Fort Worth weekly gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-12-28

and sees 'em together, knows. It's wOt
you Id hev knowed eff he and Roop Filgee
hadn t played we fer a softly all the time.
And while you we bin hangin round yer
for a flicker of Cressy's gownd as she
prances out % school, he IS bin lying low
and latin at ye, and while he's turned
Roop over to keep you here, pretendin'
to give We lessons, els been gallivantin'
round with her and huggin' and kissin'
her in barns and i'll the brUsh-and now
you want to quar- II with me. -
He stopped, painting for breath, and
stared Indignantly in the grey face of
his hearer But Uncle Ben only lifted
his heavy hand mildly with an awkward
gesture of warming, stepped softly in his
old cautious hesitating manner to the
open door, closed it, and returned gently.
''I reckon We got in through the winder,
didn t We Seth?'' he said, with a Ia
boured affectation of Unconditional ease,
ga kind o. one leg over, and one, two,
and then you 'er in, eh?'
y "Neyer you mind how got in, Ben
Dabney - returned Seth, his hostility
and insolence increasing with his oppon-
ent IS evident weakness, "eZ long ez L
got yer and got-by Cd! what
KEN here for! For whites all this
fool man and old fool woman was swal-
| lowin' what they did see and blinkin' at
what they didn It, and huggin them
selves that they d got heightened kem-
pany fer their darter, that heightened
kempany was playin' them too, by Cd!
Yes, sir! that high-tOned, cantin school
teacher was keepin' married woman in
Frisco, all the while he was here honey
foglin with Cressy, and we got the pa
pers yer to prove it, He tapped his
breast pocket with a coarse laugh and
thrust his face forward into the grey
shadow of his adversarv's.
cam you sorter spotted their bein in
this yer desk and bursted it!'' said Uncle
Ben, gravely examining the broken lock
in the darkness as it were the most i'm
portant feature of the incident.
\ Seth nodded. "You bet your life saw
4im through the winder only this after
fSApn lookin' over 'em alone, and l
loned to lay my hands on 'em if had
X&bust him or his desk. And l did! -
NE added with triumphant chuckle.
"And you did-sure pop!' said Uncle
&3en with slow deliberate admiration,
s lssing his heavy hand along the splin-
Pered lid. "And you reckon, Seth, that
this yer shown of him up will break off
enythin betwixt him and this yer-this
yer Miss-Miss McKinstry?" he continued
with labored fOrmality.
81 reckon eff the old fool McKinstry
, don It shoot him in his tracks thar II be
white men enough in Injin Springs TO ride
this heightened, pizenous hypocrlt on a
rail outer the settlement. -
"That's sol" said Uncle Ben mus
ingly, after thoughtful pause, in which
he still seemed to be more occupied with
the broken desk than his companion s re-
mark. Then he went on cautiously,
"And ez this thing ought to be worked
mighty fine, Seth, p r 'aps, on the hull,
you I'D better let me have them papers -
"what, Your" snarled Seth, draw
! ing back with glance of angry suS-
picion; "not if 1 know it!
"Seth, - said Uncle Ben, resting his
elbows on the desk confidentially, and
speaking with painful and heavy deliber-
alton, ''when you first interdoosed this
yer subject you elluded to my heyin', so
to speak, rights % presumption and in
reference with this young lady, and that
in your opinion l WASH It purtectin' them
rights. 1t pears to me that, allowin
that to be gospel truth, them Their
papers orter be in my pos
session-you hevin', so TO speak,
no rights to purtect, bein' off the board
with this yer young lady, and bein'
moved gin rally by free and independent
cussedness. And eZ l sed afOre, this sort
o. thing haviu' TO be worked mighty
fine, and them papers manniperlated
with Judgment, l reckon, Seth, if you
don t obieck, IN hev-hev-to trouble
you
Seth started to his feet with a rapid
glance at the door, but Uncle Ben had
risen again with the same alarming ex-
preston of completely filling the darkened
schoolroom and of shaking the floor be-
meath him at the slightest movement.
Already he fancied he saw Uncle Benz
powerful arm lowering above him ready
to descend. 1t suddenly occurred to him
that if he left the execution of his
Ischeme of exposure and vengeance
to Uncle Ben, the onus of
stealing the letters would fall
equally upon their possessor. This
advantage seemed more probable than
the danger of Uncle BEN weakly yield
ing them up to the master. In the latter
case he, Seth, could still circulate the
report of having seen the letters which
Uncle Ben had himself stolen in fit of
jeaIousy-a hypothesis the more readily
accepted from the latter's familiar
knowledge of the schoolhouse and his
presumed ambitious jealousy of Cressy in
his present attitude as n man of position.
With affected reluctance and hesitation
he put his hand in his breast pocket,
"Of course, he said, eff you re
kalkilatin' to take up the quar- II on your
rights, and ez Greasy ain t anythin more
to me, you orter have the proofs. Only
don t trust them into that hound S
hands. Once he get IS them again he IL
secure a warrant agin you for stealth
That IL be his game. I'd show 'em to
her first-don It We see?-and 1 reckon eft
she s old Ma 'am McKinstry's darter,
She III make it lively for him.
He handed the letters to the looming
figure before him. 1t seemed to become
again yielding mortal, and said IN Il
besitating voice, "P'r' aps you ID better |
make tracks outer this, Seth, and leave
me yer to put things to rights and fix up |
that door and the desk agin Tomorrow
He'd better not know 1t TO !