Mick The Business Man

Mick The Business Man

By Wayne Thomson

Mick Hick was a business man
And a good business man always does
What he must to get ahead
No matter what it is
He kept telling himself
Over and over, burning it in his mind
As if that were enough to make it right

He went to work for Johnny Malten
Who owned a new mine
In the newest territory of California
Became his partner
Earned his trust
Sold shares to finance the operation
And soon the money came
And they both made out quite well

Soon Mick was running
Most of the business
And Johnny just oversaw
Johnny was a trusting man
Mayhap too trusting
Mick got word of a huge silver vein
In the eastern end of the mine
And had the men stop
And start anew in a spot with
Few chances of a strike

Johnny was led to believe
The mine was failing
The stocks began to fall in price
And Mick made his move
Bought most of the shares
Except for a few
And he needed them something fierce

Mick tracked down the young woman
Who inherited those shares from her deceased aunt
And when young Susan refused to sell
Mick dealt the joker
Hired a thief, then a hired gun
And when they failed
He took up his old colt

Mick had Susan in his sights
When the sun beamed off the barrel of his colt
Susan caught the flicker in the corner of her eye as he fired
And in that quick instant
With a mere Twenty feet between
She drew her derringer and fired
The two shots reporting as one

Mick was a business man
And a good business man always does
What he must to get ahead
No matter what it was
He told himself
As he lay dying in the dusty street