{"id":1774,"date":"2014-04-20T19:52:08","date_gmt":"2014-04-20T23:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=1774"},"modified":"2025-02-18T19:13:29","modified_gmt":"2025-02-19T00:13:29","slug":"clothes-make-the-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=1774","title":{"rendered":"Clothes Make the Man (by Cheaux)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary:<\/strong> \u00a0Does a man’s sartorial splendor have any bearing on events in his life?<\/p>\n

Rated<\/strong>: \u00a0K — \u00a0WC \u00a0600<\/p>\n

Disclaimer<\/strong>: All publicly recognizable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.<\/p>\n

Clothes Make the Man<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Saturday night and all was not quiet in the largest city between Chicago and San Francisco.\u00a0 Not that the City was ever quiet . . . not with stamp mills operating around the clock beating out a syncopated rhythm that pulsed in time with a cacophony of sounds emanating from saloons and bawdy houses lining the streets of the Comstock.<\/span><\/p>\n

It had been a long, long day.\u00a0 Dr. Joshua P. Martin, better known as Paul to his friends and Doc to the rest of Virginia City, had earlier depleted his supply of anesthetic and was now perilously close to running out of antiseptics.\u00a0\u00a0 The last of his patients would have to endure with little more than a bottle of whiskey to dull the pain and cleanse the wound.\u00a0 Furthermore, the exhausted nurse had been dismissed hours ago and Doc had no choice but to ask Candy to assist Joe into the examining room and help him disrobe.\u00a0 By the time Doc entered the surgery, the two men were both prone on adjoining tables. \u00a0Joe was face down, chin resting on his hands; Candy lay face up with his hands behind his head.\u00a0 It was time to get to work.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I’ve decided,” Candy said after deep contemplation.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Decided what?” replied Joe, not really interested.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Why.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Why?”<\/span><\/p>\n

“It’s the jacket.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“What jacket?”<\/span><\/p>\n

‘Your jacket.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“My jacket?”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Yup.” Dead silence followed.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I don’t wear one,” Candy stated, as if this were a great revelation.<\/span><\/p>\n

“So?”<\/span><\/p>\n

“It’s the reason.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“The reason for what?”<\/span><\/p>\n

“The reason you get shot more than me.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“That’s ridiculous.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Think about it.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“I don’t need to think about it.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Your Pa doesn’t wear a jacket.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Candy\u2019s observation was met with silence.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Hoss doesn’t wear a jacket,” Candy continued the line of thought, but more silence followed.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Adam wore a jacket,” Joe said, finally.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Did he get shot?”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Sometimes.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“See,” Candy said, vindicated.<\/span><\/p>\n

“A yellow jacket,” Joe remembered.<\/span><\/p>\n

“A yellow jacket?”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Yeah.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Didn’t he wear black?” Candy inquired.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Yeah.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“No wonder.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“No wonder what?”<\/span><\/p>\n

“He got shot.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Why?”<\/span><\/p>\n

“He looked like a bumble bee,” Candy smirked.<\/span><\/p>\n

Joe turned his head to look at Candy, who was looking back. “Good target!” they said simultaneously, laughing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Candy returned his gaze upward while Joe turned his head slightly to lay a cheek upon his folded arms.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I used to wear a blue jacket,” he said after a while.<\/span><\/p>\n

“When?”<\/span><\/p>\n

“When I was younger.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Did you get shot then?”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Not so much.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Uh-huh.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Mostly beat up.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Mmmm,” frowned Candy. “Maybe it’s not the jacket.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Not?”<\/span><\/p>\n

“No.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“What then?”<\/span><\/p>\n

“The color.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Which color?”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Green,” said Candy. “Or yellow.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“But not blue?” Joe asked.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Apparently not.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“You’re an idiot, you know.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“I don’t get shot.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Don’t tempt me.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“It’s cause I don’t wear a jacket.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“IT . . . IS . . . NOT . . . THE JACKET!”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“Okay, Joe,” Doc Martin said, “You can get up now. Keep the wound clean and change the bandage daily. I’ll take the stitches out next week.”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“Thanks, Doc,” Joe said as he gingerly rose from the examining table, pulled his pants up and left the room.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“Creased, maybe,” Candy called after Joe while hopping off the adjacent bed, “but not shot.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Doc reported, “Slug came out clean. Thanks for distracting him while I put those stitches in.”\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“Anytime, Doc,” grinned Candy.\u00a0 <\/span>“Hey, Joe, you forgot your jacket!”<\/span><\/p>\n

The End<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/path><\/svg><\/i> \"Loading\"<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summary: \u00a0Does a man’s sartorial splendor have any bearing on events in his life? \u00a0<\/p>\n

Rated: \u00a0K — \u00a0WC \u00a0600<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/path><\/svg><\/i> \"Loading\"<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":1246,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-full-width-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,8],"tags":[16],"class_list":["post-1774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-humor","category-short-stories","tag-joe","wpcat-4-id","wpcat-8-id"],"a3_pvc":{"activated":true,"total_views":1544,"today_views":0},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/bonanza13.jpg?fit=300%2C270&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7350,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=7350","url_meta":{"origin":1774,"position":0},"title":"Seafarer Blood (by Sibylle)","author":"Sibylle","date":"May 7, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Summary: \u00a0It\u00b4s a\u00a0brief\u00a0glimpse\u00a0at a time Joe needs his oldest brother to prevent him\u00a0from a big mistake. \u00a0 Rated:\u00a0K \u00a0WC 600","rel":"","context":"In "Adam \/ Joe"","block_context":{"text":"Adam \/ Joe","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?cat=1091"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6493,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=6493","url_meta":{"origin":1774,"position":1},"title":"We Dance (by MissJudy)","author":"missjudy","date":"May 4, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Summary: \u00a0This was a poem I wrote shortly after Pernell Roberts death, remembering his accomplishments and wonderful character. It's not sad! Those who love Adam or Pernell or any of his other characters will understand exactly what I'm writing about. 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A prequel \u00a0 Rated:\u00a0K \u00a0 WC 600","rel":"","context":"In "Family"","block_context":{"text":"Family","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?cat=1008"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Joe-Hoss.jpg?fit=505%2C638&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6756,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=6756","url_meta":{"origin":1774,"position":4},"title":"The Crazy Lady (by Jayne)","author":"Jayne","date":"May 4, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Summary: \u00a0Joe and Hoss scare themselves one night, come to Adam's room and tell him the story of the crazy lady. 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