, 1897-12-20
BILLS LITTLE GAL.

oelng a man with q wide circle Of
scquaintances, l prrposely avoil &C.
curacy as to dates and localities. It. is
not even necessary to explain how lc.
came associated with General Surlv in
the management OF a big cattle ranch.
He was II of the southern gentlemen
whose earthly possessions were pretty
well wiped out by the war, but he did
not stop t. chide fate nor wait for some
thing t" tuIn up. He converted his
available assets into cash and made the
investment i'll which | was eventually
interested.
Or course the general had n lcautiful
daughter, or l would have nothing
worth the telling. avoid going into
rhapsodies by simply saying that she
grew to be n strong, stately and grace
full woman whose physical attractions
were matured i'll the outdoor world,
whose education and accomplishments
were those that few women have the
mental grasp to acquire and whose
heart was as tender us when her little
girlish voice was raised in anglv protest
against placing the cruel brand upon
some beating maverick. I'll not lctray
by how many years l was her senior,
but l fell i'll love with her the first time
l saw her, a little vision Of beauty
astride a burro. riding wildly and with
out fear, swinging Il miniature la.so,
her black eyes aglow and her raven hair
streaming III waves that ever the sweep
ing wind of the prairie did not
straighten.
Though she was a gentle little mis-
tress, every Il about the place was her
slave. Even stoical old Sud Whiplcy,
who should have lost every vustigc of
romance in his experience as trappcr,
scout, Indian fighter and cattle m;:l.
had secretly adopted the little witch i'll
his heart, which had come warm and
true through all these experiences. Like
many u man who led the rough life Of
the frontier. he idealiZed II good wom-
an, IL the alteration bestowed by him
upon Kitty Surly was as devoid Of our
earthly conception Of love as though
abe had been an angel.
It was after she had been cast to
school and returned to rs with all her
natural beauty enhanced by the refining
influences and opportunities she had en-
joyed that old Bud came to me. Il
don't like the way that coyote from the
RObelda ranch is a-tryin to git inter the
round up over here, he began. Jim
Bumpers no sorter Teller fur SIGH a
woman as our Kitty. | never hecrd yet
where he wiped OFT Il teller crittcr what
he didn't take unbcknownst or to II dis
advantage. He's made big mCncv, but
he mint square, an he'd make it hell on
airth fur u woman llc'smakin Il strong
play fur to git on the good side of the
Rineral, al I've bort made up my mind
TINT | CrtCr to tend to slipIin .im's
cinch. Takin chances with critters like
him is the same as takin chances with
rattlesDakes. Jist say the word. an I'll
make Jim Bumper git out o hero or
fight, an he won't fight me fur certain
reasons as is private till | Git ready to
turn loose. | reckon he's fcclin kinder
panicky already, fur ! give it out all an
singular to the boys over to tho ranch
that our Kitty warn't agoin to Craze
her pritty face on mt range 'ccptin our
own an that any teller what tried rop-
in her wouldn' never know jist how it
happened he was disappointed. don't
of'en cut loose, but there hain't none
o. the boys is hankerin partickaler to be
round when blow up"
could see that the veteran was in
deadly earnest, for his rarchmcntlike
FACE had an unwontcd glow of color,
and in his deep set gray eyes there was
q CLINT as ominous as Il death warrant.
"See here, Bud" | said in n concil-
iatory tone. There are some things
about this case that understand better
than you do. I'm rs determined as any
man living hat Jim Bumper shan't
have Kitty Surly. ! happen to know
that she loves another man who would
try to be worthy of her and who will
marry her if the general can ever be
convinced that Il big fortune is not es-
sential to her happiness. Jim's immense
wealth, got nobody knows how, dazzles
the general for n time, but he will new
er ask Kitty to marry against her Will,
and l can see that Jim is losing ground
every day in the generals esteem. 1t Is
all right to let matters Il their course,
and nothing must be done that will
make her talked about.
But old Bud did not belong to the
class Of men who are content to drift.
The necessity of his life had been to
plan. plot and anticipate the movements
Of the enemy. But he said nothing. M
accepted the matter us at an end Tor
the time.
II was a month before we were
startled by a very unexpected occur
renee Bud rushed into the oom where
the general aml l were ~trinsacting
some business to announce that Jim
Runner had kidnapped Kitty and was
following the old trail to the nearest
large CITY. No time was lost i'll lamenta-
tions or inquiry. With a rush Tor arms
and horses we were in the a for
hours Bud staid right with us on ms
d;lauddated broncho that he always said
had done nothing more than switch us
.hhravi.ted tail when struck by light
ming some is years before. Though Jim
h.d one of the best mounts III the whole
ter, ;torv the extra weight began to
tall and a little after midnight we had
onr ousrrv In sight. The general was .
ae.d.shot l,rui never missed unless ne
~,.n.ed 10. and ] had a craving tor
v@snoasuce that was only aggravated BY
What happened in the next few min.
,+s. c.n only be explained by the story
-hich Bud afterward told with a series
- chncLies md an occasional wheezy
,sn.h hat seemed to expepd most OF itt