Reconstruction

A bunch of them rode from out of the dusty plains into the hardened clay streets of Vicksburg. Their leader, Wesley, was a man whose biggest problem in life was his misanthropy. If he thought better of his fellow man, if he saw in them more than avarice and willful ignorance, he would have been a policy maker. As it was he found himself a leader of outlaws and fringe-type brigands. In town they kept to themselves, staying indoors most of the time in a converted sheep's pen two blocks from the riverfront. The mischief they made was harmless to others. It went on a few years, for some longer than others. They worked as porters, ranch hands, one became a printer, another had a small import shop. When they met a woman they moved from the pen. Wesley held out longest, but in the end he too settled down.