of California pants, a plain hickory shirt, and a union suit." After finishing his bath and dressing in his new clothes, it was off to the nearest saloon. 

After a night of drinking way too much and fighting not hard enough, Arnie had blown most of the little money he had. He ended up spending the night in the Dodge City jail and waking up with a hangover. He spent his remaining funds paying his way out of jail and for the damage his fisticuffs had caused the saloon. 

Finally, Arnie could think about heading towards Smith, Texas to claim his inheritance. First though, the cowhand returned the horse he had been lent to the rancher he had hired on with. He then had to sell his saddle, bridle, gun and holster so as to afford the trip south. Using those meager funds, he traveled by train until his money ran out. Then he began walking toward his destination. By a stroke of luck, he was offered a ride with a farmer and his son in an old, rickety wagon.

As the threesome traversed the Chickasaw Nation through Oklahoma, Arnie noticed something peculiar. The man and boy continually glanced sideways at him with eyes that didn't quite look right. Their hungry look made his skin crawl.  Before long the farmer turned off of the main road, stopping the wagon. The old man grabbed a broken wagon wheel spoke while his boy took hold of an ax handle. The miscreants meant to rob him of what few possessions he had. They set upon Arnie hitting him hard enough to drive him to his knees. Crack went the axe handle on the back of his skull, then blackness.

Sometime later, Arnie slowly regained consciousness and lay there for a long while on the bare ground just trying to get his bearings. He didn't know how long he had lain on the prairie unconscious. But he knew he was cold, very cold. In fact he was freezing and began to shiver. The young man slowly opened his eyes and discovered he was cold because he had been stripped and laid out in just his union suit. 

The plowboy strips the cowboy
of his pants, shirt and boots and
leaves him lying in his union suit

The farmers had stolen his boots and new clothes leaving him lying in the dirt in just his underwear. Arnie knew he had to get up and get going. “There was a limit to how long a man could lie on the prairie in nothing but his union suit.” 

The farm boy had discarded his own filthy clothes and old brogans when he had stripped Arnie of his shirt and pants. The thief's clothes were left laying in the dirt beside Arnie. Well, at least he would not have to plod to the nearest town in just his union suit. He pulled on the boy's disgusting clothes and made his way slowly to the next town to seek help. With no money, decent footwear or clean clothes, he had to figure a way to resume his sojourn south to Texas.